February Tips 2012
My home county of Shropshire in England has been having a mild winter like us so far . I hate to jump the gun, but so far this winter in New England, has really been the winter that wasn’t. I grew up in Shropshire, where my family has been in landscaping beginning at Powys Castle since 1648. The county is a fertile lowland valley located about one hundred and sixty five miles north west of London, protected by the Welsh mountains to the west and Caradoc rising high above Stretton on the east.
The winter weather in Shropshire is temperate, the daytime temp not normally below 35 and more often than not hovers around 40, rather like we have been experiencing here. My eighty nine year old stepmother Joan started her seeds in the greenhouse in January, soaking them overnight in seaweed tea before planting. My ancestors have known the root building properties of the seaweed tea for centuries. Just recently scientists have ‘discovered’ what farmers and gardeners have known for centuries that seaweed has a naturally occurring root growth hormone and is a bio-stimulant with more than sixty different types of nutrients. Now that the seeds are germinating she is also watering them with the seaweed tea.
February 20th to March 20th is the time to begin serious indoor seed planting here. Check the website for all the information on our seaweed and manure teas. Also check out what local garden centers are stocking organic seeds, one of which is “Botanical Interests”. Don’t go crazy buying too many packs of seeds; remember there are about 500 in a packet that can seed the whole town. If you do overbuy, you can always have a seed sharing party with fellow gardening friends.
Have lots of inexpensive envelopes on hand, seed trays (egg cartons and cut off cardboard milk containers are good), which need to be scrupulously clean and soil mix. A word of caution, there is a soil born fungus that causes a disease called ‘damping off’ causing seeds to rot even before germination, but I find that having clean containers and planting them in milled sphagnum moss, helps prevent this problem and with this method, neither I nor my stepmother
have lost one seed to this disease.
For tiny seeds use the moss as topsoil and for larger seeds sprinkle the moss on top of the topsoil. Sometimes mixing fine seeds with sand before you sow, helps to loosen them up Another trick is to mix fine seed with Knox gelatin; the gelatin is also said to be nourishing for the seeds. Soak the seeds overnight before planting in seaweed or manure tea and just before planting spray them with warm water, never cold as cold water can delay germination. When they have germinated, water with manure or seaweed tea. The best method of watering seedlings is from the bottom. But, if you feel you must top water then just mist with a fine sprayer. Use sterilized soil when seeding but do not save any left over soil, just add it to houseplants or throw it into the garden. Left over soil can develop disease and wipe out future seedling crops. If you are growing seedlings on a windowsill, place them on a south-facing sill. Seedlings do not need heat to thrive, they need light.
Houseplants need extra care during the winter. Keep the plants away from draughts and direct heat and if possible have humidifiers and air purifiers in the rooms, which will benefit not only the plants but also your own health. Place pebble trays under the plants and keep the pebbles moist for additional humidity. Spray houseplants every few days with lukewarm water and once every couple of weeks, put the plants in a sink or bathtub and allow water to run freely over the plant to remove dust from the leaves and through the soil to clean away salt residue.
The exception to the spray rule is African violets, these plants do not like wet leaves. Aphids and white fly are always present indoors so clean the soil and the plant with an organic sulphur solution called Safer and allow the lady bugs to roam freely as their menu are aphids and white flies. Also if you have ladybugs in the house, as I do, each winter, leave them be, they are a beneficial insect that will eat aphids and white flies.
As a general rule I suggest repotting houseplants during the growing season in spring and summer, but if a plant has become root bound with no visible soil, then its time to repot now. Water the plant to loosen the roots from the soil, turn it sideways on a newspaper and gently slide it from the pot. Repot in fresh potting soil in a clean pot only two inches larger than the original. With the plant firmly in place and the soil one inch from the rim, water it either with a dilute application of organic fertilizer or our seaweed tea, which lessens the shock of repotting.
Some trouble free foliage plants for the house are: Rubber plants, Spider plants, Aloes, Succulents and Cacti (if you have a sunny window), Ivy, Philodendron, Monstera and Spaphyllum. Some blooming plants to tuck amongst the foliage ones – I keep my plants in groups touching one another; they enjoy and flourish in the closeness:
Cyclamen, African Violets, Kalanchoe and Primula.
To keeps pets from damaging the plants, add some cayenne pepper to the water when watering.
If any of your power tools require maintenance or repair, now is the time to get them into the shop, because as soon as the weather breaks the shop will be very busy and you may not get your lawn mower back until August. By that time, as a neighbor of mine found out, you would be able to sell your grass as hay for the cows to the farmer up the road!
Check your tools in the garage or tool shed and if you did not clean them off at the end of last season, plunge the shovels, spades etc. into a bucket of sand (it acts like sand paper) and then clean the residue off with sand paper. Oil the wooden handles of tools with Linseed oil or some inexpensive vegetable oil, it will feed the wood and also smooth it so you do not get as many splinters. Also check your hoses and fittings, which may have sprung leaks since last year.
Make a shopping list of new tools that you need. This time of year you can often find good bargains, but buy only quality tools and hoses; the old adage always applies that “you get what you pay for”. Also check that you have enough twine, bamboo rods, wire ties or nails, organic fertilizers and the seaweed and manure teas on this website. Organic is the only way to go, as there is enough junk in the air and water supply.
Get bags of composted manure; or if you have a farm close by that will sell you aged manure, take a pick up truck and get a load. If you are going that route ask the farmer to give you the manure from the bottom of the pile – aged stuff. Fresh manure will burn your plants; it needs to be at least six months old.
Take a look at the paintwork on your wooden fences, arbors, decks, outdoor buildings etc. and buy the paint supplies so that on a dry day when you can be painting you will not have to make a special trip to the store; everything will be on hand. Don’t forget to put paintbrushes on your list (your old ones that you forgot to clean off last year will be stiff as a poker), also remember sand paper and brush cleaner. If you are painting benches and garden seats make sure they are dry on the day you paint and then put them under cover before sundown.
Make sure your greenhouse is getting as much light as possible. White walls reflect light. Paint any areas that need retouching. I am always delighted how much lighter the greenhouse becomes after a touch of new white paint and also after cleaning the glass. Keep spraying in the greenhouse because however meticulously clean and tidy your greenhouse, white fly, greenfly and scale insects seem to find their way in.
If you walk in a garden which not only looks good but also feels good in mid-winter; you will see the patterns created by its paths, its walls and hedges, the shapes of its shrubs, the shadows of its evergreens and the strong silhouettes of its tree trunks. A garden such as this can be viewed from above or ground level and any angle will reveal even more of its beauty.
Fill your bird feeders because nothing is so enjoyable as watching the birds in their quick flights across the garden to alight on the feeders and their forays among the rose hips and delight to their sudden bursts of song when the sun shines. I love to watch the “pecking” order first the finches, then the house sparrows and among the brown, the brilliant red of the cardinal. Sometimes a bird appears that I do not recognize and out comes the bird book and my binoculars.
Winter has its own distinctive smells. Fog for example, on a morning when the air is very heavy, thick and damp – a damp even more bone chilling than rain. But what I love best is the smell of the soil, rich and brown, well manured or covered with wood mulch, leaf mold or salt hay. Winter’s smells are a potpourri, one moment fresh like the east wind, next dense and sweet.
If you have spent year after year throwing good money after bad it may be time to get a professional design, but do not hesitate as a design takes time and you want it ready for the growing season. I’ll see you in your garden next month.
January 2012 Tips
Happy New Year everyone and I’m sure that most of you made resolutions that according to national statistics only 1% of us keeps.
The ones I try to adhere to are the ones to do with gardening. This month’s tips will start the 2012 ball rolling for you in your organic garden. Just the thought of the garden and the spring not too far away gets me out of the winter doldrums and I hope it will do the same for you!
Much of my focus and consequent energy is directed towards the environment to heal, nourish and nurture this wonderful planet; a planet which has been unconditionally loving us for millions of years. As you are aware from the changes in climate we need to be even more diligent in our care of Mother Nature so that all living things remain healthy, whether it be plant, animal or human being.
In your own garden, you can contribute to this effort and organically tend the soil and your plants so that all will thrive and at the same time anchor and connect you to Mother Nature’s life giving energy.
The weather has certainly been following a different route for the last few years, particularly in 2011, with the wettest year on record in New England and according to meteorologists the fall was the warmest on record since records were first kept in 1886. All that rain and warmth is ‘God sent’ to nourish our plants through the winter until spring comes to our doorsteps. I have also heard that January is going to be reasonably mild that means winter will be shorter – hurrah!
When we do get some snow, its covering is beneficial for the garden, forming a protective blanket of warmth and moisture in the soil, and more importantly, protect the earth from bitter winds, which do more harm to the plants than frost or snow. Cold winter winds dry out the plants, cause breakage and erode the soil. It’s a good idea to put a few bags of topsoil and mulch in the garage so that any roots that became exposed by weather can be covered until spring when the plant can be resettled.
On a good day in January, take a walk round the garden, get some fresh air and work off a few of the holiday pounds, make some notes and decide what worked for you last year and what you will never try again.
I’m sure that as you sit in your armchair you have already begun to make plant lists from the catalogues with their lovely but unrealistic “doctored up” pictures of those plants that you feel will make your garden sensational this year. Well folks, if that is your train of thought- pause a moment and think again.
Make 2012 a year for realistic and organized change. Don’t get caught up in the fantasy of those brightly colored, high maintenance garden pictures shown in the catalogues. Suit your garden to your lifestyle -
Of a landscape of reasonable size and maintenance within your time and physical constraints so that you will be able at end of day or whenever to sit, relax and smell the roses.
Come on be honest, most of you were so overwhelmed with far too much work in the garden last year, making yourself a slave to that patch of earth. You ended up that every minute of time off, from your paying job, you saw something that needed to be attended to. That certainly takes the ‘bloom’ off things, doesn’t it?
As you make your notes, part of the new regimen is to keep it simple and make an effort to keep within your budget. Now is the optimum
Time to begin working up a plan, an ideal project for armchair gardening. Then voila when May arrives, you will have cleared away the winter debris spread that lovely layer of manure and compost (the ratio being three parts manure to one part compost) and re-edged the borders. You are now ready for the fun stuff, the placing and planting!
If last year was the first year you made a vegetable garden; don’t be put off with things that rotted, did not ripen or experienced tomato blight. Most gardeners are more than willing to own up to those problems always due to the weather, too much rain, not enough sunshine or animal and insect invasions. This year, the sun will shine brightly and there will be the right amount of rain, from my mouth to God’s ears!
If your leisure time off has indeed become limited due to other commitments and you need to cut back on some of the garden chores; follow some of the following suggestions:
Send some of your borders back to grass or make some of the high maintenance perennial borders, into mixed shrub borders. Plant a variety of evergreen shrubs, some green, blue and some of the lovely evergreen gold variety, add flowering deciduous trees and shrubs that will begin flowering in April and successively through June.
To extend the bloom in your New England garden, add a Ben Franklin tree with its white cup like blooms and gold center that flowers in August through September. Nestle one to three Blue Mist shrubs in the mixed border; this plant will delight with purple blooms and fragrant leaves into September. Against a fence or trellis plant the fragrant white autumn clematis and for a year round framework of the garden,
Add a groundcover – one of my favorites is Myrtle with glossy evergreen leaves and miniature blue flowers that cover the leaves in April.
Introduce your children and grandchildren to the wonders of the garden and introduce them to the garden fairies as I have done. I asked them to draw a picture of the garden fairy and make a list of questions to ask the fairies in the wild patch that is in every garden. They became so excited and enthused for what you have done is transformed science into magic as it seems that these days we have forgotten about fairy tales, dreams and magic; it’s time to bring it those wonderful energies back into our lives and into the lives of our children.
In spring and summer I would find my children or their friends checking the garden impatiently wanting to see their planting efforts come into bloom, and in the vegetable garden what was ready to eat in from the produce they had planted.
This introduction to the garden often inspires children to make gardens of their own as adults. My son is a great example of this as he has partnered with me in The English Lady Landscape – and the old adage that ‘the student is better than the teacher’ has certainly proved to be correct.
In March when you have your design or redesign layout done, I’ll give you some suggestions of ornamental trees, shrubs and long blooming perennials. You will have time to refine your list so that when the plants come into the garden centers around Mother’s day and into June.
However, when Mother’s Day arrives you will be tempted to buy some annuals, winking at you from the garden center shelves take them home but do not plant them yet but place them in their pots in a sheltered spot until any signs of a late frost have gone by and plant them safely after June 1.
In the meantime check the Internet or go to your local library and find plants that appeal to you. Buy each species of plants to plant in odd numbers, odd numbers are harmonious in nature. Don’t overbuy so that the borders are crammed – every plant needs to space – the space and framework around plants is as important as the plant itself. Just as we as human beings need our space to live, breath and prosper, so do plants. Less is better, keep it simple. You can always add more next time, when you see how everything is growing and flowing.
When you are doing your research there are facts to keep in mind: what are the plants requirements for sun, shade, soil, and water. Will it survive in this zone, Zone 6? What are the growth patterns of the plants? Do they grow fast or slow? You do not want a fifty-foot tree up against the house with those tremendous roots that will play havoc with your house foundation. Or do you want that lovely but very large, Catawbiense Rhododendron, all ten feet of it, climbing through your dining room window in five years?
Check every aspect of the plant before you buy. That Lace leaf Japanese maple looks lovely in the photograph, but is it something you can enjoy, without its leaves in the winter? Personally I enjoy the shape and the bark of trees without foliage in winter.
For any of you just beginning a garden, let’s dispense with the myth that gardening is a relaxing hobby. At the end of that first day of digging, lugging soil, manure and fertilizer, and planting everything at the proper depth; you will feel that you are going to keel over. Then you remember that you still need to water the newly installed plants as you drag your tired body to either switch on the hose. Thank goodness, the mulching can wait until tomorrow or next weekend, right? Right!
Watering by the way can be meditative. Imagine that the hose is your umbilical cord so that as you nourish the earth and the plants, the earth can nourish you. By now the sun has gone down, and you trudge indoors muttering to yourself “what the heck did I get myself into”? To this comment I say, “You did not have to do the whole thing in one day”. In gardening, there is always tomorrow, or next week, and even though the label says to plant it by the end of May or June, believe me folks, a few weeks later does not matter, the garden will wait for you.
You may be saying to yourself at this point “Maureen are you trying to put us off gardening”? No folks, but I feel I would remiss, as a person who has had gardening in my blood (as well as manure) for over four hundred years to describe however, reluctantly not only the pleasures, but some of the aches and pains.
The idea is not to bite off more than you can chew. For first time gardeners don’t scatter your energies all over the garden, tackle and complete one area at a time and that area should be priority until complete. If you have a new home with no landscaping, some hardscape may be required. Hardscape is walls, walkways, patios, ponds, decks and so on. The sound and look of a water feature in the garden is delightful, its reflection is Mother Nature’s mirror.
Any of these endeavors means getting yourself in shape physically, so get off that couch, put away the catalogues and your plant lists, stretch, then wrap yourself up warm and take that walk.
As you walk, look at the trees in winter, the elegant shape of them, the lichen on the stonewalls, the moss tucked in cracks and crevices. Clear your mind and allow nature’s spirit to surround you. Take a look at a garden or two in your neighborhood which you have admired when they were in bloom, and see what they look like in winter. I remember one of the professors saying, when I studied at the Royal Botanic gardens at Kew, “in winter you can tell a really good landscape by its bones, without the flesh of the flora”. Then come Spring, get in touch with those neighbors and ask them some of the secrets of their garden; they will be happy to talk with you, gardeners love to talk about their gardens.
Also before I forget, try to get to the Providence, Connecticut or Philadelphia flower shows, they are on in February and March. Always a good cure for the winter blues! I’ll see you in your garden next month.
I have a huge wild flower garden and was wondering if I should just let the garden be
until spring and not cut down the tall perennials. I usually do wait until spring to rake out the garden but was wondering if I should cut back the stems of the flowers now.
Any suggestions would be helpful.
Janet, Do not cut down the plants now, leave them up as seed heads for the birds and the plants add as an erosion blanket to prevent soil being depleted.
Have a wonderful holiday season. Maureen
Hi Maureen,
Love, love, love your website. I have learned so much and am still learning from you.
After this early snowfall my sedum are laying down flat to the ground. I understand they should be cut back in the spring, but would it harm them to cut them back now or should I just leave them through the winter?
Also, I would like to move some asters I have. Is now the time or in the Spring?
Thank you.
I have lavender that blooms every year, more than once somtimes. Now they are
getting so big the branches are high. What Should I do?
Cheryl, cut the lavender down to six inches from the ground next April. Maureen
I have a buterfly bush that now has grown into a tree. The last storm bent the tree so
I tied it up, but the bottom root branches look like when I remove the rope it will lean
over again. The guestion is can I trim or cut inhalf the big bush and when can I do so.
thank you, Cheryl
Cheryl, butterfly bushes grow 8 to 10 feet in one season and then in late March, you need to cut it down to about one foot from the ground and put some manure around it.
If the roots are now exposed and the bush looks to be not in good shape I suggest it may be lost.
If so, in late April next year, purchase another, do not plant it any deeper in the ground than it comes in the pot, put some manure in the planting hole and plant it in full sun and enjoy. Maureen
Tomato blight
I heard on your radio program to control the tomato blight to cover the area in the garden where you plan to put your plants with clear plastic. I do not remember when this should be done? I usually put manure on the garden early in the spring. Should I put the manure under the plastic?
Charlie, in late April when the sun comes out again lay 4 mil black plastic securely over the area where you plant the tomatoes and keep it attached to the earth but piling soil heavily on the edges of the plastic. Leave this down for 2 months, the plastic will smother the blight in the soil then plant your tomatoes and put lots of manure in the soil and during he season you can, if you like, order The English Lady manure tea from the website to feed the tomatoes. If not add some more manure at least once in the season and you know to keep tomatoes well watered. Good luck Maureen
Maureen,
I’m ready to plant daffidol bulbs, again. In the past the squirels have dug up and eaten them. We’re overrun with them. What can I use, when planting them, the will stop them?
Thank you.
Deborah, buy an organic deer repellent from the garden center or order ‘Deer Off’ from http://www.GardensAlive.com and soak the bulbs the night before you plant and then let them dry in the sun before planting. The Deer repellent will emit an odor and have a nasty taste for critters – humans cannot detect any odor.
Its a bit early to plant the daff bulbs – wait a couple of weeks until the weather consistently cools down, unless you live in the Northwest hills in that case you can plant sooner. Make sure the daff bulbs are at least nine inches down in the earth so they will bloom well for you each season – if they are planted too shallow they will not bloom well. Of course put manure in the planting holes. Maureen
Is there any way to get rid of spiders in my arborvitae? They produce unsightly thick white webs. Yuck!!!
Deborah, I suggest that you gently put a hose on the spider webs. Spiders are actually beneficial insects that kill a lot of the bad bugs. Maureen
Hi Maureen ! Last September we planted a beautifully full Viburnum Lantana Mohican (wayfaringtree viburnum) in full sun as suggested. This Spring we gave it a mild organic fertilizer and it had ivory colored flowers. We have made sure that it has had an inch of water per week however the leafing out has been extremely sparse. The leaves that are present look fine with no signs of disease whatsoever and there are even a few berries , but the leaves are so sparse that the tree looks skeletonized altho perfectly healthy otherwise. Any advice that you could offer would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much, Gloria
Gloria, the best thing to do is wait and see as the first year until the roots establish on a shrub like the viburnum, which is hardy needs patience. Do not fertilize, just work manure into the soil around it and on all the garden, now in July, October and again in April and make sure it gets water. Maureen
Hi Maureen,
Can you please help me with my tomatoe plants. Some are starting to get yellowish brown leaves on the bottom 6-10 inches.
thank you for helping,
Steve
Steve, don’t worry about the brown leaves on the bottom, just pick them off including leaves up about one foot on the plant, put a nice layer of composted manure around them and some mulch to keep in the moisture and keep them well watered. Let me know how it goes – everyone is having trouble with tomatoes this season – the weather has been very up and down. Maureen
Hi Maureen,I do mowing and light yard work for several folks in the neighborhood and one of my customers had me cut down a beautiful thornless blackberry bush to about a 2ft ball then she had me cut another 1ft off. My question is this:can I use these 1ft stalks to propagate. The stalks have been soaking in water since I cut them(4days)
Hi Wayne, sorry about the delay I was under the weather last week. Try putting the stalks in a rooting medium from the garden center and see what happens – it never hurts to try. Maureen
Hi Maureen,
I receive your Photo Friday and Newletters and truly enjoy both. I have a question for you, can you recommend a tree that would stay small enough so I can plant it in a container. My back yard is mostly septic tank and field and cannot plant any trees.
Also, can you plant hydrangas in a container?
Hope to hear a response from you soon.—Thanks
Joanne, a dwarf red threadleaf maple would do well in a large container – just make sure before planting that the container is where you want it to be permanently as its very heavy. A 20 gallon container would be suitable.
Hydrangeas would not do well in a container as they require copious amounts of manure and constant moisture, although if you can duplicate that, then give it a shot. Maureen
Maureen can i just put manure over last years wood mulch and work them both into the soil or should i remove the mulch every year?
Wayne, you can put the manure on top of the manure, moisture from rain and irrigation will work it nicely into the soil and also the brown fine bark mulch breaks down with it also to contribute to soil structure.
Maureen
Hi Maureen,
I forgot to ask you about my blanket flower and my many coreopsis that seem to be drying and becoming brittle in the center and laying over also from the center. Is this the work of a pest? I am in Eastern CT. I live on a lovely pond, not sure if this environment is contributing to my garden woes.
Thank you!
Diane, many people are being invaded by many kinds of pests this season. Take a look at the June tips on the website for cayenne pepper remedy and garlic spray remedy.
Also your main problem from underground are moles and voles. Buy chocolate Exlax from the drug store and put it in the mole holes. The moles will eat it and become dehydrated and die. It really works. Maureen
I would like to plant lavender in my new garden. It was suggested that I plant lavender in a container so it will not be invasive. Is lavender an invasive plant.?
Christine, Lavender is not invasive – and my personal preference is Lavender Provence, the flowers of this plant, last longer and are a lovely color. Maureen
Maureen: First off Imust commend you on your wonderful newsletter and GREAT tips! I read it every Friday without fail.
I have a question – I have some beautiful hostas that are being eaten by something. The leaves are gone but the stems remain. Any idea who or what is doing that and how I can get rid of them? Spiders love my house and live everywhere, inside and out. Maybe they are the culprits?
Thanks!
Mary
Mary, mix up my garlic mixture which is as follows:
5 crushed garlic cloves
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
both of the above pureed in the blender and added to one gallon of hot water and a squirt of mild dish soap. Leave overnight and put in a one gallon sprayer and spray in the morning or evening. That should keep the hostas safe from those munching marauders. Maureen
Hi Maureen,
I’m having trouble for the second year with my white Asiatic Lilies-they have pesky larvae eating them and they turn into small, (lady-bug sized) bright red flying insects with black bodies and legs. What should I spray them with?
Thank you kindly,
Michelle
PS-*I heard you on the radio last year, couldn’t remember your website, but thought I would try to concoct a mixture of my own. I mixed hot water with some vegetable oil and a small amount of dish liquid. The first time I sprayed the lilies I added some baking soda too.
Michelle, do not use your concoction. You have an infestation of the red lily beetle – buy organic Neem oil from the garden center. Works very well. Maureen
I need some advice on how to keep woodchuck’s from entering in my Veg, garden. they have already dug hole’s underneath fencing.fed on my broccole plant’s and stringbean’s
Patricia, woodchucks are very aggressive. You need to have a strong chicken wire at the bottom of your veg garden fence, buried in the ground, at least one foot and above ground, another foot. If that does not work call animal control. That method is working for my vegetable garden. Good luck Maureen
Hi,
I recently planted three princess holly bushes. I want these to grow as tall has possible for a privacy hedge. Is there anything I can add/do to promote rapid growth?
Terry, with your three princess holly bushes also buy a small male holly for good pollination and with this red berries on the female hollies. Also keep the bushes well watered through the season and add manure and peat 3 parts manure to one part peat around the bottom of the bushes. Good luck Maureen
Hello Maureen,
I have a burning bush that has grown bigger this year than it normally does. I was wondering if I could cut it back now without damaging it for the fall?
Thank You
Michelle, you can cut the bush back by one quarter now without a problem, however, the best time to prune is in later winter like March, before new growth begins. Maureen
what can I do to prevent the bunny rabbits from eating my impatients? This never happened until this season when I saw one roaming in my yard????
Sandra, the more garlic you have in the garden, the less bugs, two legged and four legged marauders you will have. In the meantime make a garlic spray for the impatiens. Four large garlic cloves crushed, 1 teaspoons of vegetable oil, 1 squirt of mild dish detergent all added to one gallon of hot water. Let this mixture stand overnight and spray in the a.m. or early evening. Maureen
Hi Maureen,
We have several azaleas. They aren’t real tall because we try to keep them pruned on the short side but they are becoming very branchy! Most of the leaves and blossoms are on the ends. How do we get fullness on the shrub?
Thank you, Vicki
Vicki, stop pruning the azaleas, put composted manure and peat around the base and they will fill out for you. Maureen
Hello
i have a white peach tree in the back yard we planted last year 2010, it is starting to bloom and have lots of buds, how can i prevent the little critters/bugs from eating them, i would like to enjoy them
Thanks in advance for your reply
Lil
Lil, plant garlic under fruit trees to avoid scab and root disease and spray with a garlic spray to keep away critters. Four crushed garlic cloves, 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil, a squirt of mild dish detergent in one gallon of hot water to stand overnight, then put in a sprayer and spray in the early morning or evening. Garlic can be planted everywhere in the garden, the orchard, the vegetable and flower garden. It is an anti-biotic for the garden, and also acts an an anti-fungal agent. Maureen.
help! Both of my butterfly bushes look like they won’t return…I have cut them back, they are both in full sun, but no new growth at the base of the plant yet. Any clues? Or should I just be patient? thanks.
Joyce, just be patient and put some manure around the base. All growth is slower this spring for all plants, due to the cool temps and lack of sun. Maureen
hello, Maureen. I transplanted a Rose of Sharon early this spring, and am delighted to see that it is doing well, all branches with little green buds. However, I fear I have planted it too close to the road, especially when the winter comes, plows, etc. What do you suggest; when/how would be best to move it ? thank yoU!
Joyce, move it now. Do not plant it any deeper than it is in the ground now, replant it immediately so that the roots are not exposed to the air and add manure to the planting mix, fill around the plant half way and add water to make sure it has good drainage then fill up the hole and keep well watered as it establishes anew. Our seaweed tea would help considerably to re-establish those roots, as the tea has a root growth hormone which will soften the trauma of two transplants. Maureen
what is the best way to protect my hybrid tea roses from disease and bugs?
Nancy put composted manure and mulch around the roses for protection and good health for the soil. Then go online to http://www.GardensAlive.com and order Pyola it helps prevent disease and bugs and not only on roses but other plants also. Maureen
hi maureen,
for mother’s day i received a dahlia plant. it say’s on the tag it is a annual plant, but looking it up in my plant book, it say’s it ‘s a perenial. can you help me to understand this.isn’t it one or the other. also can i keep this in potting container it came in,as a container plant? one more question on lavender,i planted some last year,and it is growing more as a cripping vine more than an upright position that i was hoping for. >>>>>thank you, from some-one as a beginner
p.s. love your web site,and listening to you on the radio(WRCH–100.5
Trish, plant the dahlia, with composted manure on all your borders, not any deeper than it is in the container and in September after blooming did it up carefully and allow the tuber (root) to dry in the sun then place it in a paper bag, in a cool place (not a freezing area) for the winter and replant again this time next year.
Cut the lavender down now to six inches from the ground so that it can grow tall and strong.
Good luck Maureen
Do you have a store where you sell the manure and seaweed teas…or is it just online that I can buy it?
Would you send me the ingredients for the garlic spray that you use on plants to prevent bugs from eating leaves.
Doreen, a gallon spray container filled with water, 5 crushed garlic cloves, a squirt of mild dish soap and 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil. Maureen
How do you get rid of moles?
Mary, either go onto http://www.gardensalive.com for the organic mole repellent or put chocolate exlax down the mole runs. Maureen
I need a suggestion for the front of my house, which is a raised ranch. Right now I have on both sides of the front porch flowering bushes. I had on either side of the porch an evergreen, which got damaged this winter and also got too big. Would like to know what other bush (not evergreens) that I can put in the place of the evergreens. The front gets sun all afternoon. Thank-you.
Lois, a Korean Spice viburnum gets 4×4 and is very fragrant for May, a dwarf lilac blooms in late May to early June and is 3×3 and a small hybrid mountain laurel (evergreen) with blossom in June. Maureen
Hi Maureen,
I need help with my arborvitae plants. I have had them for about 3 years and they are starting to turn brown from the inside out and the brown needles are falling off. While doing some spring cleanup I noticed a pile of brown needles laying under the plant. Can you offer any advice to make them healthy again?
Thanks so much!!
-Julie
Julie, this is quite normal behavior for evergreens as they need to shed their old leaves as the newer growth is in or when even newer is coming in in the spring. Whereas deciduous trees shed all their leaves in fall, evergreens shed their oldest leaves or needles through the winter. To have the trees healthy and vibrant, put composted manure and some peat around the base to feed the soil and to keep the soil around the area moist. Maureen
Maureen
I have Japenese Iris and every year they grow tall but there arn’t any flowers
on them. I have taken them out and replanted them and used fertilizer but
they still aren’t blooming. Is there a special fertilizer to use? Do you think they will
bloom or should I just get new plants?
Thank-you
Libby
Libby, do not use any chemical fertilizers on your garden, just a two inch layer of composted manure. With regard to the Japanese Iris, they will not bloom if they have been planted too deep, dig them up and replant with just enough soil and composted manure mix to cover the roots so they do not topple over.
Good luck Maureen
After reading the comments, I’m wondering if now, Apr 8, is OK to cut back the butterfly bush. Also, I have a strong, healthy lilac bush that does not bloom except for one branch very low to the ground. I get about 2-3 flowers on that. It does get some morning sun but the neighboring yard has two large evergreens, so it is mostly in the shade. It was transplanted from my friend’s home several years ago. Should I transplant it again or cut it down? Thanks.
Dotty, cut the butterfly bush down now to about one foot from the ground and put some composted manure around the base, which you can purchase from the garden center. Put two inches of this manure on all your planted borders now, in July and October and you will not need anything else – you are building your soil and the plants will flourish.
With regard to the lilac, shrubs or trees can only be transplanted for the first two years they are in the ground. I suggest you cut it down and plant another but in a sunny spot, they need sun to bloom and put some of the manure and a little lime in the planting hole. Maureen
I
Help – The voles are back! After the spring clean-up the damage is evident everywhere. I have asked the owl and the coyote to come and do their magic but no luck. You are my last resort. Thanks, Marie
Hello Marie, you can sprinkle cayenne pepper in the area where you see the voles, or put down chocolate exlax, they will eat it, get dehydrated and the rest is history. Or you can go on http://www.gardensalive.com to an organic product called plantskydd repellent which will deter all wildlife like, possum, rabbits, woodchucks, etc from eating your plants.
Good luck Maureen
I enjoyed meeting you at our Naugatuck Garden Club meeting a few months ago. My husband has a question about grubX. When is the best time to put this on the lawn? It looks as though some critter is already digging little holes in the lawn looking for something…might it be a squirrel digging up a hidden nut? Thank you, Lorene
Lorene, please ask your husband to not use GrubX as it is a poisonous chemical – chemicals are like inhaling second hand smoke. Go onto http://www.gardensalive.com for organic grub control which should be put on the lawns now.
Maureen
Should hydrangeas be deadheaded in spring or fall? Should they be pruned at the same time? I’ve always left them until spring, but someone said there would be more blossoms if deadheading is done in the fall. Do you have any pruning tips?
Deb, do not prune the hydrangeas. In the fall any dead blooms can be snipped off otherwise, leave them alone, and now in spring put composted manure around the base and keep them well watered through the season. Maureen
Hi Maureen, I have some Montauk Daisy plants that are already starting to sprout leaves. When should they be cut back, how far, how often, and is spring better for trimming, or is the fall? Thanks for you help. Dotty C.
Hi Dotty, cut the Montauk Daisies back now to within six inches of the ground – don’t be nervous even though you are cutting off sprouting leaves. When you see new growth from three to five inches, pinch it back and you will have wonderful full blooming plants that will not fall over in a heap.Don’t forget to add manure on all your borders now, July and October. Maureen
Hi Maureen
I have 3 broom bushes and they are all 5 1/2-6 feet tall, brown and dead looking about the first 3 feet up the bush, the top is green and last year they did flower. They got weighted down with all the snow this year and right now I have they tied back so they aren’t falling completely over. They are on my property line and the neighbor has 3 gigantic evergreen trees that throw shade mid afternoon and pine needles that make a mess which I rake at least once a week to keep from the ground becoming to covered.
My question is can I prune the bushes back and when. If I want to transplant them when would be a good time.
Thank you
Sandra Mason
Thank you
Sandra, Broom are usually short lived and do need sun to bloom well. You can cut back to a new bud or side shoot as long as you do not cut into the old wood. Put manure around the base. In the meantime if they are the yellow spring blooming broom, these have become quite invasive and you may not wish to transplant them. Maureen
I hope this isn’t the third time your getting this. I can cut my butterfly bush down
to 2 feet even if there are buds on it and do it in April? Since it has been so cold this
winter any special treatment for butterfly bush and a star & jane Magnolia trees.
Also where can we buy a (swamp) magnolia tree in CT or something that will grow in
CT
Thank-you
Libby, cut down the butterfly bush at the end of March, put some composted manure around the base and some mulch at the end of April as the soil warms up.
Magnolia are beautiful trees and should only be pruned lightly right after they bloom.
I do not have a sauce for a swamp Magnolia but I suggest you ask a reputable garden center if they can acquire one for you or go on line.
Good luck
Maureen
Maureen,
I’d like to know if the ash from my pellet stove is OK to spread throughout the garden. We use wood pellets. Thank you.
Ginnie,
Wood ash should be used very much in moderation every two to three years in the garden, as it will raise the ph in the soil that will inhibit micro organism activity and limit nutrient uptake in plants.
Maureen
Hello,
When can I transplant hydrangeas and what should I put into the soil when I move them?
Thanks.
Angie Perrotto
Angelina, transplant the hydrangeas in mid September and do not plant them any deeper in the soil than they are now. Add manure to the planting mix as they need moist humus rich (manured soil) with good drainage. At the shore they grow in full sun but away from the shore need partial shade, good ventilation to prevent powdery mildew and lots of water during the growing season as they are a wetland plant. After transplanting, remove a few of the oldest stems and the weakest of the new shoots. Maureen
Alice, on the front page of this website, click on what to use in the garden and you will find a solution for the holly problem. Maureen