Minnesota gardeners can’t be blamed for welcoming May with more than usual anticipation after relentless cold, wet days in April.
Expert horticulture educator Julie Weissenhorn may say, but she also says this is a good time to slow down and see how choices made in our backyards and gardens can affect the environment in Minnesota and beyond.
Q: Can we really make a difference to the environment through our backyards and gardens?
WEISENHORN: Absolutely. For example, you can save water by watering your lawn sparingly and deeply instead of spraying it frequently. Deep and infrequent watering saturates the soil and makes the roots of the grass deep, seeking that water and creating a healthy and resilient lawn. Plant different masses of flowers suitable for pollinators, making sure that something blooms in your garden from April to October. Spring bulbs, summer perennials and annual plants and autochthonous flowers that bloom in autumn provide valuable and nutritious nectar and pollen for bees of all kinds that are in our area from early spring to late autumn.
Q: Tell us more about why plant diversity is important.
WEISENHORN: There are all kinds of interactions between plants and animals, including insects. The monoculture of a particular plant supports only a small population with shelter and food. Certain plants evolved with insects to support each other. For example, short-tongued bees feed on small flowers and pollinate the plant, and long-tongued bees feed on large flowers, pollinating while feeding. Plant monocultures can intensify the disease. Think of the magnificent American elms that lined our city streets. Dutch elm disease (DED) has moved from one tree to another. Now we see the same thing with ash trees and emerald ash. That is why we stopped planting elms and now we are planting DED-resistant varieties. Planting tomatoes every year in the same garden bed will prolong the diseases that are transmitted by the soil to tomatoes. The solution is to plant other plants on that soil - called “rotation” - which are not related to tomatoes and therefore do not continue to maintain disease.
Q: How important is it for a gardener to understand his soil?
VEISENHORN: Imagine the soil as the foundation of every yard and garden. It is important to have a good foundation because the soil will affect everything you do in your landscape now and in the future. Unless the soil is toxic, we never recommend removing and replacing existing soil, but learning about it through soil testing and then modifying it accordingly. Understanding your soil, along with the light and space you need to plant, is important when it comes to choosing plants that will thrive, not just survive.
Q: We can’t talk about backyards and gardens without mentioning plant selection, right?
VEISENHORN: One of my favorite topics! There are so many great plants for Minnesota’s backyards and gardens. As I mentioned, understand the type of growing conditions available to you - the soil, the size of the space, the amount of light - and then look for plants with growing requirements that match the conditions of the location. The Plant Selection Tool and the Plant Design Elements video series are a good place to start and will help us learn to consider the characteristics of the plants we want and the location conditions we have before buying plants that may not be suitable. You can find it on our website www.extension.umn.edu.
Q: What about people who don’t have a yard?
WEISENHORN: The good news is that you don’t have to have a yard to have a garden. Gardens on terraces, decks and balconies can be a refuge for us. Containers of all shapes, sizes and shapes can be filled with various plants that feed, protect, smell great and attract and use bees, butterflies and even birds. And there are houseplants! They can be moved outside in the summer and then back indoors to bring in the outside during the winter. There are basics for preventing pests from bothering your houseplants (and you) and ways to add extra lighting if your home lacks enough light.
The University of Minnesota’s horticulture team regularly publishes free yard and garden news. You can also find out more at ektension.umn.edu/iard-and-garden.