Though we may be withering for lack of sun, all this rainy weather has had the opposite effect on our perennials. They’re stretching and expanding by the day. Of course, I am finally able to notice this because I was finally able to clear my garden from last year’s debris.
I know I need to practice what I preach. But my beds are clear now and it’s not too late for you, too, if you’ve waited to perform this necessary chore.
If you’re digging a new bed or preparing an existing one for planting, don’t forget to wait until the soil dries out enough to work it properly. If you squeeze a handful of soil and it remains a slimy lump, it’s too wet to work and you could damage its structure by trying.
Of course, slimy soil lumps can also indicate too high a clay content and is probably the problem if the weather has been fairly dry. On the flip side, if you squeeze your soil and it doesn’t stick together at all, it has too high a sand content.
Either too much sand or too much clay means your soil needs to be amended; either extreme benefits from the addition of organic matter. Compost, composted manure, peat moss, and leaf mold are all excellent choices to add nutrients to the soil, to increase its capacity to hold water, to loosen clay soils, and to stick particles together. You might call it the miracle cure for sickly soils.
If your garden suffers from extreme clay, gypsum might be its best remedy. Tilled in at a rate of about five pounds per 100 square feet, gypsum improves clay soil’s drainage almost immediately.
It’s also a good idea to add a complete fertilizer to your soil as well. When selecting a fertilizer, choose one with 5-10-5 or 5-10-10 ratios of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. They are available in organic mixtures as well as the more familiar chemical blends.
I enjoyed exploring my emerging perennials this week. One of my favorite spring bloomers is Alchemilla mollis, commonly known as lady’s mantle. This mounding plant grows about 15 inches tall and is hardy to zone 3.
The flowers are a glowing chartreuse, blooming above the leaves from June through August. But I wouldn’t care whether my plants bloomed or not because it is the beautiful, deeply lobed leaves that remain attractive all season that I feel are the chief attraction of this plant. The slight hairy texture of these leaves catches the morning dew, which sparkles like crystal beads along the edges and in the cups of the leaves.
Lady’s mantle should be planted in moist, well-drained soil. Though it prefers partial shade, it tolerates full sun in my garden. It looks magnificent next to almost anything but especially with roses and Siberian iris.
Although the plants can be divided in spring or fall, they almost never require division.
It looks like we may be in for a sunny weekend at last. I hope you have time to get out and enjoy your garden.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
