Green waste pickup dates have been set

Q: I’ve been working trimming, pruning, sweeping and collecting what you call yard waste for a few weeks and now I am at a loss as to how to get rid of it. I seem to recall that you’ve mentioned a city service that’ll pick this stuff up for me. Is it true and do you know when I can partake of this service? I don’t want to fill my garbage can with this stuff! — N.K., Albuquerque

A: You are who I’m gonna name “the early bird” with this question.

I typed “city of Albuquerque Solid Waste” into my computer’s search engine and once at the Solid Waste page looked at the green waste tab and lo and behold, the dates for this year’s second green waste service have been announced. Write these dates down on your calendar.

Dec. 1 through Dec. 12, the city will collect your green waste. The collected waste is mulched and put to use shoring up the Cerro Colorado Landfill. You can also arrange with the city a special collection (for a fee) of your green waste. You can find that info on the same webpage.

So, if you are going to wait and store your collectings, please remember to use a large black bag and load them no more than 40 pounds each. Branches and limbs need to be tied into tidy bundles of no more than 4 feet in length. Also, I’d suggest not storing any collectings in the hot sun, as the bags could become brittle between now and the free collection dates. I’d go so far as to suggest you keep them dry, too.

You are an early bird, but I’m glad you are opting to not fill your regular trash bin with the yard waste.

Q: Surely with all the rain of late, the soil has cooled, and I should/could go ahead and get my spring blooming bulbs planted now?

A: Yes, I stuck my fingers into a sunny spot in my yard up to my palm, and the soil was pleasantly cooler. So I’m ready to plant several bulbs over the next two weekends.

It’s my hope you’ve been turning the soil and perhaps working some much-needed soil amendments into the areas you are planning to plant in the interim. Knowing that the more often you turn the soil, the more oxygen gets worked into it, and any moisture added has an easier way of being absorbed.

Now that you’re ready to plant, take a good look at the bulbs. Recognize that they have a true top and bottom. An upside planted bulb will not be a happy bulb in the least.

Remember the planting rule of thumb with bulbs. You plant them twice as deep as they are tall. Imagine you have a tulip bulb that is an inch and a half tall, you’ll plant it three inches deep.

It’s work but a lot of satisfaction planting a mass of bulbs, so enjoy yourself and be Happy Diggin’ In!

Tracey Fitzgibbon is a certified nurseryman. Send garden-related questions to Digging In, Albuquerque Journal, 7777 Jefferson NE, Albuquerque, N.M. 87109, or to features@abqjournal.com.