What to Plant When

Experts share tips for successful spring gardening and landscaping

By Rachel Pasche

Spring is the time for those of us with green thumbs to break out our trowels and take a trip to our local garden store. But sometimes all those little green shoots in their starter pots can be overwhelming. Which native plants offer the same beauty as popular perennials? When should you opt for planting trees? What’s the trick to growing fruits and veggies? And how do you know when the moment arrives to put everything in the ground? We spoke with a few local gardens and nurseries to get some expert input and gardening know-how.

Opting for Native Plants

For every garden or landscaping situation (sun, shade, dry soils, wet soils) in northern Michigan, there are dozens of native plant species to choose from that can thrive in each particular setting, providing colorful blooms and supporting native pollinators, songbirds, and other critical wildlife. Because native plants are adapted to our local landscape and climate, they require much less maintenance and watering than most non-native options.

Bonus: Native plants are also often less expensive. Garrett Noyes of Birdsfoot Native Nursery in South Boardman tells Northern Express, “Due to a lower cost per plant, native plants are a great budget-friendly option for installing a garden.”

To provide the most benefit to pollinators and other wildlife, Noyes suggests “buying ‘straight species’ native plants, rather than cultivars. Cultivars have been selectively bred by the horticulture industry for characteristics not found in the true native—different color blooms, plant size, bloom time—often compromising the ecosystem services that plants can provide to pollinators and other wildlife.”

In terms of what to plant, Anna Ohler of Bright Lane Gardens in Lake Ann has some good suggestions for plants to substitute for popular landscaping blooms that can wreak havoc on our local ecosystems. She suggests winterberry holly instead of Japanese barberry; bearberry instead of myrtle or periwinkle; and creeping thyme instead of creeping Jenny. These small changes are an easy way to make your landscaping better suited for the ecosystems of northern Michigan.

Some species also tend to grow better than others in our local climate and terrains. If you want to get a jump-start on your outdoor space and not wait several years for the payoff, Noyes offers some recommendations for quick-growing plants:

“For dry, sunny gardens: butterfly weed, blazingstars, black eyed Susan, harebell, horsemint, coreopsis, New Jersey tea, little bluestem, and showy goldenrod. For shade: foxglove beardtongue, columbine, wood violet, wild strawberry, and foamflower. For shorelines and wet soils: Joe Pye weed, swamp milkweed, wild blue iris, meadowsweet, and dogwoods.”

Jen Sheperd of Garden Goods in Traverse City recommends planting milkweed for the monarch butterfly population, plus dill and parsley for swallowtails. “Viburnum is great for birds, as it blooms in the spring and gets berries later in the fall that the birds can eat,” she adds.

Spring is a popular time for planting native plants, but can come with a few challenges. Noyes explains, “While native species are generally hardy, if you are planting young plants, they can be susceptible to hard frosts in the spring. It’s best to wait until the danger of frost has passed, or to be prepared to cover your plants at night.

As we often go from spring straight into hot, dry summer weather, plants installed in spring will need to be watered regularly during their first growing season. Most natives are very drought-tolerant after they have become established.”

Planting Trees

Like native plants, trees are a beneficial addition to most landscapes, as they provide necessary shade as well as habitat for a large number of animal, insect, and bird species. Trees can also be a primary focal point of your landscape, adding depth and height in contrast to smaller plants and ornamental grasses.

“The right tree(s) can really add a lot of beauty and functionality to your yard when they are appropriately planned out,” says Ohler.

When considering adding trees to your landscaping, you should first select a mix of species (two to three varieties) and research their attributes.

Michigan State University’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources MSU Extension website (canr.msu.edu/outreach) has plenty of helpful resources for curious minds. On their list of trees and shrubs that do well Up North are red and sugar maples, oaks, hornbeam, basswood, hickory, tamarack, eastern red cedar, eastern white pine, and black spruce.

Once you’ve selected a few trees that match your needs and to fit the style you’re looking for, you’ll want to make sure you don’t plant them too close to your home— leave at least 15-20 feet from the house—or over your septic field. Be sure to water your new trees consistently in their first year, and consider creating barriers to hungry wildlife like deer that may see your tree as a snack.

In fact, deer can be a massive source of headaches to growers; they’ll graze on many native and non-native plants alike, posing a huge issue for the growth and health of your plants.

Ohler has a few tricks, which include planting deer-resistant plants, such as “nodding onion, spiderwort, and bee balm. Another option is to use scare tactics, like motion-activated sprinklers, motion-activated lights, and hanging shiny objects—like CDs or chimes—from trees; the motion and sound can be enough to scare a deer away.”

Growing Food

Speaking of trees, northern Michigan boasts weather and soil quality that allows for multiple varieties of fruit trees and bushes to grow well. Apple and cherry trees are popular options, of course, but they do require ample room, pruning, and care in order to grow properly.

For those new to growing fruit, Ohler recommends blueberries or raspberries, as “both of these berries grow on bushes or shrubs and will maintain a smaller footprint than a fruit tree. There are also containerfriendly varieties of both blueberries and raspberries, making it easy for someone with less space or lack of yard to be able to grow their own fruit.” Once the soil is soft enough to dig, you can plant a bare-root, dormant plant (such as a fruit bush), according to Ohler. They will come out of dormancy once the weather is warmer.

More of a veggie person? A lot of vegetables thrive during our summer months but can be hit hard by cold temps. MSU Extension notes that “Cool-season vegetables such as lettuce, peas and spinach will thrive early in the season. Tomatoes, peppers and melons will perform best when air and soil temperatures are much warmer.”

The rule of thumb for starting with seeds indoors is six to eight weeks before the normal last frost date—which is May 1-15 in our neck of the woods—so that means it’s time to hop to it! Meanwhile, garden centers usually start offering veggie starts in late April, saving you a few steps in the process. Just be sure to keep all your little plants inside and/or protected until the weather is stable enough to keep their fragile shoots warm.

“If you’re planting seedlings and young plants, you’ll want to wait until the threat of frost is over,” Ohler says. “I would love to say Mother’s Day, but we did get snow on our first Mother’s Day weekend that we were open in 2020, so a few weeks after Mother’s Day is likely safest. If you do plant seedlings in the ground and we get a frost warning, you can typically save the plants by covering them with a light sheet of plastic or cloth.”

Beyond what’s edible for you, also think about what your wild friends might like to eat. “I love adding hanging baskets of fuchsia to bring in the hummingbirds,” Sheperd of Garden Goods says. “Planting for the types of wildlife you want to encourage is a great way to get more enjoyment out of your garden.”

She ad ds that it’s important to have a variety of plants in your garden, like perennials and annuals, and that planting for your space is a good way to ensure you get the best yield, which means being aware of the amount of sunlight and water your plants will receive.

Last but not least, Noyes of Birdsfoot Native Nursery says gardeners should educate themselves on other threats at play in the growing season. “Increasing development, pesticide and herbicide use, as well climate concerns all pose a threat to the health of our local and regional ecosystems,” he says.

He restates the importance of native plants, which are “the foundation of a healthy, functioning ecosystem, providing food for hundreds of species of butterflies, moths, native bees, and other insects, which are critical food sources for nesting songbirds and other wildlife.”

In

National Writers Series

Jeannette Walls

With guest host Susan Odgers

Most folk thought Sallie Kincaid was a nobody who’d amount to nothing. Sallie had other plans.

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Castle is making headlines again with her new novel Hang the Moon.

A highly anticipated new book that follows the journey of Sallie Kincaid, a feisty and fearless young woman who refuses to be corralled by her small Virginia town.

Event Underwriter: Anne Montgomery

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MAY 3, 7PM

Doors open at 6pm with live music & cash bar

For details visit NationalWritersSeries.org

It's Come to This

New York City Mayor Eric Adams named former schoolteacher Kathleen Corradi to a new position on April 12, United Press International reported. Corradi is the rat czar (officially, director of rodent mitigation) of the Big Apple. Adams said it was "clear we needed someone solely focused on leading our rat reduction efforts across all five boroughs." In 2022, rat sightings in the city increased by 74% over the previous year. Requirements for the job included being "highly motivated and somewhat bloodthirsty" with a "swashbuckling attitude, crafty humor and general aura of badassery." "I look forward to sending the rats packing," Corradi said.

Eyewitness News

Although he is no longer governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger still performs his civic duty -- in this case, filling a huge pothole in his Brentwood neighborhood with concrete. The Associated Press reported that on April 11, the Terminator himself, along with a helper, used a shovel and packaged concrete to fill a hole in the street. "Today, after the whole neighborhood has been upset about this giant pothole that's been screwing up cars and bicycles for weeks, I went out with my team and fixed it," he tweeted. "This is crazy. For three weeks I've been waiting for this hole to be closed." Arnold's heroics may have been misguided, however; according to a statement from SoCalGas, the "pothole" actually was an active work trench for a project to be completed in May.

Cleaning Up

Police in Boardman, Ohio, are still on the lookout for a robber who broke into a Bed Bath & Beyond store early on April 8, WFMJ-TV reported. Surveillance cameras captured a "stocky male" throwing a rock through a window at the store, then heading to a stockroom in the back, where he filled four shopping carts with 33 Dyson vacuum cleaners. The vacuums were valued at between $500 and $750 each, for a total loss of $17,000. Because there are no surveillance cameras outside the store, authorities didn't get a picture of the getaway vehicle. That sucks.

Recent Alarming Headline

In 2008, an enormous sinkhole appeared in Daisetta, Texas, NPR reported. At that time, it grew to a cavity about 900 feet across and 260 feet deep, then stabilized. Over the years, it became a sort of recreational area, where people fished and alligators lazed. But on April 2, the hole began expanding. "My neighbor came over and said he kept hearing popping sounds like a gunshot," said Tim Priessler. "We went to the backyard, and there were buildings falling in. It was like a movie. You can see cracks forming in the ground." Since then, a vacant building and several storage tanks have sunk. The EPA and city officials are working to find out what has caused the sinkhole to shift, but as of April 10, no evacuation orders had been issued.

Least Competent Criminal

Seems like it would go without saying, but you might want to assemble an item you just stole away from the store's parking lot. On April 3 in Flagler County, Florida, Patrick Vandermeyden-Miller allegedly walked out of a Target store with an electric scooter he had not paid for, WESH-TV reported. Deputies were called to the scene, where they found Vandermeyden-Miller near a cart rack, putting together the scooter. He also had drug paraphernalia in his pockets. He was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and petit theft.

News You Can Use

Darryl Pitt, chair of the meteorite division at the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum in Bethel, has an offer Mainers won't want to refuse: If you're the first to find a big (the size of a softball or bigger) space rock from a recent meteorite crash, the museum will pay you $25,000. The fireball was seen in the sky around noon on April 8, and NASA reported that "signatures consistent with falling meteorites" were registered by radar. The rocks probably fell to Earth in a remote wooded area near the border with Canada; NASA estimates the largest specimens will be found near Waite, Maine. Good luck!

But Why?

Late on April 7, Boris Richard, 21, made an "unauthorized entry" into the embalming room at the Smith Funeral Home in Monroe, Alabama, The Smoking Gun reported. Richard, who is an "unofficial" worker at the home, used his phone to FaceTime with a friend as he looked over several "post-autopsy" corpses resting there, police said. Richard declined to answer any of the officers' questions and was released on a $1,500 bond.

The Neighbors

A feud among neighbors in China's Hunan Province that had been brewing since April 2022 recently came to a deadly head, Fox News reported on April 10. The original feud started when Mr. Gu cut down Mr. Zhong's trees without his permission. Mr. Gu was further inflamed when Mr. Zhong's wife towed away the cut trees, so he sneaked onto Mr. Zhong's property during the night and shone a flashlight at Mr. Zhong's chickens, causing 500 birds to rush into a corner and trample one another to death. To add insult to injury, Mr. Gu returned on a different night and employed the same tactic, causing another 640 chickens to die. A court ruled on April 4 that Mr. Gu had intentionally caused Mr. Zhong to suffer property loss to the tune of about $2,000. He was sentenced to six months in prison and one year of probation.

Is That a Knife in Your Head ...

Donald the Duck, a mallard who lives in Saint-Nolff, France, is infamous among residents because he seems to live a perfectly normal life with the blade of a knife stuck in his head, Oddity Central reported. While Donald could swim and eat without trouble, members of the Pinocchio et Sauvageons society decided it should be removed. On March 31, rescuers managed to catch him, and the surgery was a success, with Donald flying the coop as soon as the door was open. Authorities are now trying to discover who stabbed Donald.