We are predicted to have a week of wonderful spring weather, and I am sure some of you really want to plant some seeds to get a head start for your vegetable garden. But I beg you to wait until early April. I don’t have a weather crystal ball, but I do have knowledge about starting seeds too early, resulting in spindly, weak plants you will have to “baby” to survive when you plant them in the garden.
Two problems emerge here, the first being too warm in our homes, and the second is not having enough direct sun unless you are using a grow light setup. Waiting another three weeks will be a good payoff later.
The spring chore you can and should be tackling is pruning your landscape. Many of our landscapes have Karl Forester ornamental grass, which is a cool-season grass, meaning that it starts growing early in the season. Cutting last year’s growth down to the ground now will result in a fresh new look for the plant for the coming growing season. Cutting back after it starts growing will not necessarily hurt the plant, but it will limit the height for the season, and if you don’t cut it back as far, you end up with a collar of dead leaves and stems around the bottom.
Cleaning off last year’s growth from all perennials can be done now. For German iris, if you had a problem with iris borers last season, be sure to remove ALL of last year’s leaves because the borer’s eggs overwinter in the leaves. By removing those leaves, you also remove the eggs.
During the growing season, tan spots on the iris leaves are evidence of borer damage. The larvae hatch and leave a spot where they enter the leaf. They feed inside of that leaf, moving down toward the rhizome, and their chomping results in a brown streak following their activity. As they feed in the rhizome, the bulb begins to rot and the telltale smell is not pleasant.
So even if you haven’t noticed this problem with your iris, doing a thorough cleanup is a good preventative investment.