Where, Oh Where Has Our Winter Gone?
I went away for a week and while I was gone, winter sneaked out. I got back and found that he had taken all ten inches of the snow we had left with him. There sat my garden wrapped only in its mulch. Now we have had a week of dry, warm, windy weather and, as the frost leaves the soil, the moisture is all going with it. The winter has been so mild that many of my perennials remained evergreen under the snow. Down in my community garden plot the quack grass I couldn't conquer last year was already green as the snow melted away. Snowdrops are blooming and the early tulip foliage is up. The silver maples down the street are blooming. What's so strange about it? It's all about a month early. The temperatures are up and the weather records are falling like dominoes. We've even had three consecutive nights when the temperature did not go below freezing. This is supposed to be Minnesota not Knoxville, TN!
Everyone is out. Release from cabin fever brings us out in droves - walkers, joggers, cyclists, strollers, dog-walkers, skaters. It's great! The greatest problem is that people want to get busy in their gardens too, but we have to be aware of the things we shouldn't do yet.
We shouldn't rake the grass. The ground is still too wet and the tender crowns can be easily damaged.
Don't seed, the ground isn't warm enough for germination yet and though the surface is warm enough, the deep layers aren't and the little seedlings would perish during cloudy stretches when the cold seeps back up from below.
Don't put down the crab grass preventer. It begins to lose its effectiveness after about 30 days and it will be longer than that before the weeds germinate.
Don't fertilize. Nothing is growing to be able to use it yet and much will leach away along with the price you paid for it.
The mulch should not be removed, because winter can't be truly over yet. Our last killing frost averages May 12 in the Twin Cities. That's more than two months away. After a winter like this one, I might gamble on a couple of weeks earlier this year, but not two months earlier! If you just can't help yourself and have to take it off, at least keep a pile of it handy for that inevitable night when the temperature plummets and your naked plants need it.
Latest Articles