Buying Your Christmas Tree

OK, here we go, it's that time of year, and I just have to put my two cents in on this.  We used to sell Christmas trees, and it was quite the education.  So here are my Christmas tree tips:
1) If you are going to cut your own tree, be sure it is above 34 degrees.  (the air temp, not the tree)  This will insure that the sap is up in the tree and it will hold its needles much longer. Cutting your own on a really cold day won't get you a longer lasting tree than the ones in the stores that were cut in October or November!  How long ago the trees were cut is not nearly as important as what temperature it was on the day it was done, so don't vex over it Dad!
2) NEVER tie your tree to the roof of your car to transport it home unless it is completely wrapped in plastic or a tarp of some kind.  I know, I know, it's so romantic.......the air blowing over the tree going home will suck ALL of the life out of the tree and it will drop  needles like crazy.  So stuff it in the car or trunk if you can.
3) Always fresh cut the trunk of the tree before putting it in the stand with water in it.  A cut trunk will seal over in about two hours, so if you can't get it in the stand before then, stick it in a bucket of water, and let it wait like that until you are ready.  The fresh cut can just be a half inch off, so you're not sacrificing height. Then do not let the trunk get dry in the house.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!  HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!  HAPPY TREES!!

Fall Clean Up

Just getting back into this blog thing.  Now that it's Fall, well late Fall really, there are some really important tips for perennial gardeners.  When I teach classes in Spring, I'm always saying "well actually these are things that should be done in the Fall", so here it is:
1) Always cut down your perennials and remove all debris, including leaves and stems.  If you had roses with black spot, or phlox with powdery mildew, or any sort of disease or insect problem, the diseases in particular will carry-over in the soil, and start up again next season.
2) Remove all tree leaves from the garden.........I know.......you feel like it insulates the perennials from the cold.  Truth is, they don't need the leaves for protection.  The snow cover insulates, and keeps the soil at 32 degrees.  Even if there's no snow, they are better off without the leaves, because they can create disease and insect problems for the plants.  If you have Maple trees with the black spotting on their leaves, you for sure want to remove them completely from the garden and the yard because this disease carries over.
3) Be sure that your garden is well watered and moist before it finally freezes.  This usually doesn't happen in Rochester until late December, but I've seen winters that have had dry spells and the soil was cracked in the garden.  This is one of the biggest causes of plant failures in winter.....freezing when they are DRY!

STEP 2

Step 2-  Since I'm still talking about weeds, thought I'd connect it to the 5-step program.  If you have clay soil and you're living in the Rochester NY area,  your gardens are very dry right now.  So first, and foremost......let's all wish for rain this weekend.  I know, I know, you're saying hey, it's the weekend, and we want nice weather.  OK fine, but you are going to have to water your gardens.  I have a couple of properties where I'm actually putting off weeding because of the dry soil. 
So let's say your soil is just right (not dry,not wet) then it's time to weed, and we want to cut the weeds at the soil level, or just below the soil with a sharp digging tool, the perennial spade is perfect, and don't try to get the whole root out.  This is not true for things that have stolen-type roots that travel horizontally underground.  These weeds must be dug out: things like clovers, horsetail, lily-of-the-valley, houttuynia.
4/21/12  -OK got my wish.  It's been raining all day.  Woo Hoo!!  So now we can weed in 24-48 hours when the soil isn't soggy wet.  Another tool that's really good for this job, is the diamond hoe.  It's long-handled, and very sharp.  You can cut the weeds while standing up and very little back strain.  Then pick up the weeds very carefully, shake very little, disturb the soil as little as possible, and put the weeds in a bucket or on a tarp that can be dumped. 

weeds galore!

I'm still weeding, getting ready to put down pre-emergent.  That's the stuff that prevents weed seeds (or any seeds really) from germinating.  The trick is that you cannot disturb the soil surface after applying it.  So get everything weeded first. 
The other thing I need to say is.........water........OMG it is so dry in my garden.  So I'm hoping that we get rain this week.  It's a tinderbox out there.
How are your perennials looking?  There are still things not up yet, so be careful stepping in those beds.

5-Step program

I've been teaching my 5-Step Program to maintenance free gardening for over 20 years now. Now that I'm doing a great deal of maintenance contracts and property management, I realize what good information this is, and how well it works when you really do it as I say. So I'm going to go into some detail on these steps, as now is the time of year to start doing them.
STEP 1 - Cleaning the garden. Today I just want to say that it is way too early to step into your garden. I know, I know, the weather is calling you out there. But here's the deal.....you can do some serious damage to the roots and crowns of your perennials by walking around in your garden too early. The soil is probably very wet and squishy, and you will compress the area around the plants, or sometimes even walk on the plants that aren't visible yet. So you can start by gently raking out leaves and debris while standing on the perimeter. Cut down old plant stems that you can reach.
I'm going to go do this in my own garden today. More tomorrow.

Spring Apology

It's almost Spring, and I'm thinking two things as I'm writing this. One, some of you will not notice that there is an entire year since my last posting. Two, that I'm such a techno-challenged person, I couldn't even find my blog after I started it. Then last Spring some people said to me, "when are you going to write more in your blog?" So I guess if you all can find it, that's really all that matters, so here goes.
I was last writing about the nursery catalog industry, and how you should beware of some mailorder plant businesses. Now, the genetic experimentation on plants is getting to be a stunningly frightening practice. So, to say that plants are not always hardy or hardened off before they sell them, is a minor detail compared to the plants that are being hybridized by cell propagation. My only hope is that the old reliable varieties of perennials don't disappear like endangered species. Maybe I will post a list of some of my favorite varieties of plants, and you all can hunt them down, and we can create a source list and keep these plants in our gardens. You game?