VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Strength, perseverance, performing under harsh winter conditions!
No, it’s not our athletes at the Winter Olympics — we’re talking about the early West Coast growing season and how this icy cold snap is affecting your sprouts and blooms.
“The freeze is affecting a few things,” says Miles Hunter, general manager at Hunter Garden Centre in Vancouver.
“Some stuff started coming out early and it’s really going to slow down right now. We are going to see a lot of things that might have been ready to flower hold off for a week or two. The flowering cherries aren’t quite going to burst into bloom yet and maybe some crocuses and daffodils that you’ve got poking up out of the ground will be a little bit slower.”
But Hunter says anything that had already been growing is well-adapted to survive a cold snap.
“Anything like that is going to be very hardy. If you’d tried to plant anything outside that was not hardy — maybe some fuchsias that were in your greenhouse — they are likely going to die. Don’t do anything like that right now. Keep all of your tender plants under cover and protected in a warm spot,” he tells NEWS 1130, adding that once the weather starts to warm up again, it is time to start looking ahead.
“Once the snow melts, it’s time to start working in your garden and you can start spreading manure and compost in your garden beds to help give those broad-leafed evergreens — your rhododendrons, for example — some extra nutrients so they can start growing and it will help them flower better in the spring.”
Hunter says that’s also a good time to start pruning rose bushes to help ensure healthy buds and growth through the spring and summer.
For lawns, he suggests people should start thinking about the season’s first application of fertilizer and lime after the thaw to help provide calcium to the soil and kickstart growth.
“If you have fruit trees, it’s time to spray them with a dormant spray kit. This bout of cool weather is a good time to apply it. Temperatures need to be above zero, but if you do it before the flowers come out, it will help prevent pests and diseases in the coming spring. And we had a fairly mild winter up to this point so if you had an aphid or fungal problem last year, lime sulphur and dormant oil are going to help reduce that problem for the coming year,” Hunter explains.
And if your green thumb is absolutely itching with impatience, start planning your vegetables.
“If there is still snow on the ground, now is a good time come in and buy your seeds and start planning your garden, what you’re going to grow for tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. You can start the seeds indoors around March 1 and it will be about 8-10 weeks before you can move those outside.”
The Metro Vancouver forecast from NEWS 1130 meteorologist Russ Lacate calls for light flurries today, a cool Thursday, more snow on Friday, and mixed precipitation on Saturday and Sunday.
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