Gardening

As we traverse our way through this never-ending winter season, warmer weather is on our minds. Spring is slow to come this year, as late season snowstorms continue to impact South Dakota.

Pollinator Gardens are becoming more popular all throughout the United States. Citizens are becoming more concerned with the decline in the pollinator population and the role that pollinators play in our ecosystem. Pollinator Gardens help to attract pollinators of all shapes and sizes, including bees, butterflies and even hummingbirds.

Now is the time when those pesky weeds are really coming up full force in many gardens around the state, particularly if you have had rain in your area lately or have been sprinkler watering your garden. The easiest time to control them is while they are still young plants.

Sunny flower garden locations are often filled splashes of brightly colored perennial flowers that may grow several feet tall. However, ground covers are an important component of any landscape and are more common than you might think.

Getting grass to grow in the shade is a common complaint of gardeners. In many cases some other kind of ground cover might be the solution. Most ground cover plants will spread out over or in the soil, producing new plants as they grow.

There are a number of weeds that pop up very early in the spring and even start flowering before most other plants have shown any signs of growth. Most of these are spring or winter annuals that come back from seed each year. Spring annuals germinate early in the spring while winter annuals actually germinate during the previous fall, overwinter then resume growth the following spring, flower and die. In most cases, these cool season weeds are more prevalent in waste areas, growing on bare soil.

Quackgrass and bromegrass are often two of the worst weeds in perennial flower gardens and in perennial vegetables like asparagus. Kentucky bluegrass and other lawn grasses can also be a problem. Perennial broadleaf weeds are also other common weeds among flowers and perennial vegetables. They are both aggressive plants that can grow among other plants so tightly that it is difficult to get them out. In addition, plants like quackgrass, bromegrass, creeping jenny and others produce creeping, underground stems called rhizomes that allow the plant to spread a foot or more in a season, producing new plants as they grow.

There is always something to do in a garden – some pruning, raking, weeding or just checking on things to see what new is blooming or growing. This is also the time for the uncovering of old plants and planting new ones. Planting using bare root plants is a great way to get plants at an economical price and probably find some of those special plants that are just not available from your local garden center or discount outlet store. Now is the time when all those beautiful plants are on display and available, and you just want to buy one of everything! However, you should do some things before you head off to the garden center.

Every once in a while, someone will ask me if they can still force their spring-flowering bulbs. Unfortunately, it is likely too late to try to force bulbs like tulips, daffodils, hyacinth etc. which should have been potted up last fall or planted out in the garden. Theses cold-hardy bulbs need to go through a rooting phase, right after planting, and then a vernalization period of nine to 12 weeks before they will flower. If you still have some of these bulbs, they are likely not any good now since they have probably dried out and died.

Swamp milkweed (Asclpeias incarnate) is native to the Great Plains, and is a great ornamental milkweed for your home garden. Don’t let the swamp milkweed name discourage you from trying this plant, you do not need a swamp to grow it, since it is a very adaptable plant. While it prefers average moisture conditions, it can tolerate periods of dry weather as well as some occasional standing water. It too is perennial but generally not as long-lived as butterfly weed.