Driftwood Garden Club wants you to know your garden plan for the upcoming spring

By JOAN SCHUSTER

Driftwood Garden Club President Emily Stephens called the January meeting to order and thanked hostesses Sandy Barker and Jill Roman for a delicious dinner. Driftwood Garden Club Beautification chairman, Babs Johnston, introduced the guest speaker, Brad Fowler, an Urban Horticulture Agent of Horry County. His program was on “Urban Planning” and getting the Driftwood members through winter and ready for spring. He informed the members of problems to watch for such as weeds growing during winter months, pruning flowering plants at the correct time and garden pest control.

The key to controlling those undesirable weeds is to begin in late fall or early winter to apply the appropriate herbicides. Prior to spraying make sure you have correctly identified your weeds and grasses before you spray. You don’t want to wait until March or April when your lawn begins to break dormancy and find the only thing green is the weeds.

Two of the most common flowering plants in our gardens are roses and hydrangeas. The Hybrid Teas, Floribundas and Grandifloras are modern reblooming roses that are pruned in the early spring. In late fall, prune roses back by about one-third of their height. This helps prevent breaking of canes in winter winds. Old fashioned rambling roses and onetime spring blooming climbers should not be pruned until after they flower.

For garden pest control, insecticidal soaps are recommended. They are inexpensive to use, are among the safest pesticides, leave no harsh residue and are virtually non-toxic to animals and birds. Some plants are sensitive to soap sprays and may be seriously injured by them. Read the label to make sure your plant is not one of them. As with anything applied to plants, it is important to read the entire label and follow the directions. Brad reminded Driftwood gardeners that if you have gardening questions go to the university for information at hgic@clemson.edu.

The president announced the Garden Club of South Carolina, Inc. will hold their 2023 Convention April 20-21 in Myrtle Beach at the Marina Inn at Grande Dunes which also includes the NGC Flower Show.

New Driftwood Garden Club officers for 2023-24 were elected and will be installed in April. They are president Sandy Barker; vice president Joan Schuster; secretary Babs Johnston; and treasurer Jeanette Bell.

The next club meeting will be on Feb. 6.