May 2008 Garden Tips

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

• Spring is here, but you still must be careful with what you plant outside; Minnesota weather is notorious for changing unexpectedly. Be sure to monitor the temperature. If frost or cold weather is in the forecast, protect your tender plants with mulch, light cloth, some type of overnight protection, or a frost cap made with clear poly film tented over the plants. Be sure to remove the plastic tent as soon as the danger is over or your plants will bake in the sun.

• Carrots, lettuce, potatoes, corn, beans, peas, and most popular vegetables—with the exception of the warmer weather crops—can be seeded or planted into the vegetable garden at any time now. Wait until late May before planting warmer weather crops like tomatoes, squash, cucumber, pumpkins, and peppers.

• Now that spring is here, it’s time to check out natural rock and stone to fill in those thin spots in your landscape. Visit your local landscape center to choose from dozens of varieties.

• May is a good month to repair your lawn. Fill in the bare spots by slightly loosening the soil surface and sowing a good quality lawn seed over the area evenly. Tamp the seed in gently and water. Keep the patch moist by covering it with a light mulch of lawn clippings.

• When selecting grass seed, be sure that the mix is correct for Minnesota and that it does not contain a large percentage of annual rye grass. Read the labels thoroughly when shopping, or ask your garden center staff for assistance.

• This is also the time to eliminate lawn weeds by hand pulling, or the application of a “weed and feed” fertilizer—get them before they go to seed! Also, setting your mower to a higher cut during the spring months will help the grass grow in fuller and choke out weeds.

• It’s not too late to fertilize your trees and shrubs. Use plant food like MirAcid to feed evergreens and acid-loving plants like rhododendrons and junipers. Use an all-purpose garden fertilizer to feed roses, deciduous shrubs and trees. And be sure to water the fertilizer thoroughly after it is applied.

• Your bulbs are probably done flowering by now. Even though the leaves may be brown and ugly, do not remove them. They need to naturally decline, so think of a way to cover or mask them. Plant annuals in amongst the bulbs or add some perennials to the mix.

• As your spring flowering shrubs finish blooming, be sure to prune them. It is best to have this done by June so that the shrubs can have enough time to set flower buds for next spring.

• Monitor your gardens and other plantings throughout your yard. Look for pests, abnormal growths, or something that does not look right. If you do find something, capture a sample of it and take the sample with you to a garden center. Your garden center can help you address the situation and will point you in the correct direction so that the problem does not continue to multiply or kill your plants.

Resources

All Seasons Garden Center
Grand Forks, N.D.
800-745-7777

The Mustard Seed Landscaping & Garden Center
952-361-9954

Villa Landscapes
Burnsville • 952-894-1553
Maple Grove • 763-425-9277
Oakdale • 651-773-7440

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