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Hi, guys!
We went from 50 degrees to 80 degrees and down to the 30s overnight in the past week here on Long Island. I’ve learned not to switch my winter-summer wardrobe over until mid-May because you just never know.
The same can be said about planting tender plants — including most vegetables — outdoors if you live in an area where spring frosts are possible. We all get impatient (I know I do!), but if you rush things, you risk having to start all over, which is frustrating, disappointing and potentially expensive.
Remember, most gardening websites that list frost dates only provide the average last frost date in your zone, not the date when the danger of frost has passed, which could be a full month later.
Slow and steady gets the tomato, my friends!
📬 Ask Jessica
DEAR JESSICA: I want to plant bamboo on the other side of the railroad tracks to shelter my home from the ridiculous lights at night. I know it is invasive. Any suggestions? It is hot and dry there. I am looking for fast-growing, thick, drought tolerant, heat tolerant and 20+ feet tall. -- Elena Cetkovsky, Fremont, CA
DEAR ELENA: There are two classifications of bamboo: the “running” types, belonging to the Phyllostachys or Hibanobambusa genera, and the “clumping” types, which are Fargesias.
Running bamboos are invasive, spreading up to 20 feet or more in a single season via underground rhizomes that are virtually impossible to control without installing an underground metal barrier that's at least three feet deep. They also require frequent watering and protection from harsh sunlight. They aren’t suitable for your conditions – and, frankly, shouldn’t be planted anywhere, ever.
The Fargesia robusta species, often referred to as ‘Green Screen’ or ‘Ping wu,’ is a non-invasive, clumping bamboo that grows quickly to 15-20 feet tall in full sun to part shade and should be suitable for your garden. However, it has average water needs and is not considered drought-tolerant. ‘Alfonse Karr’ is another variety with similar requirements. It can grow a bit taller, to 35 feet. Both can be trimmed to maintain a shorter height, if desired.
You might also consider Italian cypress trees, which can grow to a mature height of 40 feet or more. Once established (after their first year), the tall, columnar trees are considered drought-tolerant, and they thrive in hot, sunny locations.
The native California lilac is another option, as some varieties grow to 20 feet tall and all thrive in full sun and are drought-tolerant.
From what I can gather, you are gardening in either zone 9 or 10, as Fremont seems to span both. Here are some other options that may be suited to your growing conditions: desert willow, crape myrtle 'Arapaho' or ‘Dynamite’, blue arrow juniper and Leyland cypress.
Good luck!
💡 If you do one thing this week…
Incorporate generous helpings of compost into prepared beds and spread it around established plants to improve drainage and add nutrients. Otherwise, add an amount equal to half the removed soil to each planting hole.
MOTHER’S DAY GIFT ALERT
For more great gardening tips — 365 of them! — get a jump on the growing season with my Day-by-Day Gardening Calendar. It’s like a complete gardening course in a wall calendar! By the end of the year, I promise, you’ll have earned a green thumb! Plus, your wall will be adorned with award-winning photography provided by The Weekly Dirt readers. And I’ve extended my 20% Off Welcome to Spring Sale for moms! Take a look:
👏 Sunday shoutout
Angela Weber of Gaylord, MN, shares this lovely photo of “rustic coleus hues” adding color to her backyard last June.
Send in your photo, and you could be featured next!
📰This week in my Associated Press gardening column
I write a weekly gardening column for the AP, so you might have seen my byline in your local paper (or news website) — wherever in the world you happen to be. In case you miss it, though, I’ll post the most recent here every week.
Plant this, not that: Native alternatives for 8 popular invasive plants.
Go Native! If your idea of the perfect garden includes abundant plants that do well with little human intervention, while attracting and supporting all manner of pollinators, plant natives. Here’s what you need to know to get started.
Annuals to plant for old-time nostalgia: Longing for grandma’s flowers? Here are 8 vintage garden favorites.
Filling raised beds? Save money—and grow better—with Hugelkultur: Hugelkultur is a different, more natural (and cheaper) approach to raised beds or mounds that doesn’t require so many bags of top soil or compost. Instead, you fill the space with organic matter that gradually decomposes, feeding the soil and plants. Here’s how.
Growing veggies in small spaces: Smaller new varieties can yield great results for vegetables grown in containers.
Plants to plant in spring for a beautiful garden next winter: When you’re planning and planting your spring garden, think ahead to next winter too, and include plants that will create interest in your landscape in the so-called “off season.”
Black innovators who reshaped American gardening and farming: The achievements of 19th-century scientist George Washington Carver have landed him in U.S. history textbooks, but many other agricultural practices and innovations that traveled with enslaved people from West Africa or were developed by their descendants remain unsung. Here’s a look at five.
Tips for indoor seed-starting: When to start planting seeds indoors? First, check your frost date.
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📧 How’m I doing?
I welcome your comments and suggestions, so please send them along — as well as any topics you’d like to see covered and questions you’d like answered in the Ask Jessica section.
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