With the arrival of May Long Weekend, many Weyburnites are looking to spend some time in their yard and their garden. However, local garden guru and Sask Polytech’s Ag and Food Production Program Head Sherri Roberts says we may need to hold off a little bit longer.
“Mother Nature may put a dent in that,” Roberts said in a conversation with Country 106 Morning Announcer Dara Currie. “You really want to be looking at what the weather forecast is.”
She noted that many plants don’t like cold weather and there is a possibility of some chilly overnight lows.
“If you jump the gun and put tomatoes in the ground or peppers or any of those cucumbers, squash, any of those tender plants, you’ve got to get yourself out there and you’ve got to get them covered. Otherwise, Mother Nature is going to take them out and you’re going to be back at the garden center buying some more.”
She added that some plants, like peas, spinach and lettuce, can handle a few frosts but many can’t. Fortunately, there are numerous ways to protect those plants.
“There’s Wall of Waters, they’re like a little tower and you fill it full of water and that water insulates. You can put them around your tomatoes or peppers or any kind of plant that’s upright. You could cut off milk jugs and put them on. There’s also little hot caps you can buy. It’s just what do you have? You don’t necessarily have to go out and buy something. If you have a container that you can put over it, something to keep that heat and warmth around that plant so the frost doesn’t kill it off.”
She added that while the recent moisture is helpful for gardening, it does slow some of the processes down.
“You really don’t want to be tilling up your garden or anything if the soil is wet,” she said. “It breaks down the composition of the soil aggregates and it’s hard on it. The other thing I know is people are just dying to get out there and do stuff with their lawns. But, if it’s wet, leave it alone because when you start raking, all you’re doing is pulling on those tender little grass plants and you’re yanking at the roots and you’re not doing it any good. Also, please don’t be fertilizing with granular fertilizers when your grass is wet because it will just burn the fertilizer.”
Roberts added that while this may seem disheartening, there are still things you can do this weekend.
“There’s a lot of things you can still do,” she said. “If you’ve got planters or raised beds, you can certainly work them up because you just do that basically with a shovel or a spade or even your hands.”
This weekend is also a time that many residents buy plants that they intend to transplant and Roberts had a few notes for that as well.
“I hope some people have heard of the term hardening,” she laughed, referring to previous conversations with Currie. “It’s like how we acclimate ourselves to summer. We had those high temperatures last week and our bodies weren’t acclimated to those higher temperatures because we’ve just come through the big freeze and plants are the same. When you’re in a greenhouse, you’re in a set environment and they are very regulated on their temperature, their humidity, their watering, so those plants are in an ideal environment. Your plant needs a chance to acclimate to a change in environments, so what you need to do is harden them. Come home with your flat of plants and set it outside for a couple hours. Then at night, when the temperatures dip and get cooler, you need to bring that flat in and each day just lengthen the amount of time that you keep it outside so that it gets used to the air temperatures and it’s not stressed when you put it in the ground.”
She also noted that it’s difficult to hold back on some of the gardening but it’s for the best.
“I know people are getting antsy about their yards, you know, their grand and they want to do all the stuff,” she said. “Just remember, you’re the typical household lawn, not a golf course. Don’t treat it like a golf course. Don’t start doing stuff that’s going to create more problem’s for you further down the road. And Happy Gardening!”