Dreaming about year’s garden
By Rodd Moesel
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Published: January 5, 2009
It is hard to believe that another year has come and gone. But 2008 is now history, and we have entered the future of 2009. Through great times, tough times, uncertain times, two things are certain: Time marches on, and the seasons come and go.
We now are dealing with the cold of winter, but before we know it spring will be upon us followed by another hot summer and then a glorious fall and back to Thanksgiving, Christmas, winter and another new year. This is the customary time to review our lives as we complete one year, and to make new resolutions and set new goals and dreams as we start another year. It also is a good time to review your garden and landscape plans and decide whether there are any new projects you want to tackle this year. For gardeners, that process is aided at this time of year as our mail boxes fill with catalogs from seed, plant and bulb companies touting their newly discovered plants, new varieties and new colors. For higher-tech gardeners, e-mail in-boxes probably are filled with the same treasures or enticements encouraging you to try new vegetables, fruit trees, perennials, annuals, ground covers, roses and other kinds of plants. I always enjoy flipping through these catalogs with enticing pictures and often make a list of new plants I want to try. Make your list, then try to buy these plants at your neighborhood nursery, greenhouse or garden center, which can often give input on what really works in Oklahoma. Information also can be obtained on whether to plant the desired plants in the sun, the shade, in a container or whether there are other special-care requirements. With food prices increasing so dramatically in recent years, you may want to start a vegetable garden with tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, potatoes, onions, melons and other more exotic foods. Or grow a strawberry patch, perhaps adding blackberries, raspberries, grapes or fruit trees to your yard to experience the joy and taste of homegrown food. You may have been dreaming about adding another flowerbed, a pond and water garden, a cutting garden with flowers to liven up your living room or kitchen table. You may have a goal to build a patio or outdoor living area surrounded with container gardens of beautiful tropical plants, or to build a hobby greenhouse. You have to dream it, resolve it and plan it for most things to happen. So, take time to plan what you want to try or add to the yard during the new year. Rodd Moesel serves on the Oklahoma Horticulture Industrial Council and the Oklahoma State University agriculture dean’s advisory committee. He is a former president of the Oklahoma Greenhouse Growers Association. E-mail garden and landscape questions to rmoesel@americanplant.com.
Related Topics:
Culture and Lifestyle, Hobbies and Pastimes, Nature and the Environment, Food and Cooking, Foods, Fruits and Vegetables, House and Home, Flowers, Gardening, Plants
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