Garden Detective

SHHHHHH -- listen closely -- the weed whisperer speaks.

Have you noticed all the forsythia blooming this week? Sure, they're ushering in spring, but more importantly, they're trying to tell you something. Keep a close eye on them -- as soon as those flowers fade, it'll be time to apply pre-emergent crabgrass control to kill seeds before they germinate in your lawn. You'll have until the lilacs start blooming to do so. Wait any longer, and you'll be on your hands and knees pulling weeds.

The science of nature providing clues such as this one is called phenology. It's so much fun to be a sleuth, er, detective, in the garden.

Keep an eye on this category for more clues as the season gets underway. You may never need a calendar again.

Happy spring, everybody! I always feel like a Peanut on the vernal equinox -- the first day of spring -- when the day and night are equally long. In fact, I'm so excited, I'm posting this 10 hours early. From tomorrow at 1:48 a.m. until the first day of summer -- June 21 -- the days will grow longer and longer.

I feel so blah from November through the winter. I find the darkness and the cold mentally and physically zapping. But thoughts of tulips and tomato plants and leaving the house without a jacket turn me into a blubbering idiot come March 20. At the risk of sending you all into diabetic shock with my uncharacteristic sappiness, I'm so happy it's spring I could dance like Snoopy!

When I was a kid, we marked the day by trying to stand eggs on their ends. I can't remember whether it worked, but I'm going to try tomorrow. I'll report back -- with photos if I'm successful.

If you haven't already, start seeds of annuals indoors, and plant cool-season crops like lettuce and spinich outdoors.

It's prime time to seed your lawn, too. if yours looks anything like mine -- trashed by a dog or otherwise sabotaged -- seed once a week and water twice a day until it fills in. But don't fertilize until Memorial Day.

This just in from reader Gale Huffman of Woodland, Cal:

One area of the lawn has small mounds & the grass isn't healthy. In each small mound about 1 inch high is a small hole. When walking across the lawn it feels like night crawlers. Bumpy. But the hole in the mound isn't worms. Can't figure it out?? Need your help. Thanks.

It sounds like Gale has cicada-killing wasps or ground-nesting bees of some sort. If it's something else (which is possible, as I'm not familiar with all the critters in that part of the world) the same advice would apply: The only way to get rid of them is to fix the lawn.

Ground-nesters take advantage of poor soil cover. Get the grass going nicely and they'll move on. Call your local agricultural extension office for a recommendation for the best grass seed for your area. Then seed once a week and water every day until the lawn is lush. The bees will move on.