In the Garden Articles

Waiting for Spring

by Joan S. Bolton

With frost and freezing temperatures finally behind us, many plants in the garden are beginning to show glimmers of spring. Fruit trees are sporting their first flowers. Roses are pushing out new, ruddy growth. And the twiggy branches of deciduous trees are swelling in anticipation of fresh leaves.

It's too early to set out warm-weather plants. But if your garden looks bleak or is suffering the effects of last month's cold, there are measures you can take to perk it up now.

One of the quickest fixes is to pop in pony packs of annuals to brighten any prominent bare spots. This might be right around your patio, along a main walkway or next to your front door.

If you're feeling ambitious, there's still time to make more permanent changes to your garden by planting bare-root berries, fruit trees or roses.

Annuals

We're between seasons at the moment, so the supply is somewhat limited. Low-growing choices include violas, pansies, English primroses, Dianthus, Lobelia, English daisies and white paludosum daisies. Only a few taller annuals are available, including snapdragons and Iceland poppies.

Annuals complete their life cycle in short order. They sprout, grow, bloom and perish in one year or less, or in a single growing season. Because they develop so fast, they demand premium soil, ample water and at least a few doses of fertilizer.

Delightfully loamy soil is best. If your ground is not loose and fertile, you run the risk of the little guys never extending their roots beyond their comfy, pony-pack soil. If you're ever lifted out a skimpy annual after its last fit of blooming and seen its white roots still clumped into a cube, you know this.

To encourage your annuals' roots to venture out, prepare the soil at least 6 to 8 inches deep. Start by digging the area to loosen the soil. Break up any dirt clods. Then work in compost or other loose, well-decomposed, fine-textured organic material. Amend the entire bed, rather than the individual planting holes.

Set out your plants, spacing them according to their tag directions. For most annuals, this may be only 6 to 12 inches apart. Form a basin around the entire bed so you can flood it. Sprinkle granular fertilizer on top. Then water well.

Keep a close eye on the plants in the early going. If we get many sunny, windy days, you may need to water every morning until the annuals fill out enough to shade their own roots.

Vegetables

There's still time to plant quick-season winter vegetables, such as the various leaf lettuces, spinach and bunching onions. Buying seedlings, rather than sowing seed, will shave several weeks off the process.

A few garden centers still have broccoli and cabbage plants. These larger, slower-growing cool-season crops are a little iffy, this time of year. They take two to three months to produce, and they form their best heads during cool weather. Heat make their heads "bolt," or flower and turn to seed before fully maturing. So depending on our spring weather, you may not have much of a crop.

Tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers are also showing up on nursery shelves. But these are warm-weather vegetables. Putting them in the ground now is a bad idea. They're not likely to grow much. They're more susceptible to disease during cool, rainy weather. And they require consistently warmer temperatures to properly set their fruit. Wait another month or two, and you'll have much healthier, more vigorous plants.

Bare-Root

Bare-root cane berries, such as barberries, blackberries, boysenberries and raspberries, are nubby little things now. But they grow fast, so be sure to set up their means of support at planting time.

Red and yellow raspberries, and some blackberries, can stand on their own. But it's a lot easier to harvest the fruit if you control their growth. This can be as simple as setting up two posts at each end of a row, then running wire from each post at one end to its corresponding post at the other end, to channel the plants between.

Grape vines will require more robust trellising, as the vines gain weight -- and character -- with age.

Fruit trees require a degree of patience. Most take three to five years to reach sufficient size to begin producing a respectable crop. But some of the whip-like trees in nurseries now are bearing at least a handful of delicate blooms.

Look for apple, apricot, nectarine, peach, pear, plum and sweet cherry trees. You might also find almond and walnut trees.

Unless you garden in a truly cold spot, select only low-chill varieties.

"Low chill" refers to the number of hours that the temperature drops below 45° from November through March. Since many Central Coast neighborhoods rarely see more than 300 chill hours a winter, this number does make a difference. For instance, one local garden center offers two varieties of apricot: Royal requires 350 to 400 chill hours, while Moorpark requires 500 to 700 hours. Plant a high-chill like Moorpark in a mild garden and you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

Bare-root roses are here for just a little longer. If you miss them, you'll get another chance when they return later in spring, all potted up. Be sure to keep their roots moist until you put them in the ground. I submerge the roots of mine in a bucket of water the night before planting.

Dig your hole deep enough that you can shape a cone inside. The rose's pyramid-shaped roots should then sit neatly on top, with the bare stem rising just above the soil line. Depending on the condition of the plant, you may need to do light pruning. Snip out any branches that may have broken in transport, are rubbing against each other or are obviously dead.

Also, roses bloom best when their crown, or center, is exposed to sunlight. To open up the crown, remove any branches that cross back through the bush.

Spacing Matters

When planting bare-root fruit trees, it's easy to misjudge how wide the leafy canopies will spread.

Your puny sticks may look painfully far apart now. But if you plant them too close, you'll set yourself up for trouble later on.

I pace off the distance or use a measuring tape. Otherwise, I'm likely to underestimate the necessary space.

Also be sure to leave enough room beyond the future canopy to care for the tree and harvest its fruit. Planting so that half your fruit tree is eventually jammed against a fence or hangs into your neighbor's yard is not a good strategy. If space is tight, look for dwarf varieties, rather than orchard-size trees.

Seeds of Wisdom

Recent rains may put your digging temporarily on hold. Soil is too wet to work if you can scoop up a handful and pack it into a mudball. Wait to do any planting until your soil feels merely moist, and you can sift it through your fingers.