Hello again,
Good gardening friend Paul Parent of the Paul Parent Garden Club sends out a great newsletter every week with pertinent gardening topics. I encourage you to go to his website to sign up for his newsletter. Paul can also be heard every Sunday morning from 6 AM to 10 AM at his website or at WBACH (104.7 FM) every Sunday morning from 6 AM to 9 AM. Paul recently sent this article out called "It's Time for a Walk Through the Garden" (I occasionally add a few comments in italics) and here it is:
"We are now half way through June (this post was released by Paul on June 16, 2011), and so far the season has had its ups and downs--but the best of the ups are still ahead of us, and you should be excited about what's happening around you! The plants in your garden will make more growth in the next couple of months than they have so far all year. The flowers, the vegetables, the herbs, the berries and the fruit are now preparing for their special season in your gardens.
Try to explore your gardens every day if possible, because things are happening so fast now you will miss the changes. Today's walk through my gardens showed me that flower buds are now forming on my lilies, some of my daisies and on my delphiniums. The strawberries are beginning to turn pink and will soon be ready for picking, while the blueberries are growing larger on the plant but still need time and maybe a little extra fertilizer to help them grow larger and juicier.
Because of my garden walk, I noticed that my 'Annabelle' hydrangea are having a problem with a caterpillar type insect that has "stitched" the new leaves on top of many branches together, creating a bag look to the new growth. I pulled them apart to separate the leaves and found a small 1/2" long green caterpillar inside, preparing to eat the young flower buds. These small green caterpillars weave the leaves together and create a weatherproof home for themselves while they feed on your flower buds.
I took a few minutes and opened up each leaf cluster to free up the flowers so I would not lose them to the insect and then sprayed the plant with Spinosad organic insecticide or Captain Jack to destroy the caterpillars and prevent future damage. The plant looks great now, the foliage will continue to grow normally, and I will soon enjoy all those flowers on the hydrangea that would have been lost if I did not walk through my garden this morning.
With all the rain and cool temperatures, I was looking for a bug that is common at this time of the year called the "spittle bug." This unique creature can be found on many perennials, roses, and some evergreens--if you look at your garden you will see him right now. This insect resembles a tiny grasshopper about 1/4" long and pale green. To protect himself from predators, he will take the extra moisture on the plant and blow bubbles around himself. This bubble cluster looks like "spit" on stems of your plants and makes it easy for you to find him. As the weather dries up, all you will find is his damage--holes in the foliage. But right now he is easy to find, so just squeeze the spit-like formation on the plant to remove him, and then crush him. If you have many, use Garden Eight, Bug–B-Gone Max or Bayer Complete insect killer to control them or they will riddle the foliage with holes in that garden in just a few days.
I noticed that in the vegetable garden my cold weather crops like broccoli, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts are growing like crazy with all the rain and look wonderful, but while in the garden, I did notice several small dull white moths about an inch in diameter flying from plant to plant. This small moth is laying eggs on these plants that will in a couple of weeks hatch to become the cabbage lopper that will eat holes in the foliage. There is not much you can do right now but as soon as I see small holes in the foliage I will use Spinosad or Captain Jack to eliminate the problem naturally. Seeing the moth has given me a warning of the problem to come and time to prepare for when it arrives.
My tomatoes now have yellow flowers on them, so it might be time to give them a boost with a bit of liquid fertilizer (use Fish and Seasweed fertilizer by Neptune's Harvest) to help them make fruit faster. Also tomatoes are wind pollinated--not pollinated by bees--so I gently shook each plant to help make the pollen airborne for better pollination. Give your plants a shake every time you're in the garden to help them make more fruit if the weather becomes calm, so shake, shake, shake your tomatoes.
My peppers are also making flowers and now is the perfect time to give them a bit of Epson Salt in water to help them make bigger peppers. I dissolve one tablespoon of Epsom Salt to a gallon of water and give each plant about a quart of the mixture and you will not believe what it does for the plant. This was a garden tip from my Grandfather many years ago that stills work today.
I looked at my roses as the flower buds are just about ready to burst open and noticed some of the lower leaves had been skeletonized and had a white tinge to them. I found some small one-inch long pale green caterpillars eating away--a bit of Captain Jack or Spinosad takes care of them, and the damage will stop. All I want you to do is look at your plants regularly, so you can spot the damage on the plant before it gets out of hand and ruin your hard work in the garden.
Clematis is now growing fast and now is the time to train it, and tie it up on your trellis or arbor so you can better enjoy the flowers on the plant. Remember clematis loves a sweet soil so if you want your plants to grow better, be sure to use limestone or wood ash around the plant every year. If your plant is in full sun, place a brick or cobble stone standing up on the ground, on the south side of the plant about 2 to 3 inches from the stems. This will create shade on the stems as they develop from the base of the plant and prevent sun damage during the summer and winter months. Keeping the bottom six inches of stems cool during the summer and protected from the sun during the winter is the most important tip that I can give you for growing clematis.
If you're growing fruit trees, be sure to re-apply your fruit tree spray as soon as possible as all the rain has washed off the protection you put on the earlier. If you want to stay organic with your fruit tree, look for a wonderful product call "Organocide," a combination insect and disease control product developed for the citrus growers in Florida, which works great on all your fruit trees and berry plants. If you want clean fruit, you must apply this product every 10 to 14 days just like the orchards do--more often if you get heavy rain.
If you planted lettuce, Swiss chard or spinach by seed, it may be time to thin your planting bed or do a bit of transplanting while the weather is still cool. Give your plants room to grow and you will have better and more productive plants in your garden. Clean around your onions, leeks and shallots, as crabgrass is now beginning to grow in the garden--I know it is in my onion patch.
If you grew garlic for the first time and want larger bulbs and more garlic cloves on that bulb in the ground, look closely at your plants now for the flower bud that is forming on top of the plant. This flower bud looks like an arrow; it's a pointed bud. It looks like a garden gnome hat that grows by twisting and curling on its long stem. When this twisting begins to happen, remove the flower stems right down to the closest leaf on the plant and all the energy will go to the bulb--or you could leave it on the plant and it will make seeds for next year. I remove mine and use some of the flowers or "scapes," as they are called, for use in flower arrangements--cool looking with cut flowers in a vase. You can also steam them like you do asparagus and they taste wonderful with a bit of butter, salt and pepper. Try them this year if you never have before; they have a mild flavor of garlic. Enjoy!
Thanks Paul!
Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
June 21, 2011
Showing posts with label garlic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label garlic. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
September Garden Talks 2010
The purpose of this post is to relay a few "quick hit" garden tips to you through the month of September. Some of these tips will be garden tasks I am doing myself, some of these tips will be quick pieces of advice we are giving to customers, some will be quick links to good gardening advice we encounter on the internet.
Check back to this post often as we will update it often until we roll through September 2010!
Here are our August Garden Talks 2010.
September 29--According to the official Rain Gauge of Skillin's Country, we received almost an inch of rain in the past couple of days. It was an excellent rain because of it's On Again, Off Again nature. This allows for some good soaking, a reprieve from runoff and then more good soaking. We are thankful for this deep rain and this should take care of most watering needs for the next few days!
September 28--Good friend Hammon Buck of Plants Unlimited in Rockport ME just sent out some great gardening tips. One tip that caught my eye was Hammon's write up about Planting Garlic in the Fall. We sell the California Soft Neck variety here at Skillin's. Here is Hammon:
"There are hundreds of named varieties of garlic, but all of them can be categorized into two major types: soft-necked and hard-necked.
The stalk that grows up from a garlic bulb is called a “neck.”
The stalk of soft-necked garlic is pliable and soft at maturity. The stalk of hard-necked garlic is stiff at maturity.
Soft-necked garlic is strong flavored and stores well because it has several protective outer layers of papery skin.
The two most common varieties are California Early and California Late. About eighty percent of all grocery store garlic is now grown in China. These garlics have many cloves, up to 20 per bulb. The outside cloves are medium in size while the inside cloves are a pain to peel and are many times just discarded!
Softneck garlic has the classic garlic taste; ranging from mild to hot and spicy; depending upon the growing conditions. (In Eastern Europe and Asia Hardneck garlics are the standard; with the same range in taste and heat.) Some Softnecks can be eaten raw in salsa and salads; others are too strong and need to be cooked.
Hard-necked garlic is mild tasting and best used soon after harvest since it has only a few layers of papery skin and thus keeps poorly."
September 27--Gardening friend Margaret of Away to Garden writes: "DON’T PANIC IF EVERGREENS start to show some browning or yellowing of needles this month and next. The oldest, innermost needles typically shed after a few years on the tree." I am noticing that pines especially are showing some yellowing on the inside of the trees. This is not a huge concern for older trees; however, 2010 planted pines should receive good deep waterings once weekly between now and when the ground freezes. These waterings will make the pines healthier for next year and beyond. Also a light feeding of Hollytone by Espoma is not a bad idea for your evergreen trees if they have not been fed for awhile.
September 26--Two years ago it was very apparent that my once mostly sunny backyard with several small gardens had become quite shady due to many of the surrounding trees getting so tall and other trees and growth :creeping in". It was time to cut some trees and clean out some growth to let some sun in! We did that and this increased light really helped my gardening efforts in 2009 and 2010. More light is needed and so yesterday my dad, wife and I spent much time cutting and cleaning out some more shade trees and growth. IF your garden has become too shady, we can give you the names of some very reasonable professionals who can cut wayward trees, limb others out--all to let the light in!!
September 24--Fall to an avid gardener with grass and dirt stained knees and dirty hands can be difficult to adjust to. However, fall is a great time of year to actually improve your garden. One of the first steps you should take is to apply lime to your lawn and gardens. Generally at the end of the growing season the production effort leaves a garden with a pH of 5.5 to 6.0, so we advise adding lime at a rate of about 5 pound per 100 square feet to eventually raise the pH to about 6.5 to 7.0. This higher pH level will allow your plants to receive a wider range of nutrients. Generally, we should only lime our areas one time per year. Also your garden may well not need lime every year. If you have limed for 2 to 3 consecutive years pick up a simple pH tester at Skillin's. Check out that pH. If your soil registers at about 6.5 to 7.0, do not apply lime that year. The lime I recommend is Mira Cal by Jonathan Green—it is a calcium based lime that is better than most limes for at least two reasons: 1) Calcium is an excellent organic additive to your soil. It benefits your plants tremendously by helping to “keep free” the flow of beneficial nutrients to your plants roots. 2) Magnesium based lime can actually aid weeds as magnesium adds a natural soil compactor. Many of the plants we prefer don’t like growing in compact soils but unfavorable weeds like plantain, dandelions, crabgrass and ajuga don’t mind compact soils a bit!
September 17--Skillin's Country received a nice inch of rain last night. This will really help our lawns, annuals and perennials. Remember though any 2010 planted shrubs and trees could probably use a good deep watering sometime this weekend or next week. Don't let the cooling weather fool you on that! Also while any flowering containers you may have got a nice soaking last night, any containers are so full of roots they will dry quickly--particularly in breezy weather!
If you have recently re seeded some lawn area be sure to keep that area moist as well! Water, water, water!
September 9--Gardening friend Margaret of A Way to Garden has posted just an excellent article about how to "grow, harvest and enjoy a year of garlic". We do have the soft neck garlic available here at Skillin's--she writes about both soft neck and hard neck garlic. Here is the beginning of the post: " MY HOMEGROWN CROP OF GARLIC GETS ME TO ALMOST FEBRUARY, and then it’s just not what it used to be. You know how it goes—you’ve bought late-winter cloves that start to sprout and just don’t feel as firm or weigh what they did before time took its toll. I don’t have a perfect storage spot; considering that I do quite well. But this year I’m laying in a supply in the freezer, too, following safe, sane methods—no, you cannot just pack it in oil and refrigerate! My tactics for growing, harvesting and enjoying a year of garlic. Both softneck and hardneck types are welcome here, by the way—dare I ask which camp you’re in?" [Read more...]
September 8--Hey we got a little rain in some parts of Skillin's Country last night and early this morning. About a .25" in the official Skillin's Country Rain Gauge. This is not a great deal of rain but I felt okay about not doing my daily watering of some annual beds that I have in the hot sun. That .25" should serve those plants well today! I still watered my Earth Boxes and will be watering a couple of shrubs deeply that I had planned on watering. That .25" of rain won't do the shrubs too much good.
September 7--It will soon be time to bring your houseplants back inside from the outside. NOW is a great time to treat these outdoor houseplants with Systemic Houseplant Granules by Bonide. These granules are easy to apply and provide plant protection for up to 8 weeks. Bonide changed their formula a few years back and we think this product is great at nipping all kinds of harmful little critters that can spread from plant to plant. The active ingredient in the granules works systemically within the plant and is very effective when a plant or leaf biting insect comes into touch with this product in the plant's system. At this point, the soomer you apply this product the more time it has to work to clean up any insects on your plant! Got houseplant questions? Come to our Thriving Houseplants class. See details on our classes HERE!
September 5--Paul Parent of the Paul Parent Garden Club (listen to his Garden Radio Show every Sunday morning) had several great tips this morning. One great tip has to do with garden cleanup. Over the course of the next month or two as we pull any annuals or trim any perennials from our garden, a complete cleanup of leaves and branches that we cut or that are lying on the ground is important. Dead leaves and stems serve as a great "harbor" or host for insects, mildews and other diseases. Clean up the mess and put this plant matter into your composter or compost heap.
September 4--Earl has come and gone from the edges of Skillin's Country and left us very little wind damage (a great thing) and a good dosage of rain (also a great thing!). The Official Skillin's Country Rain Gauge measured about 1.25" of rain that fell from about 10 PM last night to about 6 AM this morning. This will really help our dry, dry plants. I have rolled up the hoses today (except for an early morning watering of my Earth Boxes--water those Earth Boxes!). I may do a little deep watering of some mature shrubs and perennials that were showing the effects of being quite dry before Earl. 1.25" of rain is good for them BUT no rain is forecast over the next few days and they will be stressed again soon I do believe.
Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
September 2010
Check back to this post often as we will update it often until we roll through September 2010!
Here are our August Garden Talks 2010.
September 29--According to the official Rain Gauge of Skillin's Country, we received almost an inch of rain in the past couple of days. It was an excellent rain because of it's On Again, Off Again nature. This allows for some good soaking, a reprieve from runoff and then more good soaking. We are thankful for this deep rain and this should take care of most watering needs for the next few days!
September 28--Good friend Hammon Buck of Plants Unlimited in Rockport ME just sent out some great gardening tips. One tip that caught my eye was Hammon's write up about Planting Garlic in the Fall. We sell the California Soft Neck variety here at Skillin's. Here is Hammon:
"There are hundreds of named varieties of garlic, but all of them can be categorized into two major types: soft-necked and hard-necked.
The stalk that grows up from a garlic bulb is called a “neck.”
The stalk of soft-necked garlic is pliable and soft at maturity. The stalk of hard-necked garlic is stiff at maturity.
Soft-necked garlic is strong flavored and stores well because it has several protective outer layers of papery skin.
The two most common varieties are California Early and California Late. About eighty percent of all grocery store garlic is now grown in China. These garlics have many cloves, up to 20 per bulb. The outside cloves are medium in size while the inside cloves are a pain to peel and are many times just discarded!
Softneck garlic has the classic garlic taste; ranging from mild to hot and spicy; depending upon the growing conditions. (In Eastern Europe and Asia Hardneck garlics are the standard; with the same range in taste and heat.) Some Softnecks can be eaten raw in salsa and salads; others are too strong and need to be cooked.
Hard-necked garlic is mild tasting and best used soon after harvest since it has only a few layers of papery skin and thus keeps poorly."
September 27--Gardening friend Margaret of Away to Garden writes: "DON’T PANIC IF EVERGREENS start to show some browning or yellowing of needles this month and next. The oldest, innermost needles typically shed after a few years on the tree." I am noticing that pines especially are showing some yellowing on the inside of the trees. This is not a huge concern for older trees; however, 2010 planted pines should receive good deep waterings once weekly between now and when the ground freezes. These waterings will make the pines healthier for next year and beyond. Also a light feeding of Hollytone by Espoma is not a bad idea for your evergreen trees if they have not been fed for awhile.
September 26--Two years ago it was very apparent that my once mostly sunny backyard with several small gardens had become quite shady due to many of the surrounding trees getting so tall and other trees and growth :creeping in". It was time to cut some trees and clean out some growth to let some sun in! We did that and this increased light really helped my gardening efforts in 2009 and 2010. More light is needed and so yesterday my dad, wife and I spent much time cutting and cleaning out some more shade trees and growth. IF your garden has become too shady, we can give you the names of some very reasonable professionals who can cut wayward trees, limb others out--all to let the light in!!
September 24--Fall to an avid gardener with grass and dirt stained knees and dirty hands can be difficult to adjust to. However, fall is a great time of year to actually improve your garden. One of the first steps you should take is to apply lime to your lawn and gardens. Generally at the end of the growing season the production effort leaves a garden with a pH of 5.5 to 6.0, so we advise adding lime at a rate of about 5 pound per 100 square feet to eventually raise the pH to about 6.5 to 7.0. This higher pH level will allow your plants to receive a wider range of nutrients. Generally, we should only lime our areas one time per year. Also your garden may well not need lime every year. If you have limed for 2 to 3 consecutive years pick up a simple pH tester at Skillin's. Check out that pH. If your soil registers at about 6.5 to 7.0, do not apply lime that year. The lime I recommend is Mira Cal by Jonathan Green—it is a calcium based lime that is better than most limes for at least two reasons: 1) Calcium is an excellent organic additive to your soil. It benefits your plants tremendously by helping to “keep free” the flow of beneficial nutrients to your plants roots. 2) Magnesium based lime can actually aid weeds as magnesium adds a natural soil compactor. Many of the plants we prefer don’t like growing in compact soils but unfavorable weeds like plantain, dandelions, crabgrass and ajuga don’t mind compact soils a bit!
September 17--Skillin's Country received a nice inch of rain last night. This will really help our lawns, annuals and perennials. Remember though any 2010 planted shrubs and trees could probably use a good deep watering sometime this weekend or next week. Don't let the cooling weather fool you on that! Also while any flowering containers you may have got a nice soaking last night, any containers are so full of roots they will dry quickly--particularly in breezy weather!
If you have recently re seeded some lawn area be sure to keep that area moist as well! Water, water, water!
September 9--Gardening friend Margaret of A Way to Garden has posted just an excellent article about how to "grow, harvest and enjoy a year of garlic". We do have the soft neck garlic available here at Skillin's--she writes about both soft neck and hard neck garlic. Here is the beginning of the post: " MY HOMEGROWN CROP OF GARLIC GETS ME TO ALMOST FEBRUARY, and then it’s just not what it used to be. You know how it goes—you’ve bought late-winter cloves that start to sprout and just don’t feel as firm or weigh what they did before time took its toll. I don’t have a perfect storage spot; considering that I do quite well. But this year I’m laying in a supply in the freezer, too, following safe, sane methods—no, you cannot just pack it in oil and refrigerate! My tactics for growing, harvesting and enjoying a year of garlic. Both softneck and hardneck types are welcome here, by the way—dare I ask which camp you’re in?" [Read more...]
September 8--Hey we got a little rain in some parts of Skillin's Country last night and early this morning. About a .25" in the official Skillin's Country Rain Gauge. This is not a great deal of rain but I felt okay about not doing my daily watering of some annual beds that I have in the hot sun. That .25" should serve those plants well today! I still watered my Earth Boxes and will be watering a couple of shrubs deeply that I had planned on watering. That .25" of rain won't do the shrubs too much good.
September 7--It will soon be time to bring your houseplants back inside from the outside. NOW is a great time to treat these outdoor houseplants with Systemic Houseplant Granules by Bonide. These granules are easy to apply and provide plant protection for up to 8 weeks. Bonide changed their formula a few years back and we think this product is great at nipping all kinds of harmful little critters that can spread from plant to plant. The active ingredient in the granules works systemically within the plant and is very effective when a plant or leaf biting insect comes into touch with this product in the plant's system. At this point, the soomer you apply this product the more time it has to work to clean up any insects on your plant! Got houseplant questions? Come to our Thriving Houseplants class. See details on our classes HERE!
September 5--Paul Parent of the Paul Parent Garden Club (listen to his Garden Radio Show every Sunday morning) had several great tips this morning. One great tip has to do with garden cleanup. Over the course of the next month or two as we pull any annuals or trim any perennials from our garden, a complete cleanup of leaves and branches that we cut or that are lying on the ground is important. Dead leaves and stems serve as a great "harbor" or host for insects, mildews and other diseases. Clean up the mess and put this plant matter into your composter or compost heap.
September 4--Earl has come and gone from the edges of Skillin's Country and left us very little wind damage (a great thing) and a good dosage of rain (also a great thing!). The Official Skillin's Country Rain Gauge measured about 1.25" of rain that fell from about 10 PM last night to about 6 AM this morning. This will really help our dry, dry plants. I have rolled up the hoses today (except for an early morning watering of my Earth Boxes--water those Earth Boxes!). I may do a little deep watering of some mature shrubs and perennials that were showing the effects of being quite dry before Earl. 1.25" of rain is good for them BUT no rain is forecast over the next few days and they will be stressed again soon I do believe.
Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
September 2010
Friday, September 21, 2007
Skillin's Garden Online Q & A September 21, 2007
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
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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