The cool weather kept the tulips blooming longer than usual, but as the saying goes, “all good things must come to an end.” Last week at Maymont, we marked that end by removing the spent tulips and pansies from the Italian Garden and replaced them with summer annual bedding plants.
Stake or cage your tomatoes while they’re still small enough to handle. Training them now will help keep the plants from spreading along the ground. Keeping your plants upright also increases air movement around the fruit and reduces the chances of disease.
Be sure to read Richard’s weekly Garden Q & A in the Saturday Home Section of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Now that we’ve passed the average last frost date in Richmond--April 15--plant your tomatoes and peppers in the garden. Just be prepared to cover your plants if the weather report calls for a late frost in the next few weeks.
Be sure to read Richard’s weekly Garden Q & A in the Saturday Home Section of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Prune forsythia and other spring blooming plants as soon as they finish blooming. This is the perfect time to help develop the plants size and structure for the coming season. Next year’s bloom buds will be set on the new growth that’s produced this year.
Be sure to read Richard’s weekly Garden Q & A in the Saturday Home Section of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Allow the foliage of your early season bulbs to die back on its own. After the blooms are finished, the plants leaves are storing vital nutrients for next year’s blooms. Removing the leaves while they are still green could prevent next year’s crop of blooms.
Be sure to read Richard’s weekly Garden Q & A in the Saturday Home Section of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Till your garden cover crop into the soil, as soon as you can work the soil. Fall planted cover crops have done their job of preventing erosion and need to be incorporated into the soil at least two weeks before you begin planting your early season crops. These cover crops can dramatically increase the valuable organic matter in your garden soil.
Be sure to read Richard’s weekly Garden Q & A in the Saturday Home Section of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
By late February, the new leaf buds are just starting to grow. When these small buds get at least 1/4 inch long that's the signal to begin pruning. Make pruning cuts on a slight angle and just above an outside bud. This will encourage the plant to open up and allow for good light and air movement. Bush roses can be cut back to 2 to 3 feet in height and climbers can be cut to 5 or 6 feet.
Be sure to read Richard’s weekly Garden Q & A in the Saturday Home Section of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
