Gardening Q&A
By Bill Geer
Published: March 1, 2001
Q: What are some landscape tips for early spring?
A: Spring color will soon fill the landscape. To produce the best show, it's a good time to do a little cleaning in the yard. Remove perennial foliage, trim ornamental grasses and prune shrubs to get your yard ready for spring.
Perennial plants come up each year from crowns or bulbs. You'll want to remove last year's foliage and stems so they don't get mixed in with the new foliage. For most perennials, simply cut or break off the dead stems at ground level.
Here are some recommended cutting heights for ornamental grasses.
Liriope (Monkeygrass): Mow or cut within 2-3 inches from the ground.
Mondograss and Dwarf Liriope: Mow or cut within 1/2 inch from the ground.
Fountain grass: Cut back to 10-12 inches above the ground.
Pampas grass: Cut at 14-18 inches above the ground.
Reed grass: Cut back to 6-10 inches above the ground.
Late February and early March is also a good time to trim shrubs that bloom in the summer or fall. Rose-of- Sharon, Goldflame spirea and crepe myrtle are three commonly grown summer- flowering deciduous shrubs. These shrubs should be pruned as needed to provide an aesthetically pleasing shape.
Wait to prune spring- flowering shrubs until after they bloom.
Evergreen shrubs have a flush of growth in the early spring, and by shearing them in late February, new growth will soon hide any cuts made. Shrubs that are part of a formal hedge should be trimmed flat on top. The sides should be cut on an angled plane that makes the shrub wider closest to the ground.
A power hedge clipper is a good tool for creating dense formal looking hedges. It is harder to get uniform, flat- sheared surfaces with hand hedge shears.
It's also a good time to take a soil sample to prepare your lawn or garden for spring plantings. Dig down 6 inches, take about 10 samples this way. Mix these samples together and bring in two cups of soil in a clean container to the Oklahoma State University Extension Center, 930 N Portland. There is a $10 charge, and it takes about two weeks to receive the results. Recommendations will be made on the amount of fertilizer to use.
Q: What are some of the newest rose varieties available?
A: Each year the All-America Rose Selections announces its pick of the finest new roses. The winners for 2001 provide radiant color choices for rose lovers.
Glowing Peace: This rose is ahead of the pack with its blend of golden yellow and cantaloupe orange, 3-inch-wide flowers. Its light tea fragrance adds to the enriching experience of this rose. Glowing Peace is a round, bushy grandiflora that will reach 4 feet in height and 3 feet in width. The dark green foliage is disease resistant and turns burgundy in the fall. Conard-Pyle Co. has introduced this French House of Meilland rose in the United States.
Sun Sprinkles: Bright yellow, double flowers cover this miniature rose. Each flower is 2 inches wide with 25-30 petals. The fragrance is moderately spicy with overtones of musk. This upright miniature rose will grow to a height and width of 18 to 24 inches. The foliage is dark, glossy green and has excellent disease resistance. Bear Creek Gardens Inc. has introduced Sun Sprinkles.
Marmalade Skies: Oh, how we love orange. This floribunda rose sports brilliant tangerine-orange, double blooms. You'll enjoy its 3- inch-wide blooms from spring until fall frost. Since it is a floribunda, 5 to 8 flowers are produced in clusters making the show of color outstanding. This is another House of Meilland rose introduced in the United States by Conard-Pyle Co.
All-America Rose Selections winners are selected each year after two years of testing across the United States. Roses are rated for 15 traits including disease resistance, hardiness, color and novelty. For more information, check the Web at www.rose.org.
