Article written by Extension Master Gardener℠ Volunteer, Annette Thompson
Winter is a good time to start planning for spring—ordering seed packets, checking on the anticipated last frost date for your area, looking at your vegetable garden plan and planning the crop rotations, servicing your gardening equipment….so much to do!
If your space is limited, consider the concept of “square-foot gardening”. Square foot
gardening is a method for maximizing a small garden by dividing a raised bed into a grid of 1-foot squares to plant a variety of crops. The system saves space, water, and effort by using intensive planting within the squares, which eliminates walking on the soil and compacting it.
A second way to maximize space is vertical gardening—using trellises, cages, poles,
string, netting or other devices to provide vertical growth instead of linear growth, saving space in small gardens. This method is good for cucumbers, some tomato varieties, and pole beans.
Tree pruning can be done at this time of year, end of January, first of February. Begin
pruning when the coldest part of the winter has passed and before new growth begins.
The North Carolina Extension Master Gardener Handbook, 2 nd Edition, offers tips for
effective pruning--Know why and when to prune. Reasons to prune include: 1) to train a young tree, eliminating crossed, competing or broken branches 2) to maintain plant
health—removing damaged, dying or diseased branches 3) to improve the look of the
plant—effective pruning may open up the canopy for improved light penetration as wellas removing suckers and waterspouts. 4) to manage growth and size – this can also best be managed by ensuring you are planting the right plant in the right space 5) to improve safety by removing branches that block driveways, impede traffic or interfere with site lines.
A picture is at the end of this article on how to properly prune a tree branch greater than 2 inches in diameter using the 3-cut method. This method helps ensure healing of the “wound”. Branches less than 2 inches in diameter can be pruned at the point of
attachments or just beyond a bud. Tree cuts should never be coated with pruning-wood paints.
Summer flowering shrubs (butterfly bush, smooth hydrangea, beautyberry, crape myrtle) can be pruned in this area later in the month. These plants bloom on new growth in the current growing season. Please do not commit “crape murdercide” by topping your crape myrtle. Use the pruning strategies listed above—removing dead or diseased limbs, crossing or rubbing limbs, and removing side branches.
This is a good article on pruning shrubs from Clemson Cooperative Extension.
Plot your strategy for sowing your own seedlings for spring transplanting. Check seed packets for germination requirements before getting started. If using old seed packs, do a germination test: place 10 seeds between damp (not soaking wet) paper towels in a labeled plastic bag, keep it in a warm spot, and check daily for sprouts over 3-10 days, then calculate the germination rate (sprouted/total x 10) to see if you need to plant more seeds or buy new ones. A rate of 70% or higher is usually good, while under 50-60% means they're likely unreliable.
