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We are finally well into our gardening time but I have to admit that there are still some head shakers going on in some of our gardens. I think most of the strange or unusual things that fellow gardeners are reporting back to me have a lot to do with our April snowstorm that was shortly followed up by hot conditions. Mother Nature is giving us a run for our money this year not only in our gardens but also our farm fields.
Folks have had to repeatedly plant new vegetables because they planted when the temperatures were cool for those cool season plants only to have them die out when the heat of summer was suddenly upon us this spring. Though it is a loss to not have those vegetables this spring, there is another opportunity to try again and plant them this late summer, for fall harvest. If you have trouble with such things as lettuce, broccoli, radishes and so forth this would be your best bet at getting a crop this year.
The ash trees are also suffering through their ash anthracnose season as well. If you see your ash trees losing leaves and the leaves are misshaped, it is not Emerald Ash borer. I have been approached by several people asking, almost panicking that this is the case and it is not. Ash trees, particularly when they go through a wet period of time (which for us is May until about June 15), they will suffer from this fungal disease. In mature trees, this is usually not a cause for alarm but it will make a mess on your lawn while it is happening. There are times that you will get a tree that will suffer from this fungus to a greater degree than others and depending on size, you can treat them if needed. If you have a newly planted ash tree or a smaller ash tree and you see that it is being heavily infected with this fungus, then treatment measurements should take place. For more information on ash anthracnose, please go to https://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/trees-shrubs/anthracnose-of-ash-trees/.
If you are not treating your trees for diseases, you should be looking for what process you want to do in order to get that going. With the current weather conditions, this is prime time for diseases to take off in your apple trees. In our area, we can see our apples (and apple trees) suffer from the following diseases: Apple Scab, Cedar Apple Rust, Powdery Mildew, Sooty Blotch and Fly Speck, Fireblight. These can be handled with either an apple orchard spray or by organic means. The U of M has wonderful information regarding diseases and pests of apple trees at: http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/fruit/apple-pest-management/apple-scab/. A question that Master Gardeners often get phone calls about is why is my apple tree not bearing or hardly bearing an apples this year? Apple trees will take a year or two off from bearing much if any fruit. They typically spend their time growing. It is a bummer when you can't have your own apples but this is part of the lifecycle of the tree.
This spring has been crazy that is for sure. With a little planning and sometimes a little replanting, your garden can be successful. At our farm, we have a Bluebird family that is living in a Purple Martin house and a Purple Martin that is living in a Bluebird house. So, even the birds are a little turned upside down with the weather! For more information on gardening, you can reach me at s.dejaeghere@me.com