Agriculture Department

Chesapeake Master Gardener Tips

February 2000

Virginia Cooperative Extension, Chesapeake Office

February is for The Heart ... So Is Gardening!

Gardening is good for your soul and yes, for your heart. Working in the garden takes your mind off troubles and allows you to experience positive reinforcement, pride, and satisfaction in nurturing plants. Research is showing that gardening is also an ideal form of exercise. Gardening can be a moderate to strenuous workout, which incorporates stretching, repetitive motion, and even resistance similar to weight training. Gardening provides a challenging workout, but may not be as stressful as other exercise options. It is important to warm up muscle groups by proper stretching before gardening, remember you can easily overdo if you haven't been at for awhile. Be careful to use proper techniques for lifting, bending, and carrying. So yes, gardening is good for the heart and soul, just be careful not to hurt any of your other muscles.

Helpful Hints, Events, and Garden Scouting Tips:

• February is typically time for pruning. Now is a good time to remove deadwood, cross branching, and other weak and unsightly parts of the trees and shrubs. Wait until after bloom to prune your spring-flowering shrubs such as azalea and camellia. We have pruning calendars and guides available in our office, just call Virginia Cooperative Extension at 382-6348.
• While plants are leafless it is easier to spot problems such as weedy vines and over-wintering insect egg masses. Now is a good time to look for and remove the egg masses of tent caterpillars and old bagworms. Tent caterpillar egg masses are gray-brown, varnished looking and tend to form "collar-like" around a twig or small branch. The bagworm egg cases are hanging from the ends of the branches looking somewhat like a cone or small ornament, and are constructed from the leaves or needles of the plant itself.
• Chesapeake Master Gardeners will tell you now is the time to be planning and starting your vegetable garden. Some gardeners are harvesting cool season crops that they over- wintered and others are beginning to plan those spring cool crops. For more help with your gardening plans, give the Master Gardener Answer-line a call.
• A good valentine's surprise for the gardener in your life is a gift certificate for seeds or a new plant for the landscape or garden. Spring is just around the corner and gardeners typically are anxious to start the cycle of gardening, so they really appreciate a gift for the garden.
• If you get or give cut roses for Valentines Day, check for "bent neck". If your roses droop this way, it is best just to remove them from the arrangement. They will not revive. Also when purchasing those roses look for petals that are just starting to unfurl. Rose buds that are too tight will not open.
• If you have been using insecticidal soap on your plants, be aware that these soaps may cause browning on the leaf margins or yellow and brown spots on the leaves of some plants. Begonias and fuchsias are two plants that are sensitive to insecticidal soaps.
• If you need a little something to chase the winter doldrums, you can force some branches of spring flowering shrubs. Prune budded branches and place them in vases of water. The warmer temperatures inside the home will cause the buds to open giving you a hint of springtime.

February 2000, Lynnette J. Swanson, Associate Extension Agent, Environmental Horticulture, Chesapeake