Mason County Master Gardeners

Master Gardener Plant Sale Festival With the Rhododendron Society
Date: MAY 11th and 12th, 2012:  Time: 9 AM TO 4 PM at Kneeland Park, 100 Turner Ave.
Mason County’s best selection of tomatoes, vegetables, herbs, perennials, rhododendrons and more!
Vendors and educational booths will be on site.
Come learn, come grow!
WSU Mason County Extension Master Gardener Program Plant Sale Festival
For More Information: Contact Allie Bernhard, AmeriCorps Member
360-427-9670 Ext. 689
Cash, checks, credit and debit cards, as well as EBT cards will be accepted!
 
 
MAY in the Garden
Garden essentials:

• Visit public gardens for fresh ideas.
• Trim spring-blooming shrubs after bloom.
• Temove spent bulb seedpods, allowing bulb foliage to mature.
• Fill containers for summer color.
• Combine herbs with annual flowers.
• Plant dahlias, gladiolus and calla lilies.

Veggies year-round:

• Harden tender transplants by putting them out in a sheltered location and bringing them in at night.
• When soil warms, seed corn and beans.
• Transplant starts of heat-lovers such as tomatoes, peppers, squash and cucumbers.

Lawn care:

• Check all irrigation systems; set up a simple rain gauge.
• Lawns optimally require 1 inch of water weekly, as either rain or irrigation not both.
• Mow every five to seven days.
• Tolerate some weeds; dig out dandelions to prevent seeding.

 

April gardens change daily, as does the weather! Gardeners can experience warm, inviting days alternating with blowing rain, chill, and even sleet. But the increased light and warmth available to plants cause buds to move to blooms, and small leaves to expand. Garden tasks this month can be enjoyed with the smells, sounds, and warmth of spring around the gardener.  
Get the vegetable garden going.
Check the soil conditions, and don't dig or till if the garden soil is still soggy or saturated. If it's well-drained and workable, get early crops in. Plant peas, lettuce, mixed salad greens, beets, leeks, carrots, collards, mustard greens, spinach, and onions.  
Tomatoes?
The thought of fresh-picked tomatoes sliced into salads arouses many gardeners to early action, buying seeds and small plants. But our April weather is too cold and variable for these heat-loving crops. Around the second week in April, start seeds for transplants of the warm weather crops such as squash, tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers. Starting seedlings too early indoors makes them difficult to care for. Start the seedlings so that you allow a maximum of 6 weeks growth indoors before transplant time. Tender crops must stay indoors or under protection until soil temperatures have warmed into the 50°s and night temperatures moderate. Many Demonstration Gardens wait to set tomatoes and squash out until the first weekend in June. Be prepared to provide some cover for warm weather crops during cool nights when the temperatures can drop into the 40°s. Cover them with floating row cover, boxes, plastic jugs, or plastic covers to protect them. Some gardeners keep tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant under covers until July for best growth—get them planted but give them shelter from cold.  
Slug problems on vegetable and flower transplants just mean it is spring! Hand pick the critters off, and try putting metal copper barriers around raised vegetable beds. A half barrel of lettuce, for instance, can be protected quite a bit against slug damage by being wrapped with a ring of copper. The copper bands seem to work best if they are 3 to 3 ½ inches wide, so it's necessary to place two or three bands side by side if they are very narrow.  
Picking slugs off plants by hand also helps control the little ones in the population, which are great eaters and will eat their way into large size, rapidly! If you choose to use slug baits, place the bait carefully in covered containers. A yogurt container or a margarine tub works well. Remove the lid and clean the container. Cut a small u-shaped door in the edge of the container, and put slug bait in. Replace the lid and set it on the ground, lid down. The slugs will enter but the cover keeps pets, birds, and children from getting into the bait. Many slug baits contain nerve poisons that can harm pets.  
Toward the end of April, nurseries come alive with colorful plants for summer containers. After a long, wet winter's wait, it's time to plant containers of summer annuals for color. Mother's Day traditionally marks the beginning of the summer garden season. Now we just need to hope the weather cooperates! Be sure to give summer annuals and tender perennials some protection from cold temperatures when the nights are still down in the 40°s. Keeping them covered with plastic sheeting at night can help provide some extra warmth. Many of the blooming plants that attract gardeners were grown for several months in the shelter and warmth of greenhouses, and will need to make a gradual adjustment to cool nights.
Choose a well-drained potting soil for annual and perennial flowers in containers. Potting soils differ in their draining potential. Look for one with pumice or perlite, both volcanic rock components, which will help the plant roots receive oxygen. If the soil packs down, plant growth will be reduced. This fact explains why it's not a good practice to scoop garden soil into containers for planting. The soil becomes compacted and drains poorly unless it is amended with a high proportion of materials that encourage drainage. Notice when you take a nursery plant out of its pot -- these are planted in very loose, well drained soil. The pumice or vermiculite, which contribute to keeping air spaces open, will be apparent as little white blobs in the mix. If in doubt, add vermiculite, perlite, or pumice to the mix (it's available in bags from garden suppliers.) About 1/3 by volume is a good addition if the mix seems to drain badly.  
Finally, provide fertilizer for container plants. Many gardeners incorporate a timed-release fertilizer when planting. This helps, because most potting soils in bags do not contain any plant nutrients. Check the label when purchasing planting soil. The plants you buy, looking green and healthy, have received regular doses of fertilizer at the nursery while growing. As well as providing time-release fertilizer upon planting, it's important to use a liquid fertilizer about once every three weeks during the summer growing period.
Look for a liquid fertilizer containing "trace elements"--as well as the nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium that all fertilizers will have. Do not over-fertilize with too much nitrogen, which will lead to leaves rather than flowers and fruit.  
Check soaker hoses and irrigation systems now. Get professional help, if necessary, to check and install new irrigation systems. The upcoming summer will bring months with little rainfall, in spite of the deluges experienced in winter 1999. When watering, be sure to apply water slowly and gradually, allowing it to seep down into the soil's roots. If your irrigation system has automatic timing, be careful to over ride the automatic if a rainy spell sets in.  
Dogwood trees may begin to show signs of the common fungal disease, dogwood anthracnose, as the leaves and blooms open in mid to late April. The leaves will show spotting and browning, usually starting at the leaf end tip and moving up along the mid-rib. Pruning out affected branches, if practical, can be helpful. Keep all fallen leaves raked and do not dispose of them in home compost. Choose a registered fungicide such as fixed copper, and apply it to the leaves every ten days until dry weather sets in, spraying as the buds begin to open and continuing to  apply it to expanding leaves. Many dogwoods affected by this disease will continue to grow even though they have it, and with some pruning and proper care, the gardener may be able to avoid spraying . Don't let the Eastern dogwood, Cornus florida, get too dry during summer. Be sure it gets deep watering at least once a month. Several attractive dogwoods, Cornus mas (Cornelian  cherry) and Cornus kousa (Korean dogwood) are resistant to dogwood anthracnose. These are good choices for landscapes where pest-resistance is desired---choosing them helps keep down maintenance problems.

posted March 15
 
March promises the hint of spring, and with that we need to be mindful of gardening tasks that need to be accomplished this month. After the storm we survived in January, chances are that many of you have lots of downed limbs and broken trees in your yard. Now is a great time to clean up the limbs and leaves in your garden beds and prune any trees that suffered from broken branches.
 
As you remove debris from your garden beds, think back to last summer when your perennial plants were fully grown. Did they have enough space, or do you have some, as I do, that have outgrown their beds? March is a terrific time to dig up and divide perennials. You can use the divisions to make new plants for bare spots in your garden, or share with a friend. While you are working, be on the look-out for slugs and slug eggs. Removing them now will prevent many chewed leaves later in the year.
 
Plants are beginning to grow, so they need some food. I prefer to side dress with mushroom compost, but a balanced fertilizer works well too. Before you fertilize roses, be sure to prune them first. Cut out any dead, weak, and crossing branches. Large, healthy, basal canes that formed last year should be left and remove any old wood that is interfering with them. Prune what is left down to between 12 and 18 inches. If you grow climbing roses, wait to prune them until after they bloom. These roses produce flowers on year old wood.
 
It is also time to inspect your lawn. You need to mow your lawn as there should be some growth since you mowed for the last time in the fall. To evaluate your turf, cut out a 3 inch square with a sharp knife and inspect for thatch. Thatch is a layer of dead roots and stems. If you find more than ½ inch, then you will need to thatch your lawn this year. If you have spots of moss in the lawn, de-moss and rake out the dead patches.
 
After either thatching or moss treatment, turf usually benefits from top-dressing with a thin layer of light soil mix or compost and then over-seeding. Use a seed mix of fine-leafed fescue and turf-type perennial ryegrass. Wait for another month before fertilizing your lawn using a 3-1-2 NPK ratio.
 
It is so exciting to begin working in our gardens for another season and to plan for new plants. A good way to plan for your garden this year is using a Garden Journal. The Mason County WSU Master Gardeners are developing a two year Garden Journal. This 160 page resource is filled with garden tips, space to include your plant lists and map, recipes and much, much, more. Pre-order your copy today by contacting the Master Gardeners at 360-427-9670 Ext. 687.


WSU Mason Country Extension Master Gardeners present: 2012 Garden Series:  Mushrooms and Composting
March 31

am: Join WSU Extension Agent Jim Freed to lean about mushrooms and other speciality forest products.
pm: Composting with WSU Kimberly Wheeler. Learn how to make and use compost at home.
Memorial Hall, 210 W. Franklin St. Shelton

For more information – see the FLYER
 
The annual Mason County Master Gardener Plant Sale will be Friday and Saturday, May 11 and 12 from 9 am—4 pm at Kneeland Park.

posted Feb 21

2012 Gardening Workshop:  Frugal Gardening
All day class.  Join WSU MG Dave Shephard to learn effective and efficient uses of resources in gardening. Topics include planning, preparation, planting, protecting, production, container gardening and feasting.
For more information – see the FLYER
 
The annual Mason County Master Gardener Plant Sale will be Friday and Saturday, May 11 and 12 from 9 am—4 pm at Kneeland Park.
 
Gardening During February -- Hints of Spring!
During the first three weeks of the month, keep the garden's winter protection in place. February's weather can often unleash a week or so of hard, freezing weather before month's end. Mild temperatures in late January are often followed by a deep chill.
Hardy spring bulb shoots will continue emerging this month, and if mulch remains around them, they are remarkably resistant to cold temperatures. Many gardeners worry about the three-inch daffodil shoots, or snowdrops and crocus beginning to bloom when a cold snap hits. Generally, the spring bulbs manage cold very well. By the third week in January this year, snowdrops, early crocus, and narcissus had emerged in my Seattle garden. In case of a freeze, they'll have to rely on their natural genetic hardiness. The only action gardeners can take if a serious freeze is predicted is to place 2-3 inches of organic mulch around any shoots that are exposed. With mulch for root protection, these plants will manage well, stopping their growth during cold spells and reviving during warmth. The message for February is: enjoy the promise of new bulb shoots and trust that their beauty will survive cold spells.
Check the landscape for early-season pests. Spruce trees, for instance, may begin to show
evidence of a damaging critter, the spruce aphid. Repeated infestations of spruce aphid will leave a spruce tree defoliated along the branches, with no needles in the interior.
The spruce aphid begins its nasty work early in the year. Now, and during the next 6 weeks, is the only time of the year to check for spruce aphid. Take a piece of white paper and hold it under a branch. Grab the branch firmly. Look at the white paper for evidence of these small, greenish aphids. They will crawl around on the paper. A magnifying glass may help you see them.
If you see evidence of spruce aphid (Elatobium abietinum), treatment with chemicals is necessary now to get rid of them. The aphids appear in early February and increase through March. They will cause spruce needle drop if left untreated. Several different products are registered for this use. Insecticidal soap, in many different brands, and horticultural oil are the least-toxic of the possibilities. The horticultural oil can alter the color of some blue spruce, but it is effective. Thorough coverage of needles is important when spruce aphids have been spotted. There aren't any effective non-chemical treatments.
Some gardeners have realized that most spruce don't thrive well in western Washington and have replaced them with other conifers like pines, firs, or hemlocks that survive more readily. It may be of no use to try to treat an old spruce with lots of interior defoliation and damage, because the tree will never look attractive. A younger spruce may benefit from treatment. The best choice may be using another conifer altogether.
February offers good opportunities for pruning the garden, but only when the temperatures are above freezing! Freezing weather prevents most garden activities.
Do not walk on frozen soil or frozen lawns, do not prune, do not transplant or install plants if temperatures drop below the mid-30s. However, on milder days prune hydrangeas and other shrubs that bloom in summer, such as butterfly bush (Buddleia), escallonia, and cotoneaster. Hydrangea pruning often puzzles gardeners. If the hydrangea is thickly overgrown and stuffed with old branches, remove about 1/3 of the stalks that bloomed last year, keeping a balance in the plant. Then shorten some of the remaining stalks (but not all of them) back to an outward facing growth node.
Toward month's end, prune and fertilize roses. Many growers, after pruning off old growth, treat the bush immediately with a fungicide, helping to control diseases such as black spot that overwinter on the old canes. A new, relatively non-toxic fungicide called Remedy (potassium bicarbonate) has recently been registered, and is labeled for control of rose diseases. Wetable sulfur is also registered, and is also less toxic than other fungicides currently registered for use on rose diseases.
If you choose to spray roses, do it on a day with temperatures over 40° F. and no rain. (If you find such a day in February, rejoice!) Read the label carefully and wear appropriate protective gear, including goggles, gloves, and a hat when using any pesticides. Eye protection is particularly necessary when mixing pesticides. Read the label!
By Mary Robson (Ret.), Area Extension Agent