We’re well into spring in our neck of the woods. Most of the berries have bloomed and set fruit, and the canopy trees are leafing out. Even those smart natives, such as muscadines, pawpaws and persimmons, are leafing out. With our recent rain, the plants are really going to take off.

Is there anything I should watch for with our unusually warm winter?
It is time to make sure your plants are being fertilized adequately for their optimum growth. Check for vole and rodent damage. Begin pinch pruning tips to encourage lateral branching. Get ready to savor your first homegrown fruit.

In the rest of the column, I discuss spring fertilization and voles.

Buying Plants

Visit our nursery, order and pick up, or schedule delivery, see what options could work for you on our Buying Plants page. Note that we can only accept cash and checks at the nursery because we don't have cell phone coverage to process credit cards.

If you would like to schedule an appointment, please contact us at least a couple days ahead of time.

About Us

Useful Plants Nursery is a permaculture-based nursery specializing in useful, phytonutritional, food, and medicine plants well-adapted to our Southern Appalachian mountains and surrounding bioregions. Our plants are grown without the use of synthetic pesticides at our nursery located at Earthaven Ecovillage.