Garden Talks and Garden Thoughts

Hello again,



Welcome to another posting of Garden Talks and Garden Thoughts at the Skillin's Garden Log.


Garden Talks
Let's dive right in with some great questions this past week from some of our gardening friends like you. Email us your gardening questions at info@skillins.com!
Question: When do I cut back my roses for the winter and how do I cover them?


Answer: We have found that pruning hybrid tea and similar roses in spring works best in Maine. That way the canes are not opened up to damaging winter cold and wind injury.

Protect them for the winter by mulching 1 ft deep with bark mulch, soil or composted cow manure in late November. After Christmas, place evergreen branches over the mulch mounds to keep them from thawing and re-freezing throughout the winter. Uncover and prune in April.

If you have winter hardy shrub roses that do not need all that special attention, mulching is probably not necessary, and the pruning can be done this fall or next spring.


(Thanks to Tim Bate for the above answer!)



Question: I was wondering why it is good to apply Plant Tone or ProStart to plants that are starting their dormant period. Won't that kick in and cause some growth during a "warm" spell?


Answer: I do think that twice yearly feedings of these natural fertilizers really help most soils. And that is what we are trying to do when we feed naturally; we are treating the soil by providing more organic matter for beneficial fungi and bacteria to use to thrive. Then this fungi and bacteria get used by the microorganisms in the soil and also beneficial creatures like earthworms so that they can live in and benefit the soil. In other words, by feeding naturally on a consistent basis we are trying to encourage consistent biological activity in the soil. That is why I think at least twice yearly feedings of good natural foods gets us to that goal.

Gardening in Maine is rugged and our soils can be a challenge. I and many other gardeners live over a big sheet of granite that creates really shallow situations for my lawn and garden soil. This soil gets baked in our hot dry summers and then constantly frozen and thawed in our roller coaster winters. Other soils have much clay and this makes for similar challenges that make it tough for plants roots to thrive. So again providing consistent supplies of organic matter can be very helpful; perhaps even essential for long-term successful gardening.

To more directly answer your question, the nutrient flow from these natural fertilizers all come from natural slow yielding sources. The nutrients from natural fertilizers put down now are much available in a few months time then now. Applying chemical fertilizers to plants starting their dormant period would result in a much more immediate rush of nutrients and could very likely cause growth during a “warm” spell.

Chemical fertilizers cause fairly immediate chemical activity. Natural fertilizers help to cause more long-term biological activity that the environment can use to help our plants grow well.



Question: My rosemary plants never winter over. So I thought I was being smart by digging mine up, putting it in a pot and bringing it inside. All was well for while, but now the plant is turning brown. Do you have any suggestions on what I can do to revive it?


Answer: Rosemary plants do not winter over outside so you are being smart by digging yours up and bringing it inside.

Here is proper indoor rosemary care per Mary of Skillin’s Falmouth:

She stresses that rosemary can survive indoors but getting them to thrive can be a challenge.
Rosemary needs as much sun as you can give it indoors.
They need warm days and cool nights. And no drafts.

Let them go very dry to the touch between waterings. When you do water them, really soak them—probably in your kitchen sink so the water can run slowly through the soil for a few minutes. Let the excess water drain off. Then let them go quite dry again; certainly when in doubt do no water. Again run the water slowly so it does not splash on the leaves.

Rosemary are very prone to powdery mildew but that can easily be treated by garden sulfur an all natural fungicide spray that we sell right here at Skillin’s!

Do not fertilize over the winter; I would say start to give it some fertilizer in April; a few weeks before it goes back outside.



Question: Do you recommend the Garden Primer as the best overall book for someone who is looking for basic tips about many aspects of gardening. For example,when to plant bulbs to how to best plant prennials. With illustrations and easy to follow steps and information.


Answer: I definitely recommend the Garden Primer as a great overall book for someone looking for basic tips.
We sell the Garden Primer here at Skillin's and at http://www.skillins.com/!

Back when I was first starting out, the late Jim Crockett--the original host of the Victory Garden Series--published two books that were a huge help to me, Crockett's Victory Garden which dealt with many facets of outdoor gardening, particularly vegetable gardening and Crockett's Indoor Gardening which dealt with both houseplants and flowering plants. You could probably still obtain those books through your favorite bookstore.


Garden Thoughts
The leaves are just tumbling out of the maple trees around the area. Much of my lawn awaits me in a couple of days for some vigorous raking. I will probably bag most of the initial leaves that I rake but as the leaves get a little crispier closer to the end of the fall I will pile some of these leaves as a combination mulch/compost around my evergreen shrubs (yews/rhodys/azaleas).
Prior to this piling of leaves, I will have put some Holly Tone natural fertilizer around the base of each of these plants. We have had some good rain so the Holly Tone has broken down quite a bit and is starting to be incorporated into the soil. Then it will be time to pile a couple of inches of leaves around each plant. These leaves help keep weeds down during the growing season and also as time goes along, the leaves break down and do a nice job of becoming helpful organic matter in the soil.
If I am really on my game, I will get the lawn mower out and chop up some leaves and then pile these chopped leaves around my evergreens, again this makes for faster breakdown of the leaves next season.
In the last few days, I have been getting hordes of shiny black starlings (might be grackles) around some of my bird feeders. I don't mind feeding the creatures but they have been voracious. They will consume a suet cake in a day. I do have a large platform feeder and an old suet cage that I have not used for awhile. This morning I bungied the suet feeder to the bottom of my platform feeder because my good bird feeding friend Liz Cardinale reminded me that woodpeckers have no problem eating suet upside down BUT birds like starlings and grackles do not like to eat upside down.
Liz Cardinale also recommended that I substitute safflower for sunflower for a few days. Safflower is a wonderful food for birds--it is full of nutrients but starlings and grackles do not like it. Liz feels that the starlings will get miffed that there is no more suet or sunflower and go on their merry way and then I can resume my sunflower feeding. I will keep you all posted but does anyone else have any suggestions for those starlings?
Mark Your Calendar
Every Tuesday is Mature Gardeners Day at Skillin’s! Those customers who qualify will receive 10% off all regularly priced items. (Sale items and volume restrictions do not usually apply and some other restrictions may apply).
Every Friday brings Flower Power Happy Hour where we offer fresh cut flower stems and bunches at 30% off their regular prices. The Happy Hour lasts from 4 PM until we close at 7 PM!! Every Friday!
Thanks,
Mike Skillin