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Gardening: Trying to push the gardening season

Regardless of the climate, gardeners are always wanting to extend the season. Seeds and to some extent hall herbaceous plants including bulbs emerge depending on the temperature of the soil.
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Regardless of the climate, gardeners are always wanting to extend the season. Seeds and to some extent hall herbaceous plants including bulbs emerge depending on the temperature of the soil.

Bulbs will appear as soon as the snow disappears. Dig through the snow now and chances are that bulbs foliage will be hovering at or just below the surface. Have patience, bulbs will all appear as the snow melts. At first they will be yellow from lack of sunlight but will quickly turn green and flower.

Plants will appear first in the warmer sections of the yard. Areas that are in direct sunlight and the south sides of buildings or fences where the heat is trapped and sunlight is reflected back at the soil. Where the snow melts first.

Gardening season can be brought forward by creating warmer areas through the use of of cold frames, plastic, polyspun cloth and raised beds.

Cold frames are any object that draws heat to an area and retains the heat as the temperature drops. Conventional cold frames are raised boxes with glass or plastic lids but tires with plastic or glass lids are also very effective. The heat is trapped in the wood or tires and helps keep the plants warm at night.

Hoop tunnels or tunnels of any size, covered with plastic or a polyspun cloth are a type of cold frame. Heat is trapped inside the tunnel during the day helping keep the plants warm at night. As the summer progresses the plastic on small hoops or tunnels become too warm during the day and need to be removed. Likewise, the sides of larger hoop houses are rolled up to allow air to flow throughout the foliage and regulate temperatures.

Commercial growers usually have too many tunnels to hand regulate temperatures and use a perforated plastic.

Frost protectors some with a brand name of Cozy Coats are a double layer of plastic that the gardener fills with water. The water heats in the sunlight and emits heat in when the temperatures cool. The usefulness of the product is dictated by the plants size. A similar object can be created by duct taping a ring of 2 L pop bottles together and filling them with water.

Glass or plastic covers such as pop bottles or milk jugs will also heat the soil and keep plants a bit warmer during cold weather. Unless these objects are well vented they must be removed on warm days of the plants will become too hot.

Lay plastic, clear or colored flat on the ground and the temperatures quickly increase. Covering the vegetable garden with a clear plastic speeds up seed germination. It must be removed as the plants get their true leaves to allow the plants to grow straight. If left in place, the garden under the plastic would quickly become too warm and the plants would not thrive.

Colored plastic draws and traps more heat but it doesn’t let in sunlight. This is a positive if trying to kill weeds or if it is used as a mulch. Plastic is placed around the plants or seeds and plants are planted through the plastic. Moisture will not penetrate the plastic making an irrigation system under the plastic essential.

Polyspun cloth also called row cover, allows sunlight and moisture to penetrate while keeping the area under the cloth up to 5 ˚ warmer.

Both plastic and polyspun cloth work as a barrier against insects good or bad. A top cover stops the cabbage butterfly from depositing worms and it blocks insects from pollinating flowers. Know your crops, if they need wind or insects for pollination, remove all covers when they begin to flower.

Raised beds, permanent or temporary mounds warm up faster as the sun heats up more than one surface compared to the traditional flat garden. It also means that the raised garden needs to be watered more often than a flat garden.

When trying to push the season, use a method or a combination of methods that increases the chances of plants growing and maturing early.

Linda Tomlinson is a horticulturalist that lives near Rocky Mountain House. She can be reached at your-garden@hotmail.com.