Skillin's! Daily "Dirt" May 2012

Where we bring you some quick and topical gardening tips for Skillin's Country....

Thursday, May 31, Succession Planting for Your Vegetables

More and more of us are growing our own vegetables in Skillin's Country. And as we experiment and trade information many of us are getting better at it and consequently more excited about trying to extend the vegetable garden season. Well, vegetable gardening just is not a Memorial Day to Labor Day activity any more. Or at least it does not have to be anyway! More and more info is out there that shows many vegetables that we all like can be staggered or "successively planted" by several weeks to really extend the growing season. A few years ago the folks at Johnnys Selected Seeds (our fellow Maine gardening friends) published a Succession Planting Guide that I think could be very helpful to those of you who want to extend their gardening season.

Tuesday, May 29 Plant Chives, A Mike's Must Have Plant

Chives are in bloom right now. Their cute purple blossoms on top of green chive stems show up well in many garden situations. The blossoms last quite a while and I find their color to be pretty pleasant. There are at least 3 other reasons to plant chives in your garden. First, they serve as a wonderful natural deer deterrent. Great gardener (and author) KCB of Finishing Touches tries to utilize the plant in as many landscape plantings as she can for just this purpose. Deer do not like the scent of chives (I never smell the plant. It is not a factor to us). Second, you can harvest chives almost anytime to use as a food crop. Third, they are very hardy. They are almost a sure bet to come back. I find they spread a little but I would hardly call them invasive.

This plant is a Mike's Must Have!

Saturday,  May 26 Container Gardening 101

Gardening friend Margaret of A Way to Garden recently sent out a great post called Container Gardening 101 that has "tons" of interesting pointers about growing outdoor plants in Containers. I highly recommend you taking a few minutes to read this post if you do outdoor container gardening or if you are interested in that pursuit! Margaret talks about a Fafard soil which I am sure is outstanding. We recommend the Bar Harbor Soil Blend by Coast of Maine as a superior mix!

Thursday, May 24 Companion Vegetable Planting

More and more people are vegetable gardening in Skillin's Country and that is a good thing. Daily I speak to new vegetable gardeners who are growing in small and sometimes untraditional spaces. I think is great! As a customer told me today, "I grow vegetables for the food, sure but maybe even more because I am growing something that makes something. That interests me!" Gardening in tight spaces often requires growing plants close together--or "companion vegetable gardening". Click HERE at "The Vegetable Garden" for an easy to follow chart about what vegetable plants co exist well and what plants do not.

Tuesday, May 22: Amsonia, A Mike's Must Have Perennial

We sell a few types of the Blue Star or Amsonia perennial. The plant pictured below is a Texas Blue Star and this picture is from my garden. I planted this old friend over a decade ago and he has come up nice and strong year after year.

The Amsonia is very hardy. I love the blue flowers that last for several weeks. The plant then holds its rich green foliage through the summer and serves as an excellent back drop for summer flowering perennials that are lie in front of this plant. When these plants die back the Blue Star becomes prominent again in the fall with a shimmering green/gold foliage that shows for weeks and weeks in the fall.

This plant is a Mike's Must Have!

Friday, May 18: Poppies and Plant Placement

This Daily Dirt topic is probably worthy of an entire post of many paragraphs but fear not I will keep what I have to say within a medium sized mention! Pictured below is a lovely Oriental Poppy plant that is just breathtaking right now in my yard. The many blossoms will bear jawdropping color (that you can notice from yards away) for many days with our calm weather forecast. But take a look at that picture. All is hardly well in poppy world. In fact much is wrong.  I planted this beauty in a terrible spot. Sun? Oh yes. BUT this is an example of plunking a plant in a poor spot and not asking how it will grow in a few years. I have it in a narrow bed that contains a few other plants. Wrong move in this case! Poppies are "field" plants; they spread by seed they cast and they will crowd out other plants. This plant is crowding out echinacea, clematis and even an older contoneaster. This lovely classic plant works in wide open situations as one of the best options. In "tight" situations it becomes an annoying bully. Ask us about where best to locate plants you fall in love with! We can counsel you so that you and your plant can have a long term loving relationship! Now this summer that poppy will get moved....

Thursday, May 17: Spirea--Very Worthy Plant for Your Landscape

I just came across an excellent article by Karen Chapman who publishes a great newsletter called "Le Jardinet--small garden. Big Impact." The name of her post is "Spirea--the Poor Man's Shrub No More." Karen points out a number of great points about the spirea--it is very hardy, it's growth can be managed well, the spirea of the 2010's comes in a variety of colors and textures (the 70's and 80's Bridal Wreath only is no longer!), beloved by butterflies and hummingbirds and they are deer resistant! Check HERE for our nursery catalog for Spirea choices at Skillin's.

Tuesday, May 15: Companion Planting for Corn

Most people's vegetable gardens will be taking shape over the next few weeks. Many of us do not have a lot of space to work with. In fact, I use containers for most of my vegetable gardening. But we will get to that later! For those gardeners with some space corn is often a popular choice to plant. It is such a traditional plant. I mean who does not like corn--it goes back to the Pilgrims! Corn takes up space; here are some very popular vegetables that can be planted closely with the corn as a companion: Potatoes (although I am a little hesitant with this one!), peas, beans, cukes, melons, pumpkins and squash. Do not plant tomatoes with corn. They are tall, just like corn and will compete!

Sunday, May 13: Stop and Smell  the Lilacs!

I was out getting some very early morning exercise before heading to work. And I ambled by a great hedge of lilacs in bloom. What a wonderful scent of lilacs I had in those early morning moments. So, today, tomorrow or sometime this week whether in your yard, or a friend's space or a park, or on a dare--take time to stop and smell the lilacs. Their fragrance is second to none--so pleasing, such depth. Take the time!

Thursday, May 10: NOW to Prune Forsythia!

Back on May 4 I mentioned Forsythia as a great shrub choice. (See below). Well, in Skillin's Country the bright yellow flowers are fading but being replaced by the green leaves we will have for many months. When to prune a forsythia? NOW is a great time to prune your forsythia aggressively. The goal should be to reshape your forsythia so that the shrub stays "full" and even more compact if you want. The plant will grow back well so prune about 12" below where you would like the bush to be next Spring. NOW is a great time so you can get a better handle on shaping the bush. And if you prune too late in the year it will be too late for growth to "grow back" and that would mean less flowers next Spring. Nobody wants that!

Wednesday, May 9: Planting Leeks

I was speaking to a vegetable gardening customer the other day and he mentioned how much he and his family love leeks--cooked in all kinds of ways too. And he emphasized how easy leeks are to grow. I needed to research this--I will be honest I have not grown leeks. I can tell you they are quietly one of our better sellers. Leeks have a mild onion type flavor but they are not grown as bulbs. You harvest their stems. The longer the white portion of the leek stem, the greater yield you have! The best way to grow those long stems is to transplant seedlings (yes we have seedlings at Skillin's) into a 12" trench so that their initial growth occurs under ground. Fill the first 6" in with a compost (and a generous portion of all natural Garden Tone fertilizer by Espoma). Plant the leek transplants in the compost mix about 6" apart. As they grow, pull extra soil from the sides to fill in the trench, keeping the tip of the growing stem always above the soil level. Always include a little Garden Tone in with the soil that you pull back in. Leeks are very productive: you are sure to get great yields!

Leeks Growing in Trenches

Tuesday, May 8: Rain is Here to Stay for a Day (or 2 or 3)

Well, the weekend and Monday WAS gorgeous in Skillin's Country. Today, Tuesday has been a "soaker". This plentiful rain will save us from having to be concerned with watering any new plantings for a few days especially when Wednesday and Thursday rains are factored in. I don't like this weather but many gardeners I spoke to today were glad to see the rain for their gardens. I can see their point (to a point!). This soaking rain takes the sun away and costs Skillin's some business in the short run but in the long run, more patient people than I know that healthy rains like this benefit us, our gardens and the water supply hugely. Still, I won't be disappointed if "Mr. Sun" intrudes on this grubby gray and cold weather in the next day or two!

 Monday, May 7: Rhododendrons are Hungry!

Looking around at my yard and my 5 or 6 rhododendrons reminds me that they are hungry. I have fed my perennials and much of my foundation plantings. With my work schedule my rhododendrons have had to wait and that is not fair to those guys. I am a big believer in feeding them twice per year with Hollytone by Espoma. Hollytone gives them a great balance of natural nutrients. My rhodys are covered with buds (and that is a good sign) but their color is not a real rich green. Early one of these upcoming mornings, I need to give my rhodys that spring feeding of several cupfuls around the base of the plant. That will help their color in the short term and give them more health to fight off pests and diseases in the future. Oh and one more thing: Most rhodys are covered with flower buds right now. DO NOT PRUNE THEM for shape right now! Wait until just after they flower!

Friday, May 4: Bang for the Buck: Forsythia!

Here in Skillin's Country, the bright yellows of the forsythia are finally on the wane after many weeks. Every April and early May I am annually astounded at how long the colors last on forsythia. The yellow is so warm, so radiant, such a bright beacon for the beginning of the season. Forsythia are easily planted, they are very hardy and reliable and they provide warm, green foliage for the balance of the growing season. The grow quickly and if you give them a haircut pruning right after they flower, then they will stay nice and full and be a great screen or border plant for privacy as well.  This plant definitely gives us great "Bang for the Buck" with its long blossom period and reliability.

Forsythia--The Color Can't Be Beat! Many Other Great Attributes as Well!

Thursday, May 3: Pansies and Violas are GREAT for This Time of Year!

Pansies and Violas make excellent colorful plantings for right now. I plant a nice bed of pansies in front of my rock wall at the front of my house. They provide nice color for the months of April, May and June. By late June or early July a nice canopy of shade trees changes this to a much more shaded area which makes it a great spot to plant impatiens that show awesome color for the balance of the season. For just a few dollars I give this high profile area a couple of different looks for the season!

Pansies I Planted in Front of Rock Wall. (I didn't judge the light exposure well BUT these pansies show up very well from the nearby road. Impatiens will be planted here within 2 months--also bright and cheery)

Your choice of a "later annual" does not have to be impatiens. There are so many choices. Pansies can be kept going through the season but it is tough for them to look good during the heat of summer.

Wednesday, May 2: The Finches and other Birds are Feeding!!

I have several Squirrel Buster feeders set up around my yard. These feeders are terrific. But I am noticing that much more food is being eaten. I am not home too much these days but when I am I do notice that my feeders are constantly covered in the bright yellow of the gold finch. This is great! The Finches and other birds are feeding steadily! So keep those feeders full and your birds will stay loyal. Like us, they have habits too! And, yes, I do feed in the summer. I love to watch my birds whenever I can! We have some great quality foods here at Skillin's that will soon win over many a feathered friend! I use mostly sunflower and add some nyjer (thistle) every time I fill the feeder.

The Gold Finches are Feeding--Keep Them at Your Feeder with Quality Food

Tuesday, May 1: Keep Those Lawns Tall!!

Traveling around Skillin's Country I am noticing that mowing season has begun. And what nice neat short cut lawns I am seeing! This is not the best care for one's lawn! One of the keys to keeping your lawn naturally green AND to naturally fight weeds (most weeds are sun lovers) is to keep your lawn tall. This keeps your lawn roots cooler (lawn roots like that!) and "canopies" or covers prospective lawn weeds and keeps them from prospering. As a general rule of thumb, lawns should be cut to no lower than 2.75" or 3" tall. Now I don't bring my tape measure out to the lawn. (I would lose the tape measure and Mrs. Skillin would not approve!). So in Spring and fall I keep my mower set at the second highest stage and in the warmer summers I put the mower at the highest it can mow. Visually the tall cut takes a little getting used to--but the sight of a greener, more consistent and fuller lawn soon will win you over!

Click HERE for Skillin's Lawn Program for a good year round guide on how YOU can grow a good lawn!

Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
May 2012

April (Late April) Garden Talks

Hello again,

Well what a difference a year makes! In my Late April 2011 post I was no longer writing about melting snow (I did that for weeks in Spring 2011) BUT I was talking about cool temperatures and very frequent rains.

Okay....As I write this post and edit the garden comments Skillin's Country has just received a major outpouring of rain. To my chagrin, I just found the Official Skillin's Country Rain Gauge had cracked and therefore had no reading. SO, I will have to rely on the official metorological report.

Let me say without hesitation the days of April 22 and 23, 2012 brought HEAVY amounts of rain to a very dry Skillin's Country. I am sure we had MUCH runoff but I am just as sure our ground is now soaked. That is great--our lawns and plants of all sized will use this rain well. Perennials and shrubs will explode in growth! Trees will leaf out! And our lawns (especially those cared for by the Skillin's Lawn Program) will turn a rich, rich green!

*Our gardens are growing and taking shape. You may be looking at your established layout and decide you want to change some of your design. Now is an excellent time to transplant perennials and many shrubs. Most plant growth is minimal as the roots are just getting started so that means less transplanting shock for the new transplants.

The ground is wet and that will help to hold the soil around the roots better, preventing the small feeder roots from being damaged during the move. When you replant into the new garden, be sure to set plants at the same depth that they were in the garden originally. Be sure to condition the soil before planting with good organic matter like compost or manure. We have the best choices right here at Skillin's!

*Now is the time to apply Corn Gluten to your lawn for weed control. Corn gluten naturally smothers seeds (including weed seed) from germinating. This is very helpful in controlling crabgrass and dandelions as well as other pesky lawn weeds. Corn gluten can be applied to open perennial gardens now for the same reasons. Corn gluten also makes a good organic fertilizer and we sell it here under the label Lawn Booster Plus! For a good overall and EASY to achieve Lawn Program click Skillin's Lawn Program--designed for you!

*Now is a great time to prune deciduous hedge plants like privet and burning bush. These plants do not flower and you will not risk any flowering. Do NOT prune rhododendrons, lilacs and forsythia now. These plants are soon to flower. Flowering shrubs like that are best pruned RIGHT AFTER they flower.

*Now is a great time to fertilize all perennials, shrubs and trees with their Spring feeding. We love Pro Gro by North Country Organics or Plant Tone by Espoma for all plants that drop their leaves during the winter. (also known as deciduous plants!). We love Holly Tone by Espoma for all evergreen plants that love acidity in their soil. Not to be confusing but blueberries and Blue Hydrangeas are also fans of Holly Tone! These plants are starving for a good organic meal after a long winter and it is time to feed them!

*Windy rain storms blow wet rain into our bird feeders. Don't forget to clean the wet food out of your feeders as our feathered friends "turn up their beaks" at the wet food. They like it dry! Also we should be seeing Orioles soon so now is a great time to hang out some orange slices to try and attract them to your yard. We also sell orange Oriole feeders here at Skillin's!

*Now is a great time to sow pea, carrot, beet, radish, spinach and swiss chard seeds right into your garden. We also have for sale various and exciting lettuce, micro greens and cole crops that grow well even in this cool weather. Soon you will be harvesting! Frankly our leaf lettuce can be eaten starting now. Plant in a soil enriched by compost or manure but also throw in a handful of Garden Tone by Espoma.

You CAN now start tomatoes indoors!

*Now is a great time to start an herb garden in a container. We have all kinds of great Skillin Grown herb choices for your palette. There are no better spices than fresh herbs and the plants are fun to grow! Herb plants come in many different growth habits and textures. Click HERE for a link to a past post in the Skillin's Garden Log about gardening with herbs.

*With this warm Spring, I would plant a few gladiola bulbs in the ground. If you have the space and inclination continue to plant a few more every week until early July. This will give your garden and your cut flower vases a constant source of gorgeous glads from mid summer through a good part of the fall!

*Again with the warm Spring consider planting corn. The growing of corn of course goes back to the Pilgrims. It grows well in Skillin's Country and while all freshly picked vegetables taste awesome; freshly picked corn might stand out the most from store bought corn . Years ago, Jim Crockett in Crockett's Victory Garden wrote about growing corn and I think he was right on:

"Corn is a very heavy feeder...(we recommend preparing the corn planting bed with a layer of compost mixed with a quality organic garden fertilizer like Garden Tone by Espoma. The large corn plants will really draw on the mix of compost, garden soil and Garden Tone)....The trick to corn pollination is in the planting of the rows. Corn is pollinated by the wind; the pollen falls from the male tassels onto the female silk. If the corn is planted in just single rows of each variety, the wind is apt to carry the pollen away and the results will be corn cobs not completely filled out. So I always plant at least 4 rows of each variety." Mr. Crockett goes on to suggest several varieties of corn ranging from early season varieties to late season varieties. Also plant 2 seeds or kernels about 1" apart then another cluster of two another 12" away. Push the kernels about 1" into the ground.

I suggest side dressing the young corn plants after about 2 to 3 weeks with Garden Tone and then side dressing them again about 2 to 3 weeks after that. Again those big corn plants are heavy feeders!

*Now corn is a big tall plant and 12 inches between plants can be a lot of available space in your garden! What plants make good companion plants for corn? Edward C. Smith in the acclaimed Vegetable Gardener's Bible lists beets, bush beans, cabbage, cantaloupe, cucumber, morning glory (curious about that one), parsley, pumpkin and squash. These plants stay low. Do not grow tomatoes with corn! Tomatoes need space and also tend to grow quite high as well.

*Even if you just have a corner of space in your garden, try planting potatoes. We have seed potatoes and great varieties to choose from! Again prepare your hole about 5" down with some compost and Garden Tone. Potatoes like their food. Cut those seed potatoes into pieces with about 2 to 3 eyes. We have organic Garden Dust by Bonide. Pick some up (this is a good product to have in your inventory) and "shake and bake" your potatoes in the organic Dust. If you have the room give your potatoes about 12" of space. Plant them in a trench about 4 to 5 inches deep. Cover the potatoes that are lying on a mix of soil, compost and Garden Tone with about 3" of soil. As the plants grow--and they will grow!--pull soil in to keep the plants cool. The farmers call this "hilling" or "mounding". When you are hilling your potatoes, you too will be a farmer!
Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
April 24, 2012

April (Mid April) Garden Talks

Hello again,

Since my last Garden Talk post at the Garden Log, the weather has stayed mostly dry in Skillin's Country--which has afforded many gardeners great conditions to get out there and "do their thing". But the temperatures have moderated and we have had nice weather but relatively cool. That is okay as a relative sense of normal seems to be settling in amongst us. That is good I do believe!

Skillin Grown Pansies and Violas are Available and Can be Planted Now!

*Now is an excellent time to give your lawn a thorough raking. Most of my lawn has dried to the point where I can rake (my mostly shaded areas JUST lost their snow cover so I am going to wait a few days). I believe a thorough, intense raking is so valuable to a lawn. It is hard work so do small piece over a few days. But the debris and dead grass that you can pull out really helps to open up air pockets for valuable light and air circulation in your lawn. I will say it right now: if you rake well and consistently ORGANICALLY feed your lawn, you will not have thatch or even aeration issues. So that takes away the need for expensive rentals and time consuming lawn repair activities. (There! I said it and I feel much better!)

I will soon be overseeding some thin areas of my lawn with Heat and Drought grass seed by Bonide.
Heat and Drought contains 3 very hardy blends of Tall Fescue and has a rich green look. Tall Fescue roots grow very deep which means your lawn will look great with less water, show more insect and disease resistance, and endure the cold winter temperatures better.

I often overseed parts of my lawn that are getting a little thin. This is easily accomplished by scratching the soil, laying the seed down, scratching the seed in and covering the seed with compressed paper pellets such as Grass Seed Acclerator or Penn Mulch. These pellets expand and provide a nice thin cover to the seed. Water daily and you will have thick grass soon!

For a good year round lawn program click HERE for Skillin's Lawn Program!

*Go ahead and plant some pansies and violas--especially if they are Skillin Grown. We have gorgeous varieties, they have been "hardened off" and should be all set to withstand any wild Skillin Country weather. I have planted some pansies in what will be a shady area this summer once the trees leaf out. In a couple of months, I will probably replace the pansies with some impatiens to take me through the summer and well into the fall but in the meantime I am going to enjoy those pansies! Pansies also make great window box and container plants! And the flowers are edible!

Pansies are a Skillin trademark. My father Dave Skillin often tells of choosing pansies for people back in the days of World War II and just afterward. These pansies were all grown by Pa Skillin--his grandfather!

*Go ahead and plant peas, carrots, spinach, swiss chard and other cool weather crop seeds in the ground now! If you have a spot that is not sopping wet still and will get lots of sun those crops will love it now!

Click HERE for a post by Paul Parent about Direct Seeding Vegetables in the Ground. Also click HERE for another Paul Parent piece about Home Grown Lettuce!

Good gardening friend Paul Tukey brings us the following two pieces of gardening advice:

"Dig and transplant many perennials before new growth advances too far. These re-bloomers need to be divided and transplanted every few years to help keep the plantsvital. It is, however, best to wait to divide early flowering varieties such as bleeding heart, oriental poppy, columbine, heuchera, iris or pyrethrum until after bloom." So much material is "popping" through the ground; it is or will soon be a great time to identify transplanting candidates. Perennials can be divided and transplanted when growth is 3 to 4 inches high. If growth has gotten any larger, plants may benefit from cutting back by one-third to one-half.

"Fertilize your trees, shrubs and perennials. As these plants emerge from the dormant state, their need for nutrients is great. Transplant all deciduous trees except magnolias now before the new leaf buds expand." Any new transplants should be watered frequently throughout this gardening season. As far as the fertilizing goes, we offer many great choices here at Skillin's BUT here are two great suggestions: for your evergreens, now is a great time to apply Holly-Tone by Espoma (an old favorite here with a new and improved organic formulation). For deciduous material (that is plant material that sprouts out new leaves each year) we often recommend Holly-Tone's first cousin: Plant Tone, another old favorite with a new and improved organic formulation! Check out the exciting Espoma "family" of products at http://www.espoma.com/ and of course Skillin's Greenhouses!

A great technique to use for feeding established trees and shrubs is to punch holes a few inches deep in the ground around the drip line of your trees and shrubs. (These holes can be 2 to 3 feet apart). Fill each hole with Plant Tone or Holly Tone. This method gets the natural fertilizer a little closer to the roots. Apply the fertilizer at the drip line because that is where the roots of the plant are pulling most of the moisture and nutrients!

Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
April 10, 2012

Lawn Care Program from Skillin's!

Hello again,

Following are some steps any of us can take to help ensure a good quality lawn as part of your home and garden.

We believe in natural solutions to lawn care as we do for all gardening. Natural solutions are best for our planet, our homes and our gardens.

Lawn care is relatively easy to do and does not cost a great deal of time and money. Let us go over some steps through the year that YOU CAN DO!

*Late March, early April--give your lawn a good vigorous raking. As soon as the snow has retreated and your lawn is dry, rake the old debris, sand, twigs and other foreign matter off. This will help remove thatch and debris that might restrain grass growth as well as aerate the lawn. Air and light will also trigger lush growth. All of this helps to get your lawn greening and growing.

*Concerned about crabgrass? Had dandelion issues in the past? Apply corn gluten based natural fertilizers to your lawn when the forsythia is ablaze in yellow. This often occurs in mid April. Corn gluten will work for a few weeks to smother weed seed that has wintered over between your blades of grass. Crabgrass and early dandelion seeds are some of the more well known weeds that germinate from seed. Not concerned about such weeds? Go to the next step!

*Apply zero phosphorus Espoma Lawn Food (18-0-3) or Organic Espoma Lawn Food (7-2-2) to your lawn using a broadcast spreader. This can be done in April if you do not apply corn gluten products as described above. If you do apply corn gluten then plan on applying the Espoma product in May. We recommend twice yearly applications of this product. This Lawn Food has many natural ingredients that if it is consistently applied twice per year the soil in your lawn will show good steady improvement each year. Better quality soil means the roots of your lawn will grow deeper and stronger. Roots that are "deeper and stronger" will help your lawn to much better survive our cold winters and dry summers. Stronger healthier lawns will also help crowd out weeds. In place of this product we often recommend Plant Booster Plus by Organica, Kelp Booster by Organica, Nature's Turf by North Country Organics or Pro Gro by North Country Organics.

*Mow properly. Recycling your grass clippings by leaving them on the lawn will provide a great deal of your lawn's nutrient needs for the season. Keep your mower blades sharp. In most cases, lawns should be mowed no lower than 2.5 inches and even higher in the summer. The last mowing or two of the season should be short as better air circulation in colder and wetter weather is a good thing.

*Summer weeds bugging you badly? Let us help you with some good common sense solutions to your situation. In most cases weeds can be controlled sensibly and this does not have to take much time or money.

*Time for that second application of  zero phosphorus Espoma Lawn Food (18-0-3) or Espoma Organic Lawn Food (7-2-2) to your lawn using a broadcast spreader around Labor Day. Some years the time really flies by and it has been Thanksgiving before I get that second application down. That is okay! To repeat: We recommend twice yearly applications of this product. This Lawn Food has many natural ingredients that if consistently applied twice per year the soil in your lawn will show good steady improvement each year. Better quality soil means the roots of your lawn will grow deeper and stronger. Roots that are "deeper and stronger" will help your lawn to much better survive our cold winters and dry summers. Stronger healthier lawns will also help crowd out weeds.

Many experts advocate applying Corn Gluten for a second time around Labor Day as this time of year brings much weed seed. If you are greatly concerned about crabgrass and dandelions then Labor Day indeed is a good time to apply Corn Gluten. We then recommend your second application of Espoma Lawn Food later in September.

*Lawns do best with a neutral pH. Most of our soils tend to be acidic. We do recommend you conduct a pH test of your lawn at least every other year. If lime is needed to "sweeten the soil" or raise the pH then we recommend a calcium based lime such as Fast Acting Lime by Encap. Let us help you with your soil test and the proper amount of lime. Again lime can be easily spread with a broadcast spreader.

*Grow the Right Grass! We offer the Bonide grass seed series as a good balanced offering for northeastern lawns. More and more of us have tried and really like Bonide's Heat and Drough Tall Fescue grass seed mix. 'Heat and Drought" contains 3 very hardy blends of Tall Fescue and has a rich green look. Tall Fescue roots grow very deep which means your lawn will look great with less water, show more insect and disease resistance, and endure the cold winter temperatures better.

I often over seed parts of my lawn that are getting a little thin. This is easily accomplished by scratching the soil, laying the seed down, scratching the seed in and covering the seed with compressed paper pellets such as Grass Seed Accelerator or Penn Mulch. These pellets expand and provide a nice thin cover to the seed. Water daily and you will have thick grass soon!

Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
April 6, 2010
(updated 4/04/2012)

July (late July) Garden Talks

Hello again,

Welcome to warm and increasingly dry Skillin's Country! Summer is here folks and we are getting some heat! Try to enjoy the heat and stay well hydrated. A little sun will warm your bones and that is a good thing. (Well since I wrote those sentences we have had record breaking heat in Skillin's Country but are now heading into a much more seasonable week. Enjoy!)

Following are several late July Gardening points. This post will be added to a few times over the next few days so keep checking back!

*Paul Parent checks in with some great late July gardening tips. I highly recommend you sign up for his weekly emails at http://www.paulparent.com/. The following tips can be found in their entirety and in much more detail right HERE. From Paul (I make some comments in italics):

**"WARNING! With the heat and humidity in the days to come, PLEASE keep a close eye on your garden for a "fungus among us," called powdery mildew. This is our worst fungus during the summer months, and it will move quickly on many plants in your yard and garden. Powdery mildew will begin as a white dust like covering on the leaves of your plants, especially if you water your garden with overhead sprinklers--and especially if you do it late in the day. As powdery mildew spreads on your plant, it will block the sunlight from your foliage and the leaves will turn brown and black quickly dying. As the foliage dies, the plant is prevented from making fruit and flowers on the plant and your garden will quickly come to an end for the year. "

We have some outstanding remedies for powdery mildew. All natural Seranade, Garden Sulfur and Organocide will all treat powdery mildew. Now is the time to get after powdery mildew to get best performance and a longer life out from your flowering plants!

**Your perennials are growing like crazy right now, and if you can deadhead the faded flowers from the plant, many of your perennials will bloom again in just a few weeks. Some will continue to bloom right through the summer months if you remove the faded flowers so the plant cannot make seeds. Pick off the faded flowers from your hosta so the energy is sent to the foliage, making the plant larger and more colorful. Pick off the stems and seed pods from your daylilies so the seeds in the pods do not produce wild seeds or you will lose your hybrids with their wonderful colors and your plants will all turn orange like the wild plants.

Black Eyed Susans! Don't Be Afraid to Show this Plant You are the Boss!

If you keep cutting your daisy flowers like black-eyed Susans and coreopsis, they will become bushier; if you do not, they will reseed all over your garden and take over. You can allow the seed heads to dry up and ripen on the plant and then crush the pods to release the seeds and spread them over open fields or along the side of the road for your own wildflower garden.

**Your lawn will need one inch of water per week to keep it green during these hot days. Water first thing in the morning before it gets hot out, and water less often but apply more water when you water. This will encourage the roots to chase the water down into the soil and not encourage them to grow up to the water and dry out faster. Raise the level of the lawn mower blade to the highest spot to keep the grass tall, because tall grass does not dry up as fast as short grass in your lawn--and mow your lawn less often if it gets hot and dry to keep it green and healthy.

Many folks choose not to water their lawn and that is fine too but Paul still gives good advice here. Also I totally agree about maintaining a high lawn level and mowing the lawn less. I skipped a mowing last week because my lawn has not grown much at all in the last couple of weeks!

**"Your vegetables are beginning to ripen quickly now, so pick in the garden often and when the vegetable is young and tender. Young vegetables like peas, beans, squash, cucumbers, and lettuce will taste much sweeter and any seeds in the vegetable will be smaller, making them easier for you to digest. Remove any overgrown vegetables as soon as you see them or your plants will stop producing because they are making seeds on the plant; great for the compost pile."

**"Feed your containers and hanging baskets at least every 2 weeks, because the roots are stuck in the container and they have no way to leave the container to search for food needed to grow and stay healthy. A well-fed container at this time of the year will thrive and fill your life with wonderful color and vegetables. Also water often when the days get hot and dry because the plants are growing faster now than any other time of the year."

Our container plants are growing mightily right now and they are really pulling nutrients from the soil. Want GREAT flowers for the rest of the summer and well into the fall? Feed your containers regularly  (I feed weekly with Fish and Seaweed Food from Neptune's Harvest) and you will not be sorry!

**"Keep weeding your gardens as the weeds continue to develop, because during this time of the year, many weeds are making seeds for next year's garden. Weed a little bit now or twice as much next year, it's up to you. If weeds and watering are problems, apply bark mulch or compost on these gardens after you clean them to prevent new weed problems and help hold moisture in the ground. "

I could not agree more. I spent quite a bit of time on a broiling day weeding but I drank a lot of water, worked on my tan and had a much better looking garden afterward! I love to apply Fundy Blend bark/compost to clean beds this time of year to keep more weeds down and to provide enriching material to the soil.

(Paul Parent tips added 7/25/2011)

*Skillin's Moisture Meter:   (7/24/2011)

New outdoor plantings (of vegetables, annuals, perennials, and certainly shrubs and trees) require 1 inch of water per week optimally spread out over at least two deep waterings per week. A "deep watering" is defined as a slow soaking of your plant's roots.

(More detail about "deep waterings": A soaking rain which brings a half inch of rain or more qualifies as a deep watering. In lieu of rain a deep watering can be accomplished by letting water run slowly out of a watering can or the end of your hose into each plant's root system or by having a soaker hose at work for several hours twice a week. In "non soaker hose situations", pause on your watering if the water starts to run off; let the water soak in and then begin to water again. Repeat this process several times and move onto the next plant. For larger trees and shrubs (and if you do not have a soaker hose) merely set a hose against the tree or shrub for 1 to 2 hours and let the water almost trickle into the ground and down into the plant's root system. Again if there is runoff, pause and let the water soak in. )

This Week's Moisture Meter Readings:

Quality rain (0).

Deep waterings required by you: (2).

Okay dry conditions in Skillin's Country continue to get dryer and dryer. Folks it is severely dry out there and even established plantings are thirsting for water. New plantings as described above need good slow deep waterings. I know this is a busy time of year but do what you can! Yesterday I also gave my Endless Blue Hydrangea a good soaking. The Endless Blue has been in the ground a few years BUT it has those big floppy leaves and moppy flowers so the plant is working hard in the heat. But the main focus of my watering efforts are new plantings--annuals, vegetables, a few perennials and a couple of shrubs.

Let us know if you have any watering questions!

*Most of the time our cucumbers grow like crazy and yield very well once the plants are established and the weather is warm. But every once in a while problems develop. Here is a link by good gardener Margaret of Away to Garden that talks about a few cucumber issues that could affect any of us. (7/24/2011)

*KCB is back with a Gardening Quick Point. "When emptying all those bags of Penobscot, Quoddy or other Coast of Maine compost blends,  I fill the empty bag w/water and use that to water in....I equate this to licking the cake batter bowl. So much good stuff is left behind in that bag but almost impossible to get out. Fill w/water and use the water almost like a 'compost tea'. This way every delectable morsel of the Coast of Maine product is used. Waste not want not!" (added 7/20/2011)

*Also from KCB about deadheading roses:

Deadheading roses. This time of year I do a lot of this. Most of my roses will bloom through Thanksgiving. Beyond that I don't know because I'm not there.

Here goes:

For many years, I used to let roses do their thing. I'd let the blossoms fall to the ground in delicate folds, allow the hips to dominate the shrub and eventually become the focal point of the plant, most notably in old fashioned Rugosa roses. Most often Rose hips are attractive in their own right, the bright orange of the Rugosa, the burgundy reds of many others.

The hips are a perfect accent to the fall landscape yet most of our roses begin their blooming in June. It’s a long way from June to October and I know from experience Roses want to be a part of the rest of the summer. To be more technical: Rose bushes are fruit trees in disguise and they will attempt to "set fruit." When you remove the spent blossoms, you interrupt the fruiting cycle and stimulate the plant to fruit again, producing another bloom cycle. If you don't cut the blossoms, they become the "hip" or seed pod and the bush stops blooming.

 You want to deadhead weekly if not more often. The rule-of-thumb is to cut back the stem to just above an outward-facing bud above a five- or seven-leaflet leaf close to the end of the stem.

About Labor Day, do not cut the blossoms to allow the plant to begin to harden for winter.

The rule-of-thumb assumes the plant is healthy and strong. If not, cut back less.

If you own a type of shrub rose, like Rugosa, where hips are part of the display, just clear away the spent petals. (this gardening point added 7/20/2011)


Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
July 20, 2011

August Garden Talks 2010

The purpose of this post is to relay a few "quick hit" garden tips to you through the month of August. Some of these tips will be garden tasks I am doing myself (although I wish there were more of those. I am here at Skillin's so much, my own yard and garden falls quite behind!), 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 August 2010!

August 29--Good gardening friend Paul Parent of the Paul Parent Garden Club answers many calls on his radio show on Sunday mornings. One caller yesterday inquired about whether or not it is time to pick winter squash (acorn, butternut, buttercup, etc.). It is too early, the winter squash is not fully ripened. Paul's tip is that the stem connecting the fruit to the plant vine should be brown, not green, when the winter squash is ready to be picked. This "browning" will often happen after a pretty good frost and of course frost season has not come close yet. So wait for the stem connecting the fruit to the plant vine to turn brown. This could be a few weeks yet and in the meantime your winter squash will only get bigger and better tasting as the plant continues to send nutrients to the fruit.

Paul also made the further point that any winter squash blossoms that have not borne any fruit will not bear fruit at this point of the season. So to divert more plant energy to the quality of the fruit that IS on the vine it is a great idea to pick off those flowers at this point.
August 26--What a drenching we got yesterday! Our friends to the south in Wells (the tropical part of Maine received over 4"). Officially the Portland Jetport received about 2.6". The Skillin Country Rain Gauge recorded "only" 1.5" which I do believe in that spot BUT it is clear parts of Skillin's Country received a great deal more than 1.5". This is very good news for our soil and plants! This should help us to keep our hoses rolled up and irrigation systems off for at least a couple of days. I will be back in touch soon about that!

I did water my Earth Boxes early today. If your Earth Boxes have the soil covered (per Earth Box directions) then all that rain did not reach the Earth Box soil. Water those Earth Boxes today!
August 25--Good gardening friend Paul Parent, long-time host of the Paul Parent Garden Club (http://www.paulparent.com/), spoke about ornamental grasses on his Sunday morning radio show this past week. The subject was care and pruning of ornamental grasses this time of year. Paul made the point that while a few grasses can get trimmed (always try to keep a good shape and always prune out any dead or dying growth) most grasses should not get cut back until late winter. Most grasses provide some nice winter interest such as contrast against white snow and the soothing sound and sight of grass swaying in winter breezes.

It is mid day August 25 and we are in the midst of what appears to be a welcome, welcome soaking rain from the heavens of Skillin's Country! (I will give you official Skillin Rain Gauge Results when the storm subsides).

All this rain will soften the ground and make for easier weed pulling! As I just read, a weed pulled now may well save hundred weeds to be pulled later. SO, take the time and pull weeds from around shrubs, between perennials and annuals, and, of course, vegetables!
August 24--Well Monday's "Big Rain" did not materialize in Skillin's Country. The Skillin's Country Rain Gauge barely registered any rain. So...more rain is being forecast on Wednesday but folks it is dry out there. I have some annuals and vegetables that are pretty vulnerable so I gave them a good soaking this morning. For my remaining plants I will wait and see what tomorrow brings....

August 23--Great piece of gardening advice from our good friend Hammon Buck of Plants Unlimited in Rockport ME. Plants Unlimited can be found at http://www.plants-unlimited.com/:


"Once your peas and other early garden crops have stopped production, remove them from the garden. Getting these plants out of your way makes it easier for you to care for remaining vegetables and reduces the chance for diseases to get going on aging foliage. It also opens up space for planting cool crops. Plant another burst of lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, beets, peas, spinach, swiss chard or radishes now. Just becasue your first crop has fizzled out it does not mean your fresh salads with dinner are over for the season. You still have plenty of time to harvest these delicious vegetables and enjoy more fresh produce."
Here at Skillin's we have fresh broccoli and lettuce seedlings for you that will speed your harvest date up by many days!

August 22--Great piece of gardening advice from our good friend Hammon Buck of Plants Unlimited in Rockport ME. Plants Unlimited can be found at http://www.plants-unlimited.com/:


"Many people have been in asking us how to rejuvenate their perennial gardens. Because of the hot summer we have had some plants have gone by and others are looking a bit weak. Here are some ideas to help your garden look its best.


Fill in the blank spots - We often see these blank spots, because all the plants we bought in spring were spring or early summer bloomers. Now we can go and pick some plants that will give us bloom in late summer and early autumn." Here at Skillin's we have perennials on sale for a Buy 3 Get 30% Off sale and many customers are taking advantage of those opportunities!

"Cut them back - Some plants may need to be rejuvenated in late summer. If some of your perennials have turned brown or become tattered, cut them back and then give them some water to encourage new growth. Many perennials respond favorably to this kind of treatment and if one or two don’t, then at least you have removed an eyesore from the garden. Those plants that don’t regrow now, will do so next spring from the root system." It is always good to cut back dead and dying growth. Also our plants need good deep waterings to compensate for the lack of rain this summer.

"Deadhead - Remove spent flowers to keep the garden tidy. You may not want to deadhead everything, especially if you are trying to get plants to naturalize or if you are trying to attract birds. Know what your purpose is and then deadhead select plants." I deadheaded my phlox the other day and I am getting some re bloom there. Pull out all the brown stalks from your past day lily flowers. Birds love coneflower seed heads but I have been selectively dead heading those and getting some decent rebloom. There are still plenty of seed heads for the birds. Actively prune back browned Butterfly Bush flowers, your bush will respond with many more flowers!

"Weed - Sometimes our late season gardens look bad because the weeds have gained a foothold. Get out and get the weeds out and the garden will begin to look better immediately. Also your perennials will grow better without the competition of the weeds. " Weeds compete for sunlight and moisture. Pull them!

Also I am spending some time getting a second application of organic fertilizer around my perennials. I have been using Flower Tone (Plant Tone is great as well) by Espoma. I try to apply organic granular foods twice per year around my perennials and shrubs. Remember the organics treat the soil and make the soil healthier which results in a consistent yield of nutrients as well as better soil structure for our plant's roots. Better soil means better and deeper roots which result in healthier and happier plants and flowers. Naturally. Consistently. Long Lasting!

August 21--I have been away from Skillin's Country on Special Assignment for the last few days. But that rain we received back on Sunday night and Monday morning is GONE. It is so dry out there; I am spending the day taking the garden hose from dry plant to dry plant and watering vulnerable plants slowly and deeply. The weather is not overally hot today so if you are seeing plants wilting that means they are dry and could use a good slow deep watering. Anything planted in 2010 needs a good soaking this weekend if they have not received one this past week.

The forecast indicates Skillin's Country will be receiving quite a bit of rain this Sunday night into Monday. Sounds great BUT I am still going to water deeply today. If we do get that rain in a day or two that will just help the plants even more this coming week!

August 17--Now is a great time to give many of your evergreen shrubs such as yews, junipers and hemlocks their summer trim or haircut. Most new growth has "hardened off" or transitioned from new green growth to dark mature growth. A good pruning keeps the shrubs closer to the shape you want and  is also good for the roots as pruning the terminal ends of plants is a good way to encourage good root growth in the long run.

While my evergreen shrubs are getting my attention (they normally get no attention); I also devote this time period to giving each evergreen a good feeding of Holly Tone by Espoma. Holly Tone is a granular organic fertilizer that works slowly but steadily to benefit the soil that the roots reside in. A better soil means better and deeper roots in the long run. These better roots help sustain the  plant through dry summers (like this one) and help the plants "green up" more quickly after cold winters (we do get cold  winters  in Skillin's Country).

Rhodys, azaleas, andromedas as well as the thin needled shrubs like yews, junipers and pines all could use a good feeding of Holly Tone right now.

But remember now is NOT the time to prune the broad leafed evergreens like rhodys, azaleas, and andromedas. NOW is the time to  prune yews, junipers, and small pines like mugho pines.

Contact us at skillins@maine.rr.com or any of our stores (contact info at http://www.skillins.com/) with any questions!

August 16--Rain has come to Skillin's Country--welcome, welcome rain. And a good rain to boot. I just checked the Skillin Country Rain Gauge and we received a half inch of rain both last night and this morning. It "feels like" a good quality deep rain as well because it rained "on and off". That means there were breaks in the rain allowing a good soak when rain started again. Too much rain at once can result in serious run off.

All 2010 plantings including containers will benefit from this rain. Have an Earth Box? Well, the small opening in the Earth Box does not let much rain in. I watered my Earth Boxes this morning (I have been watering them daily for a couple of weeks now) and each took quite a bit of water. But for the most part hoses and rain barrels can be not touched for a couple of days.

No more rain is forecast for the remainder of the week however. So in all likelihood good quality deep waterings will be needed on all 2010 plantings--including vegetables and containers--later on this week.

August 14--I WAS going to mow the lawn today. But it is so dry most of my lawn does not need a mowing and further I think mowing the lawn (even keeping it high like I do) would actually set my lawn back as I would risk burning the roots. So no lawn mowing for a few days.

BUT, I have spent most of the day deep watering many plants in my yard--all my 2010 plantings as well as some perennials planted in prior years that are showing signs of being quite dry. I am keeping the water going on pretty low output and just moving it from plant to plant between every half hour to hour.

I did turn up the volume for some annuals and my vegetables and I let the water fan out and cover a pretty good area. In no case do I leave the water on high enough for there to be "run off".

Deep waterings are critical right now for 2010 plantings and container plantings.

August 12--Sheliah Raymond checks in "Hello Mike! I don't know if you remember me telling you this past Spring that I was planting my first real veggie garden this year.


"Thanks to my Skillin's seedlings I am having great success! This picture was taken a while back of my 4 cucumber seedlings which have produced well over 500 cucumbers and are still going strong! At $1.99 a piece for the seedlings- that is a heck of a deal!

(gorgeous cucumber plants from Sheliah Raymond)

One note -I have had no pest problems on anything in my garden -not one bad bug! I
wonder if it's because I feed the birds about 10 feet from the garden.

Just a thought..."

Sheliah, great to hear from you! I don't know how much birds will stop garden insects but I think feeding the birds is always a great idea. Those ARE gorgeous plants and I agree with you--the $1.99 per 4" pot price is a great deal!

500 cukes! My word! What are you feeding these plants with! Hey I hope some of those cuke plants are "burpless"

August 10--Hammon Buck also gives good tips about mildew. Some plants are very mildewy with all the wet heavy air we have had. Powdery mildew, as its name suggests, resembles a white powdery mildew on leaf surfaces of plants. Leaves eventually turn yellow, then brown, then die. Although not fatal to plants, it makes plants unattractive and may weaken plants over several years. Annuals that may be infected most commonly include zinnias snapdragon, and verbena. Perennial flowers that may be infected commonly include delphinium, lungwort, and garden phlox. Choosing cultivars (cultivated varieties) resistant to this disease is one of the easiest methods of control.

                                               (powdery mildew pics from Plants Unlimted)

Unlike most such fungus diseases spread by microscopic structures called “spores”, this one actually is inhibited not promoted by rain and wet leaves. High humidity will favor this disease, so keeping plants spaced properly will promote air circulation and lower humidity around plants."

Seranade is an all natural fungicide that works very well against Powdery Mildew as does all natural Garden Sulfur. As a preventive, I suggest applying Vaccinate to vulnerable plants such as roses, phlox and vine crops. I have been using Vaccinate faithfully and my plants are clean and green!

August 9--Great piece of harvesting advice from our good friend Hammon Buck of Plants Unlimited in Rockport ME. Plants Unlimited can be found at http://www.plants-unlimited.com/.:

" How do you know when to harvest a melon? When it's big? When its skin is colorful? When you thump it and hear a deep thud? If these methods sound too vague, don't worry. Harvest when the stem slips readily from the fruit. Pick it up - if the vine falls away, you are free to walk away with the melon.

(melon picture from Plants Unlimited)

When harvesting, make sure that the melon is cut from the vine instead of pulled. Pulling creates a cracking wound that pathogens can enter and quickly destroy the quality of the fruit, not to mention ruining the appearance of the fruit. Leave the stems on the melon for as long as possible, and treat for stem end rot after picking. Don't harvest your melons until they are fully ripe. Melons will get softer after they are picked from the vine but they will never get sweeter."

August 6--In surveying my yard I have already determined that my next day off will involve plenty of deep waterings for so many of my plants. Most of my containers are so chock full of grown plants that these containers need good deep waterings every other day or certainly every third day. For the first time I am growing vegetables in Earth Boxes (I highly recommend Earth Boxes for growing container vegetables! Check out http://www.earthbox.com/! We love Earth Boxes and sell them right here at Skillin's!) My Earth Boxes need a good watering every other day for sure--soon to be daily I bet!

Two of my favorite flowering perennials--white upright phlox and purple coneflower--are profuse this year with flowers. I will be deadheading many largely spent blossoms on these plants and that will pave the way for much re blooming as all of my plants have tiny buds just waiting to produce more flowers. Deadheading such perennials is a great way to lengthen the flowering season!

August 5--Terry Skillin wants me to let you know that the sawfly larvae is quite prevalent and doing much chewing on woody plants as well as some perennials. As he termed it, "we are seeing it everywhere." We have a number of controls for the sawfly larvae ranging from all natural Horticultural Spray Oil which will work to smother the critters. Or consider Eight a permethrin product by the Bonide Co. Eight is best applied in the evening (to keep away from the bees) as either a dust or a spray. Or consider Systemic Insect Granules that can be applied around the base of chewed plants. This avoids spraying as upon a deep watering the plant will take in the active ingredients of these insect granules.

Sawfly larvae (picture from http://www.bonide.com/)

Sawfly larvae are the larvae of primitive wasp like insects. They typically have more legs than caterpillars and they do a lot of chewing. Rose bushes, hibuscus and many other of our favorite plants can be chewed quickly!


August 4--Today is a hot windy day in Skillin's Country and our material is drying out quickly. Plants have been booming in growth and this means lots of roots that need more water than we are accustomed to giving. In particular flowers and vegetables in containers need good deep waterings every other day under these conditions. With this much watering, you should also supplement your flowers and vegetables with fast acting fertilizer and Neptune's Harvest Fish and Seaweed Blend is perfect for that job!

June Garden Talks 2010

The purpose of this post is to relay a few "quick hit" garden tips to you through the month of June. Some of these tips will be garden tasks I am doing myself (although I wish there were more of those. I am here at Skillin's so much, my own yard and garden falls quite behind this time of year!), 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 June 2010!

June 23--Great gardening friend Hammon Buck of Plants Unlimited in Rockport sent out some great gardening advice the other day. Plants Unlimited can be found at 629 Commercial Street (US Route 1) in Rockport ME or at http://www.plants-unlimited.com/. I highly recommend a visit!

Here is what Hammon has to say about Blossom End Rot on Tomatoes: "Blossom-end rot is a disorder of tomato, squash, pepper, and all other fruiting vegetables. You notice that a dry sunken decay has developed on the blossom end (opposite the stem) of many fruit, especially the first fruit of the season. This is not a pest, parasite or disease process but is a physiological problem caused by a low level of calcium in the fruit itself.

(image from Plants Unlimted)

                                                                                 
Blossom-end rot usually begins as a small "water-soaked looking" area at the blossom end of the fruit while still green. As the lesion develops, it enlarges, becomes sunken and turns tan to dark brown to black and leathery. In severe cases, it may completely cover the lower half of the fruit, becoming flat or concave, often resulting in complete destruction of the infected fruit.

Calcium is required in relatively large concentrations for normal cell growth. When a rapidly growing fruit is deprived of calcium, the tissues break down, leaving the characteristic lesion at the blossom end. Blossom-end rot develops when the fruit's demand for calcium exceeds the supply in the soil. This may result from low calcium levels in the soil, drought stress, excessive soil moisture, and/or fluctuations due to rain or overwatering . These conditions reduce the uptake and movement of calcium into the plant, or rapid, vegetative growth due to excessive nitrogen fertilization.

You can supply calcium by using lime, composted manure or bone meal. (I actually recommend feeding your tomatoes with Tomato or Garden Tone by Espoma--2 feedings and also watering the gently once per week with Neptune's Harvest Fish and Seaweed food for best tomato performance.) Also, maintain uniform soil moisture by mulching and watering correctly, planting in well drained soil and not cultivating deeper than one inch within one foot of the plant. Also avoid the use of high nitrogen fertilizers."

June 22--While driving around doing some floral deliveries today, I noticed some lawns already taking on that scorched or brown look. Folks it is dry out there.

One of the basic tenets of good organic lawn care is to simply raise the level of your lawn mower. A slightly taller lawn shields the roots of the lawn from getting "fried" by the hot sun. Your lawn's roots stay more resilient when the grass is higher. Higher lawns also canopy sun loving weeds and can really prevent a lot of weeds from taking strong root. Also higher lawns make for good lawn clippings that should NOT be bagged. Leave the clipppings to decompose back through the lawn and into soil. This gets good organic matter back into the soil. If you apply a good organic lawn food a couple of times per year your soil should be healthy enough to decompose those grass clippings before they become nasty thatch. I general set your mower height to 2.5 to 3". I recommend making your last mowing of the year (in late fall) a close cropped mowing but not until then.

June 20--Joseph of Skillin's Falmouth notes that clematis are "heavy feeders" and perform best when their roots are cool yet receiving many nutrients. Of course the plant itself needs as much as you can give it; yet the roots like to remain cool. Joe recommends mulching or covering the roots with a nice compost (we sell many great choices here at Skillin's!). He feeds his clemati pretty regularly with all natural Fish and Seaweed liquid fertilizer from Neptune's Harvest (also sold right here at Skillin's!) and he says his clemati are doing just fan tab ulistic!

June 19--Customer Lauren started some veggies and flowers on her own and they came up great. She has since transferred them to containers and she told me that their color was pale and the plants were kind of spindly. Her plants are an assortment of sun loving plants and the plants are in the sun; she feels her potting soil is good quality with some added compost. But she has not fed the plants so I recommended her to try some weekly feedings of Neptune's Harvest Fish and Seaweed fertilizer. Her plants are hungry. Folks, time is ticking and our season is indeed short. Composted soil is essential but so isn't a good regular meal of natural fertilizer to get needed nutrients to your plants for best performance!

June 15--Customer Nancy wrote today asking about woodchuck prevention. Woodchucks can be very damaging to flowers and vegetables. Darn it! The damage they do can just break a gardener's heart! My heart has certainly been broken a few times. Here is what I wrote Nancy:

"Nancy, I have battled woodchucks with many methods over the years and most have not worked.


The method that absolutely did work for me is a battery operated tube now called the Mole Mover (old name Go-Pher It). The Mole Mover is powered by 3 C batteries and emits a long beep every 28 seconds. The key is to know approximately (within 30 feet) where the woodchucks den is. Woodchucks typically live under sheds, decks, porches, croppings of stone, “other sides” of berms, someplace with a feel of shelter or protection.

They love to be in their dens so it is key to stick this tube as near (again within 30 feet) of their den as you can. After about a week of hearing this consistent beep every 28 seconds they and their family typically leave your area. If you are not sure of where they live, keep an eye on where they run to when you startle them. They typically waddle straight for the den.

Other customers have their methods—fox urine, human hair in panty hose are two favorites. They may work for a time but I have found at the worst moment when the fox urine may be depleted or the hair scent is not there that they strike.

The tubes worked and are still working for me and for many other customers. I hope they work for you…let me know if you have any more gardening questions!"

We love your gardening questions! Just shoot us a comment here at this post or email us at skillins@maine.rr.com!



June 14-I recently mentioned these gardening tips in our Garden Talks Newsletter. Sign up for our newsletter at http://www.skillins.com/!

*Slugs are out in abundance; living under larged leafed plants by day and chomping and tearing on fresh plants by night. Slugs can eat incredible amounts; your leaves will look torn. Slugs can easily be controlled by all natural Slug Magic (safe for pets and wildlife) sold right here at Skillin's.


*In most cases now is the time to prune your lilacs and rhodys that have just flowered. The window is not open for long as soon they will be forming growth that will contain next year's flowers. So get those shrubs in shape!

*Now is a great time to put all organic Kelp Booster by Organica on your lawn if you gave your lawn a nice boost earlier this Spring with a nice natural food like Espoma's No Phos Lawn Food. Kelp Booster is a nice all natural supplement that will really benefit your lawn (and even your garden's) soil. If you have not applied any natural lawn food yet to your lawn get on over here and pick up some no phos Espoma Lawn Food.

*The air has been wet and heavy which means fallen leaves from our plants can easily host mold and mildew. These blights can move onto live growth. The first and best step against disease on your plants is to prune off any dead and dying growth--also to keep the area around our plants clean of fallen growth. I have been using a relatively new all natural product called Vaccinate on my rose bushes, upright phlox and lilacs. Vaccinate works naturally to help plants build up resistance to disease. So far my roses, phlox and lilacs which can get mildewy and diseased look great.

*Weeds are growing like crazy! Keep tall weeds from crowding your plants--these weeds can compete for moisture, nutrients, and air circulation. Small weeds should be controlled as well; hopefully with a garden hoe or cultivator.

*Many veggies like peas, beans, lettuces, broccoli, radishes and carrots can be grown in multiple crops or stages through the gardening year. We have fresh plants and seeds coming in all the time. Let us help you keep fresh waves of garden products coming to your garden! You can easily keep harvesting all these veggies and more well into the fall.

June 13-We are Just Getting Started! Friends, our soil is just warming up...plants that have started slowly because of cold soil temps are about to JUMP. If you want to grow more veggies and more flowers our selection is top shelf; in most cases FRESH second and third crops that are well established, well grown and well on their way to a timely harvest in a happy garden like yours! This goes for ground gardens as well as container gardens!


Planting veggies? Great! Plant some flowers too! Vegetables are a blast but flowers look great, some deter pests, and all of them help to pollinate vegetable plants. We have got veggies and flowers and today, this week, and/or this coming weekend and beyond is the perfect time to plant!

Annual flowers are a great bargain. We offer 6 or 9 packs for just $3.99. And annual flowers are "the plant that keeps on giving" by flowering well into the fall!

Our good gardening friend, Tom Atwell writes a great article in Sunday's Maine Telegram about how you can still enjoy late-planted vegetables. Great reading that I highly recommend!


Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
June 2010

April Garden Talks

Hello again,

The purpose of this post is to relay a few "quick hit" garden tips to you through the month of April. Some of these tips will be garden tasks I am doing myself (although I wish there were more of those. I am here at Skillin's so much, my own yard and garden falls quite behind this time of year!), 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 into May 2010!

*Thursday, April 29--Want a reliable perennial that makes an early appearance in the garden and comes with some great colors? Pick up some columbine--an old time favorite that Skillin's has available in many different colors! I highly recommend it as one of Mike's Must Haves.

*Thursday, April 29--Happy Birthday Mom! My mom Brenda's birthday is today. She has done so much for all of us. The support she (Dave Skillin's wife) and Sally Skillin (John Skillin's wife) gave to their husbands was critical to the success of Skillin's back in earlier days.

Weeds are growing out there folks and now is the time to get the cultivators out to keep those weeds scraped away. And if your beds are clean and you have put that Plant Tone or Plant Booster Plus around your perennials this is a great time to put Fundy Mix down between your plants. Love that Fundy Mix--an all natural compost and light mix of bark that will give sustenance to your soil AND help keep the weeds suppressed AND moisture in your soil. Fundy Mix for your perennial garden--even around shrubs and annuals!

*Tuesday, April 27--I spotted this article about radishes at "Muddy Fingernail"; one of my favorite garden Twitter sites.  Everybody knows radishes but not many of us grow radishes. They are easy and fast to grow in the vegetable garden. Like so many vegetables their taste FRESH out of the garden is so much fresher and much more vibrant than the veggie you buy at the store. "Radishes are colorful and easy to grow in most areas. They are a root crop and can be pink, black, red or white in color. They grow quickly and can be harvested in about twenty days. Their spicy, hot flavor add zing to salads or dips. Their leafy tops can also be added to salads. A good organic fertilizer (I recommend Garden Tone by Espoma) will help your plants grow better. The addition of a good organic fertilizer also improves the flavor and increases the "hotness" of your radishes....read on here for more great tips about growing and using radishes!


*Monday, April 26--Joe K first posted this link at Skillin's Twitter and I think it is worth a mention here. The Maine Sunday Telegram in yesterday's paper printed a neat article about using plants as hedges. Click here for the article. I really found their opinion of a rugosa rose hedge to be right on. Such a hedge gives you a real diversity of looks and textures through the season. The look may not be for everyone for sure but worth a lot; if not that some other shrub roses perhaps or some evergreens. I am not a fence guy so using plants as hedges has alway interested me. I have a neighbor who we get along with great. A few years back she had some forsythia planted near our mutual property line and we have both really enjoyed the forsythia. Very yellow right around now and a nice green throughout the growing season. This is a backyard border and when the weather is cold and the leaves are gone, none of us are out much so the lack of leaves then is not a concern.

*Sunday, April 25--It is still too early to plant many annuals and tomatoes in the ground. But for sunny protected areas I would think seriously of planting up patio pots and setting out hanging plants. Also, a great time to plant broccoli, lettuces (we now have all of that including mesclun mix and arugula for the first time!) Back to the flowers: if we get frost, just bring the plants in OR cover them with a sheet!

*Sunday, April 25--Wow! I can't believe it has been 5 days already! Getting lots of questions from customers today who are seeing big white Japanese Beetle grubs as they dig in their gardens. NOW is a great time to put down Milky Spore Bacteria as a very effective long term Japanese Beetle control.

*Tuesday, April 20--I spent some early morning time spreading generous amounts of Plant Booster Plus fertilizer by Organica around a good amount of my perennials and rose bushes. I know I sound like a broken record but I recommend two feedings per year around most garden plants--Spring and fall, summer and fall; something like that! Two feedings spread of natural foods really keep a good steady dose of nutrients and beneficial microbes coming into the soil. This makes for a better soil structure and better biological activity in your soil. AND this means stronger deeper roots for your plants. Better summer growth, better winter survival. Plant Tone by Espoma also works very well around perennials and deciduous shrubs. Use Plant Tone's first cousin, Holly Tone by Espoma for your evergreens (rhodys, azaleas, junipers--you know evergreens are plants that keep their foliage over the winter).

*Monday, April 19--I spoke to a customer by phone today about garden rototilling. I am not necessarily a huge fan of rototilling the garden. Click here for a Garden Log post about No Till Gardening. In any event, she is going to get her garden rototilled but her garden is quite full of weeds. Does she need to get rid of the weeds prior to or will the rototillling get rid of the weeds? My experience is that the rototilling will NOT get rid of the weeds and that rototilling can spread even more weed seed and roots. SO, get rid of us many weeds as possible before you rototill. DO NOT rototill a wet garden: the sure result will be clumps and clumps of soil. Also click here for a Garden Log post about using newspaper as garden mulch. Laying down newspaper on weeds and grass and then covering the newspaper with compost is a great way to kill weeds, increase worm population ( a very good thing) AND add organic matter to the soil.

*Monday, April 19--I spoke to a customer by phone yesterday who asked if this was a good time to move her blueberry plants. I told her it is a good time--probably for a couple more weeks. Blueberries have a shallow root system and because of that are quite easy to move. Always put some Hollytone by Espoma in the hole first--Hollytone increases the acidity of the soil for blueberries and the Biotone contained in Hollytone will lend some nice microbial activity to the soil around the roots. Blueberries are the best!

*Sunday, April 18-Click here for a great article by Tom Atwell, the "Maine Gardener" in today's Maine Sunday Telegram.  Tom is a great writer and a super gardener. He is a real asset in our gardening community. Check him out each Sunday for some great gardening tips. I especially like his tip about space saving for carrots and radishes.

Tom also writes about spraying for devouring worms like cabbage worm with bacillus thuringiensis (BT) an all natural but very effective antidote against these pests. Jeff Skillin is a big advocate of the effectiveness of BT against these pests. He sprays our crops like cabbages and broccoli with a brand of BT called Thuricide and thus we sell plants with no problems in that area. You may want to spray your plants too. BT is all natural and effective.

*Sunday, April 18--We are having a nice day (not forecast by the weather folks). If you have not done so yet, get out there and give your lawn a good vigourous raking before it gets too tall! There is no better "green" thing to do for your lawn then to give it a good raking at the beginning of each gardening year. It is the best way to pull out old dying grass and give sun and air to the remaining lawn so it can better thicken! Got lawn questions. Click here for our Skillin's Lawn Program!

*Saturday, April 17--Finished applying Lawn Booster by Organica to my lawn. Lawn Booster (sold right here at Skillin's is a corn gluten product--all natural- that can help prevent overwhelming weed seeds like crabgrass, dandelions and others from germinating in the lawn. Corn gluten is a great organic source of nutrients including nitrogn that really help the grass "green up" and stay greener longer. I highly recommend applying Lawn Booster twice per year--now before the forsythia blossoms drop and then again around Labor Day (early to mid September).

*Saturday, April 17--Planted seed potatoes in some new Potato Bags using Bar Harbor Blend by Coast of Maine Organics. I use the Potato Bags because much of my property lies on ledge and potatoes need some good depth. Grab some seed potatoes from Skillin's, slice portions in about 3 to 4 eyes, plant about 6" deep in some good well drained soil. Plant with a healthy dose of Garden Tone by Espoma or Plant Booster Plus by Organica. Once the plants germinate I will feed often with Fish and Seaweed Food by Neptune's Harvest until they flower. The all natural ingredients really help all vegetable plants! As the plants grow a few inches add more soil around the stems so they can send out more roots! Better plants! More potatoes!

Let us know at skillins@maine.rr.com if you have any garden questions OR leave a comment at this post.

*Also for great garden happenings check this blog (A Garden in Maine) frequently!

Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
April 2010