Spring is Here - Southern Oregon
Spring is here now, and that makes it time for these garden projects.
Weeding and garden bed cleanups - now that the soil is moist and easy to work from the rains, this makes it a great time to root em out as they are coming up. This also ideal conditions for digging out tree, shrub, ivy, and blackberry roots.
Pruning - this is one of the best seasons to prune your shrubs and trees. Full pruning’s and restructurings are best done in the early spring, late fall, and winter.
Pictured to the right is a dogwood tree I just fully restructured in Southern Oregon - this is a great example of the work of art you can create in your garden!
Soil Amending & Fertilizing - After you've weeded your garden beds and done your pruning, the next step is adding fertilizer specific to the plants and soil you are working with, and then locking it all in with a top dressing of the soil best for the bed and plants there.
Planting - This is an ideal time to be getting your bulbs and tubers - like iris, gladiolas, tulips, daffodils, and the beautiful kaleidoscopic Dahlias (pictured below) in the ground! They all LOVE this type of weather.
Shrubs, berries, and trees are also best planted this time of year. Late fall is even better for trees and shrubs, but as long as you have irrigation spring works too, you just won't have 6 months of buffer and rains before the dry/hot summer. Which is why I recommend planting trees and shrubs in the late fall.
In the Rogue Valley of Southern Oregon, the best seasons for your soil work, planting, and pruning projects are generally spring, fall, and winter. With hot summers that often come along with drought and fires, you don't want to be investing in planting without proper irrigation to cover that time of year. As I mentioned above - fall is ideal because you have 6 months of often cooler, overcast, and wetter weather to help your plants get started in their new soil homes before they are nailed with the often hot and dry summers here. You can plant in spring too, but the earlier the better - March through April.
Here is my latest testimonial - complete with pictures of the lovely hyacinth and crabapple bud there.
"Brian worked wonders on our garden. We hired him to do a clean-up, weeding, plant care, and pruning in our overgrown garden infested with vinca. It's not an easy garden - consisting of several beds surrounded by large field stones with gravel paths running through it. He also groomed the entire front of the property, including a small fenced garden at the side of the house.
Before beginning Brian took careful notes, clarified murky issues, and then went to work. He is fast, careful, neat, knowledgeable, and a pleasure to have around. We were especially impressed with his precise separation of weedy growth from plants we wanted to keep. For example, a patch of sweet woodruff had been nearly obscured by henbit and he managed to extract the weed and leave the sweet woodruff.
Brian preserved the informal feel of the beds and paths, carefully grooming them clearing out deadwood and weeds, and opening up overgrown plants. His pruning expertise shows in every shrub and tree that he touched, and the garden looks fresh, neat and happy again. We are enjoying the garden in its tidy state very much!
Also, our garden is a bird sanctuary and it’s essential that it be kept free of toxins of all kinds, and that he accomplished his work without resorting to any chemicals. We couldn't be more pleased and recommend him without reservation."
Harry & Kate Fuller
Ashland, OR
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