Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteers of Buncombe County

General Gardening

A Gardening Guide for Our Mountains: The Perfect Holiday Stocking Stuffer

Living in Western North Carolina means that there is always something to do in the garden, from preparing soil and pruning to fertilizing and transplanting. But when and how? You’ll find the answers in A Gardening Guide for Our Mountains.

A Gardening Guide for Our MountainsCreated by Buncombe County Extension Master GardenerSM (BCEMG) volunteers, the guide provides a complete month-by-month description of what to do (and not to do), along with tips on invasive species, mulching, composting, and creating bird- and pollinator-friendly habitats.

This quick reference makes the perfect holiday gift for the gardeners in your life, whether they are old hands, new to gardening, or new to gardening in the mountains. A Gardening Guide for Our Mountains will get them off to the right start and keep their gardens growing all year long. Plus, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that funds raised through this publication go to support the many educational and outreach programs provided by BCEMG volunteers.

How to order: Send $12 (checks payable to Buncombe County Extension Master Gardener) to Cooperative Extension Office, 49 Mount Carmel Road, Asheville, N.C. 28806, ATTN:  Buncombe County Master Gardener. Include mailing address for shipping.

Copies are available at the office for pick up for $10.  Please note that due to COVID-19 office hours are limited. So please call in advance. 828-255-5522.

To learn more about the Buncombe County Master Gardener program, go to: https://www.buncombemastergardener.org/

Winter Rye Cover Crops and Why I Love Them

Cover Crops: Try Winter Rye!
Have you considered fall cover crops and been overwhelmed by the possibilities? Does it seem just too complicated, too many choices? My choice is winter rye—the grain, not annual rye grass—which has been my fall/winter cover crop for 40 years in different types of gardens and soils.

Why Winter Rye?
Here are my top reasons:

  • I can plant it any time after I clear my summer garden beds through mid-November.
  • It grows all winter—it may not show much top growth, but any time the ground isn’t frozen, roots are growing.
  • It has a deep, fibrous root system to pull up nutrients from the lower soil profile, preserve nitrogen in the topsoil layer, and improve tilth of heavy clay soils.
  • It’s a beautiful green carpet during the browns of winter, but it is an annual that dies after setting seed in spring, facilitating management in no-till gardens.
  • Rye is somewhat allelopathic—it produces chemicals that interfere with other plant seeds  germinating and growing—which helps with early spring weed control.

Planting Rye
How do you plant a good stand of winter rye? Buy rye seed at local garden centers or order on-line. Use 8 to 10 ounces of rye per 100 square feet of garden space. If you till or turn your beds over in the fall, you can broadcast and rake in the rye. If you don’t till, you can rake off the coarse mulch and leave fine mulch—such as compost—then broadcast the rye and rake it in. Either way, plant 1 to 2 inches deep.

Winter Rye seedlings

You should see shoots emerge in 7 to 14 days depending on temperature. The top growth will increase as temperatures warm and day length increases.

How do you deal with rye come planting season?
If you plan to till or turn over your beds before spring planting, cut the rye when it’s about 12 inches tall using a hedge trimmer, string trimmer, or even a lawn mower if your beds allow. You can turn the cut rye into the soil immediately if it’s not too wet. If you don’t turn the rye under, it will regrow, and you can keep cutting until the soil is dry enough to work.

Young cut rye

If you do let the rye get tall and even set seed, you can still cut the stalks and either turn them under or keep them for mulch.

Mature standing rye

If you don’t till or turn your soil, let the rye start to flower, then cut it as low as possible with a hedge shear or string trimmer. Save the cut stalks for mulch.

 

Planting Spring or Summer crops
You can plant directly into the turned, tilled, or rye-stubbled bed, among the cut rye plants. This works especially well with summer transplants, such as tomatoes and peppers. It’s probably best to wait 2-3 weeks before planting seeds to let any allelopathy subside.

Rye is a great addition to your winter garden. It will improve your soil and provide a vibrant green antidote to the browns of winter.
Give it a try this year!

Article by John Bowen Buncombe County Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer

For more information:

NCSU – Winter Annual Cover Crops
UVM Fact Sheet – Winter Rye: A Reliable Cover Crop
MSU – Use Rye This Fall to Put Your Garden to Bed for Winter
UMass – Cover Crop Growing Tips
UFL – Allelopathy: How Plants Suppress Other Plants

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Support Your Plants: Ways to Make Your Garden Healthier and More Fun!

Are your vegetable plants encroaching on your garden paths? Are you finding giant, inedible cucumbers hiding under foliage? Time to think about garden structures! Create these supports from hard materials—wood, plastic, metal, concrete—to enhance the growing of vegetables or other plants. Such structures can provide space, support, and creative expression to enhance your garden.

Steps for using plant supports in your garden:

  1. Plan: Consider plant characteristics and direction of the sun.
  2. Prepare: Build your structure sturdy enough to support your chosen plants.
  3. Train:  Some plants need to be fastened or tied.  Others need to be gently wound around a stake or string where they will continue growing.
  4. Water: Use an irrigation system, soaker hose, garden hose, or watering can—always water at the bottom of the plant.
  5. Harvest: Using garden structures and supports for vining and top-heavy plants will enable you to plant closer together and have a larger and healthier harvest from a smaller space.
Planted row of beans with supports by MARamsey
Beans with supports

Gardening in small places.
When you’re concerned about lack of space, there’s always the possibility of getting plants to spread up! When planning and planting a garden, it’s important to consider how much space each plant needs to be healthy and productive. Be mindful that trellised plants do cast shadows, so consider what neighboring plants might be blocked from the sun.

 

Ramsey Garden-Combining practical and whimisical
A well supported veggie garden

Disease prevention.
Supporting tall or vining plants allows for air circulation, which helps prevent fungal and other diseases. Such structures not only help prevent wind-broken branches—which can foster pests and diseases—but they can also prevent soil splashing onto leaves, which can result in fungal diseases. For vegetable gardens, supporting vining plants makes for cleaner and often healthier produce because the harvest will not be on the ground.

Match your supports to your plants.
Plants with tendrils, such as peas and pole beans, will wrap themselves around posts and strings. Tomatoes are frequently tied onto stakes or wire cages. Most cucumbers or melons can benefit from supports that are sturdy enough to hold the weight of the growing bounty. These heavy-duty supports can be made from wood, canes,metal, PVC plastic, and string or wire.

Functional whimsy.
There’s also a creative enjoyment in either incorporating found objects into your garden as supports for plants, or to use already existing structures. Fasten peas, cucumbers, or sunflower stalks to old window frames. Have your tomatoes climb a fence or baker’s rack. Let your pole beans, climbing nasturtiums, or moon flowers weave their way onto a scarecrow or up the post of a bird house. These supports bring harvests of fruits and vegetables—and smiles!

Article by Mary Alice Ramsey, Buncombe County Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer

For more information:
UMN Extension: Trellises and Cages to Support Garden Vegetables
NC Extension Gardener Handbook- Chapter 16. Vegetable Gardening Techniques. Vertical Gardening

Bartlett, Michael V. and Rose L. The Bartlett Book of Garden Elements. David R. Godine, 2014.
Bartholomew, Mel. All New Square Foot Gardening: 3rd Edition. Square Foot Gardening Foundation, 2018.

Contact Us

Buncombe County Extension Office
49 Mount Carmel Road
Asheville, NC 28806
Helpline 828-255-5522

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