Practice proper pruning and planting as spring gardening season arrives in Idaho

In this area we pay attention to the time when forsythia blooms. That’s the same time that crabgrass germinates, so it’s time to apply pre-emergent matter, and it’s a safe time to prune roses. We’ve not had severely cold weather in recent winters, but planting “own root” roses (not grafted on to hardier rootstock) is still a good idea. Breeders are focusing on providing more and more “own root” roses for us, too, according to Anju Lucas, head of perennials at Edwards Greenhouse.

Many fruit trees have blossomed, but those in bud can still be pruned, removing crossing branches, water sprouts, dead branches, and one-third to two-thirds of the new top and branch-tip growth from last year. From the tip of a branch back to the first bud is last year’s new growth. Pruning back on side branches encourages branching back toward the trunk and also strengthens the branch for the weight of fruit that will form on it. We remove crossing branches to lessen the chance that wind will them to rub together, removing some bark and opening the branch to disease.

Pruning when a tree is dormant strongly invigorates spring growth; pruning at this time still sees some invigoration, but branches grow less powerfully than they would if you’d pruned while the tree was dormant. Most trees don’t need fertilizer, although if leaves indicate a nutrient deficiency, they should be fertilized before June 15.

Our alkaline soil inhibits the uptake of iron, and that nutrient deficiency shows most readily on fruit trees in the form of chlorotic leaves. That is, the leaves are yellowed between green veins. Once the leaves are fully formed, it’s very difficult to restore them to a normal green, but many of us do use chelated iron foliar sprays to try to correct that deficiency. Since that iron doesn’t translocate to roots, it must be done each year, or hire an arborist to inject iron into the tree.

Our soil also is deficient in magnesium, so in the vegetable garden (and the rose bed) many of us use a spray or a drench of dissolved Epsom Salt (one or two tablespoons per gallon of water). Some claim that if the first watering of transplanted tomatoes consists of the Epsom Salt mixture, the yield will be double what it would be without it. I cannot attest to that, however.

I do use those salts (one teaspoon dissolved per quart of water) as a foliar spray on leaves of chile plants if their leaves aren’t dark green. I’m not sure that leaf discoloration would affect the “fruit” or pods, so it may be a waste of time. I would not use that substance as a drench more than once or twice per season, however. A general rule in growing things is if a little is good, let it be. A lot will not be better, and may be harmful.

Some folks are worrying about getting their gardens tilled at this time of year, but there’s a growing movement in gardening espousing “no-till” growing methods. Generally, raised beds follow “no-till” methods, and those methods have been found to be so beneficial, many in-ground gardeners and farmers are also refraining from tearing up the land to plant.

For one thing, there are subsoil webs of fungi and mycorrhizae that are torn apart by tilling or plowing. They reform themselves, but that does take time. Some of those fungi help protect your plants from soil-borne-diseases, and the mycorrhizae are essential translators that transform human ideas of plant food to food the plants can actually use. Tilling also destroys soil structure, leading to more erosion and surface runoff. And it raises the cost of gardening, requiring purchase or rental of equipment and fuel.

▪ A friend sent me a copy of a “Martha Stewart Living” photo of Stewart ready to turn her compost pile, standing in front of a huge hill of completed compost. She was holding a spading fork, which is NOT the correct tool to turn compost. That will lead to severe back problems. Pitchforks work better, because their longer handles provide more easy leverage. The photographer probably anticipated that the tines on a pitchfork wouldn’t show up in the photo, but spading fork tines would. I suspect Stewart knows better than to use that tool for that purpose.