I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve as we are just a few days away from springing forward with our clocks back to “normal “ time. The time will change and the daylight hours will begin to get longer every day. I feel better just knowing that the sun is giving us extra minutes every day. All of those things mean that spring is enveloping us more and more. The temps have still been a little choppy, 40 degrees at night and in the 70’s during the day. The daytime temps are enough to make us want to jump in with both feet but the night time temps and, more importantly, the temperature of the ground are just not right for planting some bedding plants. This is the perfect time to plant bushes and trees. The dormant roots can settle in and with a little mycorrhiza and some root stimulator the roots can start growing a system that will keep the plant healthy and upright. I love planting this time of the year because it’s easier digging and the rains come frequently enough to do the job that I would otherwise have to do if it were a dry time of year. The plants like to be planted this time of year because they won't be suddenly exposed to the harsh summer weather causing them to sometimes go into an unpleasant shock that at least can cause leaf drop or at worst, death.
To prepare for those kinds of projects I will first only think about the soil that I will use to
amend our Mississippi mud. We need something to add to our porosity of our heavy, clay soil. Something with bark and sand in some compost will do the trick. Most garden centers will have a soil for that use in either bulk for bigger projects or in bags for smaller projects. My favorite is Loamate or loamus and Dans dirt from a Mississippi soil farmer. We used Dans Dirt for all of our new beds last spring and so far we are loving the results. Most garden centers offer some derivation of those soils that will help build your soil into something that plants can thrive in.
This past weekend I brought home 5 yards of Dans dirt to fill in our new planter boxes that we built this past winter. Mimi and I decided we wanted to use the little bit of space that we had in our veggie garden up against the wire walls of the garden. That way we will be able to pick vining vegetables from both sides of the fence. We are thinking about a few types of beans and some cucumbers. We wanted more space so we could grow more cut flowers than ever before. Unfortunately the only way to fill the boxes is one wheel barrow at a time. Spoon into the barrow,
push it through the thick pea gravel walkways, spoon the soil into the boxes and back to the pile for yet another load. We had 5 yards done in 2 hours. We made it a game and we treated the soil move like a workout so when we were done we were good and whooped and needing a coffee and a sit on a beautiful false spring day. We figured the amount needed was really close but a tad short. I will use bags of soil to finish that off. We filled the boxes about 3/4 full so we left room for a bag of Sun Gro potting soil and a bag of mushroom compost for each 2’x2’ section. We will mix that up and we will be ready for this year's plants.
We planted sweet peas, foxglove, larkspur, poppies and Lupine last fall. All of them made it through this winter, I was surprised when they made it through 16 degrees. Now they are budded, I can’t wait for them to start blooming. I planted sweet pea seeds and have some nice 6”pots with trellises for sale at the nursery in case anyone wants to try some out this spring. Our bulbs that we planted last fall are popping up all over the yard about to give us a cool springtime show. We planted Anemones, Tulips, Narcissuses, Amaryllis, Fritillaria, Dahlia, Allium, Gladiolus, Canna, Daylily, Astilbe, Calla Lily, Ligularia, Crocosmia, Ranunculus, Oxalis, Siberian squill and the pride and joy, Fox Tail Lily. We can't wait for all the blooms. That will keep us occupied until the ground gets right for more colorful bedding plants. We are getting all of those things done now so that when the fun part comes we can come home with plants and spend some of the extra daylight hours adding a little more every chance we get.
Like I mentioned in the last article, we have a wedding coming up this fall. Our daughter
Mia is going to have the wedding in Greenville, South Carolina but I’m betting on a celebration or two happening in our backyard, we will want everything in ship shape just in case that happens. Some time in May we have a group of folks from the Mississippi Museum Of Art coming in to tour our yard. The gardens at the Museum Of Art are very much an inspiration for Mimi and I. That style is one that turns our head, just beautifully planned and maintained by someone who knows what they are doing. If you haven’t been downtown to see this you are really missing out. We love to go there just around dusk, we get to see it in the daylight some but it becomes even more spectacular at night when the lights come on. We are honored to have these guests coming to our yard and plan to have everything looking sharp. We do like to have something in the works to take place in our yard, it keeps us on our toes.
It’s time to start looking around for your magic soil mix that you will use this year to help your plants maintain a healthy growth after you have spent that hard earned money on some plants. When you are setting up delivery of the soil make sure to ask a little about the soil you are about to buy. Let the person know what you are doing so they can set you up with the correct soil for the job. Let them know if you are filling in ruts in your yard or
amending the soil in the existing beds or filling up your pots or raised beds, each of those require a different type of soil. All of us nurseries seem to call different soils by different names so make sure ya’ll are on the same page so the wrong thing doesn’t get dumped in your driveway. Hopefully you are well into the planning stages of your spring gardening trials and tribulations. As far as your yard goes, getting that soil right will be the most important thing you do this year. After that Mississippi Mother Nature will provide everything else you will need for a successful spring yard that you can be proud of.
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