It is great to be back on the air again! Garden Time is just now entering our 10th season and everything is coming up roses, or at least daffodils and crocus. This warm weather is a great way to welcome us back to TV for another season. This warm weather is also creating some worries for the gardener too. Are things moving too fast and what happens if we get a freeze? We had heard from so many of you that we ended up stopping by Jan McNeilan’s house to get some answers. After many years working in OSU Extension and with the university we were sure she had some answers, and she did! Check out her story below.

Also, since this is the season to start planning and planting, we have additional stories on dividing dahlias, pruning blueberries and starting your vegetable seeds. Let’s get excited for spring and a new season of Garden Time!

This week we featured...

Dividing Dahlias

If you have ever seen the spectacular show of the dahlia festival in Canby, you know how beautiful dahlias can be. Now is the time to divide your dahlia tubers and then in a few weeks you can get your new ones in the ground so you can enjoy those same colorful blooms this late summer and fall. You will want to do this if your plants have been in the ground for a few years. The tuber clumps get big and, over time, you can see less flowers from your plants. We visited with Nick Gitts of Swan Island Dahlias (1-800-410-6540) to learn how the experts do it. You first start with a clean clump of tubers. Make sure all the soil is off them so you can see the tiny ‘eyes’ of the tuber. These are located near the main stem of the plant. You will need to include the eye along with the tuber you cut off or you will not have a flowering plant. Make your cuts to include these ‘eyes’. Let the cut tubers rest overnight so the cuts can seal, then store them in a box, in a protected area, wrapped in a moistened peat moss or mulch. This will keep the tuber from drying out. Then in mid-April you can head out to plant them again. If you forgot to order your tubers, you have until the middle of May to do both. For more detailed instructions on how to dig, divide and store your tubers you can check out the videos on the Swan Island Dahlias website.

Pruning Blueberries

Blueberries are a very popular fruit. If you have them in your garden you might notice that they will produce less and less over time. This because of a lack of pruning. The plant will continue to produce vegetative grow (leaves and branches) as it grows and all the plant energy will go into this ‘green’ growth. By pruning your plant you will focus the plant on fruit production instead. To learn what you should do we stopped by the Home Orchard Society Arboretum (503-338-8479) and demonstration garden, and talked to Tonia the arboretum manager about the steps you need to follow to do it right. First you will need to look at your plant. Take a survey of what you want to do and visualize the end result. How tall do you want the plant and how wide? Then go in and cut out the diseased and broken canes. Next look for crossing branches and remove those. You will need to limit the heavy pruning to 2 or 3 mature canes, those that are over 7 years old are prime candidates. Never remove more than a third of the plant when cutting. Try to keep the base of the plant narrow and open up the center of the plant to promote airflow. This type of pruning will promote new cane growth and more fruit in the future.

If you are looking for a little more ‘hands-on’ tutoring you can come to a blueberry pruning class at the demonstration gardens on the campus of Clackamas Community College on Saturday, March 7th from 11am-2pm. Tonia will help you walk through the steps of correctly pruning your blueberries. Dress appropriately and bring a hand pruners, loppers and a hand saw if you have one. Check out the Home Orchard Society website for more information and a listing of other classes and events.
And one more thing. The HOS is selling Mason bees. You can contact them to get your hands on these wonderful little pollinators!

Early Spring Worries

A lot of people are worried with this unusual spring weather that we have been having. Is this really a concern for the home gardener? To find out we visited with retired OSU Extension agent Jan McNeilan. She brought up a good point. It may be warm, but it isn’t that warm. Even meteorologists have been saying that the average temps are warmer than normal, but only marginally. Plus, we have always had a warm break in the middle of winter, so this is kind of normal. Don’t worry, she told us, we will soon be back to rain and waiting until June for summer to arrive. Right now you can be doing your normal things in the garden; cleaning up debris, pruning your roses and cutting back some of your perennials. There is really nothing you can do about the trees blooming early, nor should you worry about it. If you are getting the itch to start your vegetable garden, look for cold season crops like peas, broccoli, lettuces and root crops. You can also start your vegetable seeds indoors right now and wait for those warmer temps later this spring to get them in the ground. For more tips on gardening you can always check out the OSU Extension website.

Starting Vegetable Seeds

Now is the time to start some of your seeds indoors in anticipation of the coming spring and summer. Judy and William walked us through the steps of seed starting to show you how to plant your seeds and what types you can plant now to get a head start on the season. The basic rules for success include starting with a quality soil and fresh seeds. Sterile soil will help you keep your new plants happy and healthy, because they won’t be exposed to different molds and fungus. We used the Seedling Mix from Black Gold. Judy also mentioned the need to read the back of your seed pack so you will know how deep to plant your seeds and other care instructions. We recommend that you move and thin your small plant seedlings to bigger pots to give them the best start before they go in your garden. This would be a great year to start a vegetable garden to save some money; check out your local garden center for a great selection of seeds. For some more tips on successful seed starting, check out the ‘Seed Starting’ link on the How-To page. We were using seeds from Renee’s Garden a great national company and Nichols Garden Nursery a local company in Albany for this story, but you can find hundreds of different varieties at your local garden center.

Spring Tree Care

With the warm temperatures that we have been having the trees are starting to show signs of life as blooms and leaf buds are starting to appear. The other thing that might be starting to appear are disease problems with these majestic giants. We met with Logan Collier from Collier Arborcare a division of Bartlett Tree Experts (503-722-7267) to talk about early spring care to trees. Right now arborists at Collier/Bartlett are looking for diseases and not insects because it is too cold for the insects to be active. Most trees that have a disease have one that comes back year after year. As a homeowner, if you noticed your trees looking shabby last year, now it the time to take care of those reoccurring disease problems. If left unattended those diseases will weaken and, over time, eventually may kill your tree. For most trees you have to have the ‘disease triangle’ for a tree to become infected. First you need a pathogen or disease present in or around the tree. Second, you need a susceptible host, this is your tree. What makes it susceptible is either a weakness in the tree caused by stress (like a lack of water) or sometimes even the variety of tree. Finally, you need the right environment, which in the Northwest might be the warm and moist conditions.

Now you might be saying to yourself, ‘no problem, I have a disease resistant tree’, Logan pointed out that disease resistant trees are not disease proof. If the conditions are right, even disease resistant trees can get sick. We then moved to the other side of the yard and looked at a fruiting plum tree. This tree was diagnosed with brown blossom blight and shot hole diseases. Collier/Bartlett has been treating this 100-plus-year-old tree for 10 years and it is thriving and growing! The key was the correct diagnosis and treatment. If you think that you might have a problem with a tree, now is the time to address it and make sure you give it the best chance to survive and thrive. If you have any questions be sure to contact Collier/Bartlett and have them take a look at it.