We love to get online questions from our Skillin's customers! Here is a sampling of some recent questions and answers we wanted to share with you. If you have any gardening questions, just email us at info@skillins.com. We always try to answer on a timely basis and if we do include your question and our answer in the Skillin's Garden Log we will keep your name to ourselves. So feel free to shoot us a question anytime!
Question: My plants in my garden get very tall every summer and fall over. Is there something I can feed them have stronger stems??
Answer: We will soon be having a pruning class (I believe Oct 20 at our stores and you may want to check that class out.)Good pruning helps strengthen the roots and base stems of plants and that helps them to stand up straighter.
Your fertilizing question is an excellent one and I will give you a straightforward general answer. We prefer to recommend good natural fertilizers because they will improve the conditions in your soil. Better soil makes for stronger deeper roots and good strong roots help your plants to better weather summer drought, spring wet, fall winds and winter cold. Think of natural fertilizers as being a good set of “square meals” for your plant.
In general we recommend Plant Tone by Espoma or Pro Gro by North Country Organics as great all purpose fertilizers for your plants. They are granular fertilizers that should be applied two to three times per year. One major exception to these fertilizers would be for evergreen plants such as rhodys, azaleas, junipers, arborvitae, etc. and then we recommend feedings of Holly Tone by Espoma two to three times per year.
Question: I purchased some seed garlic last year and planted them. Can I now use some of these heads as seed garlic this year?
Answer: The answer to that question is yes!
October is the best time to plant garlic.
By the “heads” I assume you are referring to the garlic cloves.
Take the whole clove and very carefully break it up without bruising the cloves or damaging the root end or the growing tips. The individual cloves should be planted to about 3 to 4 times the depth of their in well-drained soil. I would add some good light organic matter like some Quoddy Blend by Coast of Maine organics and also a dose of some nice natural plant food like Bulb Tone by Espoma or Pro Gro by North Country Organics.
The growing tip (the sharp pointed end) is planted up and is covered with soil. Once covered water the garlic cloves well and make sure they get good soakings twice per week until the ground freezes. Once the ground freezes I would mulch or cover that frozen crunchy soil to keep everything in place through the winter. I would lift that mulch in late March or early April.
We also have seed garlic available right here at Skillin’s!
Question: Is this a good time to transplant day lilies? I have some that I need to transpant. I bought some other bulbs and they would go better in the spot that I have the day lilies.
Answer: Now is a great time to transplant day lilies. They are pretty dormant at this point. Prepare your new hole with some good compost like Shrub and Tree Mix by Jolly Gardener plus I always like to put a little natural food like Plant Tone by Espoma or Pro Gro by North Country Organics into the hole. Water the new transplants slowly and well twice a week until the ground freezes and they will do well. I would also mulch over the new transplants late this fall once the ground gets good and crunchy.
Question: How to best prepare blueberry bushes for the winter?
Answer: Let me give you a few quick pointers.
Your blueberries should survive our winters without too much trouble.
To keep the plants strong I would apply Holly Tone a great natural fertilizer for acid loving plants twice per growing season. The first application should be as the growing season gets underway in early April or so then I would apply Holly Tone again in mid to late summer to keep a good steady flow of nutrients and organic matter into the soil.
We ran into some dry stretches this summer and once or twice late this summer when the ground was bone dry I actually ran some water slowly into the ground for an hour or two each plant just to give the plants some help. Even though my high bush blueberries are about 10 years old, I felt they needed the help.
It is good to get some mulch around the base of the plants in late fall or early winter when the ground is good and crunchy. This helps to prevent ground heaving of the root system from cold then warm then cold again. Blueberries have a shallow root system and the root ball can get lurched around a bit.
If you have battled insect pests at any time during the season consider applying All Seasons Horticultural Spray an all natural pesticidal oil now and again in early winter. All Seasons helps to suffocate hard to spray insects and their eggs which otherwise can survive our winters.
Question: Is now a good time to prune a mock orange shrub?
Answer: If you prune your mock orange or most shrubs that flowered before the Fourth of July then you run the risk of cutting off growth that will send out flower buds next year and therefore you could impact next year's flowers in a big time way. You should probably wait to prune the mock orange right after it flowers next year. NOW would be a good time to apply a nice feeding of a good natural fertilizer like Plant Tone by Espoma or Pro Gro by North Country Organics to get some good natural fertilizer and organic material down into the soil if you have not fed your shrub within the next last few weeks!
Thanks for the questions everyone!
Mike Skillin
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