08December 24, 2014
The month of December is rapidly winding down and all of us who garden will be settling in for “our long winter’s nap.” However, here are a few things that you can do before you forget about gardening for a few months.
If you put up a Christmas tree, make sure that you check the water level in your tree stand each day. Initially, trees will take up a lot of water. It is not unusual for the tree to take up a gallon or two of water the first few days that the tree is in the house. Over time, the water uptake will slow down, but you still need to check the water level each day. If the water level drops below the bottom of the tree, the tree will rapidly dry out.
If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to make a few notes on how gardening went for you this past year. If you grew vegetables, make notes on what plants did well for you. For instance, if you grew a different variety of tomatoes, did it do as well as other varieties you have planted in the past? Did you start your plants at the correct time of the season? The yield you received will answer that question! Did you plant window boxes? What varieties of flowers did you use? Did they fill in nicely or were they sparse, just right – or did they take over and force out other plants? Over time, you can review your yearly notes and you will find that gardening becomes easier, because you are not making the same mistake over and over again. If you garden, you will make mistakes. You learn from your mistakes and move on to doing things differently in the future. Kind of like life in general!!
If you are thinking about growing a few plants from seed indoors, don’t start the seeds too early. Most plants need only 8 to 10 weeks to go from seed to plants big enough to put out in the garden. If you start the seeds too early, you will find that it may be too cold to put your plants outside. At that point, you are trying to keep the plants from getting too spindly before you can safely put the plants outside. Be patient and start those seeds at the correct time.
Well that’s all for this week. I’ll talk to you again next week.