Discover the Fun of Gardening
January 14, 2011
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Discover the Fun of Gardening |
January 14, 2011 |
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In This Issue
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The beauty of living in Florida is taht you don’t have to be cooped up inside during the winter. Except for a few cold days, we can garden all year long. There is plenty to do, and the sun-kissed cool afternoons are the perfect time to get things done, without having to break a sweat. Below are some ideas for great things to do this time of year.
Think Veggies - It isn’t quite time to start most vegetables, although you can get away with planting some leafy vegetables. You can start some seeds indoors if you want a jumpstart on the season. It is time to start amending and turning the soil for this season's garden. Add homemade compost, cow manure and top soil now and work it into the soil. Letting it sit for the next month will allow the nutrients to mix and the soil to be in top shape for your spring vegetable garden. Come out to the veggie workshop on Saturday, February 26 at 10am to learn all about veggie gardening in Florida.
Get
Ideas - When you can’t get outside, you can always daydream about
gardening. There are lots of places to get great ideas and
spring inspiration. If you really want a jumpstart on your
spring garden, try out Kerby's
We Plan, You Plant service, and have a designer get your garden
ideas together. You'll be set and ready to go when spring arrives.  Plant Now After a few cold winters, it seems everyone is a little scared of planting, but there are so many things that are great to put in the ground right now. Pansies, bulbines and gaillardia are just a few flowers that can be planted now. It is (we know you won’t believe it) the best time of year to plant shade trees, and any dormant trees. Hardy shrubs such as azaleas, camellias and viburnums can also be planted with no fear. So if you are bored inside, get out your shovel and do a little planting.
Kerby's has lots of fun planned
for the garden in 2011, including workshop favorites on vegetables, herbs
and roses, as well as some new kids gardening events that will get
the whole family involved. 2011 will be a great year to
Discover the Fun of Gardening.
Workshop:
Growing Cold Hardy Fruits
Peaches,
Apples, Pears, Plums, Persimmons, Citrus
Workshop:
Spring Vegetable Gardening
Healthier,
tastier vegetables are easy to grow, and in this workshop, you'll get all
the information you need to get your vegetable garden going this spring.
Also included is an Earthbox demo, showing you how to grow veggies, even
with limited space.
Workshop:
Cold Hardy Landscaping
Tough plants
for Florida Gardens are the feature in this workshop. You'll see some
amazing plants that are great at taking whatever mother nature throws at
them. We'll also teach you some tricks for creating beautiful landscape.
Featuring our We Plan You Plant service, for anyone wanting a jumpstart
on a gorgeous landscape.
Spring
Fling
Bring on the color! You won't be able to resist all the
amazing flowers we've found for this year. Come out over the
weekend and enjoy some fresh cotton candy and popcorn and
take a stroll around the boardwalk to see all of this
season's new arrivals.
Workshop:
Classic Southern Gardens
Want to create a
classic southern garden with camellias, gardenias and azaleas. Come out and
learn about the best way to plant, prune and care for these classic shrubs.
Kerby's
Kids Gardening Activity
Little hands, a little dirt and lots of fun; It's the
first ever Kerby's Kids event. Come out with the family for
this fun event that will let everyone get there hands a
little dirty. The kids will get to learn a little about
plants, and create their own masterpiece to take home and
watch grow.
Workshop:
Tropical Fruit Trees
Juicy and
delicious, there is nothing like picking fruit from a tree you've grown and
eating it on the spot. Whether you like mangos or jakfruit, kiwi or papaya,
or nance and custard apple, there is a fruit to fit every taste. After the
workshop, you'll be able to sample some of the delicious fruits that can be
grown in our area.
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Kerby's Nursery 2311 S. Parsons Ave. Seffner, FL 33584 (813) 685-3265 www.kerbysnursery.com |
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You don't have to go
too far to find very different winter weather than we have here! Kim,
Joey and Abigail just spent a week up in Young Harris, Ga. After being trapped in by 6
inches of snow (which is a lot for us Florida folk) and ice on the roads,
they finally made it home to sunny Florida. At least our weather here in
Seffner looks beautiful for the next few weeks. It's the perfect time to get out and do some of
those winter tasks in the garden. If you aren’t sure what to do this time of year, see
below for some ideas.
Prune - but only certain plants. Things you’ll want to leave alone:
tropicals that might be damaged by cold (or even tropicals that have already
been damaged by the cold.), azaleas (they have already set their blooms for
the spring.) It’s the perfect time to prune: roses, crape myrtles, and
many cold-hardy fruits including peaches, apples, pears, plums and
nectarines. This is a great time to do a severe prune on these shrubs and
trees if necessary, since they are dormant or partially dormant at this time
of year. Pruning now will encourage healthy growth in the spring.
Clean - Okay this is more like a chore, but it needs to be done, and
these days with afternoons in the 60s and 70s are perfect for getting it done. Clean dead and old
plants out, remove leaves from fall and excess mulch that may be smothering
plants or running over the sides of your flower beds. Having your landscape
beds ready for spring will make it that much easier to get planting. Plus
the hard work will already be done!
Recent
cold winters may have you wondering what fruit trees you can
plant that will survive through frosts and freezes. Never
fear! There are tons of options. From Peaches and Apples, to
Mulberries and Cold-Hardy Avocados, there are enough cold
hardy fruits to fill any orchard. Come out to this workshop
to learn our secrets for great fruit trees and see all the
tantalizing trees that are easy to grow in sour area.
