A matter of Thyme

It’s planting season. You know it was only a matter of thyme. Herbs are a fun way to get your hands in the dirt and play. Herbs are com-”plant”-able with containers liking warm soil and plenty of sunlight. Containers can be moved inside if needed on frosty April evenings.  Containers will also hold rambling herbs like the various Mints in bounds as opposed to running rampant in your garden beds. Herbs have been used through “thyme” and memorial by the Greeks, Egyptians and ancient Romans as well as the Chinese. Nothing new here. Herbaceous plants have been used for flavorings, scent, food and medicinal purposes for centuries. Herbs and there aroma can trigger some of the strongest and enduring memories for a gardener….we never forget a good whiff. For me it’s Cilantro, a favorite, along with Basil, Lavender and Oregano and Nepeta. How about you? Parsley? Chocolate or Lemon Mint? Regardless it’s “grow” time when you use a good quality container soil and containers that are sizeable enough for root mass but not too large to move into the sun or under cover in the event of a frost event. Some people will tell you not to feed the herbs in your container or they will lose their scent and oils. My position is to feed them, but do it with a slow release fertilizer designed for container growing like Osmecote. You may want to also add a few crystal polymers to the soil to help you with watering even though herbs are more tolerant of some water neglect than other herbaceous plants. The idea is to avoid high nitrogen and quick release fertilizers when growing herbs.

Finally make sure to add a few flowers with your herb container. I like a few edible Pansies or Violas like this one called “Blueberry Thrill.” Another great edible flowering plant to add would be Nasturtiums. If you have some “Thyme” on your hands and a container Herbs may be the answer to get you growing!

 

Free Fertilizer

You can’t beat saving some green while greening your plants. Free fertilizer while you sleep. I’m talking about those wonderful overnight April thunderstorms where the next day everything outside seems greener. It’s not a “fig-leaf” of your imagination. Lightning provides the kick in the “plants” to the spring landscape. Nitrogen plays a critical role in photosynthesis and plant growth. We are surrounded by nitrogen in our atmosphere, but plants must secure their nitrogen in a “fixed” form. This can be done synthetically by the homeowner  picking up a bag of fertilizer at the garden center. It can be done biologically through decay or micro-organisms and bacteria in the soil in association with nitrogen fixing plants or legumes like clover.

Nitrogen fixing clover and the grass as well as other plant life show their green after a spring thunderstorm

It can also be done in an abiotic or atmospheric way via a good lightning storm. Air has nitrogen gas but it is inert and can’t be used by the plants until lightning converts unusable nitrogen into fixed nitrogen. Super charged lightning ionizes the air and the nitrogen oxides are carried by the rain as usable form of greening power. That faint ammonia like odor in the air after lightning is the atmospheric “hotline” answering nature’s call for more greening power in the form of “fixed” nitrogen. Plants can receive and use the greening power of nitrogen as nitrate ions, ammonia or urea. Even though atmospheric nitrogen generated by lightning may produce only 5 to 10 percent of a plant’s nitrogen needs, it is a dramatic way to light up the landscape in green after a spring storm!

“Spring” it on!

This year it feels like we moved from fall right into summer. Record temperatures in March transitioned us from a “non”-winter to summer-like weather. The landscape woke up from it’s winter slumber with a bang similar to someone clanging pots and pans over your head while you’re sleeping.

Magnolia in bloom March 21, 2012

In the matter of just a week soil temperatures rocketed into the 60′s. Last year we didn’t see soil temperatures in the 60′s until well into May.  GDD accumulations (growing degree days) climbed at daily rates of 20 GDD plus getting us to 175 GDD when last year at the same time we were at 7. This past Wednesday we added 22.5 GDD in one day with a high temperature of 83 degrees and low temperature of 62 degrees. The landscape responded by exploding to life 3 to 4 weeks before “normal” dates. Take for example a tree like Bradford Callery Pear. The tree in a “normal” spring would bloom at around 165 GDD or an average date of around April 15-25. This year ornamental pear trees exploded into color on Thursday March 22.

Ornamental Pears blooming by March 22, 2012

In addition to the ornamental pears, other blooming landscape plants burst into bloom at the same time from Magnolias to Redbuds, from Cherries to Flowering Crabs, from Forsythia to PJM Rhododendrons, no gradual blooming this year as they all went “Ka-Bloom” at the same time.

Weather conditions in March 2012 caused the landscape to explode from Daffodils to Forsythia it's all blooming at once!

Crabgrass controls should be applied now with the soaring ground temperatures. Let’s hope we can avoid some hard frosts in the next few weeks as bloom and tender growth has emerged on many plants from 2 to 4 weeks earlier than normal! We have to let nature take it’s course so “spring” it on baby!

Ka Bloom!

West Michigan is exploding into color early this spring. Unusually warm temperatures have awakened the landscape weeks earlier than last spring. Growing Degree Day (GDD) numbers and soil temperatures have been climbing quickly causing plants to emerge and bloom earlier than normal. Enjoy these pictures taken March 16, 2012.

Crocus in Bloom

Hellebores in bloom

Lenten Rose

Peony emergence March 16, 2012

Witch Hazel blooming March 16, 2012

Easter colors with summer temperatures March 16, 2012

“Mow”-mentum

It appears we will all be the beneficiaries of an early spring this year. Whether you’re a runner, golfer, biker or gardener we will all benefit from an early start to spring 2012. Certainly an earlier start than the springs of 2010 and 2011. With little frost in the ground from an unseasonably warm winter followed by March sunshine, the soil temperatures will warm quickly causing the earth to wake from it’s winter slumber. With daylight saving time I look forward to running outside after work instead of the monotonous circuit of an indoor track. With warmer weather our winter habits change to the fresh air exercise of a good run or gardening project. With an early spring we are able to establish “mow”-mentum as I call it, and I run from winter and don’t look back.

Gardeners like to use the phrase, “you can’t control the weather.” “Whether” you like it or you are along for the ride and are swept up in its dictates. I found running can be the same way. You train and prepare for race day, but there is nothing like the flow…the momentum…the energy of being in a pack of runners at the start.

River Bank Run Start 10K 2011

In this picture you can find me in the pack of runners at the 2011 Fifth Third River Bank Run. It was a cold windy day with snow flurries in the air. At the bottom of the picture near the center I’m #8488 dressed in black wearing the blue cap and for some reason looking to the skies before the start. I don’t recall if I was seeking divine guidance or dreaming of sunny warmer days. All I know is that I enjoy the start of a race. You can feel the excitement in the air, the anticipation and the positive tension as you jostle for position with other runners at the start. After a mile or two as the mass of humanity starts to thin a little you find your pace and regulate your breathing…….you my friend have experienced positive momentum.

The same applies in our “yardening” efforts as spring breaks and we’re out mowing the lawn with our neighbors. Once we’ve dusted off that lawn mower from it’s long winter nap and it roars to life you’ve experienced spring “mow”-mentum. Here’s hoping that spring and a new season provides some “lawn” and order in your life. Now get out there and move.

Wake up your Lawn!

It’s time to get “growing”….it’s been a long winter and I want to see green grass don’t you? Then it’s time to wake up your lawn. To do so I’ve always taken a word from the wise as in Ben Franklin and applied gypsum to my lawn. Found throughout the world , gypsum got the name Plaster of Paris from rich deposits near the French capital. It was ambassador to France Ben Franklin who recognized the value of gypsum as a soil amendment and fertilization agent. The story goes that he applied gypsum on a clover field so that the words “this has been plastered” were written in gypsum on the middle of the field and could be read. It was also Franklin who said “He that rises late must trot all day”. I take Ben’s advice and wake up my lawn in spring every year with a healthy dose of gypsum.

Gypsum Pellets

Gypsum or calcium sulfate will provide better nutrient uptake especially nitrogen for a greener lawn. It does not change your soil pH and improves aeration in heavy or compacted soils by flocculation of soil particles. It is perfect for lawns under the strain of salt issues from winter application of ice melter or dog urine deposits making the soil “sodic.” The calcium in gypsum pellets will release the sodium from the soil particles and be flushed from the root zone. It is not a substitute for use of a core aerator or the addition of organic matter, but it is a temporary solution to “wake up your lawn”. The flocculation improves penetration of nutrients and water into the root zone decreasing runoff and improving drainage.

Core Aeration

Diseases can become more prevalent in heavy and compacted soils due to slow permeability.

I read a study that lawns where calcium sulfate was applied had a 22% increase in clipping weight of Kentucky Bluegrass! Even though calcium is generally readily available in Michigan soils, the calcium and sulfur are beneficial as part of a fertility program for lawns. Calcium is a an essential plant nutrient important for cell wall integrity. It is very beneficial as a constituent in the soil to maintain good soil structure and to improve overall nutrient availability. Sulfur is also an essential plant nutrient. It’s primary role is to increase the efficiency of nitrogen use in plants. It is active in making contributions to chlorophyll formation essential to all growing plants. As a result, visually your grass will be much darker green where sulfur is used as part of a fertility program.

Gypsum pellets today are available in granular form making it easy to apply. Much easier than the baking powder consistency Ben Franklin had to deal with years ago when he too understood the power of gypsum to wake up your lawn and garden!

Spring into Action

If you are going to try cross-country start with a small country. I love that phrase because it applies to both running and gardening, two activities I enjoy. It’s actually well “rooted” and well “footed” advice for those getting started. I believe when you take up running you slowly but surely develop a love for it as you increase distances and improve your time.

River Bank Run at 5 mile point 10K

Suddenly that day comes when you find yourself addicted to finding time to go for a run. The same applies to gardening. After a long winter I find some people decide to go all out on gardening and landscaping biting off more than they can chew. When the summer heat and weeds arrive their passion wanes. Approaching both passions in bite size pieces you learn as you “grow” and understand your rewards come from approaching it as a marathon and not a sprint.

Spring is a wonderful season. A call to “spring” into action after a long winter. The earth comes to life and we get outdoors for fresh air, sunshine and physical activities. For those who have never run the Fifth Third River Bank Run, now in its 35th year, I suggest you try it. Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow. I’ve found that is true for running, for gardening and for life in general.

With gardening I was always taught that if you haven’t killed a plant you’re not trying hard enough. Those who claim to have a “brown thumb” I always encourage to stay in the game. When it comes to running train properly and be prepared. Stay in the game understanding there will be good days and there will be bad days. That’s OK……that’s life. Runners like to say “time wounds all heels”. The rewards come from challenging yourself. Just do it smart…..in bite size pieces. Start with a 5K or a 10K race.

Fifth Third River Bank Run Finish

Whatever the event at the Fifth Third River Bank Run, you’ll feel the adrenaline rush surrounded by a multitude of other runners at the start line and the personal satisfaction of crossing the finish line. And with gardening, don’t expect to master Hydrangeas, Gardenias and Orchids until you’ve dabbled with a few Tomato and Pepper plants. Whatever you do just don’t throw in the “trowel.” Stay in the game and spring into action.