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1:09	Carol Stocker - Greetings Gardeners! I am Carol Stocker, the Boston Globe garden writer, and I will be only live for the next hour to answer your gardening questions in the order in which I receive them.

1:09	[Comment From lcp55] Is it too late to plant perennials in the Boston area?

1:15

Carol Stocker - That's a good question! It's not too late to plant trees and shrubs, which prefer to be planted after they lose their leaves and go dormant. And it's the right time to plant spring flowering bulbs. Perennials are iffy, but not out of the question. If you find some great ones on sale go ahead and buy them and plant them now. I do and I will. They have a better than average chance of surviving if you cover them up with your old Christmas evergreens, such as a cut up Christmas tree or evergreen wreath laid over them after the Christmas holiday. Or just cover them with bark mulch. This helps prevent the thawing and freezing in February of the soil which can be hard on perennials. Perennials also sometimes drown over the winter, so if you plant them late in raised beds or on a slope their odds of winter survival are higher.

1:16	[Comment From Laura] What is the best way to keep potted perennials over the winter?

1:21

Carol Stocker -

I am guessing you mean perennials growing in outdoor pots as container plants. The thing that would kill them is winter wind hitting the sides of the pots and freezing the roots, which are more exposed than perennial roots in the ground. I am assuming these are winter hardy plants, which is the definition of perennaials, and not tropical plants. If the plants are winter hardy, what you need to do is get them out of the wind. You could do this by putting them in a sheltered spot near the house or garage or in the garage, clustered together to protect each other. Cut off the top growth first, however, since it won't be photosynthesizing.

If they are not cold hardy, such a annual geraniums, bring them indoors and cut them back, but not all the way, and put them in a basement with some windows or another cool room with some light. Don't water them because you want them to go dormant.

1:21	[Comment From lorimac] Hi Carol. I am seeing slugs on my cold-weather petunias. I'm a squeemish gardener so would prefer not to pick them off, does the old wives tale about putting out a dish beer really work as a deterent? Many thanks!

1:23	Carol Stocker - Yes the beer dish does work, but not when it is so cold the beer freezes. I had my first hard freeze in my Milton garden two nights ago, so slugs will not be a problem much longer. I think they are more vulnerable to freezeing than you petunias.

1:23

[Comment From Indoor farmer]
I Carol thank you for your time. I was thinking of growing organic veggies indoors over the winter months. Say roughly 6 peppers and 6 tomatoe plants. What type of lighting would I need? High pressure sodium? Metal Hallyde? T5s? I use to grow indoors with those lights but it was expensive...what do you think of the idea in general?

1:40

Carol Stocker - Tomatoes and peppers need a lot of light to grow. I think your energy bill for them would far exceed the vegetable's value, assuming you succeed in producing any viable vegetables, which is a big assumption. This is why home hobbiests start tomato and pepper seedling indoors in March time to plant the young seedlings outdoors at the end of May to harvest fruit in August. That way they only pay for a few weeks worth of electricity before the outdoor sun takes over.
To provdie enough light for seeds, use two 4 foot long two bulb shop fixtures from the hardware store, suspended just 2 to 6 inches above the seedlings.

1:40	[Comment From Sandie] I put down a large area of new grass in September. I'm planning to put down winter turf builder around the 1st of November. Should I put it on the new grass as well, or avoid it?

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