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- Cultivating _________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________
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- Cultivating _________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________
- Planting ___________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________
- Sowing____________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________
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- Cultivating _________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________
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- Sowing____________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________
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Monthly Guide
January | February | March | April | May |June | July | August | September | October | November | December
To keep track of your garden's annual life cycle, try a monthly guide and summary like this one. This will provide you with a place to summarize your garden's overall performance last year, climatic conditions in your area, improvements you'd like to make or new plants you'd like to try, and general thoughts about your garden.
Use the monthly guide to record the dates and conditions under which you sow seeds, cultivate, improve the soil, transplant seedlings, feed and fertilize, and prune or harvest. This is a good opportunity to record what plants you have tried to grow and how they performed in you garden. Make notes of plants that don't do well in your existing conditions, and which ones are "keepers". Track bloom times, fruit yields, methods and strategies you found successful as well as mistakes you don't want to make again.
You can also use this section to record chores that need to be completed. For example, seeds for peppers should be started in February in order for them to produce in June. You can also record random ideas, visitor comments, rainfall amounts, temperature changes, or anything else you will want to reference in upcoming months or in future years.
Week 1
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Week 2
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Week 3
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Week 4
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January
With an dreamer's eye looking to warmer days, start planning, sketching, reading, and ordering or buying seeds. With seed catalogs and garden magazines to guide you, start choosing vegetables and flowers for your garden. Pay special attention to the particular climate needs of plants. Choose proven performers for your area, but you can experiment with a few plants that won't show up in everyone else's yard. In southern parts of the country, now is a good time to plant trees and shrubs. After planting, wrap the trunks with burlap to prevent sun and wind burn.Take inventory of your gardening tools and sharpen or replace those that need it. Rub linseed oil or furniture wax on the wooden handles to give them a protective coating and reduce splintering.
February
If you plan to sew your plants from seed, and your target date for
outdoor planting is May 1, you'll need to start some varieties now.
Petunias, snapdragons, wax begonias, impatiens and geraniums
are among those that need a long growing season, 8-12 weeks,
before they are large and strong enough to move outside.
Remember, garden lore suggests that seeds should be sown
and transplanted only when the moon is waxing, never when it
is waning.
Take advantage of February's occasional spring-like day to prune late-summer blooming trees and shrubs. Do not prune spring- flowering trees and shrubs (like azaleas) at this time. Wait until you've enjoyed their spring show. It's a good time to trim climbing roses. Lay and repair garden paths, fix fences, clean pots, organize your shed. When warm weather arrives, it will be harder to find time for this kind of maintenance.
If you have a reliable local source for seeds, plants, and materials, give them priority in your purchases. They know the climatic subtleties of your area and can pass along invaluable advice.
March
Warmer, brighter days will most certainly tempt you into the
garden, but be cautious of starting too soon if you live in the
north. If you live in the south, you should definitely be out
there and starting now. Get plants established before the
intense heat arrives.
Before you start digging, take a handful of soil and squeeze it gently. It should cruble in your hand. If the soil remains intact or falls apart in heavy clumps, it's still too wet to work. It can take several weeks of warm weather for the soil to dry out sufficiently. As soon as you can work it, spade in manure, compost, soil conditioner or other organic material or a balanced fertilizer. On an overcast day, gradually remove the protective mulch covering from shrubs and perennials, if you had them covered. Don't expose them too quickly, as this can cause sun and wind damage to young growth. Pick the flowers from pansies regularly to promote more blooms over a longer period.
Want a sneak preview of spring? Force the branches of some flowering trees and shrubs. After their flower buds have become plump, cut a branch of forsythia, azalea, pussy willow, or any other spring bloomer. Slit or pound the lower two inches of stem with a hammer and submerge the entire branch in water for two or three hours. Place them in front of an light window and watch spring arrive early!
April
Blooms of crocus, daffodil, tulip and hyacinth lead the way
for the spring parade. Bring spring indoors with selective
cuttings, but don't take too many leaves when you pick the
blossoms. Their job of making food for the bulb isn't over
until they turn brown and wither. When leaf buds break on
roses, it's time for spring pruning. Starting now, keep
sprays or dust on roses continually.
Train your lawn to grow deeper roots. Provide water and fertilizer deep down. Too much surface watering and feeding causes the roots to mass near the surface. By late summer, grass without deep roots will be in trouble. Harden off your annuals and perennials that were growing inside before moving them out into the garden. Leave them outside for only about an hour, out of direct sun. Over the next two weeks, gradually increase the length of exposure gradually. Once hardy and acclamated, they are ready to move to their permanent home.
Fertilize perennials w hen they have grown to a height of two to three inches. Young flowering plants should receive frequent, light fertilization, rather than a single heavy dose. Irrigating the beds before fertilizing will help the fertilizer to penetrate the soil. If freezing temperatures should still be predicted in your area, protect tender plants by covering them with protective material. Use a frame to hold material away from the foliage. Heat from a light bulb under the frame will also help on especially cold nights.
June
June is the month of Roses! If you've planted, sprayed,
mulched, dusted, pruned and added tender loving care,
you should be enjoying beautiful, fragrant blooms. If you
didn't plant any, it's not to late to visit your local nursery
and choose from many varieties ready for transplanting.
Many will continue to bloom in your garden all summer.
Consult with your nursery to find the best variety for your
area.
Cut back perennials after they have finished flowering and use some of the growth to start cuttings for new plants. Plant late-blooming heat-resistant annuals like cosmos, marigold, balsam, gaillardia, moss-pink, morning glory, and zinnia. Conserve water and prevent weeds by applying a few inches of mulch around plants and shrubs. Use compost, wood chips, manure or peat moss. The ground should be moist and lightly cultivated before mulching.
By June, chrysanthemums have begun rapid growth. To encourage bushy plants and more flowers, pinch back or remove their tender growing tips about every 10 days. Continue through July.
August Bring new life back to your gardens by replacing your tired out annuals with fresh vegetables! Spinach, beets lettuce, corn, escarole, endive, Chinese cabbage, brussels sprouts, and radishes are among some tasty options that will thrive during the sunny days and crisp nights of autumn. Late summer is the time to divide and move perennials that tend to clump, like daylilies and iris. Discard old inactive sections and replant the young healthy ones. Brighten someone's day by sharing bulbs with a friend or neighbor.
Except in the deep south, now is the time to start ordering spring-flowering bulbs. Narcissus, crocus, grape hyacinth, Dutch iris, and glory-of-the-snow should be available for a late-September or early October planting. Wait until October or Novermber to plant tulips.
Furnish your garden with a birdbath and keep the water fresh and clean. Birds are a natural defense against many insects and an attractive part of our backyard gardens, flowers and trees.
Before winter ice and snow arrive, remove dead branches from trees so they don't break later on. Dead wood is unattractive, and it is a host for insects and fungal diseases.
October/h2> Shorter days and colder nights signal the end of active gardening. Time to clean up and reflect on the successes and failures of the year's growing season. Remove any remaining dead plants from your garden, rake leaves, and trim your lawn. Unless this debris shows signs of disease or pests, you can work it directly into your garden plots where it will decompose and enrich the soil. Also add a balanced fertilizer. Leave the ground rough for the winter so it will catch and retain more moisture to help decomposition.
Don't neglect roses. To ward off pests and disease, they should be dusted as long as they are in active growth. After frost has killed their foliage, dig out bulbs of amaryllis, cannas, dahlias, gladioli, caladium, and tuberous begonias. Dry bulbs in the sun for a few hours and store in a cool, dry place for the winter. Always dig up bulbs rather then pull them up by foliage.
October is a good month to plant most deciduous shrubs and trees in climates where they will have time to establish themselves before really cold weather comes in.
December
While most regions will be experiencing
almost no plant growth, trees and shrubs
will still appreciate an occasional watering.
But don't water so frequently that you
force new growth. If unseasonably
mild temperatures keep the ground
from freezing, water early in the day.
Once every 3 weeks should be fine.
Don't discard your Christmas tree after the holiday season ends. Add its boughs to the mulch protecting perennials. Check stored bulbs to make sure they are in ideal conditions. Dry and cool, about 45 - 55 degrees should keep them plump and firm. Put your Christmas poinsettia in a warm sunny spot where the temperature remains constant and doesn't drop below 60 at night. When leaves begin to fall off in late winter or early spring, move the plant to partial darkness and water lighly once a week. After the danger of frost has past, cut the stems back to within 4 inches from the soil, repot it and plant it, pot and all, in a sunny spot outside. Cuttings taken in June or July should produce Christmas flowers next year. In mild zones, plant the pointsettia where it will recieve no light at night, not even street lights. This total darkness is needed to produce bright blooms.
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