Home gardeners right now are anxious and want to start spring cleaning by tidying up their gardens.
It may look nice but according to the Horticulture Technician’s Program Director, Michael Pascoe, at Fanshawe College, raking up leaves and debris is one of the worst thing you can do. It’s organic matter that breaks down and decomposes, providing some nutrients to help retain moisture throughout the summer. It may look messy until the flowers grow in and cover it up but it’s a sacrifice for a full and healthy garden.
With the amount of snow London had this year, Pascoe says it was good for both farm crops and plants in the garden. Snow acts as insulation for the soil and adds so far the spring has been good because it has been gentle and consistent, except when cold weather hits at night without snow it can beat up and burn the young shoots that are coming up.
What really has Pascoe concerned is the fact we haven’t had rain yet.
“Soil moisture is critical for new plants who do not have established routes. So if it’s dry now and continues, it’s going to have a knock on effect throughout the summer”
According to Pascoe he thinks this spring season is going to continue to be dry, so gardeners should be purchasing extra mulch to keep the soil moisture in.
The Spriet Family Greenhouse are contract growers, including contracts grown for landscape companies, so any plants you see at The Western Fair and hospitals around the city are all grown a Fanshawe. The Horticulture team has their Hydrangea crops on sale, which is expected to finish this week and are gearing up for their annual planting that includes preparing for retail sales of vegatbles and herbs.
In the next few weeks Pascoe says the green house will get to be pretty busy.
“The greenhouse will have roughly like 50,000 plants which students are preparing for now by seeding, cuttings, doing transplanting”
The Spriet Family Greenhouse will close June 15th and will start back up in July for the poinsettia crops like the ones you get at Christmas.
