January 2003

Edible

Plan your vegetable plantings, allowing for crop rotation. Do not plant the same vegetables where you had them last year.

Plan to use all of your vegetable garden space. Try intensive gardening techniques throughout the next growing season:

• Succession planting means planting early, cool season crops in April; replacing them with warm season crops (peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash) in early summer and then replacing some of these in late summer with cool season fall crops (lettuce, spinach, cabbage, peas)

• Intercropping is another space-saving technique in which quickly maturing crops are planted between wider rows of longer season crops or even in the row between plants. For example, radishes, green onions or leaf lettuce can be planted between tomatoes, pepper or broccoli and harvested before these other crops need the space to mature.

• Use wide row planting for smaller vegetables, like beans, by planting in double or "wide" rows, putting more space into production and having less space for walkways between rows. Rows are made like blocks-one, two, three or even four feet wide. Planting time is reduced because you broadcast seeds instead of placing each one individually. Weeding time is reduced because the rows are planted densely and the closely grown crops smother out weeds.Watering time is also cut down because shady areas hold more moisture than sunny ones and naturally, yields are higher because there is simply more growing per square foot.
  
  Another benefit of wide-row planting is the natural competition it creates among the plants. They are all trying to get as much sun, water and food as possible. The strongest plants gain a slight edge over the others, allowing them to mature somewhat faster. These are the plants you can harvest first; and once you do harvest, you end some of the competition, thus enabling the rest of the plants in your wide-row to mature.

• Use vertical planting for a few vegetables that can be grown vertically on trellises, such as the vining crops - cucumbers, squash and melons. Be sure to select smaller-fruited varieties if you try this so the weight of the fruit doesnít break the vines.

Build a cold frame for an early start to the growing season.

Can wood ash from your fireplace be applied to your vegetable garden soil? Wood ash is highly water soluble and can change (raise) the soil pH rapidly. Apply no more than 1.5 pounds over 100 square feet of soil.

Ornamental

The University of Illinois 2003 Garden Calendar with monthly tips is available. Call 773-23-0476 for more information.

Broken tree limbs damaged by snow and ice should be pruned as soon as possible. Wounds with clean edges will heal better in the spring unlike those with ragged tears.

Schedule major tree pruning projects. The trees are dormant, the ground is frozen and arborists are less busy and prices may be lower.

Did you know that in general granular fertilizer products will be far less expensive per pound of nitrogen than the water soluble products on the market?. A simple formula to use to figure out how much fertilizer to apply over an area is to take the recommended rate of actual N divided by the percentage of nitrogen in the fertilizer, expressed as a decimal. For example, the Extension recommendation for fertilizing trees and shrubs is 3 pounds actual N per 1000 square feet applied annually. If we are using a 20-5-5 fertilizer, we divide 3 by .20; 15 pounds of this fertilizer can be applied over 1000 square feet to meet the recommended rate. If we are using a 10-10-10 fertilizer, we divide 3 by .10; we need 30 pounds of this fertilizer to accomplish the same task.

Are your houseplants getting enough light? Symptoms of poor light include new leaves are small, long weak stems, yellowing leaves or no new growth or flowers.

Check out tropical houseplants at your local garden center. Many put their houseplants on sale in January.

Make a point of washing houseplants often; including the undersides of leaves. Avoid using leaf shine products. They cause leaves to reflect light at a time when they need to absorb as much light as possible.

Keep a pitcher of room temperature water ready for watering houseplants.