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.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
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?
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?
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