Reese has sharpened all our pruners (and other tools), so we’re ready to get back into the garden! We can’t wait to see some real green shoots, spring bulb color, and some subtle native plant interest. It’s all just around the corner. We need a few more warm days and spring rains to soften that frozen ground.

This year we have three staff members who completed a four-day virtual training course in organic land care AND an independent design project incorporating native plants and natural systems. Laura Semple, Jeffrey Stevens, and new employee Douglas Field are the newly Accredited Organic Land Care Professionals. This NOFA program was first held in Winter 2002. Pumpkin Brook has proudly sent all our key employees to the course over the years, to the benefit of all.

Our Plant Pick this month is the Hawthorn tree, an ancient plant in the Rose family with all-season interest. Persistent fruit, colorful fall foliage, lightly exfoliating bark, and reddish winter twigs make it an appealing choice. In New England, Crataegus crus-galli, our native hawthorn has large thorns and is commonly called Cockspur. This plant is probably best-sited away from heavily trafficked areas such as a foundation planting or walkway, and in a spot where it can be the starting point for a native plant garden. Since it offers shelter, nesting, and winter food for birds, site it on the outskirts where it is still visible from a window or two. A hawthorn is also a wonderful plant for pollinating insects, with white blossoms in May. This is a small-stature tree, maturing at about 20’ x 20.’

A thornless selection exists - read all about it here:

Be sure to select a specimen for strong disease resistance: The thornless variety, Crateaegus crus-galli var. inermis ‘Crusader,’ will meet this criterion and is reputed to avoid many of the pests and diseases that plague the Rose family.

Crataegus viridis ‘Winter King’ is a good disease-resistant choice. This plant is native to the Southeast. In any event, avoid planting hawthorn and eastern red cedar, Juniperus virginiana, or Chinese juniper varieties within several miles of each other to avoid the spread of Cedar apple rust.

Per The Old Farmer’s Almanac, there are many names for the snow that comes unexpectedly, late in winter or early spring, and melts the next day. “Onion snow” was named by the Pennsylvania Dutch farmers. It often arrives just as onion sets are planted in the cool soil of early spring. The snow does not kill the onions, happily!

Such snows actually contain valuable nitrogen, thereby enriching our gardens. You may have also heard the term “poor man’s fertilizer.” (See Neighbors for more on this)

Blue hollies, winterberries, inkberries, yews, cutback shrubs…the list goes on. Now is the time! And it’s still not too late for fruit trees. Avoid pruning maples, stewartias, and birches, as these species drip sap readily. Have you ever heard the expression “the sap is rising?” That means those three trees, in particular!

If so, check out this handy guide offered by the Xerces Society. There is a wonderful drawing showing how to create habitat for stem-nesting native bees by cutting perennial stalks to various heights in spring.

Find the handout here: https://xerces.org/publications/fact-sheets/nesting-overwintering-habitat

Recently, we happened upon an almost-new electric mower/weed whacker combo and decided to purchase it. The mower will be powerful enough to “mow and shred” leaves on a flat lawn surface. These leaves can then be reused on your site as mulch for garden beds, thereby closing the loop right at home! We can also stockpile large piles of shredded leaves on site in the fall for future use in spring.

The weed whacker is ideal for quick spring cleanups of ornamental grasses, meadows, and mass-planted, dormant perennials left standing for pollinators and visual interest over winter. Lighter- weight than gas-powered models, it is also quieter and does not emit polluting fumes!

We’ll continue to use our electric blowers as well during our spring clean-ups.

Recently, I met up with a colleague from my early days of attending garden lectures: John Forti. After spending years developing and tending gardens at Plimouth Patuxet Museums and Strawbery Banke, John has turned to writing. He was asked by Timber Press to create The Heirloom Gardener: Traditional Garden Skills for the Modern Age. The book is part essay, part memoir, and part guide to important seasonal markers. It’s illustrated with charming color woodcuts by the artist Mary Azarian of Vermont.

I read about the uses of the herb Angelica, something I had nearly forgotten about, as it’s not that easy to find this plant in a nursery. And John has many ideas for involving the children and young people who may be on the periphery of our lives in the wonderful world of nature.

Photos: jforti.com

With Easter coming in late April, we’ll have plenty of time to herald the season. Container changeovers will happen as early as we can possibly plant. We know you’re tired of winter greens, but we just need to avoid those freezing nights in the low twenties and teens. Contact Laura Semple for ideas and to get on her list of places to bring spring: <[email protected]>

Priscilla’s Garden To-Do List for March into Early April

We are holding staff training during the last week of March. Kim will be contacting all our clients to finalize our April schedule, which we expect to roll out on April 1 if the weather will cooperate! Contact her at <[email protected]> with your requests this season.

So this is an exceptionally busy time of year. Yet it’s a gratifying one, as new green shoots and buds appear, one by one. Looking forward to seeing you soon in the garden,