April activities in the garden

by Mark Levisay

As we head into April our gardening activities will pick up, especially outdoors as the weather warms.  Seed starting projects indoors will come to an end, and many vegetables will go into the ground outdoors.

Inside seed starting

If you’re starting seeds indoors, it’s time to plant tomato and basil seeds if you haven’t already done so.  They germinate in about a week, and you don’t want to put them out into the garden until mid-May, so this is the time.  Peppers that I planted at the beginning of March are now up—they can take two weeks or more to germinate, so it may be too late to plant the seeds now.  If you planted any other seeds earlier this year you may need to transplant them into bigger pots.  I had planted lettuce seed at the beginning of February, and they needed to be re-potted after about four weeks.  After two weeks in their bigger pots I was able to plant them into our new cold frame, and also into the covered bed we maintained all winter.

Two lettuce plants placed into the covered bed.

The back row plants in the cold frame were all started indoors.

Cool season crops outdoors

Outdoors it’s time to start planting early season cool weather crops.  From seed you can plant lettuce, beets and carrots, as they can all tolerate some cold weather and even frosts as they come up.  Plant seed potatoes now, as long as the soil’s not too wet to work.  I usually mulch over the entire area that I’ve planted the potatoes, as this helps them avoid the sun, which causes the green skin condition you see from time to time.

 It’s also time to put out cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower seedlings.  I strongly recommend using row cover fabric over brassicas, as they tend to suffer from caterpillar infestations when the weather warms.  I did a blog last year about row covers and you can refer to that for more information.  The Corner Store Garden Center has seed potatoes and brassica seedlings, in addition to other plants available now.

Plan ahead for mid-season

While you’re out in the garden planting the early crops it’s also a good idea to plan for the mid-season crops.  Things like corn, beans, melons, peppers and tomatoes won’t be going out until danger of frost is past, or mid-May.  Some of them grow quickly and get quite tall and you don’t want them to be shading shorter plants.  Or, maybe you DO want them to shade early crops like spinach and lettuce that suffer in the heat.  You can also get your hoses out of storage and check for leaks, and plan where you might want to set up circuits of soaker hoses.  Plan things out now and you’ll be ready when May rolls around.

Lawn maintenance

I’m sure you’re starting to notice the grass greening up, and this is the time to start preparing for the upcoming mowing season.  Pick up any sticks and branches that have fallen during the winter, and vigorously rake any areas that seem to have a lot of old leaves or thatch built up.  It’s a great time to spread lime on the lawn, as most of us have soil that is more acidic than grass prefers.  It’s also time to apply pre-emergent crabgrass control chemicals if you are planning on doing that.  A general rule is to apply the product when the forsythia is blooming (now!) so the chemicals can prevent the crabgrass seed from germinating.  In general it’s better to wait until fall for general lawn fertilization, but many of the crabgrass products do contain some fertilizer. Problem areas in the lawn may benefit from some fertilizer applied in the spring, but overall you’re just asking to mow more than you probably want to!  Speaking of mowing, I always recommend setting the mower on the highest possible setting, as taller grass is usually healthier, and acts to shade out weeds.  It is called TALL fescue, after all.

Any questions, e-mail me at marklevisay@gmail.com.  Good luck with your 2021 garden!

Spring Fertilizer Guide: Organic Holly Tone for acid-loving plants

by Mark Levisay

I’m going to take a break from talking about plants and shift focus to fertilizers and soil additives.  The Corner Store Garden Center carries an extensive line of Espoma products that you don’t know about since you can’t come inside the greenhouse and see them all lined up!  That’s a shame, because many of these products could prove useful to you during the garden season.  I took my camera (and mask) up to the greenhouse one afternoon and photographed each product’s bag, front and back, so you could see what you’re missing.  I’ll try to explain what’s in each product and what it can do for your garden.

Fertilizer for acid-loving plants

Holly Tone is an organic, balanced fertilizer with an N-P-K analysis of 4-3-4. It also contains 3% calcium (Ca), 1% magnesium (Mg) and 5% sulfur (S).  The sulfur component is the key here, as this product will act to raise the acidity of the soil where it’s used. 

Espoma’s organic Holly-Tone fertilizer for acid-loving plants.

Espoma’s “Bio-Tone” provides beneficial bacteria

You’ll also notice as you look at the side panel of the bag that it contains 3 types of bacteria.  Healthy soil contains a mix of both bacteria and fungus, and these organisms are critical in breaking down chemical compounds into forms the plant can absorb.  Adding these beneficial bacteria to your soil will improve the overall “biome” and help plants thrive.  All of Espoma’s xxx-Tone fertilizers will have this “Bio-Tone” component.   A side effect of this is that each package will have a “use by” date, as these bacteria colonies will slowly decline over time.

Another thing you’ll notice on the package is the source of the water-insoluble nitrogen (N).  This in-soluble nitrogen needs to be broken down by organisms in the soil to be available to the plant, so it’s considered slow release.  Feather meal, bone meal and poultry manure are all by-products of chicken  and egg production, and alfalfa meal is derived from a common farm crop.  It’s great that these by-products can be used as fertilizer and they also help improve the tilth of heavy soils.  An unfortunate side-effect is that our dogs think this stuff is candy and we can only use it in areas where the dogs are fenced out!

Ingredients panel for Espoma’s Holly-Tone organic fertilizer.

Plants and application

There are a number of plants that benefit from growing in acidic soil conditions.  Evergreen trees and shrubs, azaleas, rhododendrons and mountain laurels, and blueberries and other bramble berries come to mind.  For a more complete list go to espoma.com for additional information.  They have good lists of plants that benefit and application instructions. 

Espoma recommends a spring application and a smaller fall application for shrubs and two separate spring applications for berries.  To be sure for individual plant varieties I’d refer to Virginia Cooperative Extension’s website (ext.vt.edu) as they have loads of information on the nutritional requirements for most garden plants.

Next time we’ll talk about Plant Tone, which is an organic fertilizer I have used a lot in my vegetable garden with great results.

Have a garden question? Send me an email at marklevisay@gmail.com.

I’m stuck at home, what can I do?

by Mark Levisay

March is actually a pretty good time to be home, as there are many things in the garden that need your attention.  Indoors you can be starting seeds, such as tomato, pepper, and basil next to a bright sunny window or with some good artificial lighting.  Planning the layout of your vegetable or flower garden is another way to use your time and be ahead of the game when planting time rolls around.

Pepper seedlings under the lights.

Outdoors there are lots of things to keep you busy. 

Do you have a fenced in area for your vegetables?  If not, put one up!  60” welded wire fencing will keep the deer out, and you’ll probably need to build one or more gates for access to your garden.  Ever think about raised beds?  This is a perfect time to build them, so they’re ready to go—the sooner the better.  Mulching the paths between the beds is a good idea, as it will keep your feet out of the mud after big spring rains.

If you already have an established garden, now is the time to clean out dead plants, leaves and other winter debris from your beds.  Weeding is crucially important, as any weeds that are already blooming are ready to set seed for their next generation.  Getting ahead of weeds now will really help later on in the summer.  I spread pelletized lime on my beds every couple of years to help counteract the many acidifying factors, such as fertilizer, mulch, and rainfall that affect your beds.  If you have an asparagus bed you can also fertilize it now, as the spears should start to appear in April.

Have you thought about using row cover material to protect vegetables like broccoli and cabbage from worms?  This is a perfect time to set up your supports, and lay out a soaker hose where your plants will go.  The soaker hose makes it much more convenient to water once the cover goes on.  Buy your plants, set them, and then cover.  No more broccoli worms!  As a warning, kale is in the same family, so growing it under cover will help protect it from the worms.

As far as actual planting goes, mid-March already getting late for peas and spinach, but you can try if you haven’t already planted them.  Lettuce and beets should wait until later in the month, unless they’re going under a row cover.  Same with broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and brussels sprouts.  Plant now under cover, or wait a week or two to set out in the open.  We’re more than a month away from putting out things like tomatoes, peppers, beans, and squash, but you can plan for where they’ll go.  Poles for training tomatoes or for climbing pole beans and fencing for cucumbers can go up now, and you’ll be ready to go when the time is right to plant them.

Take advantage of any extra time you have to invest in your garden now, and you’ll reap the rewards later this summer!

Have a garden question? Send me an email at marklevisay@gmail.com.