{"id":57151,"date":"2015-05-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-05-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-gardening-hotline-provides-answers-to-your-spring-gardening-questions\/"},"modified":"2015-05-06T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-05-06T00:00:00","slug":"uri-gardening-hotline-provides-answers-to-your-spring-gardening-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2015\/05\/uri-gardening-hotline-provides-answers-to-your-spring-gardening-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 gardening hotline provides answers to your spring gardening questions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 6, 2015 — The 溏心vlog免费B站’s gardening hotline receives 2,500 calls and emails each year about everything from planting flowers and vegetables to lawn care, animal control, and pruning. But spring is the busiest season as Rhode Islanders prepare their lawns and gardens for the growing season.<\/p>\n


\n\tAccording to Hal Hultgren, a 溏心vlog免费B站 Master Gardener who has volunteered to answer hotline questions since 2007, \u201cas nature begins to perk up, so does the hotline.\u201d And about half of the questions he fields at this time of year are about lawns.<\/p>\n


\n\tHis first recommendation for anyone trying to improve the health of their lawn is to get a soil test. \u201cIf you think about how wineries always talk about the soil forming the complexity of the grape, in our case the soil is the basis for everything that grows.\u201d And different plants require different soil characteristics. <\/p>\n


\n\tNew England soils tend to be acidic, he said, which is ideal for growing blueberries and rhododendrons, but not for most lawns, vegetables and flowers. In that case, lime should be added to reduce the soil\u2019s acidity. How much lime depends on the soil\u2019s pH, so Hultgren suggests bringing a soil sample to the 溏心vlog免费B站 Outreach Center for testing. Detailed information about how to bring in a sample can be found at soil testing.<\/a><\/p>\n


\nCallers also often inquire about the right time for treating their lawn to combat crabgrass and grubs. Hultgren said the time is now for preventing crabgrass \u2013 between when the forsythias bloom and the lilacs bloom. And grub preventative should be added in mid- to late-June, just before the grubs emerge as adults in July. Mow the lawn before application and water in the insecticide.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cBut make sure you have a grub problem before treating your lawn for them,\u201d he said. \u201cDig up a foot-square of sod and then count the number of grubs. Healthy grass can withstand up to 10 per square foot.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tWhen should Rhode Islanders plant their vegetables? That\u2019s the second-most common question at this time of year. And the answer, in most cases, is not until after May 15, which is the average date of the last frost. Tender vegetable plants like tomatoes and peppers cannot survive a frost, so Hultgren says to hold off until the second half of the month. Seeds can be planted earlier for hardy plants such as snap peas and spinach.<\/p>\n


\n\tThe Rhode Island Planting Calendar can be found in the resources section of the 溏心vlog免费B站 Outreach Center website \u2013 Planting Calendar<\/a>.<\/p>\n


\n\tA soil test for your garden soil is also worthwhile, because it will determine what kind of amendments should be added to the soil to make it most productive. Hultgren says that everyone should add compost to the soil to provide a better \u201cgrowing medium.\u201d It helps the soil retain nutrients, moisture and air for better plant growth.<\/p>\n


\n\tHe also said that flowers and vegetables purchased from local retailers should not be planted immediately. Instead they should be \u201chardened off\u201d for five to seven days by putting them outside during the day in an area protected from wind and direct sun to acclimate them to your local environment. Plants should be brought inside at night.<\/p>\n


\n\tWhat else should gardeners do to get ready for the growing season? Prune winter-damaged shrubs, but not too soon. \u201cTiming is important, so the rule of thumb is to wait until you see the new growth coming and prune down to the new growth,\u201d Hultgren said. Most hotline questions about pruning focus on hydrangeas, which shouldn\u2019t be pruned until early June, because this year\u2019s blooms occur on last year\u2019s growth, and this year\u2019s growth hasn\u2019t fully started until then. \u201cSo if you can live with sticks until June, it\u2019s best to wait,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n


\n\tLastly, Hultgren advises gardeners to diligently scout their plants for pest insects and diseases, especially on the underside of the leaves. If you need help identifying the problem, snap a photo of the plant or insect and email it to the hotline for identification and advice.<\/p>\n


\nLily leaf beetles, which decimate lilies, appear in May and should be picked off and killed, including adults, eggs and nymphs. Aphids, Japanese beetles and European chafers should also be picked off, and gardeners should scout at night for earwigs and Asiatic garden beetles. Later in the growing season diseases such as mold, mildew, and blights appear.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cIf you think you have to spray pesticides or fungicides, find out what bugs or diseases you have before doing anything, because different pesticides or fungicides work for different insects or diseases,\u201d Hultgren said. \u201cAnd use the least environmentally harmful methods first.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tThe 溏心vlog免费B站 gardening hotline is staffed from March through October from Monday through Thursday between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. by 溏心vlog免费B站 Master Gardener volunteers trained by the University. Emails are answered year round. Call 1-800-448-1011, email gardener@etal.uri.edu<\/a>, or visit the 溏心vlog免费B站 Outreach Center at 3 East Alumni Ave., Kingston.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 6, 2015 — The 溏心vlog免费B站’s gardening hotline receives 2,500 calls and emails each year about everything from planting flowers and vegetables to lawn care, animal control, and pruning. But spring is the busiest season as Rhode Islanders prepare their lawns and gardens for the growing season. According […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57151\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}