Green thumbs up for warm weather ahead of planting season

Warm temperatures heading into the first weekend of May have home gardeners wanting to get a jump start on the growing season.

Greenhouses across Saskatoon are seeing more foot traffic as outdoor gardening centres are also set up, a sure sign of spring.

“It’s been a long winter,” said Nikki Van Duyvendyk, co-owner of Dutch Growers.

“Everyone’s excited to get out and see life, plants and start preparing for their yards.”

Truckloads of perennials and exotic plants are being offloaded in town, and some residents were eager Thursday to try something new.

“We’re picking up some pineapple plants,” Tamara Kaminsky said.

The new mother said she’s looking forward to getting into her yard after extended cold weather this spring.

“We’ve been very cooped up in the house,” she said.

 However, while she’s just as excited as anyone else for the new season Van Duyvendyk did say customers are being cautioned about planting too soon.

“Our evenings are still getting to the freezing point, so we don’t recommend planting outside quite yet,” she said.

She noted the rule is typically to wait until the May 24 long weekend to permanently plant, but there is another measure.

“You’ll see the trees start to bud,” she said.

“That’s usually when the root systems have all been thawed and everything is starting to grow again.”

In the meantime, Van Duyvendyk said gardeners can get ahead of the season by cleaning up their yards and preparing their plant beds.

She said they can also “hardy” their plants by keeping them in pots and bringing them in at night.

“When (plants) are used to a climate-controlled greenhouse, it’s a lot different when you just put them outside and they’re experiencing their first daytime and night-time weather. It can shock them a bit,” she said.

“It’s good to start hardying them off during the day, it’s a good kind of change for them.”