Gardening column: Sunflowers have become popular over the years – Mankato Free Press

As you contemplate your garden areas for next year, what is the most critical task? Correctly preparing the garden bed new or old.

New beds require more prep work if you are starting an area that has turf on it. Here are two ways to turn turf into a garden area.

One method is to use a non-selective herbicide to kill off the top growth. Once it is dead, use a flat bottom shovel to cut the top vegetative layer off and remove or rent a sod stripper. You can till it in, but you will have clumps of dead turf everywhere which makes cultivation with a hoe more difficult and you will be mad at yourself for years that you did it this way.

A non-chemical method would be to solarize the area using black plastic for a few weeks or until the plant material all dies back. Then remove the dead layer in the same fashion. Avoid tilling under living turf, you will never be able to grow in the lumpy, grassy weedy mess that it will become.

Vegetable gardeners often re-use the same site for many years and thats okay. For 3 years, I have used the same spot without tilling, and overall I have less weeds than if I tilled. Every time you till, weed seeds are brought to the surface to receive sun and, guess what, germinate!

If perennial weeds are an issue like dandelion, thistle and grasses, your best solution is to spray them with an herbicide. Chopping them up by hand or using a tiller, just creates more. Solarizing is ineffective on perennial weeds as it doesnt kill the root. Always use chemicals responsibly and dont spray when plants are blooming and bees are visiting.

The value and uses of plants differ greatly from one to another.

Some plants are mainly for personal enjoyment like the blooms of peonies and iris. Others have many medicinal qualities or are used for food. Which plant can you enjoy the bloom of, use in a bouquet, cook with its oil, make rope from its stalk, roast and eat its seed yourself; grow as a fence to hide your neighbors, grind to use as cattle feed, use it as bird food and make dye from its petals? The sunflower!

Sunflowers are one of the easiest annual flowering plants to grow. Sunflowers have become very popular over the past years, and there are many varieties to choose from.

The height can range from 10 inches to 10 feet! Sunflower petals come in a variety of colors: yellows, oranges, reds, whites, browns and burgundy. Centers or seed heads, can also vary in colors. Some varieties like Teddy Bear are similar to a giant chrysanthemum.

Seeds should be planted directly in the garden soil as they grow rapidly and starting them indoors will result in a weak stem. Seeds are large, and easy for kids to plant.

Some types of sunflowers are pollen-less. These types are mostly bred for the cut flower industry as pollen can be messy and stain your clothes while harvesting or arranging in bouquets. Naturally pollen attracts bees and cut flower producers prefer the bees do not visit.

Once the flower is pollinated it begins to decline, as does its beauty and shelf life. Pollinated flowers begin to mature on to seed development, losing their petals along the way. When you are planning to use them for bouquets, cut them when the petals are just starting to lift off the face of the flower for the longest vase life.

Sunflowers that produce seed can be left in the garden for the birds to feed on over winter. The biggest drawback from growing sunflowers is chopping out the stalk when the season is done. Yes, even the next spring you might still need a hatchet or an axe depending on the type you grew.

Commercial production is huge to our west in the Dakotas, growing the majority of the sunflowers in the United States. If you are interested in seeing fields of sunflowers, the North Dakota Tourism tracks the bloom of numerous fields across the state and provides GPS coordinates for enthusiasts to locate. Over half a million acres in North Dakota are planted in sunflowers.

The flower heads on young plants actually follow the sun from east to west. Older mature plants face mostly east. Having lived in North Dakota for a spell, I can say the sunflower fields between the fields of sugar beets and potatoes were spectacular!

Stop by the Mankato Farmers Market at Drummers Garden Center. All times are 10 a.m. noon.

Remaining Winter Market dates are: Jan. 23 and Feb. 6.

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Gardening column: Sunflowers have become popular over the years - Mankato Free Press