First Steps to Healthy Gardening

PP071 (3/01)

By Dr. Sharon M. Douglas
Department of Plant Pathology and Ecology
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
123 Huntington Street
P. O. Box 1106
New Haven, CT 06504-1106

Telephone: (203) 974-8601 Fax: (203) 974-8502
Email: Sharon.Douglas@po.state.ct.us

The best way to encourage and ensure a healthy garden for the future is to start by making all efforts to prevent problems from developing. This holds true whether you’re concerned about lawns, shrubs, trees, perennials, annuals, or vegetables. Disease prevention is a fundamental component of maintaining healthy plants and one of the most effective ways to minimize the occurrence and impact of all types of diseases in the landscape and garden.

In order to accomplish this, it is helpful to follow some basic steps at the start and during every growing season.

Five Steps to Healthy Gardening:

Step 1: Spring Clean-up:

Remove winter mulch: any plants or beds that have been mulched for the winter should have mulch removed before or when new growth begins.

Rake: lawns can benefit from a vigorous raking; this helps to remove twigs, dead tissues, and also stimulates new growth.

Remove plant debris: clean up any leaves or plant debris that may have collected in shrub beds or perennial beds during the winter; this helps to remove potential sources of inoculum capable of infecting newly-emerging plant tissues in the spring.

Remove or prune any dead or damaged branches: carefully examine trees and shrubs for any dead, dying, or damaged branches; these should be pruned since they are potential sources for secondary invaders and opportunistic pests.


Step 2: Optimize Plant Vigor:

Fertilize:
a. this involves appropriate applications of fertilizer (preferably using rates suggested by a soil test) to maximize plant growth and vigor;
b. helps to avoid plant stress due to deficiencies or toxicities;
c. it is important to avoid excessive applications which result in growth that is very tender and succulent and therefore prone to disease; when plants are under-fertilized, they are weak and spindly and are also prone to disease.

Mulch:
a. properly applied summer mulches have several advantages: they help with weed control, soil temperature moderation, and soil moisture retention;
b. mulches also help to minimize disease spread by splashing;
c. mulches should not be applied too thick or too close to the stem;
d. improperly applied mulches cause many problems: when applied too thick, the mulch impedes water penetration and smothers the roots; when applied too close to the stem, the mulch creates conditions favorable for the development of stem and crown rots;
e. the rule of thumb:
1. mulches should be applied approximately 1 inch from the base of herbaceous plants and 6-12 inches from the base of woody plants;
2. the thickness depends upon the coarseness of the mulch:
-fine shredded bark: ~1 inch
-coarse shredded bark: ~2 inches
-pea gravel: ~3 inches
-bark nuggets: ~4-6 inches

Water:
a. this involves maintaining adequate soil moisture for the particular plant species;
b. for most plants, including trees and turf, this usually translates to approx. 1 inch of water/week;
c. in the absence of natural rainfall, irrigation is important;
d. for most soil types, watering is best done as one deep soaking during which the soil profile is wet to a depth of 6-10 inches;
e. in order to keep the leaves dry to minimize potential disease problems, it is important to avoid overhead irrigation or to water early in the day.


Step 3: Plant Selection:

Hardiness: when selecting new plants, it is important to consider plant hardiness; most of Connecticut is in Zone 6 but there are pockets in Zone 5.

Healthy plants:
a. this involves the use of healthy, disease-free seeds, cuttings, seedlings, transplants, and bulbs or corms;
b. it is important to carefully inspect the plant at the time of purchase and when planting; special attention should be paid to the roots;
c. any overwintered bulbs that have an odor, obvious fungal growth, or are soft and mushy should be discarded.

Genetic resistance:
a. this involves the use of resistant or tolerant cultivars or species of plants; plants with genetic resistance to a specific disease(s);
b. this is a very effective tool for prevention of disease when available; for example, crabapples with resistance to cedar-apple rust, phlox with resistance to powdery mildew, tomato with resistance to Fusarium and Verticillium wilts.

Plant requirements vs. site characteristics:
a. it is important to match what the plant needs with what the site has to offer as closely as possible;
b. among the factors to consider are: light, soil pH, soil drainage, soil compaction, and exposure (e.g., wind);
c. although this is important for both herbaceous and woody plants, it is particularly important for woody and perennial species.


Step 4: Proper Planting:

Spacing:
a. use the correct spacing for the particular plant;
b. avoid crowding since crowded plants just don’t grow well and crowding also helps to promote many disease problems.

Rootball preparation:
a. proper preparation of the rootball is critical to plant growth and vigor and it is often overlooked;
b. with balled and burlapped (B&B) material, the burlap should be completely removed or at least shredded and folded down; if a wire basket is present, it should be completely removed or the top 1/3 should be cut off;
c. with both woody and herbaceous container-grown plants, the rootball should be moistened, scored, cut, and teased apart before planting; this is especially important if the rootmass is very tight and dense.

Planting practices:
a. this involves proper preparation of the planting hole;
b. the hole should be dug 2-4 times wider but no deeper than the rootball to be planted; minimal amendments should be applied to the soil; this method allows for faster root growth into the site; the "old" planting method called for digging the hole 2-3 times deeper and no wider than the rootmass to be planted and also called for soil amendments.

Timing:
a. be patient!!
b. this involves planting at the appropriate time for the particular species to be planted; for example, eggplants never do well if planted too early since they are easily chilled and stunted, whereas mountain laurel can be planted as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring.


Step 5: Scout for Problems:

a. this involves taking scheduled walks through your yard and garden to check for problems and to monitor for how quickly they are spreading or building up;
b. it is helpful to remember that it is always easier to control a problem before it gets out of hand.

Summary

The best way to encourage and ensure a healthy garden for the future is to start by making all efforts to prevent problems from developing. This holds true whether you’re concerned about lawns, shrubs, trees, perennials, annuals, or vegetables. Disease prevention is a fundamental component of maintaining healthy plants and one of the most effective ways to minimize the occurrence and impact of all types of diseases in the landscape and garden. This fact sheet outlines the basic steps to achieve a healthy garden.