This Week Marks the Last Frost Date For Most of the Gulf Coast

So everybody, get out there and plant something!

By February, many coastal gardeners are yearning to get out in their gardens - and that means, of course, that it's time for the Spring rains. We have had weekly cold fronts roll through our Louisiana garden, leaving behind oak leaves, pine branches, and mucky, muddy soil. As much as I want to get out there and dig, I know better.

There's nothing worse for the tilth of your soil than to begin working it while it's holding a lot of water. Even pulling weeds, many of which are deeply rooted, will upset the balance of organics, sand, and clay that is a characteristic of good garden soil. While different soils drain at different speeds, you can fairly calculate that, after a good, day-long rain, sandy soil will drain in a day; sandy loam in two; good, loamy garden soil in three; and clay-based top soil may take, three, four, or even five days to dry out. Be patient, and your plants will thank you later. Meanwhile, take some time to evaluate your drainage - this is a grand, good way to discover the kind of soil that you have. If your bed is workable in one day following a hard, long rain, then you probably have too much sand, and this is a good time to add organics to your soil. If it drains too slowly, you have a clay soil and, well, this is a good time to add organics to you soil. If you have good texture and tilth, and your soil drains in a couple of days, then you have already learned this lesson, and you have added organics to your soil.

Any kind of materials that come from plants will make a good addition to garden soil. Green grass is one exception, because the process that breaks down the grass causes heat and moisture, which can cause problems in the beds. It's always a good idea to run your green grass through the insides of a horse, or a cow, but even then, I recommend composting for several weeks to let it "cool down." Don't have a horse handy? The next best thing is the grass and leaves from your compost pile, but if you didn't start your compost pile last year, you can add composted manure and something called "soil conditioner" that comes in a big bag at your local Big Box. Manure we all understand. "Soil Conditioner" is finely chopped pine tree parts that are too small to be sold as "Pine Bark." The little stuff is great to dig into a new bed, or use for a light mulch around shallow-rooted shrubs like azaleas and camellias that don't like having their roots smothered, but enjoy an acid-based mulch.

It's time to work some acidifying fertilizers into the soil around your azales and camellias - then mulch them with a light spread of pine straw. Don't put it down too heavily - these plants are very sensitive to the amount of air in the soil, and are easily smothered by planting too deeply, or mulching too heavily.

If you have never had your soil tested by the Cooperative Extension Service in your state, now is the time to take some soil samples and send them in. Use the links on this page to go to your state's service and find out where to send them. The cost is usually around $15, and they will send you a report back in the mail that is impossible to decipher. That's OK - they'll put their phone number on the report, and the best thing you can do is call them up and talk about your garden. They will be happy to help you learn what you need to do in YOUR YARD to make your garden better.

Enjoy the great, good weather we will have this month - and use the time while your garden dries out to sharpen your lawnmower blades, cut back all your groundcovers (especially liriope - because next month will be too late), and start your warm-weather seedlings indoors.