Yes, you’ll probably pay significantly more for plants at Weston Nurseries than at their competitors but, having visited pretty much every nursery within a 20 mile radius last summer and fall, their stock was by far the healthiest. (I suppose “You get what you pay for.” applies*.) They released their first Retail Availability List of the season today.
* Buy small. Not only do smaller plants cost less but they establish faster.
It’s not too early to think spring!
UMass Extension offers its 2014 Mass Aggie Seminar Series:
Home Garden Workshops
Eight hands-on workshops are being offered, ranging from grafting fruit trees to native pollinator conservation.The workshops being offered include:
* Growing & Pruning Blueberries
* Growing & Pruning Raspberries and other Bramble Fruit
* Pruning Apple Trees, A Hands-on Workshop
* Grafting Apple Trees, A Hands-on Workshop
* Growing & Pruning Grapes
* Backyard Apple Orchard Fruiting Wall!
* Insect Pests & Diseases of Apples – and how to manage them
* Native Pollinator ConservationLocations and dates vary with each workshop. Go to https://extension.umass.edu/fruitadvisor/mass-aggie-seminars for complete information and how to sign up
William Cullina in “Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines”:
Catalpas are coarse, ponderous trees that for a week or two each spring decorate themselves with large, frilled flowers possessing a hothouse beauty strangely at odds with the visage of the tree itself. The effect is akin to a heavyweight boxer in drag.
I’d never tried to put to words my impression of catalpas but, by god, I think he nailed it.
It’s been great to be outdoors over the past several weeks. It’s been sunny for the most part and the temperatures have been pleasant. I particularly enjoy watching the flowers bloom and trees and shrubs leaf out. For better or worse though, spring brings weeds as well as flowers. We’re got two nasty ones in abundance in this area: garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) and Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica). The problem with them is that they crowd out native plants. They colonize areas and don’t provide the foliage, pollen, nectar, fruits, seeds, etc. that wildlife would otherwise get from native species.
This is garlic mustard:
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This is Japanese knotweed early in the season Continue reading
Two observations after having spent much of last weekend gardening:
UPDATE: The weekend’s major project was to build two raised garden beds. My wife spend a good chunk of time over the winter researching options and settled on a 4 ft x 8 ft design. The Sunset design was a good template but we made a few changes when it came time to build. Specific changes:
Materials for two beds:
Total cost approximately $210 for two finished beds. I figure we’ll get at least five years out of the wood. (We have a friend who used untreated wood for hers and they’re fine after four years.) Provided we do, that seems like a very modest investment.
Available for all fifty states from the USDA.