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Letter to the editor

Get going on cool-weather chores

By MARY COLLISTER, Gardening
Published February 8, 2008

Winter weather usually makes it easy to sit back idly and let your garden take care of itself. Not a good idea. There are chores more easily tackled in cooler winter weather than in the heat.

It seems to be a constant battle keeping Bermuda grass out of St. Augustine grass. Since there is no chemical treatment specific to the Bermuda, it must be pulled by hand. Now that the Bermuda is dormant, its brown color makes it very obvious. The dormancy also seems to weaken the roots. If you have thick patches of it, you may want to use an herbicide. Just remember this chemical will kill any grass it touches, so apply it carefully to minimize damage to the desirable grass in your yard.

I noticed my petunias in front are a little sparse when it comes to blooms, so I purchased a few profusely blooming plants and tucked them among the established petunias. At the same time, I gave the entire flower bed a good fertilizing and watering. I expect a flush of growth shortly.

Wait awhile before removing any cold-damaged branches. We may have more cold weather, and pruning would force new growth, which then would be more susceptible to damage. I know it's hard to wait, especially if the damage is unattractive, but it's best for the plants.

The cool weather slowed down the growth of the weeds and gave me the opportunity to catch up on weeding. But as the weather warms and our landscape plants begin new growth, so will the weeds. Don't let their growth get ahead of you. Replenishing mulch with a 2 to 3 inch layer will help hold down the weeds.

This is a good time to plant seeds if you want an easy, inexpensive addition to your flower garden. Try marigolds (always a favorite and almost foolproof), alyssum, zinnia, sweet peas and snapdragons. I've had luck with these in the past and with just a few dollars you can have hundreds of flowers. Prepare the ground properly, keep the seeds moist, add a little fertilizer every few weeks and you'll amaze yourself.

This is a good time to sprinkle a little bloom booster fertilizer around the azaleas and also fertilize the petunias and pansies with a water-soluble solution. Applying this about every two weeks seems to give me prolific blooms. The petunias are so hardy I plant them every winter. When I think of something different I may want to try, I remember their beautiful, long-lived blooms and can't help but plant a few.

I'm eager to pinch back many plants a little but want to wait until all danger of cold weather has passed. I will thin the ferns from around an oak tree in the back yard. This is easily accomplished by just pulling random handfuls out of the ground. That's the only attention they ever get. The greatest concern here is that this is an area snakes enjoy. The ferns do get some water when the grass is watered, but never fertilizer as they grow fast enough as it is.

If you have some containers you use outdoors, get them scrubbed up and ready to plant. Wash them in a solution of water and 10 percent bleach, rinse well, and then fill with fresh soil. They will be ready to plant when the weather settles into spring. I did lose a container full of coleus to the cold. Since it is by the front door, I will replant it this week, probably using tried and true begonias, which have done so well in this spot in the past.

This is great time of year to just enjoy your yard. Pick a cool day, a sunny spot and plop down for a few minutes with a book or just sit and enjoy your hard labor.

[Last modified February 7, 2008, 07:43:24]