Autumn Fern Grow Bed

With this crazy weather, it is hard to stay on track when it comes to the garden.  Mid February to  March is when we are digging dormant plants out of their “Grow Bed” or “Nursery Bed” in order to pot them up for this years big plant sales.  We changed our practice last summer by placing rooted cuttings directly into a “Grow Bed”  to finish growing out and develop healthy root systems.  To my surprise, these baby plants quickly took off and grew 3 times faster than those rooted cuttings put directly into containers.  Most plants grown in the “Grow Beds” are requiring  root trimming and pruning just so they can be planted in a one gallon container.  Even with that, some just won’t fit so they have to go into 2 or 3 gallon containers.  Oh well, that is a nice problem to have!  What were baby rooted cutting last year are beautiful healthy plants this year, totally acclimated to our Northwest Arkansas climate.   Eager to show them off this Spring.

It is important to wait until deciduous plants (those that loose their leaves in the winter) are dormant before digging.  Once leaves start to show on plants in the spring, they cannot be safely removed from the ground as they can go into shock and die.  They will not become dormant again until late fall   Plants become dormant after the first hard freeze, not a frost but a hard freeze where the temperature is under 32 degrees for several hours.   This is when the leaves really fall from the trees.  This is not the early leaves falling but the time when the leaves have been frozen and fall off the trees in bunches.  Once this happens, the plants remain dormant until temperatures start to increase and Spring arrives.  As the days start getting longer and the air temperature is warmer, plants will start putting on new root growth underground.   However, plants are not considered out of dormancy until leaves start to appear on the plant.

So by Mid February and March, the ground is usually thawed out and it is time to start digging!  So when asked ‘What are you doing now?”, my answer is digging and potting  (also starting seeds under lights but that is another subject).   Love it!

I will start posting a blog to feature the plant of the week as they are dug, potted, and fertilized in preparation for this season.  Until then, Happy Gardening!

Becky

Miscanthis Grass
‘Grow Bed’ in the Spring

Summer Miscanthus

Grow Bed late spring

Fall Grow Bed