by Pat Pohl, SRS Program Chair

Spring!  That wonderful time of year when we are so anxious to be out and doing in our gardens, and it’s just a little too wet and cool…I have to admit I have been out this mid-March evening to begin an experiment with compost/mulch.

  After a crop of puffball mushrooms popped up from my not-inexpensive shredded bark mulch late last summer and quickly spread into thick mats around the roses, I decided to look for a different mulch material for this year.

 On a historic garden tour in Charleston last week, I noticed beds mulched with pine needles.  Tonight I raked up several cart loads of needles and spread them along the edges of my rose beds, where they will hopefully keep back the weeds until it’s time to pull back the winter rose cover, and will be close at hand to spread as summer mulch.  Much lighter and easier to handle than shredded bark, and the price is right.  Hopefully the acidity as it composts will help my very alkaline soil pH, too.  I’ll keep you posted. 

Which leads to our April 12 meeting topic – compost!  Michael Mahanna, Horticultural Educator from the Onondaga County Cooperative Extension, will be showing us several methods of composting.  Many of us are already doing it to some degree, and this will be a great opportunity to gain new ideas from Michael, share experiences, and get our questions answered.    Our wallets, landfills, and most of all, our roses will all benefit from turning trash into yummy rose food.

One of our expert CR’s will give some tips and answer your questions about what to do in the garden this month, and as always, we will end with some delicious desserts and time to catch up with friends.  See you at 7 p.m.  on April 12!