Tips
See How It’s Done
4-23-2024
The Belfast Garden Club’s Tree Working Group (TWiG) will host the Arbor Day tree planting this Friday, April 26 at the Belfast Area High School at 1:15pm. This tree planting is the result of TWiG leader Carol Herwig’s collaboration with BAHS science teacher David Thomas. The students have been learning about trees and will dig the holes and participate in the planting.
The trees selected (River Birches and a Black Gum) will be planted near the Waldo Avenue side of the school. If you can come, please park across the street in the general vicinity of the Seebreeze Family Eyecare. (Please don’t park in their lot.)
Our last frost date? It’s complicated
3-21-2024
You may be wondering as you start your seeds–how much has our last frost day shifted? The answer is: considerably. In much of the US, the freeze-free growing season has lengthened in 83 percent since 1970. Rapid changes in recent years make prediction increasingly difficult. Most of the maps we’re seeing averages data from 1991-2020. So proceed with caution as you try to read these tea leaves. Here are some sources: Climate.gov Farmer’s Almanac
Learn the secrets of the MDI gardens
3-20-2024
You’ve seen them: the Asticou Azalea Garden, Thuya Garden, and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden, each a unique expression of setting, design and style, managed by the group Land & Garden Preserve. So how do they do it? Cassie Banning, the Preserve’s director of farm & gardens, is telling secrets March 20, 2024, 4 pm, by zoom. Register here
To beat the browntail moth, start now
1-08-2024
You’ve probably seen them before: winter webs hanging from the tips of trees, harboring browntail moths. Well, now is the time to act.
Here are some steps: Look for them on a sunny day. Remove them by April–each one of them contains 25-400 caterpillars. Destroy them. AND, breathe easier. Need help? Maine has a bunch of aids. First: the bulletin, scroll down Next: a video, and it’s pretty good. And finally, an interactive map–you’ll need be deft for this one.
Some thoughts, now that USDA has changed our growing zone
12-22-2023
Okay, so we’re not exactly banana territory. But when USDA updated the plant hardiness zone map, Belfast moved from 5a to 5b. This means our gardens are an average 5 degrees warmer than they were 30 years ago.
For home gardeners, the change is subtle and you may have already adjusted. Still, bear in mind when you’re reading older gardening books, advice like “mulch heavily” for winter protection may no longer be applicable. And you may be tempted to try plants from warmer zones. But this could bring more disease and pest pressure, according to Jesse Watson, principal designer at Midcoast Permaculture. He suggests looking at native plantings typically grown in southern New England for an idea of what might now be grown in Maine. Several varieties of native nut trees, for example, may be able to survive now in Maine, including pecans and hickory.
Planting trees? Fast-growing? Slow? Evergreen? Flowering? Here’s a tool for making great choices
10-26-2023
As autumn slips into your yard with long shadows and cooler evenings, it’s time to plant trees. There are some great sales this month. But what should you plant? So many considerations, so many possibilities. For answers, Try the Tree Wizard offered by the Arbor Foundation.
They’re coming. They’re here. Invasives in Maine.
10-4-2023
We promise that next month’s entry won’t be about invasives. But Maine Public Radio has a whole series going, and it’s worth taking note. Japanese Knotweed is a big one, taking over acres of land, outgrowing natives, stealing habitat, and resisting management. Also in the series: fish. Who knew? Check out the series here.
Uh oh. This one grows a mile a minute
8-9-2023
It’s here and it’s fast! Discovered at a private residence in Boothbay Harbor, mile-a-minute weed poses a threat to Maine’s nurseries, Christmas tree farms, and woodlands. How fast is fast? This stuff grows six inches a day, 25 feet within weeks. If you spot it, take pictures, note the location, and report it via email to Invasives.MNAP@maine.gov. More on invasives in Maine.
When your garden grows really soggy…
7-4-2023
Side-dress your plants with a granular organic fertilizer to replace nutrients that get washed out of the soil. This is especially a problem with container grown plants. Back in the actual garden, don’t squish: Walking on muddy ground can compact the soil. Also rake back some of the mulch to let things dry out. More tips from the Almanac here.
June is the month to…
6-13-2023
… stake your tomato plants, remove the flowering stalks from your rhubarb plants, and prepare for Japanese beetles. So says Maine’s Extension Service. These creatures–we’ve saved you the pain of looking at a portrait–love roses, basil, and other things you may love, too. That’s why Extension offers a video on Japanese beetles.
How to be healthy
11-3-2022
A range of studies show that gardening boosts mood, measurably reduces stress, and is associated with longevity. One way this works—something called M. vaccae, a bacterium in the dirt. But that doesn’t mean you have to get muddy to get the benefits.
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