Dear Anne,
芒鈧揑 plant garlic every fall and it seems to do quite well, but wonder if I should be fertilizing during the growing season. I don芒鈧劉t plant it in the same place every year and I do amend and try to replenish the soil.芒鈧�
Ellie Stewart, South Delta
It sounds as if you芒鈧劉re doing just fine with your garlic. Because you芒鈧劉re doing crop rotation and nourishing your soil regularly, it should already have all the nutrition it needs.
Though it likes to start off in deep, rich soil, garlic is actually quite a light feeder and leaves lots of food in the soil for the next crop.
But garlic does like regular moisture in the growing season. So it will need extra watering if we continue to get long, dry spells at times when we normally have drenching rains.
Dear Anne,
芒鈧揑 have a flowering dogwood, Korean, I think. Its flowers are pink and it芒鈧劉s a nice, smallish front yard tree. It gets lots of sunlight, but later in the summer its leaves get a bit blighty. Would dormant spray help?
芒鈧揂lso, I芒鈧劉ve been pruning/shaping the tree in the winter when it芒鈧劉s dormant. Is this the optimal time? I don芒鈧劉t want to be cutting off all the flowering branches.芒鈧�
John Barbisan, Vancouver
Virtually all the infections flowering dogwoods get are fungal. So, yes, dormant spray will help. Your dogwood is probably Cornus kousa. Does the name 芒鈧淪atomi芒鈧劉 ring a bell? It is a pink-flowered variety that芒鈧劉s popular here. Satomi芒鈧劉s leaves turn purple in fall.
Because flowering dogwoods don芒鈧劉t respond to pruning at all well, as little should be done as possible. The flower buds are formed in fall, so when you must prune, it芒鈧劉s best to prune immediately after flowering. Dead branches can be removed any time.
Dear Anne,
芒鈧揗y grandson has purchased a community garden plot and is so excited to plant vegetables for the family. He芒鈧劉s brand new to gardening so it芒鈧劉s a big learning curve for him.
芒鈧揌e芒鈧劉s now ready to add manure to the soil and has a place to get free cow manure. I芒鈧劉m concerned as to all the weeds it will bring. What would be the best option? Don芒鈧劉t worry and just be a good weed-puller or芒鈧�?芒鈧�
Diane Benner, Surrey
Any animal that feeds on grass or hay will produce manure with lots of weed seeds. But manure that芒鈧劉s been composted for a year has far fewer seeds, because heat within the pile is intense enough to kill most of them. Your grandson needs to ask if the manure is already composted, and if so, for how long.
Free manure is an attractive option, and if it芒鈧劉s already composted for a year or more, I芒鈧劉d say, 芒鈧揋o for it!芒鈧� If not, it would be best passed up, especially since he芒鈧劉s a first-timer.
New gardeners on a learning curve don芒鈧劉t need to add extra weed-pulling to all the new things he芒鈧劉ll be doing anyway. As well, un-composted manure tends to burn plant roots.
Actually, this farm manure may be well-composted anyway, because people with animals don芒鈧劉t always find it easy to unload all the manure animals make. So it could have been piled for quite a while.
