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Highland - May 11

Paula Campbell - Community Correspondent
Posted 5/10/21

Gardening season is finally here, and I am all for it. I love gardening more than I am good at it, but I manage to grow some vegetables and I always have plenty of flowers around.

So far, I have …

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Highland - May 11

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Gardening season is finally here, and I am all for it. I love gardening more than I am good at it, but I manage to grow some vegetables and I always have plenty of flowers around.

So far, I have planted peppers, two kinds of tomatoes, Ichiban Japanese eggplants, swiss chard, cucumbers, broccolini and lettuce. This, of course, is in addition to my twenty-five bulbs of garlic I planted last Fall and will stay put until late June or mid-July.

My friend Sandy is giving me some seed potatoes to plant, and I want some leeks which I only recently started to cook with and like very much. I will think of a few more things to get into the ground but most of my time now is cleaning up the rest of my containers and my two raised beds of those pesky winter weeds, mixing up some soil (the Agway brand) an all-purpose soil with compost and fertilizer added in from Agway Farm Store in Callicoon. It's really wonderful and inexpensive so I have dragged several cubic feet of it back to my house. If nothing else lugging all the gardening stuff around is great exercise.

At the front of the house, I have some hydrangeas (my favorite) that I planted five years ago and every year since then I try something new to get them to bloom and so far, a lot of growth and leaves but nothing is flowering. I think I already screwed up this year by pruning off the dead wood last Fall instead of during the Spring. That is why keeping a gardening journal seems important, and I will start taking notes this season.

But I fertilized them and as they say, “hope springs eternal.” My biggest project this Spring is dealing with my very long very old wooden fence that does a version of the macarena every time it gets windy.

I have personally power washed the fence and will be painting it a pleasing grey color and to stop the swaying I have gotten three different types of honeysuckle vines which when they become established in the soil will stop any more Latin dance movements once and for all. So, I am excited about the upcoming gardening season.

I can recommend a trip to L+M Greenhouses and Garden Center on Route 17B across from the turnoff to Hectors Inn. This family-owned business has been in operation since 1985 and owned by Larry and Lisa Schick. They grow most of their plants on site and have unusual flowers and plants that really boost the “wow” factor in your garden, planters and hanging baskets.

I have seen many people bring their empty containers, and Lisa helps them design an interesting eye catching and sun appropriate planter, and L+M will also plant it up for you. L+M was recommended to me by Karol Sundholm the Town of Highland's Master Gardener as the place she shops at to buy great plants.

They sell everything and Lisa told me she is carrying a variety of shrubs this year-including the hard-to-find mock orange shrub. At the Service Booth you can pick up a free brochure from the Sullivan Renaissance, a beautification and community development initiative of the Gerry Foundation which identifies a selection of beautiful plants that are known to grow successfully in Sullivan County.

The listing have wonderful photos and identify crucial plant keys such as the type of sun required, shade lovers, whether the plant is native to our area, have pollinator benefits and identifies plants that are drought and deer resistant.

L+M Greenhouses and Garden Center is open from Mother's Day through September and, in addition to selling annuals, perennials, herbs and vegetable plants, Lisa is there to help with selecting your hanging baskets and planters and, if you are looking for an unusual plant, Lisa will either order it for you or help you find it somewhere else.

In the Fall they sell apples, gourds and pumpkins and squashes and at Christmastime you can order wreaths and other evergreen arrangements for your home. L+M Greenhouses and Garden Center is located at 1986 Route 17 in Bethel. For more information visit their Facebook page or call them at (845) 583-6072.

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