We probably won’t plant a tree this big at your house, but sometimes a really big tree is the answer. If it is, we can do it! The most important thing is to select the right tree. The next is to have it planted by someone else!
Archive for Garden Tips – Page 35
Slug Love
Here come Paul and Mary kissing in a tree, K I S S I N G……………Well, slug love is like most other kinds of love and produces little slugs sooner rather than later. Right now they are curling up under your fallen leaves making prospective little slugs and laying eggs. These next few weeks are your last chance to dent the slug population before they disappear leaving their eggs for you to deal with in the spring.. This is the best tip, and many people are surprised because it is not what we have all been told in other gardening lessons. Here’s how to get rid of pesky slugs safely and successfully.
Slugs on a Date
Read on: Please remember that if you put out enough bait for an army of slugs, you will call an army of slugs. They will eat the bait but not die right off, giving them time to peruse your plants and lay eggs. Be discreet and be safe for your pets and others. Use pet safe slug bait cautiously and sparingly to entice the slugs at your house only! In practical terms that means using 1 or 2 slug pellets a week for the entire back yard of a small property. SERIOUSLY. A slug’s brain is pretty much all nose.
Buyer Beware! Watch out for fall discount plants at nurseries or garden stores. When you select plants on the leftover table at nurseries you are running some risks. The top of the pot will be chock full of weed seeds and the roots may well harbor larvae of undesirables such as my favorite foe, the root weevil. Here are some tips to help if you decide to buy and plant in the late fall or early winter.
Garden Tip #1: Successful Planting in Late Fall
Evergreens and deciduous shrubs.
If it is a small deciduous shrub or perennial, (leaves fall off for winter), I remove the top 2″ of soil at a minimum. At the maximum, I gently rinse the whole root ball to remove most of the soil. Squash any cream colored larvae you find and toss the wet potting soil/mud into the garbage. Most of us do not get our compost hot enough to kill weed seeds and eggs of root weevil.
I then re-plant in a bigger pot with clean potting soil, or I plant it in its long term spot. Too much work? Don’t buy off the discount table.
Garden Tip #2: What Not to Buy in the Late Fall
After trial and error I’ve learned never to buy or plant these specimens in the late fall or early winter. True grit soil prep allows a person to plant nearly everything in the winter and the fall but I still hesitate to plant these specimens:
- Salvia, Hummingbird mints (agastache) Spanish Lavenders
- Rosemary
- Most Phormiums
- Expensive fancy Echinaceas
- Expensive Clematis Montana
Garden Tip #3: What to Plant in the Late Fall
Most plants are game for being planted this time of year. Heathers and various evergreens prefer fall and winter over late spring or 
early summer planting.
- Winterize your irrigation system. This may mean flushing out an older system, or just draining your drip system.
Remember: no mulch over your Hen and Chicks
- Bait for slugs all through fall and early winter.
- Don’t bait for slugs if you live in the woods, you will kill all the big native slugs who don’t even eat Hostas, or your garden plants. Instead don’t plant things the little gray french slugs like. It is easy to do, just ask your designer or give me a call to schedule a garden coaching session.
- Schedule your winter mulch application for last week of November through mid-December. If you can’t stand being out in December’s cold—do it now.
- Hire a blowing service such as Bark Blowers. Did you know they will blow the good Mighty Microbe Mulch instead of bark dust for you if you know to ask them. Email me for contact info.
- Did you mulch? Great, now go back out and un bury all the crowns of your plants, especially if you blew in the mulch. Some gardeners cover plants with black nursery pots to try to avoid having the crowns buried. A buried crown often means a rotted plant come spring.
Check out the Portland Audubon gift shop’s open house event. It is an EVENT!! They have a big open house on Dec 3 and 4th with all kinds of cool things happening. The gift store manager, Nancy Mattson, scouts the country finding unusual items. As a former event planner, she and the amazing volunteers really know how to throw a party. The open house event is the best and the gifts, ornaments and other goodies you will find will help make your holiday gifts special. And don’t miss their drawing for a $500.00 shopping spree. You’ll want to make time to go!
