---

The great part of writing articles in the spring is that there is so much to write about. The hard part is one never knows when spring is going to break through. This means that by the time an article comes out the time may have passed to correct the problem.

I have received several calls this week about lawns; most of the concerns are on established lawns. Raking improves aeration and gets the grass growing faster. However, raking when the soil is too wet and muddy can damage the grass roots.

The best time to seed a lawn or to patch a lawn is mid-August to mid-September. The reason being is that the temperature is starting to cool down rather than heat up. Another reason is there is less competition with weeds in the fall than the spring. If you must do any seeding in the spring, wait until the soil temperature is favorable for better seed germination.

This is the time to control quackgrass by putting on a pre-emergent herbicide. A pre-emergent is used to control weed seeds before they sprout. A post-emergent is used on growing plants. It's way too early for crabgrass control because the seeds sprout later in the season. Broadleaf weed control such as dandelions must be later when the weeds are actively growing before they can absorb the herbicide.

The time has passed when one should prune most trees, especially fruit trees. Pruning fruit trees and mountain ash after April 1 invites fire blight which can be a deadly fungal disease. I don't like to prune any shade trees after April 1st through September. By waiting until fall to prune oak and elm trees lessens the risk of oak wilt and Dutch elm disease.

Remove winter wrapping from newly planted trees and remove stakes if trees have been staked one year or can stand unstaked. I have several apple trees of which fifteen are young honey-crisp. People are not alone in liking the honey-crisp as the deer love the branches. The only way I can keep the deer away is to stuff human hair in nylon hose and hang them on my young trees like Christmas ornaments. I do this in the fall before deer season begins and again in April.

I cut some of my heritage raspberries to the ground last fall after the ground froze. Some of them I just finished cutting this Spring. By cutting my heritage down I will only get a fall crop but that is what I prefer. Since heritage are ever bearing I can do that but remember if you cut July bearing raspberries to the ground, you will only get bush this year and no berries. I have some Killarney July bearing raspberries and I need to cut out damaged canes.

If you have blueberry bushes that are at least five years old, they may need to be pruned before growth starts. Remove old wood and weak or broken branches.

As I write this article the temperature is 77 degrees. I'm not a weather forecaster, but I am willing to bet that we still will have many chilly mornings. If you have your own small patch of strawberry plants, and they are covered, don't be too anxious to uncover them. I don't uncover mine until I absolutely must. They may look tough for awhile but with some rain they can recover quickly. My reason for waiting is to delay the blooming of the strawberries thus lessening the risk of one of those early June frosts.

+++++

Early spring planting

In the past I've had the habit of planting all the seeds in a packet regardless if I needed all the plants or not. Another problem is that once the seeds came up I couldn't throw any plants away. Maybe that's the reason I ended up with 50-60 broccoli and tomato plants. I'm doing a better job now by planting the seeds I need, and a few extra of course.

That creates another problem. Now I have seeds left over and wondering if they will be good another year. The longevity of vegetable seeds varies with the kind of vegetables and the condition under which the seeds are stored. Some seeds such as onions and parsnips have a short life and should not be carried over. Sweet corn loses some germination after the first year while other kinds of seeds may remain viable for several years. If you do carry seeds over, store them in a cool dry place.

Before planting, run a simple germination test. Use a glass covered dish. Put a piece of moist blotting paper (you can use several layers of paper towels or coffee filters) in the bottom and scatter a counted number of seeds over the surface. Cover the dish with a glass cover and place in a warm place with a night temperature of about 70 degrees. In a week or 10 days the seeds should be germinated. Remove the cover and count the number of seeds that have germinated. If the seedlings appear healthy and the percentage of germination is good, you can safely plant the seeds.

This article should be out past mid April and some early cold weather seeds will have already been planted. Peas, spinach, radishes and lettuce are good examples. Table onions can be planted now but I would hold off until the end of April to plant onion sets that you stored for the winter. Onions are members of the allium family and are cousins of garlic, chives, leeks, and shallots. They are mostly biennial as they grow vegetative the first year, then bloom the second. Onions can be started by sets, direct seeding and transplanting.

I have received several questions this spring from people who are starting a garden for the first time or in a new location. I remind them not to plant crops that take a lot of room if they don't have lots of space. I suggested to a couple of new gardeners that they plant a few new potatoes, just to see how it goes.

I suggested Norland Reds which is one of the favorite kinds of early potatoes. Early potatoes never have a firm enough skin that one can bake them. I like to start digging them in early July, before they get too large. Last year I planted my early potatoes on the 9th of April, which was Good Friday. Planting potatoes on Good Friday was an old custom that farmers tried to go by. This year Good Friday fell on March 27 and the frost was just beginning to come out of the ground.

Late potatoes are usually white and are planted much later in the spring. These potatoes need to be in the ground until late fall or until the skin gets firm enough to be able to store well in the winter. White potatoes are the ones used for baking.

Small area gardeners might have to forgo raising vine crops like watermelon, squash and pumpkins because they take too much room when they vine out. They may get by with some cucumbers if they trellis them. Sweet corn just takes too much room for the yield you get. I still like to do as the farmers used to do by not putting pepper and tomatoes out until June 1. They won't really start growing until the soil is warm.

If you plan to put them out earlier, be prepared to cover them should a frosty night show up. I could go on and on about first gardens such as fertilizing, varieties of plants and disease resistant seeds, but that's for another article. All gardeners should have their soil tested periodically to be sure you are using the proper amount of fertilizer. Soil test kits are available at the Extension office--38780 8th Ave. in North Branch, 651-674-4417.

Last chance to order strawberry plants--call Jerry Vitalis at 651-257-4496 for more information or to place an order.

SUBMITTED BY, JERRY VITALIS

Chisago County Master Gardener

+++++

The Chisago County Master Gardeners are offering a new program this year; "Summer 2005 Flower Gardening Series." Classes will be held on the second and fourth Thursdays in June, July and August, from 6:30-8 p.m., at the Fairview Lakes Regional Health Care Center, in Wyoming.

You can call the Extension Office, 651-674-4417, to receive a registration form or download it at www.extension.umn.edu/county/chisago.

Unsafe to prune - high risk period has started

FIELD NOTES: The above advisory was based on the following field observations in east central Minnesota.

1) New oak wilt mats were observed on April 4. Thus, oak wilt spores are available for insect dispersal.

2) Numerous Colopterus truncatus adults were caught in pheromone bait traps March 31-April 4. Colopterus truncatus and Carpophilus sayi account for 98 percent of the nitidulid beetle species found in fresh wounds on healthy oaks during spring in Minnesota. These are the beetles that transfer the spores to healthy trees that are wounded.

MAPLE SYRUP QUESTIONS

The maple syrup production supervisor at the Arboretum said this is the worst year in the 15 years he's been tapping the trees at the Arboretum. He's gotten no sap.

He blames it on the deep frost in the ground due to our light winter snowfall. Once the frost comes out, we need nights below freezing for the sap to start flowing. The latest he's tapped is April 20.

He advises frustrated maple syrup tappers to leave the taps in a while yet and see what the weather is like. However, once the trees start to leaf out, that will be the end of it.

Ways to access information

www.extension.umn.edu/county/chisago

Check out the ‘Hot Topics’ box in the middle of the page for current Chisago County Master Gardener news and events.

You can also click on ‘Ask a Master Gardener’ next to the cute little flower on the right hand side of the page. Here you can search 1000’s of answers from Master Gardeners around the state. If you don’t find your answer, you can submit a question online or search for University publications,

Bell Museum of Natural History

For information about snakes, skunks, raccoons or other wildlife around your yard, call the wildlife information line at (612) 624-1374 or www.bellmuseum.org.

Schedule

June 9––Perennials, A Garden's Backbone

June 23––Shrub Roses, Flowering Shrubs

July 14––Annuals, For Season-Long Bloom

July 28––Ornamental Grasses

Aug. 11––Butterfly Gardening

Aug. 25––Attracting Beneficial Wildlife

---