• About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Pickem Terms and Conditions
Saturday, May 24, 2025
The Platte County Landmark Newspaper
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Pickem!
    • Weekly Pickem Updates
    • Results by Week
    • The Leaderboard
    • Pickem Rules and Help
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • es_MXSpanish
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Pickem!
    • Weekly Pickem Updates
    • Results by Week
    • The Leaderboard
    • Pickem Rules and Help
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • es_MXSpanish
No Result
View All Result
The Platte County Landmark Newspaper
No Result
View All Result

Garden tips for May in this area

George Edward Weigel by George Edward Weigel
May 6, 2020
in The Garden Guy
9
SHARES
216
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via Email

M​ay garden tips for this area: Spring is here and the garden is beckoning; first dig into the growing season by tackling an easy lawn and garden to-do list. It’s always better to have a plan before you start any type of gardening. As you know gardening here in the Midwest can be a little tricky. So here are some tips to help you have a good experience with your gardening. The key to success with any plant starts in the roots. Strong healthy roots need good drainage, aeration and lots of organic matter to grow and thrive. Also many of you know frost is still a possibility in much of the Midwest this month; so I always use Mother’s Day as a safe date to plant. Example the forecast for this weekend is for a chance of frost. If you have put out some plants already; just be ready to cover them. For those of you that want some early-May color, choose plants that withstand chilly spring nights: snapdragons, sweet alyssum, pansy, or fragrant flowering stock. If you are going with hanging baskets, choose annuals like fuchsia and bacopa, which won’t wilt during cool nights. Annual sweet potato vines, nasturtium, and impatiens are frost-tender and can’t take even a light frost. Early spring is an ideal time to divide summer- and fall-flowering perennials. Try to tackle the task before plants reach 6 inches tall. Also don’t forget to water newly transplanted divisions. Not sure if you need to divide?

Ask yourself these questions: Are clumps too big and crowding other plants? Has flowering been reduced during the last growing season(s)? Does new growth ring a dead spot in the middle? Do you want more starts of that perennial?

RelatedNews

Time to start planting those seedlings

Lawns, gardens: It all starts with the soil

Stay busy with gardening while you’re at home

Dividing Perennials: Save money in your garden and keep your perennials healthy by dividing them properly. Follow our helpful guide to get the job done right. It never hurts to divide your perennials. Dividing your perennials will help keep them healthy, beautiful, in bounds, and will make more plants for future plantings. The reasons for dividing are endless. Many perennials grow quickly, forming large clumps. If you don’t divide them every three to four years, these clumps can die out in the middle, leaving a bare hole. Overcrowding these perennials can lead to fewer and/or smaller flowers than their well-spaced and divided counterparts-division keeps the blooms bountiful. Dividing vigorous plants will help keep them from overwhelming their neighbors. Dividing also leaves you with more plants of the same variety-perfect for adding to other places in the garden or trading with friends, family, or neighbors. Here are all of the ins and outs of dividing your perennials so they last for years to come. While you can divide most perennials any time from spring to fall, those two seasons are best. This is because dividing your perennials can be stressful on the plants-and they’ll recover better from the shock in cool, moist conditions. That being said, if you want to divide your favorite perennials in summer, be sure to keep them well watered afterward. As far as your plants go, wait to divide them until they’re large enough to make several clumps out of them. Perennials such as asters, hostas can be divided easily with no hassle. All you need is a shovel and work gloves to get the job done. Follow these simple steps to reach healthy-looking perennials. Dig up the clump of perennials that will be divided. To do this, insert the shovel deep into the soil around the perimeter to loosen the roots and isolate the clump. You can even use a garden fork or spade to help separate the roots.

Tip: Watering the perennial a couple of days before you dig it up will soften the soil and save you effort.

Force your shovel or garden fork under the root ball and lever the ball up and down to loosen and position it on the shovel. Then, lift the shovel and root ball. Try to keep the root system as intact as you can. Once you dig the plant out of the ground, shake, wash, or brush any excess soil from around the root ball-this makes it easier to pull the clump apart. Pry or cut apart individual crowns. Each clump needs to have sets of leaves and roots in order to grow. Then, replant the divisions promptly so the roots don’t dry out. Plant the roots same depth as they were before and water well. Cover the soil with mulch to help conserve moisture while your new divisions become established. While most perennials benefit from being divided every few years, there are a few that don’t. Avoid dividing these varieties: Baptisia, Bleeding heart, Butterfly weed, Christmas rose, Gas plant, Lavender. “If you are just a beginner or been at gardening for a while; all this information about gardening you can find in my book (THE BLUE BARN) google www. george edward weigel book blue barn. com

You can purchase my books (The Blue Barn) and/or (An-Apple-A-Day) google (www. iUniverse publishing. com) Books, Author: george edward weigel

FOOTNOTE: George Weigel, a Platte County resident, is the founder of Cedar Creek Research, and a freelance writer and a published author specializing in nutrition and organic garden strategies. He is a member of the National Home Gardening Club; member and supporter of Arbor Day Foundation, National Wildlife Federation.

Tags: platte county
George Edward Weigel

George Edward Weigel

George Edward Weigel is a freelance writer and published author specializing in organic gardening strategies to incorporate natural and biodiversity concepts without using any dangerous chemicals. He has grown gardens of all kinds and has studied and experimented in garden methods with a focus on high outputs without depleting the earth's resources or polluting its environment.

Weigel lives in the Northland and always looks forward to spring to get started on planting and all through the summer harvesting the bounty. He studied nutrition and worked in the medical field for many years before retiring from the American Academy of Family Physicians. He believes you should protect your health by living an active lifestyle and eating natural foods for vitamin and mineral benefits.

Weigel recognizes the need for people to be able to grow their own food for cost and safety and to be sure they are getting the most nutrition their garden. It's vital to choose foods with integrity, fresh, natural and unadulterated produce is best. Fresh from the garden always trumps weeks of storage and transit from great distances. The purpose of writing books and this column is to enable people to grow their own fresh and healthy food, beautiful flower beds, etc. He likes to share years of tried and true methods, knowledge and experience.

He feels gardening is something to enjoy, and is not only great physically, but mentally as well.

Related Posts

45 Years Ago–May 23, 1980

by Ivan Foley
May 22, 2025
0

Former President Gerald Ford, in a Platte County appearance Saturday, described President Jimmy Carter as a man who “tries to make himself a hero out of disasters he has created” and likened him to an arsonist “who starts fires and...

30 Years Ago–May 25, 1995

by Ivan Foley
May 22, 2025
0

Joseph Gates had always told his wife, Juanita, and their nine children that he would buy Juanita a new car if he won the Missouri Lottery. So when he came home from work on May 14 and announced that a...

15 Years Ago–May 26, 2010

by Ivan Foley
May 22, 2025
0

Riverside police opened a homicide investigation this week after entering an apartment to check the welfare of a man who had reportedly failed to appear at his place of employment for several days. The man was found dead in his...

Letter to the Editor

Words about Randy

by Landmark Digital
May 22, 2025
0

EDITOR: First of all my sincere condolences to you and your entire family on the loss of your brother, Randy. When I got your paper yesterday I immediately opened it to the middle, which I never do, and saw your...

Next Post
Platte County Prosecutor: Still a crime to violate health orders

Prosecutor: Still a crime to violate health orders

Popular News

  • Jeff Wilson

    Police have suspect in string of Platte City burglaries

    32 shares
    Share 13 Tweet 8
  • Surgery Center of Northland being built in Platte City

    50 shares
    Share 20 Tweet 13
  • KC’s curfew, backyard chickens, selfie stations

    10 shares
    Share 4 Tweet 3
  • ‘Guilt by association’ ends appointment talk

    7 shares
    Share 3 Tweet 2
  • Amenities being added to Park at Platte Meadows

    6 shares
    Share 2 Tweet 2
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Pickem Terms and Conditions
Call us at 816-858-0363

Copyright © 2019-2020 The Platte County Landmark Newspaper - All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Subscribe Online
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Pickem
    • Results by Week
    • The Leaderboard
    • Pickem Rules and Help
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • es_MXSpanish

Copyright © 2019-2020 The Platte County Landmark Newspaper - All Rights Reserved