Green Thumb Gazette, February 2022

The Alexander County Fruit Sale is still going! Many of our fruiting trees have done so well that they have already SOLD OUT! Now is the time to place your order for the items that we still have available: blueberries, strawberries, pecan trees, plum trees, figs, blackberries, and asparagus! These plants will be ready for pickup March 17th, when you may also make your payments. If you have any questions about the varieties we have or would like to place an order, contact Cari Mitchell, Horticulture Agent, at 828-632-4451 or stop by our office (151 W Main Ave., Taylorsville). Here are the varieties we still have available:

Blueberries: $10/ plant
Tifblue & Powder blue (suggested pair)
Premier & Climax (suggested pair)

Strawberries: $10/ bundle of 25
Earliglow- early bearing
Cavendish- early-mid season bearing
Albion- ever-bearing

Blackberries: $6/ plant
Natchez & Chester (both thorn-less)

Pecans: $25/ tree
Pawnee & Sumner (suggested pair)

Figs: $18/ plant
Brown Turkey & Celeste

Plums: $20/ tree
Methley & Santa Rosa

(both are self-fertile but recommended to plant in multiples or with another variety to ensure better cropping)

Asparagus: $10/ bundle
Mary Washington (standard)

For the Love of Pruning: Tips and Tricks for a Successful Pruning Season

February is the perfect month to be outdoors pruning your trees and shrubs! But before getting your shears out, you’ll want to know which shrubs need pruning and which do not. Pruning shrubs that bloom in the spring (like forsythia, camellias, flowering cherry, flowering dogwood, redbud, witch hazel, pieris, or daphne) would mean cutting off buds that are almost ready to bloom. You’ll want to wait until after they bloom to prune these shrubs. Most summer flowering shrubs and evergreens are perfect to prune and shape now! Be careful not to prune too much off of evergreen and needled shrubs. You should only remove ⅓ of the plant per season, so if it’s still “too big”, wait until next year to tackle another third of the plant.

Along with proper timing, it is important to know how that particular plant was cultivated to look. By this, I mean that some plants are meant to be shaped into boxes, hedges, or cone shapes, but some are not. Many shrubs are meant to be hand-pruned rather than sheared with hedge shears and end up losing the form that made them desirable in the first place. Take the Crape Myrtle for example. These trees are meant to look natural and thrive when they are pruned correctly. However, you see it everyday throughout the spring where people are “topping” these trees and removing their growth down to the larger trunks and it happens year after year. All of the new growth after this type of removal is “un-natural’. Limbs grow straight up instead of the natural angles.

To read the full article on pruning please visit the following link:

https://alexander.ces.ncsu.edu/2022/01/for-the-love-of-pruning-tips-and-tricks-for-a-successful-pruning-season/

Are you needing Pesticide Recertification Credits?

We have 2 upcoming classes that are scheduled:

February 28, 2022, 6:00-8:00p.m. at the Alexander County Service Center - Private Pesticide Class (2 credits available in V)
March 3, 2022, 2:00-4:00p.m. at the Alexander County Service Center - Commercial Pesticide Class (1.5 hour credits available in A,B,G,H,I,K,L,M,T and 2 hours credit available in N,O,D,X)

Please call the N.C. Cooperative Extension-Alexander County Center to register at 828-632-4451.

Alexander County Garden Club

Our Garden Club is full of AWESOME people who are super nice and LOVE plants! With most meetings there is an educational program that is offered and we work on beautification projects throughout the community! If you have any questions or are interested in joining, please call our office: 828-632-4451.

The Alexander County Garden Club meet the 2nd Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. Location: Alexander County Service Center. Next meeting: February 10th.

Alexander 4-H Garden Club

The next 4-H Garden Club meeting will be Monday, February 7, 2022 at 5:30p.m. at the Alexander County Service Center. Join them in February to work on Plantable Valentines.

If you have questions regarding the any of the clubs listed above please call Cari Mitchell, N.C. Cooperative Extension-Alexander County Center, Horticulture Agent, at 828-632-4451.

March Garden Calendar

Plants in flower:

Saucer Magnolia, Flowering Cherry, Forsythia, Star Magnolia, Spirea, Flowering Quince, Carolina Jessamine, Periwinkle, Thrift, Violets, Crocus, Daffodil, Hyacinths and Tulips

Fertilizing:

Fertilize shrubs and shade trees
Fertilize asparagus beds early this month before spear growth begins
Before planting your vegetables, fertilize your garden as recommended by your soil test results
Apply the recommended amount of lime if this was not done in the fall

For more March Garden Calendar tips click on the following link:
https://alexander.ces.ncsu.edu/2022/01/february-garden-calendar-2/