It’s not too late to plant a garden in the Ozarks

Despite the arrival of an early spring, there is still plenty of time to get a garden growing. Historically, the Ozarks has reached its final freeze date.

Horticulturist Robert Balek says it’s the perfect time to get plants in the ground.

“It’s not too late to start a garden. In fact, it’s just the end of April and some people say, ‘Don’t plant ’til Mother’s Day’, which is another two weeks or so. You’ve got plenty of time to plant a garden,” Balek said.

As the Ozarks come off a heavy rainfall event, gardens and weeds will be growing fast. With soft ground, now is the perfect time to get in the garden and pull weeds.

Once the garden is planted, Balek suggests using mulch to keep weeds to a minimum,

“Everyone who lives in the Ozarks knows the rain brings weeds. The way to control weeds in your vegetable garden is to put a thick layer of mulch down,” Balek said.

Mulch will help smother weeds, and it will also help keep soil moisture in during hot summer days. Balek says mulch can be things you already have, like dead leaves covered by straw. Some people like to put cardboard and newspapers down.

For Balek, mulch is critical for weed control, “They’ll start growing faster than you can pull.”

We planted our OzarksFirst Garden one week ago. Since our garden is established and growing, we will be working on covering the dirt with straw this week.

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