SUMMER SALE SERIES
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JUNE GARDENING TIPS
Achillea (Yarrow) & Purple Prairie Clover
JUNE GARDENING TIPS
June is here and gardening season is in full swing! We have longer days of sun, warmer temperatures and the flowers are abundant. Now while working in the garden you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor, picking fresh flowers, nibbling on fresh veggies and berries, watching pollinators at work and enjoying all the summer scents.
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VEGETABLE GARDENS
We are still in the midst of our planting season and this is a great time for planting! All the warm season vegetables can go in now: tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, beans, corn and squash. A second crop of most of the spring plants can also go in now: lettuce, arugula, carrots and beets. Stake vines and veggies as needed. Mulch or top dress around vegetables to prevent weeds and conserve moisture. Our new favorite mulch is Leaf Mold. Ask about it at the nursery.
PRUNE
Pinch terminal buds on rhododendrons for more flowers next year.
Prune spring flowering shrubs immediately after they flower (lilacs for example)
Lightly prune boxwood after they show new growth to get a pleasing shape.
WEED
Stay ahead of weeds! Fill in holes with more plants, that helps keep out the weeds.
MULCH
Apply fresh mulch if you have not done so already. Add or mulch with Leaf Mold. We carry bagged Coast of Maine mulches as well.
FERTILIZE
If not done so already it is a good time to feed anything that is already in the ground. Use a time release fertilizer to avoid burning plant roots and give gentle nutrients that will last for several months.
Use organic fertilizers. The Espoma fertilizers break down slowly and are packed with micronutrients in addition to the three macronutrients Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium.
For quicker nutrient availability, water it in using a liquid fertilizer. Ask about our organic liquid fertilizers at the Garden Center.
ANNUALS
Plant out your containers, window boxes and garden beds with annuals. Don’t forget to deadhead your flowers to encourage more and enhance the appearance of beds and containers. Add slow-release organic fertilizer when planting, then give them a weekly snack with a quarter-strength liquid fertilizer.
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Oenothers Siskiyou Pink
Phlox divaricata (woodland phlox) with Euphorbia polychromatic
Delphinium, Foxglove with Yarrow and Oenothers Siskiyou Pink
WATER
Water consistently!
All the newly planted or transplanted plants need to be watered deeply 1 to 2 times a week depending on whether or not we get rain and how sunny it is.
The best rule of thumb for trees and woody shrubs is water once a day for the first week to get the soil good and moist around the root system. Then once a week for the first year if there is not a good rain. July and August are usually the most important months to water.
A “deep water” depends on the precipitation rate, for example holding a hose full flow on a shrub would only need a few minutes while a sprinkler that covers a large area should run an hour as long as there is not run off.
Morning is a good time to water because there will not be as much evaporation as when it is sunny and hot. It is a myth that watering in the heat of the day the water drops will be magnified by the sun and burn the leaves. If that were so it would happen every time there is a shower and then the sun comes out.
A 1 to 3 inch layer of mulch helps slow down evaporation and is very beneficial for plants. The mulch also breaks down over time and becomes organic matter which helps hold moisture and nutrients.
Vineyard Gardens can help you out with your watering needs, from a basic watering service to installing an irrigation system. We’d be happy to evaluate your needs and give a quote. We do hand water, especially newly planted beds or trees and shrubs.
APRIL GARDENING TIPS
Dogwood illustration by karen blackerby logan
APRIL GARDENING TIPS
April is the start of the gardening season. Here are some tips to get your yard ready for summer!
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GARDEN CLEAN UP: Clean up the fall and winter debris of dead leaves and branches in and around your gardens and yard. We have lots of gardening tools at the nursery to help with clean up.
SOIL CARE: Nourish your soil! Applying nutrients to the soil nourishes it, making it richer with the minerals and essential elements your plants need to grow. We have Coast of Maine compost and manure, as well as Fafard products. You can also take this time to test your soil with a soil testing kit to see what your soil needs. We have those in stock as well.
SPRING ANNUALS: Plant spring annuals in your container gardens or fill in between perennials in your garden beds. Pansies are now available and Sweet Alyssum will be ready soon! This spring we have a new offering, a selection of Hardy Annuals that Andrew Wiley started from seed last fall. We have an amazing crop of poppy’s, bachelor buttons(centaurea cyanus), Queen Anne’s Lace(Ammi majus Select White) and more! To learn more about Hardy Annuals check out our post about Succession Planting.
EDIBLES: This is the season to plant cool weather veggies, small fruits and fruit trees. All these are now available at the nursery!
TREES & SHRUBS: Now is a great time to add trees or shrubs to your property.
PRUNE: Prune any diseased or dead wood on your trees and deciduous shrubs.
LAWN EDGING: Lawn edging helps to clearly divide the flower beds from the lawn. Beyond aesthetics, edging also separates the soil, mulch, and rocks. We have ten foot pieces of heavy duty black plastic edging available at the Nursery.
Viburnum burkwoodii photo by keith kurman
Malus (Crabapple) photo by Keith Kurman
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CLEANING AND SHARPENING YOUR TOOLS
It’s that time of year when we are all itching to get out into our yard and start planting or pruning. Before you jump into your projects, give yourself a minute to tune up your tools. “A good cleaning, oiling, and sharpening now will pay dividends and make your job much easier. Make sure you have a good pair of gloves, a tarp, a bypass pruner, a lopper, disinfectant spray, and/or anti-bacterial wipes at the ready. I have also found a reciprocating saw comes in handy for those thick, sturdy stems.”(Lorraine Ballato) If you don’t have the equipment to sharpen your pruners, loppers, hedge shears and pruning saw’s you can drop them off at the Vineyard Gardens and Jeremiah Brown will sharpen them for you for a fee.
You should also clean and sharpen your spades and shovels, it will make your garden tasks so much easier and safer. Its good practice to keep a 5gal. bucket with sand mixed with old, used motor oil in it around to clean your tools after using them. This is also a good time to oil the wood stocks of any tools with wooden handles, it will give it a chance to soak in and renew the grain making them stronger and last longer.
Winter and early spring are great times to clean and sharpen tools.
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LAWN CARE
April is the best month to care for your lawn and fertilize. We have a wide array of Jonathan Green lawn care products available from fertilizers to weed control to grass seed!
April is the best month to fertilize and reseed your lawn. Grass is a cool weather lover and will grow a lot in the cool spring. Fertilizer should be applied when plants want to grow.
Grass, like all plants need macronutrients and micronutrients. Our organic fertilizers release nutrients more slowly and are loaded with micronutrients. The inorganic fertilizers have higher doses of the macronutrients which are N-P-K or Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium. Thus the 3 numbers found on the fertilizer bag. For example 5-10-5. Each number represents each nutrient.
Inorganic lawn fertilizers are very high in Nitrogen.
If you did not lime your lawn in the fall, April is a good time to lime it. The lime takes months to cause the lowering of the acidity. It is a chemical process. We recommend liming in the fall so that the pH adjustment has happened by the time the grass starts growing in spring.
Apply lawn care pre emergent before Forsythia bloom. There is always an organic option. Corn Gluten is an organic weed seed preventer and adds nutrients to your lawn.
Success with seeding any lawn, including small patches, is to put down some rich soil under the seed. Then it is important to keep the seed moist.
***IMPORTANT FERTILIZATION LAW ON MARTHA’S VINEYARD!!
Fertilizer can not be applied until April 15. This law was passed to protect our bodies of water. The reason for that time frame is by then the lawns are actively growing and will use the nutrients instead of those nutrients leaching into the ground water.
Vineyard Gardens Landscaping is available to help with all your gardening needs!
[plant profile]
pieris japonica
[PLANT PROFILE] GERBER DAISIES
Gerber Daisies
GERBER DAISIES
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Vividly colored Gerber Daisies are best planted in spring after all chances of frost have passed. In our zone, they are considered annuals. They bloom beautifully throughout the summer and die off in winter.
Varieties
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* Patio Series:
Tall larger flower
Available in two colors.
* Jaguar Series:
Short & ornamental
GROWING TIPS
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* Bred for the outdoors
* Flourish all summer
* Best grown in 7” pots or
larger
* Large bloom size 4”-5”
* Height 15-18” with
flowers
Gerber Daisy, Jaguar Series
Gerber Daisy, Jaguar Series
Gerber Daisy, Jaguar Series
unleash the wild on your yard
doug tallamy
summer blooming perennials
ANNUALS
ANNUALS
Annuals are plants that are glorious during the summer but do not survive the winter. They produce flowers and seeds all in one season and then the mother plant dies. The seed falls to the ground and often germinates the following spring and the next generation of seedlings emerge. Often the seedlings are identical or very similar to the mother but they also can be somewhat different and different from each other, like brothers and sisters. When the plant reseeds in the area where the mother plant was, it is called colonizing. Poppies, Bachelor Buttons, Cleome, Larkspur, Browallia americana and Nigella are annuals that colonize. Some biennials, like foxgloves, do this as well.
Annuals usually have a much longer bloom season than perennials. Some bloom all summer long. Many reseed and colonize.
Calendula Bon Bon mix / A dwarf Calendula blooms all summer in full sun or part shade. Calendula flowers are edible. Other edible flowers to use as garnishes include Bachelor Buttons, Borage Borago officinalis, Nasturtiums and Violas.
Calibracoa Sweet Peach. Annual blooms all summer.
Calendulas(Taller). Taller calendulas make good cut flowers. Edible.
Cleomes
Morning Glory
Reseeding Tips
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* Deadheading flowers
will keep the plant
blooming longer. If your
goal is for the plant to
reseed, stop
deadheading later
in the season to
let the seed mature.
Seeds need to mature in
order to reseed.
* Do not mulch heavily
around the mother plant
if you want it to reseed.
A lot of annuals need
light to germinate.
* Many people mulch
their beds after gardens
get cleaned up in fall.
You should do it lightly
or not at all if you want
annuals and biennials
to germinate.
These are details that
will enhance reseeding
success.
Poppy Ladybird
Zinnias. One of the best cut flowers
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Annuals We Have Available
We have many favorites! The tried and true ones are still around.
There are new introductions of cultivars within each of these.
Geraniums / Impatiens / Cosmos / Cleome / Portulacas / Salvias / Marigolds / Alyssum / Ageratums / Nasturtiums / Nicotianas / Dahlias / Asters / Zinnias / Morning Glories / Amaranthus / Gomphrenas / Pentas / Lisianthus / Scabiosa / Snapdragons / Dusty Miller / Callas / Caladiums / Coleus / Agapanthus / Tropical Hibiscus / Fuchsia
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LONG BLOOMING PROVEN WINNER ANNUALS
Argyranthemums / Osteospermums / Lobularias / Calibrachoas / Euphorbia Diamond Frost / Petunias / Torenias / Diascias / Phlox / Verbenas
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LESSER KNOWN ANNUALS THAT ARE STRONG GARDEN PERFORMERS
Browallia americana / Orlaya grandiflora / Ammi majus / Erigeron karvinskianus / Nigella / Ceratotheca triloba / Rhemania angulata / Emilia coccinea / Tithonia / Sanvitalia / Dahlberg Daisies / Daturas Ricinus / Clary Sage (Blue Monday and Pink Sundae) / Tibouchina urvilleana
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RECOMMENDED DEER RESISTANT ANNUALS
Lantanas / Salvias / Daturas / Ricinus
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TRY ADDING ANNUAL VINES TO CONTAINERS & HANGING BASKETS
Mina lobata / Thunbergias / Cobaea scandens (Cup and Saucer Vine) / Mandevilla
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Add annuals to your perennial beds, containers & hanging baskets
Annuals long bloom season offers a consistency in color that defines the border. The reseeding characteristic helps tie the garden together with repeating blooms throughout the bed. They seem to come up between and within the perennials in a random fashion with no apparent pattern. It is best not to overcrowd perennials but you can plant plenty of annuals between your perennials. Learn to identify the seedlings so you don’t pull them out, thinking that they are weeds.
We Grow an Assortment of Annuals!
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* Fillers in perennial
beds.
* Use in hanging baskets
* Use in container
plantings
* Many annuals make
great cut flowers.
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Hanging Baskets
We currently have a large variety of hanging baskets available at the nursery!
MORNING GLORIES
Heavenly Blue
Chocolate
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BEGONIAS
Solenia Dark Pink
Bossa Nova Orange
Encanto Pink
Miss Miami
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PETUNIAS
Headliner Banana Cherry
Headliner Raspberry Swirl
Headliner Night Sky
Surfinia Magenta
Surfinia Heavenly Blue
Heavenly Amethyst Burst
Patio Radiant Dark Blue
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LOBELIA
THUNBERGIA
Orange Wonder
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IMPATIENS
Double Sparkler Hot Pink
Dark Red
New Guinea Impatiens
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GERANIUMS
Great Balls of Fire Light
Caliente Orange
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FUCHSIA
Wind Chimes Basket
Red/White
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TORENIA
Summer Wave
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SCAEVOLA
Whirlwind Blue
perennials, shrubs & trees
MAY 26TH GARDENING WORKSHOP : CONTAINER GARDENING
Please join us Saturday May 26th at 11am for an information packed gardening seminar on container gardening led by Kathy James of Vineyard Gardens. A workshop on planting your own container follows the lecture.
PLANT OF THE WEEK:
FOXGLOVES 20% OFF
FOXGLOVES
New arrivals at Vineyard Gardens Nursery!
Our nursery is bursting with spring colors and flavors! Gorgeous plants have arrived from Monrovia and Proven Winners. Yesterday we unloaded a truck of Forsythia, Andromedas, Rhododendrons and Leyland Cypress. And Vineyard Gardens edibles are ready to be planted in your garden today! We will help get your gardens ready for summer!
ANNUALS
Verbena
Kalanchoe
Cinerarias
Bacopa
Euryops yellow daisy
NEW ARRIVALS from MONROVIA
Tropicals from Monrovia
Rosemary from Monrovia
Rosemary from Monrovia
NEW ARRIVALS from PROVEN WINNERS
STRAWBERRIES
Now is the time to plant your strawberries! On Saturday May 12th at 11:00am, Chuck Wiley of Vineyard Gardens will be giving a hands on workshop/demonstration about planting, growing and harvesting blueberries, raspberries, black berries and strawberries.
PEAS, LEEKS and GREENS
Peas
Leeks
ANDROMEDAS, RHODODENDRONS, LEYLAND CYPRESS AND FORSYTHIA
Unloading the truck
Andromeda
Rhododendrons and Leyland Cypress
Forsythia