Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteers of Buncombe County

garden planning

Gardening Outdoors: Vegetables, Flowers, Whatever You Like!

Do you suddenly have more time to garden? That’s the good news! This is a busy—and often a favorite—time of year to garden as everything springs to life with fresh new growth! It is also a time when gardening chores begin in earnest: plants need planting, weeds need weeding, lawns need mowing, mulch needs to be spread. In this time of pandemic, let’s focus on how gardening can be a fun activity that provides time outdoors to de-stress and get some exercise! Even if you don’t have any land to garden, if you have any space to plant containers outdoors—even on a balcony, or by your door, go for it:  https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/18-plants-grown-in-containers

Vegetables
If you’ve never grown your own food, this is a good year to start! If you are a seasoned gardener, this is a chance to have a more ambitious garden or try some new crops or methods.

There is a wealth of information on how to choose a site, what to grow when to plant, how to troubleshoot pests and diseases, when to harvest in the North Carolina Extension Gardener Handbook:  https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/16-vegetable-gardening
The time for planting cool season crops is waning, so focus on warm season crops to plant in May. You may need to do some calling around to find out who is selling seeds and plants; another chance to explore new things—different sources, new varieties!

Flowers
If vegetable gardening doesn’t appeal, you can brighten your landscape by planting flowers.
Annuals. Again, there may be limited outlets and varieties available, but for a small investment, many warm season annuals will quickly give you a long season of bloom: even the commonly available begonias, marigolds, and petunias come in many colors and sizes. Or try something a little different like upright Angelonia, trailing Calibrachoa, filmy Cosmos, or Pentas. This is instant gratification—although these plants will not come back, it could be the beginning of a new tradition of flower gardening.

Think about ordering flower bulbs to plant in the fall

Perennials. Planting these may not produce flowers as quickly, but the plants will come back yearly with a little care, and some may even spread. You can start a specialty garden of a favorite type of flower, such as daylilies, which can bloom over much of the summer if you choose early, mid- and late season varieties. Or you might like to start a wildflower garden of native plants. These might include groundcovers such as green and gold (Chrysogonum virginianum) or Allegheny spurge (Pachysandra procumbens) that bloom in spring, as well as some showy summer bloomers beloved by pollinators, such as butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia triloba), and garden phlox, and for fall, asters.

Whatever!
Plant a tree. If you see a spring-blooming tree you love, consider planting a young one in your own landscape. Do your homework to be sure your choice is the right size for your yard and that you have the right growing conditions. The Forest Service provides a lot of useful information about choosing, planting, and caring for trees in this “Owner’s Manual”:  https://www.fs.usda.gov/naspf/sites/default/files/tree_owners_manual_print_res.pdf


Add a new garden feature. Have you always wished for a small pond, a raised bed, a trellis, or a comfortable bench in your garden? Consider taking on a do-it-yourself project this spring!

Article by Buncombe County Extension Master Gardener Volunteers

For more information:
Pollinator plants:https://homegrown.extension.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Pollinator-Garden-Plant-List.pdf

Vegetable Gardening: Time to Plant Potatoes?

St. Patrick’s Day is traditionally a reminder that it is time to plant potatoes (although anytime between March 15th and April 15th is fine in Western North Carolina). Another link between potatoes and the Irish, however, is the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s—the late blight that caused that catastrophe is an important reason to think carefully about potato plantings. What are the pros and cons of growing your own?

Potato eyes

What potatoes want
Potatoes will grow well in the ground—and even in containers—in WNC if you give them:
• Fast-draining soil
• Full sun
• Slightly acid conditions (pH from 5.5 to 6.5)
• Keep them well-fertilized—don’t overdo nitrogen fertilizers or you’ll get more green foliage than tubers—10-10-10 or 10-20-20 are usually fine!
• Weed regularly.

Choosing varieties
Potatoes have a relatively long growing season—at least 70 days, and as long as 150 days from planting—and plants likely potential yield can be as low as less than one pound per plant! Even high yielding varieties produce only 3 to 4 pounds per plant, so consider how much time and space you are willing to devote to a crop that is readily available at local markets.

In NC, varieties recommended for home gardens include ‘Kennebec’ (high yield, main season), ‘Red Pontiac’ (high yield, late season), and ‘Yukon Gold’ (medium yield, early main season)—all of which store well.

Container planting

How to plant
Purchase seed potatoes, rather than potato seed—which will take much longer to produce potato tubers. Only certified seed potatoes are guaranteed to be free of disease, so do not risk introducing disease into your garden by using potatoes you purchase for eating! Seed potatoes may be whole potatoes or potato pieces that have “eyes”—indentations from which the plant foliage will grow. Your seed potatoes should NOT be shriveled or have sprouts before planting.

• Cut seed potatoes into pieces that weigh about 2 ounces—ideally with two or more eyes.
• Plant these pieces about 3 to 4 inches deep and about 12 inches apart.
• If you choose container planting:
o Use at least a five-gallon container with drainage holes.
o Plant 3 to 4 inches deep, but start with soil only 8 inches deep
o For larger, wider containers—such as bushel baskets—plant more than one piece about 8 inches apart from each other.
• Hill up earth around garden plants and add soil depth to container plantings once the stems grow 4 to 6 inches tall. Continue to hill up/add depth as the plants grow.

Colorado Potato Beetle Egg Mass
Colorado Potato Beetle Larvae

Concerns
Insect pests—aphids, Colorado potato beetles, and flea beetles—may damage your plants’ foliage and affect your harvest. Seek out and destroy Colorado potato beetle eggs and larvae to avoid total defoliation!

Diseases are a much greater risk for your crop—and the long-term health of your garden. Potatoes may suffer from fungal, bacterial, viral, and nematode-introduced diseases. Although planting certified seed potatoes and rotating the place you plant potatoes each year may help avoid most diseases, late blight (Phytophthora infestans) is a disease that is devastating to potatoes, and may impact tomatoes, too!

Late Blight on Potato

Potatoes late blight lifecycle
Late blight can survive year-round only on plant material, so late blight typically only begins affecting plants in our area once it moves north from frost-free areas in the south. Unfortunately, if you leave infected potato tubers in the ground, late blight may overwinter here and then infect your tomatoes earlier in their growing season. Although it may seem easy to remove all tubers from the ground, anyone who has grown potatoes will know that it is very easy to miss tiny tubers that will sprout again the next spring.

Bottom line: to avoid the risk of introducing late blight into your garden, think carefully about planting potatoes!

Article by Debbie Green, Buncombe County Extension Master Gardener Volunteer

For more information:

De Jong, H., J.B. Sieczka, and W. De Jong (2011). The Complete Book of Potatoes: What Every Grower and Gardener Needs to Know. Portland, OR: Timber Press.

Potato varieties grown in NC:https://ncpotatoes.org/varieties/

Potato late blight: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/potato-late-blight

General advice about vegetable gardening: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/16-vegetable-gardening

 

Winter Interest: Look Around!

Now is the time to take an honest look at your landscape. Do you see a sad bunch of dead-looking sticks and sprouting weeds or a bounty of interesting tree silhouettes, colorful leaves or bark, and even some blooming plants?
If things look grim, now’s the time to take stock! In addition to your own garden, look at others’ landscapes for plants, trees, shrubs, and bulbs that appeal to you and plan to add some for next year.

What to consider

In taking a look at your yard, note these features:
• The big picture—does your garden have good “bones” in winter? Now is the time you see if you have misplaced or overgrown trees and shrubs—and to do your winter pruning! Consider removing or replacing your mistakes to increase winter appeal.
• Perennials that go dormant gracefully—many perennials have “disappeared” because their foliage dies back and is easily removed—daylilies show how this can make a difference in how your garden looks in winter. Some daylilies go fully dormant here and as we approach spring begin to show fresh new leaves, while those that are semi-dormant or evergreen varieties may look less attractive throughout the winter.

Look for perennials that have neat rosettes of leaves that look fresh in winter or leaves that turn brighter colors. Bergenia is one popular garden ornamental that looks good at this time of year with its red/bronzy leaves. Some native plants that look tidy at this time of year include horsemint (Monarda punctata) and some Heucheras.

Container Garden with Heuchera and Bergenia

• Interesting bark—some native trees that have bark that draws attention in winter include hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), river birch (Betula nigra), shagbark hickory (Carya ovata), sycamore (Platanus occidentalus.). Some desirable smaller ornamental trees are paperbark maple (Acer griseum) and crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia indica). Some native shrubs with attractive bark include the peeling bark of oakleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea quercifolia) and red stems of the redosier dogwood (Cornus sericea).

Shagbark Hickory
Redosier Dogwood

• Early bloomers—Among desirable ornamental small trees and shrubs that bloom in winter in Western North Carolina are Chinese witch hazel (Hamamelis mollis), corneliancherry dogwood (Cornus mas), paperbush (Edgeworthia chrysantha), pussy willow (Salix caprea), winter hazel (Corylopsis spicata), and winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum).

Pussy Willow
Winter Jasmine

Perennials that bloom early include many hellebores (Helleborus spp.). Other plants that we see in winter bloom are tender perennials such as snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus), or reseeding annuals or biennials, such as pansies (Viola spp.).

Hellebore

Winter blooming bulbs include some crocus and daffodil species (Narcissus), and snowdrops (Galanthus spp.).

Crocus and Snow Drops
Daffodils

When to plant
You can plant many perennials, trees, and shrubs this spring if you keep them watered during dry spells. Order bulbs for planting in late fall.

Article by Debbie Green Extension Master Gardener Volunteer

For more information:

Do You Know How to Properly Plant Trees and Shrubs?https://wilkes.ces.ncsu.edu/2015/04/do-you-know-how-to-properly-plant-trees-and-shrubs/

Spring-Flowering Bulbs: Trials in North Carolina https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/spring-flowering-bulbs-trials-in-north-carolina

 

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

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