It’s time to start mowing the lawn. Here are some tips about that and battling slugs
The second week of March is the sprouting of the green as new growth on lawns remind us why we live in the Evergreen State.
This is a good week to fertilize your lawn and be sure to sharpen the mower before you start on the long season of mowing.
Lawns in Western Washington are made up of mostly cool-season grasses, and they do not want to be scalped. Start the spring cut with your mower on the highest level and then gradually lower it. Do not lower to any less than two inches, or you will be cutting the crowns form the grass clumps. Missing crowns cause weak leaders, and this allows for a hostile takeover of the more vigorous weed seeds that are starting to sprout. Lawns that are kept well fed with taller blades are best at keeping out weeds.
Q. I dug up my dahlias last fall and stored them in the garage. When do I plant them back outdoors? Do I need to cut them up first? — P., Email
A. Dahlias hate cold, wet soil.
You can start your tubers indoors in pots this week but do not move them outdoors until May when the soil has warmed. You do not need to cut up the dahlia tubers until you have grown them for several years when they have at least tripled in size. Look for the eyes or buds and set the tubers under six inches of rich soil.
If you want to start them early indoors, give the pots as much light as possible and keep the soil on the dry side. When you move your pre-sprouted dahlias outside, pick a warm and sunny spot and place support for the young plants in the soil at planting time so as not to pierce the heart of the tubers later. Some dahlias are hardy enough to spend the winters outdoors in the ground but only if you have raised beds, well-drained soil or cover the plants with fern fronds or plastic in the fall to keep out winter rains.
Q. Yikes! I grow healthy greens in pots on my patio, and I love to grow spinach and lettuce from seed. My problem is the slugs. I refuse to use any slug bait. I am getting ready to seed my spinach crop now and hope you can offer some slug-control advice. — H.P., Bonney Lake
A. You said the magic phrase “greens in pots,” so I can offer you this practical advice: Invest in strips of adhesive copper to wrap around the rim of each pot. The copper will shock any slug that dares to cross, and you’ll have slug-free greens. You can find copper bands at local garden centers and nurseries as we are the slug and slime capitol of the country. You can even make your own copper strip barriers that are at least 2 inches wide to nail to raised beds or glue to containers.
Q. I have an old lilac that I want to prune. It has a main trunk that is thick and looking rather rotten with fungus on the trunk. There are many new lilac shoots coming up. How far back can I cut the main trunk? It is 12-feet tall, and I can no longer reach or smell the few flowers that I see up high. — L.L., Seattle
A. Love your lilac by limiting its old wood. Pruning after blooming is the general rule, so once the shrub is in flower, cut that main trunk to the ground. Be brave.
Now you can easily harvest any blooms from the cut trunk to enjoy in a vase. Next decide on which of the many suckers emerging from around the mother trunk you want to save. Six would be the max of young shoots to renew your old lilac. Cut the rest of the young shoots to ground level and keep cutting back any new shoots that emerge this summer.
You may get fewer flowers next spring after this dramatic makeover, but bouquets of blooms that you can reach will be your reward the following years.
Learn from Marianne Binetti
▪ March 11, noon, Windmill Gardens, “Lessons from the Binetti Garden,” part one of three part series. Last class in May is a field trip to the Binetti family garden. Sign up at Windmill Gardens, 253-863-5843 or www.windmillgarden.com. Fee is $30 for three classes and field trip.
▪ March 12, 7 p.m., Redmond Library, “Best Plants for Lazy Gardeners,” free, www.cascadewater.org.
▪ March 15, 1 p.m., Peninsula Home and Garden Expo at Kitsap Fairgrounds, “Spring Garden Tips plus Q and A”.
This story was originally published March 7, 2020 at 10:00 AM.