Gardentalk

Master Gardener Ed Buyarski also recommends applying a liquid fertilizer to some vegetables if they turn a pale or yellowish-green.

Sometimes called wild celery, cow parsnip secretes a substance that’s irritable to skin. Protect your face, hands and arms if you plan on cutting down or removing the perennial plant.

Remove their flowers, roots and runners to prevent their spread. A layer of cardboard also serves as a mulch that will kill the plants within a year or two.

This is the latest that gardeners can plant a radishes and spinach. Otherwise, they will quickly bolt in June and July. Peas, parsnips, carrots, cabbage, lettuce, mustard greens, swiss chard, and potatoes can also be planted now if the soil is warm.

Certified seed potatoes are usually disease-free and lack the chemical sprout inhibitor that is usually applied before eating potatoes are shipped to grocery stores.

Master Gardener Ed Buyarski answers a listener’s question about fertilizing a tree and has a primer on fertilizer mixes for trees, shrubs, vegetables, and even grass lawns.