By Jennifer Fairfield, owner the Garden Mill
That weather was fun, huh? Well, no it wasn’t, actually.
I hope everyone came out of it in generally good shape – that your power has been restored, your house didn’t sustain any damage from falling tree branches or limbs, and that you didn’t lose too much of the food in your refrigerator and freezer.
I genuinely appreciate the hard work the power company crews put in to get things back up again, but it was sure not a lot of fun for a lot of people who had to spend days in the dark and cold. And I don’t even want to talk about the forecast for this Friday.
For the most part, my home came through the storm in pretty good shape. We had some branches down around the property, but nothing close to the house. There are also a couple of smallish trees in the tree line along the edge of the property that look like they are coming up out of the ground at the roots – they’ll likely need to be removed to avoid risking hurting anyone if they do end up pulling all the way out of the ground, which with how wet the ground is, is a real likelihood.
The worst thing that happened was that a weeping willow tree that my husband and I planted when it was no bigger than a little branch with roots, and had grown to 25 or 30 feet tall over the last 20 or so years, suffered a great deal of damage and probably won’t survive.
The good news is that I was able to cut a number of green branches off that I have potted up in my basement and will plant outdoors in the spring, once they have formed some roots, ensuring that my tree will live on.
March is an unpredictable month, weather-wise, and I have a feeling that this one is going to be even more so than usual, considering how crazy February was. Regardless, there should be opportunities to get outdoors this month, and when it’s too wet, cold, or otherwise inhospitable, there’s still lots to do indoors to get ready for spring gardening season.
Outdoors:
First things first – have you assessed the damage to your trees and shrubs from the ice storm yet? If not, make that a priority so that you can decide what needs to be done. If you’re lucky, you may just need to go around and pick up some debris. For a lot of us, clean-up will involve doing some pruning to clean up the mess.
For some, like me, we may need to have entire trees removed because the damage is too severe for the tree to survive or the tree is left in such a condition that it’s a danger to people, pets, or structures. Whatever the case for you, know your limitations. If the job requires climbing ladders with chain saws – don’t do it. Hiring a professional is really the best thing in those situations, as they have the equipment and expertise to deal with such situations.
For more manageable jobs, making sure to use proper pruning techniques is important for the long-term health of your trees and shrubs. The Arbor Day Foundation has some great tips for how to deal with storm-damaged trees. You can find more generalized information on tree pruning at the Michigan DNR website.
Be sure to get done whatever other pruning you want to do soon. Some trees are already showing signs that they are coming out of dormancy, which is a bit early due to the unusually warm temperatures we’ve been having this winter. Pruning while trees are dormant is best for a number of reasons, including reducing the likelihood of introducing disease and giving the pruning wounds time to heal before growing season begins.
One way to bring spring into your home a little early is to take some cuttings of forsythia, pussy willow, quince, cherry trees, and other flowering shrubs and trees for forcing indoors. The Chicago Botanic Garden has a helpful video, at the end of this article, that offers really great tips for choosing the best branches and cutting them properly for forcing.
With the crazy weather we’ve had this year, it’s hard to say whether frost heave is more or less likely to be an issue than other years. I haven’t had a chance to look around my perennial beds yet to find out, so can’t say for sure, but when things have dried up a little bit, it wouldn’t hurt to check perennials to make sure they have not been pushed out of the ground by frost heave. If they have, gently press them back down to prevent damage to the roots and plant.
Follow up with a good layer of mulch to protect from future thaw and re-freeze cycles that, if last month is any indication, we will likely see this month.
Stay off the lawn and out of garden beds as much as possible while the ground is wet. Wet soil is easily compacted by walking on it, and compacted soil is very difficult for anything to grow in.
Doing a soil test this month can help you know what your plants or grass need before you start adding fertilizers. We carry a very good at-home test kit at the store, or you can send away for a more comprehensive test kit from the MSU extension.
There’s a tradition that says Saint Patrick’s Day is the time to plant peas. I have yet to see a Michigan Saint Patty’s Day that is warm enough for that, but maybe this will be the year. Or not. Who knows what our weather will be this month?
The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center is saying that we are leaning towards warmer and wetter than average over the next few months, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see more snow and ice yet. The best way to know whether it’s time to plant anything outdoors is to check the soil temperature. Every seed has a range of soil temperatures in which seeds will germinate. Outside of that range, your seeds may not germinate, or they will take significantly longer to do so.
For peas, the range is 40° to 85°, with 75° being ideal. The Extension Service at The University of California has a really good soil temperature chart for seed germination of lots of different vegetable plants. To take your soil’s temperature, you need a soil thermometer.
(Publisher’s note: Part two of this column will publish tomorrow.)
