Southern Utah Gardening: An unruly patch of oregano gets a trim
My gardening project today was to address an out of control patch of oregano. Hot and spicy oregano, to be exact. Oregano is an awesome perennial herb for St. George and all of Washington County. It tolerates our hot summers and mild, sometimes cold, winters very well. It does like a bit of shade but needs some sun, too. I have never grown oregano from seed, for I am much too impatient for that and have only purchased starts from nurseries. If you are looking for a start, I would try Ali’s Organics in La Verkin, Ballard’s in La Verkin, Sandia Greenhouses in Washington Fields, or Ladybug Nursery in Cedar City. It is probably a little early for starts to be available, but keep those awesome suppliers in mind. For those patient gardeners out there, most of these nurseries will have seeds for oregano, too.
As I mentioned a moment ago, my oregano patch was a bit unruly. I started to rein it in by grabbing a hold of some stems and spent flowers and using my hand pruners to cut them as close to the ground as possible. As I cleared away the old growth, I happily discovered an aster that I’d forgotten. Yay! It was totally covered by the oregano and was pleased to see some sunlight, I am sure. I continued grabbing, lifting, and cutting until I had removed most of the old growth. It left an untidy, uneven jumble of stems, old leaves, and new leaves that didn’t sit well with me. So, I used my kids’ rake, with moderate force, to do away with more of the lingering leaves and make the stems stand upright. I took up my hand pruners once again and trimmed everything down to a nice even level.
Once I was satisfied with the trimming result, I used my rake again to clean up any leftover trimmings and debris from neighboring plants. My broom came in handy to sweep dirt and mulch from my rock edge back into the garden bed. Now it looks ready for spring, and I will fertilize soon. I have thought about it several times in the last week, but I think I’ll wait until the second week of March as there is another cold front forecast for the weekend.
Another small gardening project completed has definitely left me feeling productive and slightly satisfied with my efforts. I always want to do more, but duty calls in the form of reading books, changing diapers, and making peanut butter sandwiches. Good thing I love reading and peanut butter, I really love those darling people that I’m doing it with. Join me in getting that good gardening feeling! Get outside to enjoy your garden and the crazy March weather of St. George.
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