Well here comes the avalanche of chores to get ourselves ready for the spring season. I broadcasted GardenTone (a mostly organic fertilizer by Espoma) over the soil in my vegetable garden yesterday and then hand turned using a garden fork. Many, many people get the ole roto-tiller into their vegetable gardens areas and then have-at-it. When first creating a vegetable garden, it certainly is to the advantage of the gardener to have a roto tiller to break up the soil to start it off to a better quality. After a few years, however, everytime you roto till, you are chopping all your earth worms into small pieces and also destroying any populations of mycorrhiza (a beneficial fungus in your soil- check Wikipedia for full explain).

Yippee! A whole hour so far gardening today. I could have stayed out in the misty rain all day- but my muscles (particularly the ole back) showed me last year that is no longer such a great idea. It is nearly uncontrollable when we get spring fever to rush out in the garden- early weeding, chopping, pruning...hearing birds.....oh joy! But then later in the evening....yikes. "I should have stopped early instead of continuing in a frenzy!" while I am desperately trying to find the Ben Gay. So now I trade with myself- yes I am a wacko- one hour housecleaning "earns" me one hour in the garden. One hour stopping for lunch earns one hour in the garden. I play this game with myself all day long. My back is happy with the new system, and I am actually able to get some other things done too!

"What is that plant?!" is the common exclamation used by Northerners as they travel to the shore in the summer. This summer blooming plant makes quite a show in the South and now it is making its way North! This is primarily due to the hybridizing efforts by the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington D.C., and by Crapemyrtle enthusiasts such as Dr. Carl Whitcomb of the University of Oklahoma.

BASIC CARE

• Crapemyrtles love the heat, so put them in as sunny a spot as you have. They will easily take the extra heat that occurs near a south-facing wall or fence.
• Fertilize in the spring, because they bloom on the ends of their new growth. Preferably 'Plant-tone' or 'Flower-tone'.
• Trim in early spring (April or early May), ideally before much new growth ensues. Later trimming will not hurt the plant, but may delay or eliminate flowering. If you trim a branch, it needs at least 7-8 weeks of hot weather before it blooms. Therefore, trimming after the middle of June may ruin your chances of enjoying the blooms.
• Mulch generously in the fall. This protects the root zone from freezing completely and aids survival.

CRAPEMYRTLE NO-NO's

• Don't fertilize after August 1st. The resultant new growth will not harden off properly before frost and will die back in the winter.
• Don't prune heavily after August 1st. Again, the resulting new growth after pruning will not be ready for winter.
• Don't plant in an area which puddles after a rain. Plant in soil of good drainage.

Keep in mind that crape myrtles are naturally late to come out in the spring, but then grow rapidly with the onset of hot weather. So be patient , and Enjoy!

Well last week's assessment of the garden included a whole lot of trying to dig plants out to see how damaged they were. It was amazing how far they splayed out under the snow, ooops I may have stepped on some of the branches of my Needlepoint Jap Holly while trying to "save" it. Worse, it seems I was very forgetful about the location of some of my little guys as I was trying to "help" my bigger plants.

My Dwarf Elkhorn Cedar and Chief Joseph Pine were missed by about 1/2 step of my boots crushing them. Note to self: Next year be patient and let the snow melt back. Stay inside with the seed catalogs! I did find a Hardy Camellia busted up pretty bad, I will prune it back to buds below the breaks and see how fast it starts to recover.