Fall 1998
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When everything is gray, brown or white with snow, a few plants are noteworthy for the Winter Garden. Red Twig Dogwood, Dragon's Blood Sedum, Coral Bark Maples, Hollies (both evergreen and especially the deciduous with loads of red berries), Golden Girl Hollies (with yellow berries), Aronia Brilliantissima (loaded with red berries), Pyracantha (with orange or red berries), Heavenly Bamboo, Viburnums (with black and red berries) and Ornamental Grasses add texture and color to your winter garden.
Wait until March to cut the Grasses back; they'll add considerable interest over Winter. And watch out for the new, green-growth shoots thrusting upward; cut the old stems 1-2" above them or you'll injure the plant's normal growth. When the Spring weather arrives in April, watch them really grow.
Deadheading and Fertilizing Perennials
It's very important that Perennials be deadheaded when they start to go-to-seed, unless you want them spreading everywhere (like our Shasta Daisies did in the past several years) and over-run everything in your Garden. Or the unbiquitous Columbine; once you have'em, you've got'em forever. Gallardia also.
Simply cut back the seed heads to the foliage, re- fertilize and wait for them to ripen-off (foliage die-back) before cutting to the ground. Always pile a handful of mulch on top of the crown (where roots emanate from the stem you've just cut back), so the plant's crown doesn't dry-out or freeze-out, depending upon the season.
We recommend Peter's 20-20-20 or the series of Osmocote Timed-Release Fertilizers; stay away from Miracle-Grow and Mir-Acid, they're very high Nitrogen fertilizers that suggest "miracle growth". Ask us and we'll tell you that we've never seen an 800lb tomato or 16ft cucumber as they've claimed they grow. Plants become exhausted very quickly with great infusions of Nitrogen.
Professional Growers use Peters; that alone should speak volumes.
Wildflowers - Do It Now
Installing a wildflower field or patch is best done in either Early Spring or Late Summer, when temperatures aren't so hot that the seed dries out, water is plentiful from natural rains and the plants have a chance for a foothold for next year's growth and display.
Instead of using hay or straw, try Peat Moss as mulch to hold-in moisture, feed the seed with nutrients and fools the birds (who see straw and a meal of seed just below the chaff). Simply crumble the Peat by hand and broadcast, or lightly shovel it over the newly-sown seed. Straw must be raked-off or it'll rot the new shoots; Peat is absorbed, feeds and disappears quickly into the new plants' system.
Our Wildflower Mixes come in several formulations: Roadside, Meadow, Hummingbird & Butterfly and Cutting. We'll help you select the right one(s) for your specific application. Just ask.
Page1:
ONCE A YEAR EVENT
GOOD IDEAS...That don't always work.
Corporate Web Site. (http://www.gdnctr.com)
Page2:The Weather Channel - Smart Viewing
Special Heirloom, High-Quality Gardening Tools
Don't Buy Cut, Dead Christmas Trees
Page3:Water Gardens - New Products Update
Keeping Your Pond Clear
Page4:Late Season Bloomers
Page5:Color For Your Winter Garden
Deadheading and Fertilizing Perennials
Wildflowers - Do It Now
Page6:Garden Center Is Available For Meetings & Tours
Year 'Round Container Herb Gardens
Best Time To Plant Large Trees
House Plants to Brighten Up Your Home
Page7:INTERESTING INFORMATION IN UPCOMING ISSUES:
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