GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

brooklyn1 · 07-03-2010, 03:46 PM posted to rec.gardens

(EVP MAN) wrote:

Yea, I live in central PA. I haven't tried it yet but I do know that
several weeks ago we had a nice day and I went out and took some sod
off. That went pretty well but the soil was wet. If I can just get all
the sod off in the next three days it will help me out a lot. At least
I can flip the sod upside down and give it time for the grass roots to
die off until the soil is dry enough to work in the bed. If I do about
17' each day for the next three days, I'll have all the sod off.
That's the part I really hate and removing the sod does dig easier when
the ground isn't so dry and hard. It's just about 9 am here now and the
temp is up to 40. In about an hour I'll go out and give it a go.

Rich

My weather station says 42.3ºF here now but the ground is still mostly
covered with snow and even the bare spots will be frozen and
saturated... the temperature will drop below 30ºF as the sun sets.
Also this time of year the critters are extra hungry, even squirrels
will dig up your plantings... you really ought to lay chicken wire
over any you plant. Report back on your attempt at digging. I have
reflective marker stakes in the ground along my driveway to guide
plowing, there is no way I can pull them out until the ground thaws at
least 12" deep. I don't till my vegetable garden until after Mother's
Day, any sooner it's too wet... and I don't put in tender plants until
after Memorial Day... too many times I became impatient and lost most
everything to a surprise frost. Your plants will be further ahead
planted later ratehr than planted early and suffering set backs from
cold. Asparagus naturally survive freezing but do not do well with
constant shifts in temperature before actually established. Were it
me I'd put the asparagus crowns in the fridge where they're kept at a
constant temperature and wait at least a month or until you are
certain all chance of frost has passed... geeze, it's only early
March, you can still get hard freezes and snow storms in central PA
well into April. The company you ordered from shipped early probably
because as with lots of businesses cash is in short supply, the
economy sucks. I'm sure there will be literature in the package
telling how to maintain the crowns and when to plant... why didn't you
contact the company?