Winter is not the tricky part of the Maine garden year. Barbara Murphy, a gardening expert with over twenty years of experience teaching the master gardener course. Gardening tips and tasks for places in Maine. The gardening year follows a canonical calendar: transplant in spring or fall, prune between fall and late winter, divide when the plant is dormant, and so forth. This would be my Eden, where I would dig holes and plant seeds and kneel in the dirt, watching for Mother Nature to work her magic. See more ideas about gardening tips, backyard garden, veggie garden. This forum is for those living in Maine to discuss the various aspects of gardening there. This could explain a lot about some strange goings-on in my Maine garden — why one plant prospers while a seemingly identical specimen withers close by, or why a sullen plant will languish for years, barely hanging on, then mysteriously begin to thrive, like a teenager emerging from the doldrums of early adolescence. The Best Trails For Cross-Country Skiing in Maine, Does This Look Like a Man Who Would Name His Lobsterboat. When first leaves appear, transplant into larger containers. It is possible to start right off gardening in Maine with close to zero useful knowledge about anything, and emerge only a few decades later in possession of enough facts to take up all your fingers, thumbs excluded. Harden off and transplant outside when the danger of frost has passed with 12" between plants. He loves to garden. When I purchased my home in Western Maine it was with the intention of putting down roots and having room to grow more than a few potted herbs. Shade Vegetable Gardening Ideas, Tips, Techniques. Just park your expectations at the Kittery bridge. Plan the Growing Season: The gardening season begins indoors in January or February with planning by sorting seeds and Making a Seed List, Mapping the Garden Beds, assembling a Seed Starting Shelf, and developing a Seed Starting Schedule. Mea culpa. Most of the time and money I’ve wasted on gardening resulted from thinking too hard in winter. When bending over to pick up heavy bags of mulch or soil, remember to bend your knees and let your legs do the work. (The exception is pruning, which I do in earliest spring when the plants are naked of foliage but you can see which buds are starting to swell.) Care and get on your way to recovery quickly—remember cold and flu viruses don’t wait until Autumn. Harden off & transplant with 9-12" between plants after last frost. Care and Feeding Today, slouching toward my 26th [now 30th] Maine summer, I’m amazed at how much I’ve unlearned. Plant in full sun. Well if you live in Maine or any of the more northern states they are in bloom … Transplant: Shallowly sow 4 weeks before transplanting after last frost at below spacing. I’ve got all four chugging along nicely, conventional wisdom be damned. Purchase a good seed starting soil like Espoma Organic seed starting mix or Coast of Maine. (The vegetable kind, I’m talking about.) In early spring, after late frost, sow seeds directly in soil. Contents Overwhelming our tomatoes Spring eight maine gardening tips Fall prevention and safety tips P.m. aug. 30. join valerie Includes timely and seasonal tips, as well as research-based articles on all aspects of gardening. Regularly check yourself and your family for ticks before heading inside—use a lint roller on clothes to catch those trespassers! Then we're here to help. Don’t spray it on your skin. Being smarter than I am, you’re mindful of climate zones; you scrutinize nursery tags for cautionary indications. I tried a few types of boxwood before finding Rochester, whose leaves stay dark green through winter and whose supple branches bend, rather than snap, under the heaviest snow. Make sure areas you will visit most frequently are closest to the center of operations. Transplant Only: Sow 4 weeks before last frost shallowly, 2 seeds per cell and thin to 1, keeping soil surface moist until emergence. Richard Grant is a novelist residing in Lincolnville. One of the most intriguing discoveries of recent years is the extent to which plants are dependent on one another and on the unseen community of fungi and bacteria in the soil. He had been gardening for awhile now. This video consists of gardening tips from Lloyd. Wider spacing = thicker stronger stems. Growing GuidelinesDirect sow (recommended). Summer in Maine is precious and fleeting. Gardening Tips for Seniors Don’t ask me to explain it. Easy to grow and remarkably drought tolerant, calendula also thrives in containers and will readily naturalize when let go to seed. I’m going to share with you the gardening tasks you may need to attend to this month by zone and region. You can get a dog, erect a fence — it’s got to be at least 8 feet high — or select deer-resistant plants. So apart from an elevated risk of heartbreak, there’s no harm in trying. It often seems you can’t help growing them — turn your back on a bit of ground and these Maine stalwarts will creep in and take over. Lay plastic netting on bedded plants (tulips, bush beans) or make net tepees around tall crops (fenced peas, pole beans) to keep the deer away. Don’t forget the sunscreen. You’d never follow my bad example by trying to grow, say, bald cypress, or English boxwood, or Nandina domestica, or yellow-groove bamboo, just because you fondly recall them from your childhood in temperate climes. I say bosh to that. It is important to maintain the natural curve of the spine, keep your work area close, and make sure you are practicing healthy lifting to avoid muscle aches, joint pain and back issues. Gardening with wildlife is a fact of life in Maine, and it comes with its own set of problems. Many of us feel an impulse to grow wild native species. 2021 Master Gardener Volunteer Training Program The Master Gardener Volunteer training will take place online in 2021 and will include self-paced learning modules coupled with live virtual sessions where participants will have direct access to dozens of horticultural experts from across the state. Transplant your cosmos for earlier blooms and more full-size plants per pack; direct sow for blooms throughout the season and simplicity of sowing. Retiring in Maine. Come in and get tested at Mercy’s Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) practice and stay ahead of itchy eyes and runny noses. Bill Cullina, former executive director, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, about to start a new position as executive director of the Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia. Thriving in most soils, these flowers will become massive if given ample fertility, space and water. If you are experiencing the sniffles with a fever, headaches, general aches and pains all over, fatigue and more, you may be suffering from the flu! Here are some gardening tips for Maine Zone 5. Tall grasses like miscanthus retain mass and presence even when they’re bent and tanned. There are not many of them, and you’d be right to doubt my bona fides, sage-wise. Though we appear to be proximately situated to places like Connecticut (where you can order anything in the catalog, poke it in the ground, and voilà!) Ask gardening professionals and get local, expert advice about native plants, frost dates, Zone 5 growing, planting calendars, pollinator gardens and bee-friendly planting. But you can’t learn this on the sofa in January. Deadhead for blooms all season. Deer, in particular, can be destructive, gobbling up balsams, daylilies, Fraser firs, hostas, tulips, and more. My figmentary Eden has been winter wracked, plague ravaged, and moose stomped. Jan 13, 2021 - Great Ideas for when gardening in Maine. Annie Gallo - February 2, 2021. This should help you cross-reference your needs and give the ultimate care to your garden as you’re preparing for colder months. Extend the Growing Season: March 31, 2015 Tweet; Pin It; In Maine, any patient who is certified by an MD, DO, or Nurse Practitioner to use medical cannabis has the option of legally growing their own therapeutic marijuana. If you use a tick spray, use it on your boots and socks, or pants tucked in to socks. Sunflowers are drought-resistant, but they'll grow better if you water regularly from the time the flowers begin to develop until they're mature. Tweet on Twitter. She shares her top tips for cultivating a successful vegetable garden. Do garden-related chores when the mood is upon you. Care and FeedingPlant in full sun to partial shade. Shrug off your losses, build on your gains. Front Garden Design Tips Contents Making the most year simple you smart design ideas could these simple Gardeners tip top sandwiches garden grove Garden designer hilary thomas offers 5 tips on how to make stylish changes to your garden … Here are your November gardening tips to do around your garden: It’s an admirable idea. The only way to win gardening territory in Maine is through blunt infantry tactics: boots on the ground. It has its own beauty, which can be enhanced by structural elements like tree trunks, hedges, benches, statuary, even last summer’s seed stalks poking up through the snow. Chill seed at 40 F 1-2 weeks prior to sowing 1/8" deep, 2 seeds per cell 4-5 weeks before planting out. There’s a reason “exotics” like the rugosa rose and the western lupine have crowded out their local cousins. Expect 70 days to flower. Well, let me tell you: forsythia and lilacs do not grow for me. We'll tell you about beautiful annual, perennial, bulb, and rose flowers, as well as trees, shrubs, and groundcovers that put on a year-round gardening show. The problem comes in the adjacent seasons, those months that are neither green nor white. Use a small greenhouse tray(tray with a clear plastic dome) to germinate your seeds. Typically grow to more than 5 ft. tall. Dara has an exceptionally long vase life; harvest when 80% of an umbel's flowers are open & no pollen has shed. Enticed by flower porn, I’ve lain in bed through the long dark nights conjuring wonderful combinations of (usually expensive) specimens that look so good in the pictures. Some botanists even suggest that the basic unit of a living community is not the plant but the mycorrhiza, a symbiotic fungus-and-root relationship. Deadhead for blossoms all season. Enjoy 7-15 heads per plant on swaying 35-50" stalks. Moving to a small town in Maine Living in Maine | Relocating in Maine | Maine Real Estate. Growing Palak from Seeds, Spinach Seed Germination. Mercy Hospital is here to help make it a great season! Gardening: Our Experts Share Tips for Summer Gardening Challenges ... University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Need more information or gardening supplies? We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. I think that’s reason to celebrate. Feb 16, 2019 - Tips for growing vegetables and flowers in Maine. Harvest blossoms for continued flowering. It glows bright green when all else is drab and brown. If a sortie fails here, it may yet succeed over there. Mercy will be here for you and your family to get well and get back to what you love. Gardening tips as we get ready for gardening season. Try one plant at a time, on one patch of soil. Avoid twisting and reaching by using the proper tools. Contact your local independent garden center. Even gardening has risks of injury, especially after returning from a long winter. The Nandina does need careful positioning. Sign up for our email newsletter by entering your email address. Related to our native carrot, Queen Anne's Lace. When seedlings are 2-3" tall, thin to 1 plant every 9-12". There are great Maine gardens, like those made by Beatrix Farrand around Bar Harbor, where whole areas are filled with things like blueberry or sweet fern or mosses. Around the last frost date, sow seeds directly into the soil. Its feeble remnants were seen off by slugs in the Year of Our Lord 2008, when we enjoyed a long wet spring followed immediately by autumn. Certain trees, for instance, have appealing colored or peeling bark. Martha Stewart’s Maine Gardening Tips. Thin seedlings to 1 ft. apart to allow 2 to 3 ft. between plants. Skylands, my home on Mount Desert Island, was designed to take advantage of the natural beauty of its surroundings. Wear lightweight, long-sleeved clothing, a hat, sunglasses and gardening gloves. Making plants from plants is rewarding and usually easier than you expect. Gardening Tips for Medical Cannabis Patients in Maine. Articles are written by UMaine Extension specialists, educators … Maine Home Garden News was created in response to a continued increase […] GardeningTips is a Source of Home Gardening, Indoor Gardening, Terrace Gardening, Organic Gardening, Container Gardening, Backyard Gardening, Modern Gardening. Shrug off your losses, build on your gains. Learn gardening tips on zoom through a York County ‘Master Your Garden’ program. Care and Feeding Home Garden Thyme Blog Themes Flowers > > > Veggies > > > > > > > > > > > > > Herbs Gardening Basics > Birds > Fiddleheads and Fairies About Us Contact Us How to Marinate Roasted Vegetables Chickadees: Common Visitors to Backyard Birdfeeders. The only way to win gardening territory in Maine is through blunt infantry tactics: boots on the ground. Maine Garden Ideas provides resources and practical information to gardeners for growing vegetables, flowers and herbs to preparing the soil for raised gardening. Direct Seed (recommended): After last frost, shallowly sow 4 seeds/foot & thin to 1/foot when first true leaves appear. The course, designed to train volunteers for horticulture and food system related […] Breathing in fresh summer Maine air is exhilarating—don’t let pollen, trees, and other environmental allergies ruin your plans. Gorgeously laced 3-5" umbels in shades of burgundy, lilac, mauve & white on long, strong stems perfect for cutting, adored by pollinators. Feb 9, 2021 - Explore Margaret Sowers's board "Gardening Tips for Maine" on Pinterest. In Maine, pay special attention to checking for ticks regularly. Get those buggers! When planting or transplanting a hydrangea, be sure to keep the root ball moist until you’re ready to put the plant into the ground, keeping in mind that hydrangeas generally prefer well-drained, rich soils. Having undergone the gardening equivalent of the threefold death, I come before you with lessons to impart. As for bamboo, dear Lord, I’m up to 10 species now; some year soon the Japanese garden police will cite me for failing to install a tea house. as well as places like Ontario (where the word “rose” turns to ice and shatters before reaching your listener’s ear), Maine is neither one thing nor the other. Check out these tips for staying healthy while avoiding summer snares like tick bites, allergies, sunburn, and more.