Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteers of Buncombe County

spring garden chores

Mulches: What You Choose Can Improve Your Soil!

Freshly mulched flower bed.

Spring gardening brings lots of planting and along with it, mulching. If you use mulch in your landscape, it needs replenishing every year. David Crouse, Extension Soil Scientist at North Carolina State University, notes that adding 1 to 3 inches of an organic mulch to your soil surface each year is one of the most important strategies you can use to improve your soil.

If you haven’t been mulching around your trees and shrubs, flowers, and vegetables before , consider starting as there are many benefits besides controlling weeds and making your yard look neater (see https://www.buncombemastergardener.org/what-why-mulching/
for a discussion of the many “pros” of mulching).

Which mulches are best for improving your soil?
Many of us in Buncombe County garden on clay soil and Crouse notes that “The best organic matter amendments for clay soils are pine bark (less than 1⁄2 inch in diameter) and composted leaf mold.”

Thus, Pine bark is an ideal mulch that doubles as a soil amendment over the longterm. Bark nuggets or “mini-nuggets” form an attractive mulch for many areas of the landscape and will help improve your clay soil over the years.

Pine bark mulch.

It is certainly a great idea to mulch with materials you have on hand, such as fall leaves, which will benefit from shredding before using as a mulch to prevent them from forming an unattractive, impenetrable mat that may actually keep water from reaching your plants. Shredding will speed leaves’ composting into leaf mold and enhance your soil texture.

Fallen leaves become leaf mold.

Amendments that do not improve clay soil
Note that there are several organic materials also used as mulches that Crouse recommends against using as soil amendments because they don’t help improve clay soil: hardwood bark, pine straw, and wood chips.

Pine straw mulch will not improve clay soil and is highly flammable, so not a good choice for use near homes.

                                     Article by Buncombe County Extension Master Gardener Volunteers

For more information:
David Crouse chapter “Soils and plant nutrients”:https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/1-soils-and-plant-nutrients#section_heading_7243

Pine Straw Advisory Warning: https://www.sunsetbeachnc.gov/vertical/sites/%7BA2C1D077-15B6-49E5-B8FD-53D65FA0DC5D%7D/uploads/Pine_Straw_Flyer_FINAL.pdf

Time to Maintain: Spring Garden Chores

Warm weather and lengthening April days beckon us back to the garden. We soak in the beauty of flowering trees and shrubs—red buds, dogwoods, cherry, azaleas, and viburnums. We monitor the progress of daffodils, iris, ferns, hostas, roses, and other perennials as they sprout new leaves and unfurl their flowers. This is the time of year to enjoy our gardens and admire Mother Nature’s handiwork. But there are always garden chores!

Already completed chores
Hopefully you’ve tackled the hard work of perennial bed clean-up, and tree and shrub pruning. You’ve already fertilized your fescue lawn. Fertilizing fescue grass at this time may invite summer fungal disease. And you never want to prune spring flowering shrubs until after their colorful show is complete. (See the blog Pruning Spring Blooming Shrubs.)

Broadleaf weeds
Now is a good time to manage weeds before they get out of control. Keep an eye out for dandelions, henbit, and other undesirables as you enjoy the spring garden. I always carry a bucket and weed-digging tool when I stroll through the garden. When I see a weed, I take care of it right away. Another option is to spot spray a selective herbicide, such as 2,4-D.

Tree seedlings and suckers
With the acorn crop we had this past year, I expect hundreds, if not thousands, of oak seedlings to pop up in my garden this spring. They’ll be accompanied by plenty of maple (Acer spp.) and yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) seedlings. I know of no way to remove these tree seedlings other than hand-pulling. It’s a necessary garden maintenance chore, unless you’re trying to convert your garden to a forest. Occasionally, I will bypass a strong, well-placed seedling with the hope that it will one day be a lovely shade tree.

Maple trees are prone to sending up suckers from the base. Trees that you’ve pruned over the winter may also sprout shoots at the collar wound. Use hand pruners to clip off these suckers and shoots.

Evergreen shrubs
Conifers will often develop brown needles toward the interior of the shrub. If you consider these unsightly, spring is a good time to reach inside the bush and gently shake or dislodge the brown needles. Not only will this improve the appearance of the shrub, it will let in air and light that promote the overall health of the plant. As a general rule, do not prune conifers other than to remove dead or diseased wood. Conifer branches pruned back into hard wood will not put out new growth. Spring pruning of pines, on the other hand, is appropriate if you want to maintain size and increase overall thickness of a pine shrub. Clip the candles by one-third as they begin to open.

Mulch
Spring is the season when everybody wants a fresh layer of mulch. No more falling leaves to cover up the mulch. And fresh mulch makes new plant growth just pop! Mulch is good. It retains soil moisture, keeps plant roots cool in summer, adds nutrients to soil as it decays, and retards weeds. Ground hardwood or pine fines are the preferred mulches in our area. Mulch should be about 3 inches thick, so only add enough to replace what has been lost. And do not pile mulch directly against the trunks of trees and shrubs. Leave an open channel next to the trunk where the roots flare out.

Flower stakes
I never seem to get my flower stakes in the ground early enough. By mid-summer, my perennials are flopping across the sidewalk or dangling down the hillside. This year I’ve promised myself to place flower stakes early enough to tease perennial stalks to grow within their staked boundaries.

Transplants—don’t rush the season
Mother’s Day, or mid-May, is considered the safe time to plant annuals and warm-season vegetables in our area. Otherwise, these tender plants are likely to be killed in a late spring freeze or cold snap. However, spring is a good time to start your transplants indoors and to prepare the vegetable garden. Incorporate lime and fertilizers according to soil test recommendations. Set out cool season crops such as spinach, lettuce, and broccoli, but be sure the seedlings are properly hardened off first. You may need to use fabric row covers if the weather turns cold. (See the blog Seed Starting: From Sowing Indoors to Transplanting in the Garden.)

Article written by Beth Leonard, Extension Master Gardener Volunteer.

Time to Maintain: Stop Crabgrass Before It Starts

Act now to stop dreaded crabgrass from invading your lawn this spring and summer. Late February to late March—around the time Bradford pear trees start to bloom, but before the dogwoods—is the ideal time to apply a pre-emergent herbicide. It’s important to spread the pre-emergent and to create an herbicide barrier for the roots and shoots of those crabgrass seeds before they germinate. If germination has occurred, applying a pre-emergent is not effective as a weed killer.

crab grass_wintersoul1_CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Digitaria sanguinalis or crabgrass weed

A summer annual weed
Crabgrasses are summer annual weeds that germinate as temperatures warm up in the spring, grow through the summer, then set seed and die in the fall. Once established, crabgrasses can quickly spread and devastate your lawn.

Using a pre-emergent herbicide
An application of a pre-emergent herbicide will last about 6 to 12 weeks, depending on the chemical used. Oryzalin and trifluralin are common pre-emergent ingredients. In addition to crabgrass, these herbicides will also control other summer annual weeds such as cocklebur, goose grass, and purslane. You can use most pre-emergents available to homeowners around ornamental plantings and in vegetable gardens, but always read the label! The label instructions will also tell you if you can use the pre-emergent on newly seeded or sod lawns, and how long to wait before mowing.

Using a post-emergent, selective herbicide
You didn’t get your pre-emergent down in time and crabgrass is invading your lawn? Consider using a post-emergent, selective herbicide such as 2,4-D (Weed-B-Gon, All-In-One, and other brands). Spray directly on the crabgrass weed, just to the point of runoff, rather than broadcasting. A rain-free day when your lawn has not been recently mowed is best. Again, be sure to read the label.

Mechanical control
For ongoing crabgrass management, I like to simply hand-pull. A weekly walk over my lawn with my handy weed-digger tool, and an eagle-eye to spot emerging leaves, keeps crabgrass and other lawn weeds in check—and I appreciate the exercise bonus!

Chemicals and manual labor aside, a thick, healthy lawn, that denies weed seed from coming in contact with the soil and getting adequate light for germination, is the best defense against crabgrass.

Article written by Beth Leonard, Extension Master Gardener Volunteer.

 Resources
http://www.turffiles.ncsu.edu/alerts/weeds/preemergent-herbicides-for-summer-annual-weed-control-in-turfgrass

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

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