Greenhouses and gardens getting ready for planting season
GRANGER, Ind. -- Spring is in the air, and for most that means warmer days, for others it means getting out into the garden.
Near the end of April, greenhouses and garden centers across Michiana are expecting their number of customers to be growing, but of course the flowers and plants have to be ready by that time
“It’s been planted in the right time so it’ll be ready in May, it would be ready now because the roots aren’t fully formed.”
As Greg Leyes from Ginger Valley Garden Center tells me, for annual plants, the preparation for the spring boom starts months in advance, with planting over the winter months, and developing in nurseries.
“We’ve got a master's degree horticulturist on staff that do this, that do the planting and plan all the planting. So, she knows right when to start them so that when May comes around, and very end of April into May, then they’re ready to go.”
Now of course you could go to a greenhouse and pick out your plants now, however we are still dealing with some colder nights. But gardening professionals around Michiana tell me, the earlier the better.
“The sooner you can get the plants in the ground; you can start developing a root system. Because if it’s going to go like the last two summers, July has been very, very hot and dry, so the more roots you have in the springtime that allows the plants to bring up a lot more water.”
Leyes says most of the annual flowers may still need some time to develop a root system, but the earlier you can get them the fuller they will be by Mother’s Day, typically when greenhouses around Michiana are busiest. If you want to get a jump start in the growing season, something you may want to employ is a transplanting system, as Mark Evans from the Elkhart County Purdue Extension has right at the office. He’s been starting cooler season crops in his bed.
“Planting at the right time of the year and these cool season crops, you know I took a risk here. I thought these would be dead, but they made it. So, you can always push that envelope a little bit”
Something else to watch out for when you are planting this season is the possibility of lead in the soil, if your flowerbed or especially garden are up against an old house. If that is something you are concerned about, your local extension office will be able to help you find a soil testing service for that.