Despite the chilly breaks lately, the signs of springtime are making their presence known. From the return of hummingbirds to the time for gardening preparation, you’ll be seeing more bursts of color in no time.
Here’s your to do list: 1. Foliar-feed your fruit trees, as well as other trees and shrubs, to give them a boost of nutrients as they leaf out.
2. Mulch, mulch and more mulch! Add a thick layer around plants and beds to retain moisture, suppress weeds, and regulate soil temperature.
3. Pull weeds while the soil is moist — April showers and heavy morning dew make this job much easier.
4. Deadhead spent blooms on geraniums, pansies, snapdragons, stock and calendulas. Removing faded flowers encourages the plants to keep blooming.
5. Check your watering system. Look for cracked hoses, clogged or ant-filled spray nozzles, and make sure your drip irrigation is in good working order.
6. Apply beneficial nematodes if you haven’t already — now’s the time.
Hummer Food Making hummingbird food is simple, and there’s no need to boil a gallon of water. The standard nectar ratio is 4:1 — four parts water to one part sugar. So, if you’re using 4 cups of sugar, you’ll end up with 16 cups (or 1 gallon) of nectar. But don’t worry, you don’t need to heat the entire gallon. The goal is just to dissolve the sugar, so heating 4 cups of water is plenty. You can use hot water straight from the tap, microwave it, or heat it in a tea kettle — whichever is easiest.
Start by placing 4 cups of sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add your 4 cups of hot water and whisk until the sugar completely dissolves. This gives you a sugar water concentrate. From there, pour half of the concentrate into each of two ½-gallon containers. We like to reuse our old glass apple juice jugs for this, but you can use whatever is convenient for you — just make sure the containers have tight-fitting lids. Once the concentrate is divided, top each container off with plain, cool water to complete the 4:1 nectar ratio. Secure the lids and give the containers a good shake or swirl to mix.
In short, you’re creating a hummingbird nectar concentrate that you can store and dilute easily. It’s an efficient method that saves time and skips the hassle of boiling a full gallon of water.
Green Onions
Green onions, also called scallions, are super easy to grow and perfect for your home garden. They do best in full sun and well-drained, fertile soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. Y’all can start by sowing seeds directly into the soil about ¼ inch deep or go with transplants or sets. Space them out about 2–3 inches apart so they’ve got room to grow. You can plant them in early spring or late summer.
Make sure to keep the soil consistently moist— not soaked, just damp enough so the roots stay happy. Weeding regularly helps keep competition down and giving them a balanced fertilizer once they get going will help them grow strong and flavorful.
When your green onions reach about 6–8 inches tall and the stems are pencil-thick, you’re ready to harvest. Just pull them gently or snip them near the base.
Green onions don’t give you too much trouble when it comes to pests but keep an eye out for onion thrips or root maggots. A great companion plant for green onions to help repel onion thrips is carrots. The strong scent of carrots can confuse or deter thrips and other pests that target onions. Plus, onions and carrots don’t compete heavily for nutrients, making them good garden neighbors.
With just a bit of care, y’all will have a steady supply of fresh green onions for salads, stir-fries, and everything in between.
Till next time. Keep your souls and soles in your garden. Remember the True Master Gardener: Jesus said, “I am the vine; my Father is the Gardener.” John 15:1 Have questions or comments? Contact Martelle Luedecke (512) 769-3179 at [email protected] or Bill at email [email protected].
