April 2007

Edible

Plant onion sets in early April. Buy sets early before they start sprouting in garden centers. Divide the sets up into those that are larger than a dime in diameter and those smaller. The bigger sets are best grown for green onions. The smaller sets make the best large onions for storage. Torpedo-shaped onions will produce round onions while the round sets will produce flat onions. For green onions, plant the bigger sets one inch deep and touching each other. For large, dry onions plant the small sets one inch deep and two to four inches apart.

Avoid damping off disease when starting seeds. This fungus disease kills plants at the soil line causing them to collapse. Use a sterile soil medium. Sterilize pots and containers in a 10 percent bleach solution. Sink the containers in the solution for a few minutes and rinse with water. Keep the temperature around 65-70 degrees F for best germination and provide bottom heat if possible.  Most of all, avoid over watering. Allow the soil to dry before watering and always drain saucers under containers after watering.

Improve clay soils by adding organic matter. Plants growing in clay soils will have shallow roots systems making them susceptible to drought. Work a 2-4 inch layer of organic matter like peat moss, composted manure or compost into the soil to a six to ten inch depth. Do this in the spring and fall.

In the spring, never work your soil when it is wet. Tilling or digging when the soil is wet will cause it to dry into concrete-like clods. Pick up a handful of soil before digging and squeeze. If it crumbles easily, it is ready to be tilled. If it doesn’t crumble, it is too wet. Allow the soil to dry for a couple of more days and test again before digging.

Ants are our number one urban pest problem. Most ants that make their way into your home are little more than a nuisance, but a few types of ants can cause damage. Carpenter ants make nests in wood, but do not eat the wood like termites. They are attracted to wood that is wet and decaying.  Other ants will wander into your home to feed on meats, sweets, fats and starches in the kitchen. Most ants can be controlled by good sanitation practices. Keep foods in tightly sealed containers. If ants have become a long term problem, a professional may need to be called.

Ornamental

Cut back the foliage of ornamental grasses to about four to six inches. Not removing the foliage will delay the warming of the crown of the plant and will slow new growth. Ornamental grasses can be divided in the spring especially if the center of the plant has died out or if it has overgrown its space.

Divide perennials in the spring. Divide plants when flowers get smaller, when the center of the plant dies out or when the plant outgrows its space. Dig around the plant and lift the clump out of the ground. Break the clump into sections. Larger sections will re-establish quicker than smaller sections. Keep the clumps moist until ready to plant.

Do not plant Zoysia grass, even though you will see glossy ads touting its benefits. Zoysia grass is a warm season grass more suitable for lawns in St. Louis. It is dormant and brown in the spring and fall. It also forms thatch and has to be de-thatched every year. Zoysia grass is planted using plugs that may take three to four years to establish.

Don’t apply a nitrogen fertilizer to your lawn too early in the spring. Research has shown that in the early spring grass roots thrive forming a network of deep roots. Deep roots will help your lawn survive hot, dry summer weather. Applying fertilizer too early will promote grass shoot growth at the expense of root development. If you usually apply a pre-emergent crabgrass killer combo with fertilizer in April, try to find a crabgrass killer without fertilizer to apply and wait until mid-May to put down a nitrogen fertilizer to the lawn.