Garden Center Musings
by Garden Center Manager, Hilary Armour
The Garden Center Opens in a couple of weeks, and if you are like me, you can’t stand yourself wanting to get out in the garden! Here are few chores you can do to scratch that gardening itch.
Now is a great time to cut down your ornamental grasses (I never do it in the fall, the small birds like to use them for shelter).
Do not remove any leaf mulch yet as it is still protecting plants that are emerging from the soil, but if you see a plant that is emerging and the mulch is in the way by all means clean it up.
Now is a good time to dump out any pots that might have last year’s potting soil in them. Potting soil needs to be changed regularly (I do it yearly in annual pots).
Soil becomes spent of nutrients with fast growing annuals and fertilizing can increase mineral salt deposits in the soil and kill the plants that you try to plant this year. Changing soil also cuts down on soil pathogens and disease. Luckily, potting soil can be added directly to your compost pile.
Tick Tubes- an innovative approach to fighting ticks, these bio-degradable paper tubes contain bedding that is taken by small animals, namely mice, to line their nests, the bedding is treated to kill tick eggs and nymphs before they reach adulthood. Distribute the tubes at the very edges of your property to lower the number of ticks in your yard.
Bonide Burnout- Made with natural ingredients, this weed & grass killer is safe to use around people and pets and is waterproof once dry. It is a broad spectrum herbicide.
Sweet Peat- An organic mulch for vegetable and flower beds that buffers both high and low pH leaving you with neutral (and happy soil). This mulch breaks down quickly leaving a rich humus behind, benefiting your plants for years to come.
