Advice on Gardening in Pittsburgh (Clarion, Sandy: appointed, house, landscaping)

[Scientist Mom]

Can anyone give me some advice on gardening in Pittsburgh?

Is now the time to plant? If not, when?

Any suggestions for flowers or vegetables that do particularly well here?

Should I be thinking seeds or seedlings to start?

I've never gardened before but our yard has several beds and my daughter is interested in filling them. We bought the house at the end of last summer.

I want a small veggie patch in one bed and some flowers in the others. Also want to plant daffalil bulbs in the fall. I love how they are coming up in everyone yards now. Can they be mixed with other plants or do I have to put them in a separate bed? I don't want to have to dig up and store bulbs - because that just won't get done.

I'm clueless. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Hopes]

I love to garden! I'll give you all sorts of advice. I'll also post some really good links later today when I have time.

Originally Posted by Scientist Mom

Can they be mixed with other plants or do I have to put them in a separate bed? I don't want to have to dig up and store bulbs - because that just won't get done.

Daffodils can go anywhere---even in areas of your yard that are usually shady because they bloom before the tree leaves come out. They don't need to be dug up for the winter. What I love about bulbs (daffodils, irises, lillies, etc.) is that they multiply. If you plant three, you can end up with 50 a few years later.

[highway29south]

I started gardening here a few years ago when we bought a house with a great yard. I've had some hits and misses with my veggies, but for the most part they've been good. I would take some soil tests to be sure the nutrient levels are where they need to be. You can get a test at Home Depot or Lowe's pretty cheap.

Planting veggies around Pittsburgh starts around May 15th. I always start my veggies indoors in peat pots around early March because of the short growing season here. Or I buy them at Home Depot or Lowes already started. You want your veggies to be producing by July or August because in Sept. the weather starts to change.

I recommend visiting theorganicgardeners.com on line for some great local organic gardening information. Doug and Jessica are on KDKA radio (kdkaradio.com) on the weekends and have a wonderful show with great advice and they also offer to take calls for any questions. I've gotten a lot of tips there. They also have a forum you can join and they are very helpful with any questions.

[Hopes]

My advice will mainly be on flowers. I've been a perenial gardener for 35 years. I started when I was 10 years old. I dug up most of my parents' yard. LOL Those first gardens were elaborate full landscaping gardens. I was rather intense about my new hobby when I was a kid.

I have found some great websites for vegetable gardening that a regional specific. I also have some tables that show exactly when each type of vegetable is planted indoors or outdoors. I'm starting my first real vegetable garden this year. Up until now, I've only grown tomatoes, onions, garlic, and lots of herbs. I've been researching all winter. Most of my research is at my office so I might not be able to post the links to the websites for vegetable information until after the weekend.

[Katiana]

My parents vegetable gardened in the Pgh area for decades. My dad owned a small piece (3/4 acre) of the old family farm. They canned and froze some of their produce. They grew corn, green beans, tomatoes and many other vegetables reliably year after year. Of course, there will be some off years, but the Pgh area has a long growing season and abundant rain (usually). They usually planted mid-May, as I recall.

Edit: Funny, I just noticed highway29south's comments about a short growing season. It's long compared to here (Colorado), where we got snow yesterday and may still get more before summer, and can get snow in early Sept. All in what you get used to, I guess.

[Hopes]

I recommend buying a good gardening encyclopedia-type book. That's what I learned from when I was a teen. It had chapters on perennials, annuals, bulbs, roses, bushes, trees, vegetables, garden design, etc. I read about every plant I wanted or bought so I'd know how to care for them. I learned about what soil and light works best for what. (There will be some things that you just can't grow in your yard no matter what you do.) I even used the book to do my garden design. One of my flower beds was an iris and daylily bed that wandered through the entire expanse of the back yard---like a creek.

My passion came from doing it on my own. My parents didn't interfere by restricting me or telling me how to do anything. They just let me dig up whatever I wanted. Their only involvement was providing me with unlimited access to funds to buy whatever I wanted and needed, driving me to garden centers, and praising me.

You'll be much less disappointed if you buy perennial plants instead of planting seeds. Seeds take a long time to mature into a lush perennial garden. I prefer to use seeds for annuals. Annuals only last one year so I view them as a waste of money, but they do have their place in a garden because they provide constant color. Annuals bloom from spring until fall frost. Perennials come back every year and multiple by dividing the plants after a few years, but they have limited bloom time throughout the year. Some bloom in the spring, like the daffodils. Some bloom in the summer like the Shasta Daisies. Some are fall bloomers like mums.

You want a mix of everything in your flower bed. Establish where you'll plant your perennials by viewing them as the core of your design. They are the anchors. Your annuals just fill in---usually towards the front because annuals tend to the shorter plants. Plant in odd numbered masses -- 3 to 5 of the same plant grouped together.

The following perennials have consistently done well for me:

Shasta daisies (the Becky variety is awesome!) shasta daisy becky - Google Image Search

coreopsis coreoposis - Google Image Search

daylilies daylily - Google Image Search

false indigo false indigo - Google Image Search (totally cool plant! the pictures don't do it justice!)

Bee balm beebalm - Google Image Search

Russian Sage russian sage - Google Image Search

Those are off the top of my head. The above are mostly larger plants to use as anchors in your design. I'll share more perennials later.

Almost all bulbs do well for me. You can't plant them until fall unless you buy them at the garden center in bloom. Iris was the first thing I planted as a teen. I planted three purple Iris bulbs. When I dug them up three years later for dividing, I had 50 bulbs. You can plant bulbs all throughout your perennial flowers. They help with providing bloom when the perennials aren't blooming.

For starters, I think it would be a good idea to start with perennials that bloom in the summer. In the fall, you can add spring blooming bulbs (daylilies are summer bloomers btw.) Next year, you can add fall blooming plants. That way you'll at least have one season of color this year. If you buy a little of everything and plant it this year, you really won't get much of a display. This way, you'll have summer bloom this year, spring and summer bloom next year. The following year you'll have spring, summer and fall blooms. Each year plant some annuals to provide color all year round throughout the flower bed.

[Hopes]

Here's a small chart for when to plant vegetable seeds in Pittsburgh:

Seed Planting Guide

You can only plant the direct seed plants directly into the ground.

The rest you need to start indoors and transplant at the time specified (usually around Mother's Day when the threat of frost is over.) The chart shows how many days prior to transplanting you need to start the seeds.

You can avoid starting seeds indoors by buying plants at a garden center. Many people chose this route to avoid the hassle of starting seeds indoors and transplanting outside. Of course, seeds save the most money.

The following chart shows the planting times for different climate zones:

http://www.2bseeds.com/plantingschedule.shtml

Pittsburgh is a hardiness zone 6, 6a, or 7, depending on opinion. I think the differences have to do with when we're having mild or intense winters and summers.

[nuwaver88]

You may be able to put in lettuce and some root plants like onions, radishes, potatoes, etc. Peppers, tomatoes, and others not until late May. The last possible frost for Pittsburgh is May 20. Many plants just cannot tolerate it. As was mentioned, buying your tomato plants now and babying them indoors with light, heat, water, and a bit of plant food will get them strong for the outdoors. My dad had a huge garden while growing up so I could not help but to pick up a thing or two.

[North Beach Person]

I moved to MD from up around Clarion in 1984. The last freeze in 1983 was around Memorial Day and my tomatoes froze out Aug. 25. Christmas morning 1983, -23F. Tomatoes and peppers go in Memorial Day, lettuce and root crops may be good all summer. Here they burn out by July.

[nuwaver88]

Western Pa has great soil for the most part. Tomatoes are great around here. Tomaoes grow very well and year round in Florida, but lack flavor. Sandy soil like that is found in Florida is great for melons, but not tomatoes.