Below is a link for the St. Louis Vegetable Planting Calendar from SeedStl.org
Click Here
Since Crestwood offers free wood chips up near the Recreation Center, here are some lessons learned on the use of wood chips from one of the experts – Charles Dowding.
This volunteer opportunity will take place on Saturday, March 26th, 2022, from 9:00 am to noon. Preregistration is requested.
Check-in will begin at 8:45 am. Further instructions and a reminder will be sent out the week of Saturday, March 26th.
**In the case of inclement weather, this event will be canceled and potentially rescheduled for a later date.
The removal method for this event will be to cut the plant using loppers and/or handsaws before treating it with herbicide. Long sleeves and pants are appropriate. Tools and supplies will be provided.
This effort is in conjunction with Missouri Botanical Garden’s regional Spring Honeysuckle Sweep for a Healthy Habitat effort.
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) recently awarded Crestwood $75,000 through their Back To Nature grant program. These funds will be used to establish natural areas at
Crestwood Park starting in 2022 through 2024.
The primary goals of this grant program are to
create urban wildlife habitat, establish community partnerships, engage the public in
conservation education & volunteer opportunities, and train organization staff in the stewardship of natural landscapes.
In addition to MDC, this project is also supported by community partners that include the
Crestwood Beautification Committee, The Open Space Council, Forest ReLeaf of Missouri,
DTLS Landscape Architecture firm and local schools.
The total project area is approximately 8.75 acres and includes locations on the north and south
side of the park. Restoration activities will involve removing invasive honeysuckle throughout
the park and the creation of woodland, prairie, savanna, and wetland habitats to benefit
pollinators and other wildlife.
This project will include volunteer activities each spring and fall to engage our community in
these restoration efforts. Check back periodically for more information and follow our progress
on Facebook.
Saturday – March 5th
Time – 10 a.m. until Noon
Place – Whitecliff Recreation Center Garden
Adult volunteers are needed to help cleanup the garden.
Just show up – no need to register.
Please bring gloves, hand clippers and loppers if you have them.
If you have any questions email BeautifyCrestwood@gmail.com.
If you are looking for advice on resources for your native garden, the 2022 Grow Native Resource Guide is the place to start.
You can either click on this link, to view the PDF or you can pick up a copy at the Whitecliff Recreation Center.
Unless your soil is just rock and hard clay, there’s a new way of gardening which is much easier – No Till.
The basics of No Till are to cover you soil and weeds with cardboard and then six inches of compost. I would probably cut the grass and weeds as close as possible to the ground, but you don’t need to till or dig the soil.
Brand new compost which you buy from a supplier can be quite “hot” literally so you may need to let it cool off before you do any planting. Ideally, you would put it on in late fall. I buy my compost from https://www.stlcompost.com/compost. If you have a friend with a pickup truck, you can buy compost for $28/yard.
Even though I put down a tarp, I burned the grass since this compost was so hot. I now have it delivered to my concrete driveway.
Another advantage to using compost is that you don’t need any fertilizer.
Below is a demonstration of the No Till method. He calls it No Dig, but it’s the same as No Till.
Mason bees don’t sting plus this house is an easy way to encourage polinators into your garden.
If you’re not handy, you can buy bee houses online.
Using one 6 foot long, 1″ x 6″ cedar fence, I was able to construct a basic native bee house. The entire piece of wood cost about $4.12 and I used about 2/3 of it.
Sides (2) – 6″ x 6.5″ – the tubes are 6″ so I prefer to have them slightly recessed.
Top and Bottom – both 6″ x 7″
Back – 6″ x 9″ – drill a hole at the top to support the house.
Shelf – measure to fit – approximately 4 5/8′ x 6″
This is used to put cocoons on in the spring.
Other Tips.
Below is another inexpensive option.
If you are interested in growing native plants, bushes and trees, plus attracting birds, butterflies and pollinators, then bush honeysuckle is a big bully which will take over your garden.
The pamphlet above is put out by the Missouri Department of Conservation and GrowNative.org and is available as a free download – click here.
It should answer most of your questions and also has lots of other resources to check out.
The city will be working on removing at least some of the bush honeysuckle next year and will be looking for volunteers to help. If you’re interested in helping, please email BeautifyCrestwood@Gmail.com
City of Crestwood Bush Honeysuckle Page.
The pictures below are from Spellman Park.
Beautify Crestwood 