KSFR reporter Mary Lou Cooper sat down with Lynn Payne, owner of the local Payne’s nursery stores, to find out about the do’s and don’ts of spring gardening in Santa Fe. Tips include:
1. You can plant some flowers like petunias and pansies when the weather is still cool, but it’s best to wait to plant flowers that don’t like cold weather.
2. You cannot grow healthy plants without healthy soil.
3. Avoid plants like hydrangeas which don’t like the dry winds of New Mexico. Plants like geraniums thrive here.
4. Once planted, water plants in pots twice a week…until the temperatures heat up, and then you’ll need to water more often.
5. When it comes to fertilizing, use water soluble fertilizer for plants in pots. Plants in the ground like granular fertilizer.
6. To repel pests, it’s helpful to plant companions like marigolds and chives amidst your flowers and vegetables.
Finally, the most common mistake amateur gardeners make is improper watering, especially overwatering which can deprive roots of oxygen.
Lynn Payne has worked in his family’s nursery business for more than 50 years.
