WELL BEGUN IS HALF DONE

THE DISMAL WEATHER CONTINUES

PERENNIAL GARDEN,  MULCHED WITH WOOD CHIPS AND "READY TO GROW"

Thursday, 8:15 AM.  34 degrees F at the Ferry Dock, 32 on the back porch.  The wind is variable, mostly calm with light gusts.  The sky has a low overcast and fog, following a trace of rainfall last night.  The humidity is 62% and the barometer is heading down, now at 29.91".  3"-5" of snow is predicted for this evening, which is O.K. as we need the moisture and it will melt the in a day or so,
   Bayfield's weather has not been pleasant, but little by little I have been getting the gardens ready for the real spring, which will suddenly arrive one of these days.
   Yesterday I put down several bags of cedar mulch on the perennial garden and it looks nice.  There are some grass and other weeds that are still in the garden, now covered by the mulch, but I didn't want to blunder around trying to remove them and damage garden plants just popping up.  I had to step very carefully to avoid crushing emerging tulips, daffodils, day lilies, peonies and more.  I think yesterday was about the last opportunity to do so without doing a lot of damage.
   I never used to mulch my perennial gardens, but have gradually come to do so over the years. More importantly, I always cut down the garden in the fall and leave the cut material to cover the garden over winter, raking it off in late winter or early spring.  We often have droughty springs here and a fresh mulch of wood chips or other organic material conserves spring moisture and discourages early spring weed growth.  My garden is planted heavily with perennials, probably too many (they need dividing), so once things start to grow further mulching is not really necessary.
   I like the looks of the garden lightly mulched in the spring, but mulch should not be more than an inch or two thick, or it will overwhelm some plants.  And, any time wood chips or other mulch with a high cellulose content is used, more nitrogen fertilizer will be needed by the garden, as decomposing cellulose reduces nitrogen levels in the soil.  I will scatter some extra organic fertilizer, such as Milorganite, over the top of the mulch.  I may also add a little lime, as the cedar mulch will be  somewhat acid.
  I still have other garden areas to clean up, mulch and fertilize, but the main garden is done.  The lawn also needs to be raked and fertilized, and trees and shrubs pruned, in the next few weeks before warmer weather and spring rains arrive.
   But, well begun is half done.