It pains me to see customers spending hundreds of dollars on new plants and simultaneously refusing to spend a few more on a bag or two of compost and a box of starter fertilizer. These two items are not unnecessary “add-ons” that the retailer is just trying to add to the sale, they are critical components of a successful transplanting process - or as I like to refer to them as “plant insurance”. Unless you have phenomenal soil, you should always add compost and starter fertilizers when you are planting new plants. Here is why…
Last week I wrote about how to successfully plant in the dry summer months and I promised this week to discuss how to keep our landscapes thriving (not just surviving) as we shift to drier, hotter, and longer summers. As a side note, don’t let this recent “rain event” lure you into complacency about watering. At best, it only moistened the top ½ of the soil, which for the most part only keeps the dust down…
The Golfing Gardener
Trevor Cameron
The winter solstice is upon us, and I am sure everyone is looking forward to a bit more light each day, eventually steering us towards the great annual awakening of spring. To most gardeners, the idea of year ‘round interest is top of mind, as patrons I speak to year after year look to add specimens into their landscapes that provide that “WOW” factor all year long, including…