Hey Larry!

Hey Larry! Is it going to freeze again this spring? I wish I had a dollar for every time I have been asked that this week. If only I could predict the weather that well. I will go on record as saying I doubt we will have another frost, but then again a year ago we did. Just remember that the average last frost-free date is about May 10.

This weekend, I will start planting some of my annual containers. Most are by the house, so even if it gets cold I doubt it would be a problem. Two products I highly recommend for container gardens are osmocote slow release fertilizer and the second is soil moist. I have used them for years. The osmocote slow release fertilizer as its name implies, slowly releases fertilizer into the soil for months. Since containers have a limited amount of soil, which holds the nutrients, this keeps the plants looking good. The soil moist is granular. You mix it into the soil. When it gets wet, it absorbs water and swells up. As the soil dries out, it shrinks releasing the water back into the soil so the plants can absorb it. When wet it looks kind of like tapioca pudding, which by the way I love! The soil moist is great because I have to water all my containers a lot less and with 30+ containers anything that saves time is blessing.

This is the weekend to put down your crabgrass preventer. I got mine put down on Wednesday night – one more thing off the list. The window of opportunity to get this done is a short one – don’t procrastinate or you will miss the time that it needs to be done.

This is also the time to divide or move nearly all perennials. I still have a few to divide and replant elsewhere in my yard. Don’t forget to share a few extra that you dig up with friends, family or neighbors.

Tomorrow, tune into 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS WEEKEND MORNING during the 8:00 hour. I will have a couple of segments. The first will be tips on buying annuals and perennials. The second will be on using decorative items in your yard and garden

Hopefully we get some much needed rain this weekend – if only it could come at night so as not to ruin my day plans or activities. I will start working on that after I learn how to predict the last frost-free date.

Make your weekend a good one.