garden variety
Experts at our local garden centers share top tips for getting your yard ready for summer CO M P I L E D B Y C HAR LOTTE GOTO AND R E NE E AMB ROSO P H OTO BY JO HN MIC HAE L SIMP SO N
W
hat should folks do right now to prepare their gardens for the summer?
“Late spring is the time to think about which garden beds and plots should be transitioned to hardy summer veggies and plant beds. Cold crops that have bolted from the warmer weather can be removed to make room for new plants. Empty beds can be pre-treated with a standard granular fertilizer or spruced up by adding compost or pre-mixed garden soils that are enriched with natural composts such as earthworm castings, bat guano or other manures.” – Brandi Cooley, office manager at Barnes Supply Co.
“Pruning is probably the best thing anyone can do to help stimulate growth,” says Mary Alice Pike of Witherspoon Rose Culture.
“Begin watering roses and applying insect and disease treatments on a regular basis. We treat every seven to 10 days for specific targeted insects and diseases.” – Mary Alice Pike, director of sales and marketing at Witherspoon Rose Culture What are your favorite plants to focus on for late spring and summer? BC “Cilantro
and dill grow well in our region and are very pollinator friendly. Caterpillars love to eat dill, and you might notice a marked increase in butterflies after a few seasons of dill. Be sure to plant extra for sharing with our beneficial insects. Other pollinators benefit from cilantro plants as they bloom and ‘go to seed.’ Cilantro easily reseeds itself and will often return in the fall.” 98
|
durhammag.com
|
a p r i l / m ay 2 0 2 2
Spring cleaning: If people want to weed out (pun intended) undesirable perennials or invasive species, what should they prune out of their gardens/avoid planting?
“Nandina and privet (Ligustrum)! Nandina’s beautiful red berries can be poisonous to birds if they run out of other forage. So, your options are: No. 1, plant only sterile cultivars, which don’t produce berries; No. 2, remove the flowers and/or berries as soon as you see them, before the birds can get to them; or No. 3, replace the nandina entirely. This is a pretty sad option, though, since nandinas are a versatile, hardy and visually striking plant. As for privet, it’s strongly invasive, spreading by bird-carried berries and, frankly, looks pretty boring. Try distylium as a foundation plant, or wax myrtle, cherry laurel, Leucothoe or holly for massed planting/hedges. And if you still have a Bradford pear, think