Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Gardening – Four Feet at a Time


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This year I can’t seem to catch up in my garden. Everything needs to be done at once – weeding, mulching, planting, dead-heading, watering, trimming, composting, edging, clean-up, and did I say weeding.

I am frequently in a panic so I run all over the garden trying to catch up. Or it becomes so overwhelming that I do nothing – stuck not knowing where to start.

A good friend gave me some advice. Don’t think of what needs to be done in the entire garden. Each day you work in the garden, work on 4 feet at a time. Great advice I thought.

In the last two weeks, I worked through 100 feet.
Only 260 feet to go. But I won’t think about that.

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Rhododendron clarification. On the large flowered rhododendron, new shoots will grow on the sides of the spent bloom. If you decide to deadhead your rhody, be careful not to break off the new shoots. The picture (above) shows the collar with a new light green shoot growing out of the flower base (below my thumbnail).

Ciscoe Morris, King County Master Gardener:
”The best time to prune your rhododendron is within a couple of weeks after flowering is finished. Soon afterward new growth will emerge, and by early summer, next year's flower buds will form at the end of newly grown branches.”

“If you wait too long, pruning can interfere with the budding process and reduce the number of blossoms you'll get to enjoy next spring.”
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Marie,
I can relate to feeling overwhelmed with the gardening this year. 4 feet at a time is great advice! Any advice on how to balance garden and lawn care?

Marie said...

Lawns have to be cut when they have to be cut.

Maybe if we made more gardens and less lawn . . .