Garden Column for the Salisbury Post
 March 15, 2002
 Darrell Blackwelder

The weather can't seem to make up its mind these days. We've had
quite a bit of uncertainty about the weather over the past few weeks.
This erratic weather has some confused about certain gardening chores,
especially with pruning. Below are a few questions I have received
over the past few days.

Question: Can I prune my hollies back really hard now?  Answer: Mid
March is when I would recommend drastic cuts on hollies, boxwoods and
other evergreen shrubs. However, light pruning to shape these plants can
be done any time of the year.

Question: Is now the time to trim liriope? Answer: Liriope can be
mowed to 4 inches now, however, if we have a sudden bit of frost in
the spring, it could nip tender shoots.. It seems to happen every
spring, yet the plants easily grow out and return to normal later.

 Question: Can I still control chickweed in my lawn?  Answer:
Chickweed will be very difficult to control with post emergence weed
killers such as Trimec or Weed B Gon because the plant is  going
through a physiological change while blooming and does not
adsorb the material as it does during early stages of growth.

Question: What can I do about wild onions?  They seem to be overruning may
lawn.Answer: Wild onions(garlic) can be controlled with the same sprays used to
control other broad leaf plants such as Weed-b-Gon or Trimec. Another herbicide
Image, will also control the weed.

 Question: Can I still prune my peach trees now? Answer: Yes, peaches
and most other fruit trees including grapes can still be pruned at
this date.   Excessive bleeding may occur on grapes, but they normally
recover with no problem

Question: Is it too early to plant a vegetable garden? Answer: It's too
early to plant some warm season vegetables such as tomato and squash, however, its getting late to plant cool season vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower,beets, turnips, radishes,potatoes, and other cool season crops. Use transplants whenever possible with these crops for quicker start.

 Question: Can I plant potatoes that we eat from the grocery store?  Answer:
Youcan, but your results will not be as good if you had used seed
potatoes.  Seed potatoes are treated for diseases and are true to
type. If you're going to go to all the trouble to plant, then spend a
little more money and use seed potatoes.

Question: When can I take my houseplants outdoors? Answer: The last
frost­ free date for this area is around April 15, however, I would
wait until May 1 to take plants out doors.  I have observed snow
showers in mid April.  Even though we may have some warm weather, its best
to wait until the threat of frost is over.