Dayton "Dirt" - January 2, 2015

The weather department continues it’s easy ride into winter without the severe winds and cold that roared into Ohio during the first week of January last year.  Ventilation of the cold storage houses is still necessary on a sunny day to prevent fungus problems on the closely spaced plants in storage.  Now is the time everything is geared to getting ready for spring including receiving of shipments of hardgoods, transplanting in the greenhouse, cleaning, painting, producing signs for plants and the new catalog...  There is no time for any of us to relax on the beach in Florida!


Some of the new technologies for this spring will be weatherproof boxes containing a screen that will project informational videos on plant care and new products and remote scanners that will operate up to 300 feet from the checkout counter in order to speed up the checkout process.  New products will include more new plants than ever especially in the perennial and annual flower line that in itself will create the problem as to where to display all the new plants!

A new seeder with a germination chamber will now make it possible to offer even more varieties of vegetable plants in 4" pots.  The seeder is a closed cabinet that is thermostatically heated by a heating element submerged in water that creates at a warm temperature of about 72º - 75º F which increases greatly the rate and the percentage of gemination so much so that the seed flat in the chamber rarely would need the chambers environment for more than a week.  Other changes are hidden or not easily seen but will serve the goal of better products and better service for all.

Tom 

Dayton "Dirt" - December 26, 2014

For sure most of us would have liked a white Christmas but even so, December has been an easy weather month compared to last year.

Except for the evergreen of conifers and some shrubs, the natural world seems dead but as we all know, all is but asleep only to come alive again in 3 short months from now.

As the day length grows longer slowly, so will the interest in the garden as it will soon be time to sow some seeds and take stock of last year’s failures and successes in order to figure out what changes can be made in order to get things back on track.

Our winter seminars will begin in February this year with our annual what’s new program fittingly presented on the first day of spring!  Even now new native and non-native items are being added to our list of new offerings this year that will gradually metamorphosize northeast Ohio gardens into ones of greater beauty.

With the severe weather holding off outside improvements on the nursery grounds still continue until cold weather returns that will force the inside improvements along.

The nursery will close at 3:00 pm on New Year’s Eve for winter but will, as always, be open for our Saturday seminar series.  We’re always here to answer your questions Mondaythrough Friday so please give us a call or drop us an e-mail.

As I look across the bleak landscape of the nursery hope does spring eternal as spring is not that far away.

Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - December 19, 2014

Even with the return of colder weather, December has been relatively mild and at the nursery relatively easy on the greenhouse heating requirements.  While the cut Christmas trees are few, the Fraser firs left are just beautiful with the most beautiful in the 8 foot range. As of today, all remaining trees are discounted greatly so that they are able to find a home before Christmas day.  Any trees that remain after Christmas will become wood chips for the garden so that they will not be wasted.

Years ago we used to burn the left over trees by piling them up as high as possible with as many as 40-50 at a time before lighting the fire.  The fire would start out slowly followed by a little later with a flash over that would send flames into the air as high as 30-40 feet!  In the season of 1973 there were about 200 to be burned out of a little more than 1,000 trees but the very next year 3 trees were left on December 18th as we could not cut and haul them fast enough from Pennsylvania.

Next week the greenhouse will be cleaned out of poinsettias which will be a relief since the plants with their broad flower bracts occupy more room than they "deserve".

The planning and planting for next spring is accelerating with the final reviews of the perennial orders completed in order to see what’s new that has been missed and what “dogs” of perennials have not been omitted from the growing pallet of perennials.

Coming up in January, a yearly greenhouse conference at OARDC will be held on plant nutrition, water quality and insect control which will enlighten all on the latest from research based science coming out of Ohio’s own Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.

This past week also concluded the long tenure of Ken Cochran as curator of the Secrest Arboretum with his retirement party of December 17th. His vision and drive has transformed the once sleepy arboretum to a more relevant “user-friendly” operation that began before the devastating tornado of 2010. He will be greatly missed and what comes to my mind is how he could ever be repaid for the benefits he has bestowed on the arboretum that has become a treasure for not only those that have helped Ken but also a treasure for the general public. God willing, may good health and happiness follow him all the remainder of his years.

Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - December 12, 2014

With only 10 days left of autumn, there is still plenty to do in the garden such as last minute fall cleanup of leaves, installation of tree guards to protect the bark from hungry rabbits, deer repellent on susceptible trees and shrubs and yes more destruction of aggravating weeds such as Canada thistle and hairy bittercress.

With the warm weather this weekend, another fungicide spraying will be in order for the nursery stock in cold storage so that the spray might dry before the next cold wave. Another timely chore will be the liming of the evergreen azaleas and rhododendron that were transplanted into 4" deep pots of Canadian sphagnum peat. Frequently the ph of this peat is below 4.0 and an application of dolomitic lime will bring a ph of 3.6 or so to about 4.1 which is enough to keep the plants healthy while they grow slowly all winter and develop proportionally massive root systems. In addition in the greenhouse, the poinsettias are selling well in the market which will open up more room for more cuttings to root in the prepared Fertiss flats.

After some aggravating trials causing the new boiler to shut down, a few minor adjustments has now made it “purr” so that the cuttings have their required rooting temperatures of 72º F which is essential for rooting success. About 18,000 unrooted cuttings will arrive the week of January 10th in addition to the 3,000 geranium cuttings that will be cut from the stock plants.

The cut tree sales have gone well with only some cadillac Fraser Fir left especially in the 8-9 ft size along with a few scotch pine. The grave decorations have been restocked for the weekend and still orders are welcomed for pick up or delivery right up until Christmas Eve.

There’s never a shortage of things to do here on Cleveland-Massillon Road.

Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - December 5, 2014

This first week of December while yet officially autumn, is certainly winter-like with the short, usually cloudy days and the fact that the sun sets earlier than it does during the winter solstice that is only about 2 weeks away. Even now, the poinsettia flower bracts are still expanding and becoming even so much larger and brighter especially on a brilliant red variety called Viking. 

The annual flower and some perennial cuttings have been stuck in cells filled with a porous growing medium made locally in Kent, Ohio called Fertiss. These cuttings will be rooted in about 2 weeks and remain in the small cells of about a 35 mm diameter until they are transplanted in January with some not until early March which would pertain to regal geraniums that must be satisfied with no less of 40 days of a cold temperature of about 32-40º F in order to develop and bloom in spring after being transplanted into 6" pots in which they will be sold. 

Grave blankets are still demanding a lot of time as more branches must be cut and put together for orders that sometimes continue right up until Christmas Eve. Christmas tree sales seem to be going along smoothly as most of the big Fraser Firs have been sold with many of them to be delivered and set up in homes. Due to the great weight of a 10 ft. plus fir, not any stand will do as even some brands while labeled as suitable for large trees of 10-12 ft. are more or less garbage because of cheap materials and poor construction. The Cinco brand tree stand is not of the “cheap” class as it is strong, sturdy and made here in the states. 

With Thanksgiving past us, it’s a pleasure to reflect on the bounty of the vegetable garden that some of us planted last summer as stores of potatoes, yet in-ground carrots, kale and all the frozen and canned goods that contributed to the Thanksgiving feast and will continue to provide nutrition throughout the winter. Soon, if not even now, it will be time to plan next years garden bounty as spring is only a little more than 3 months away. 

Tom 

Dayton "Dirt" - November 29, 2014

At the nursery things are ready for the Christmas season with wreaths, roping, grave blankets, poinsettias and of course Christmas trees. Some of the poinsettias “acted” somewhat strange this year as they were a little late with the full extent of their color with some even now not quite ready to “pop out of the oven”. Growing plants for sale is much the like preparing a delicious meal from the addition of ingredients in the correct amounts, precise timing in the oven or on the stove, stirring, mixing . . .

In the plant world, fertilizing on time, trimming, keeping insects and disease at bay, soil supplements, watering, the withholding of water (sometimes) and so on to have to go together to make a quality saleable plant and the actions taken must be timely as in cooking in which one missed essential step could ruin things.

After a flurry of activity of customers ordering their grave blankets and other cemetery decorations in order to have them in place by Thanksgiving, construction is still going on of the blankets and pillows as the later placement orders come in along with keeping the ready to go stock area full for those that want to pick up and place their own decorations.

Other coming-up chores will be the shipment of a few thousand un-rooted cuttings that will have to be prepared for sticking in specially made rooting sells that we set on the heating tubes from the hot water boiler. With the soil temperatures kept at 72º - 73º the cuttings will begin to root in 1 week and will be lifted from this bottom heat in 3 weeks to prepare for geranium cuttings from our stock plants purchased last October. Even in winter the greenhouse needs attention. Plants in cold storage need attention and then there’s always something that needs fixed or painted or cleaned.

A major remodeling of the main store building seems to be going along smoothly although the building will not open until spring so that the Owl Barn market is open through the Christmas season and for the winter seminars coming up.

Time to go while the weather holds from winter’s icy grip. Instead of Black Friday, remember our many blessings that continue year round after Thanksgiving and of which we are in the habit of taking for granted.

Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - November 21, 2014

This past week’s early cold snap while aggravating is nothing compared to this week’s New York snow avalanche from the Lake Erie snow machine. As I have written before, snow is an excellent insulator for plants, winter wheat and a much needed supplier for the ground water but not 6 feet or more as in New York! At least in the mountains, I think the people of California would love to have New York snow as it would be melting during the spring and summer to replenish streams that have dried up as California goes into its third year of severe drought.

At the nursery, additional insulating covers had to be placed over perennial plants and the small azaleas that will be sold next spring. The insulating cover called microfoam (a Dupont Company trade name) keeps the azaleas relatively warm since it is 1/4" thick which seals in ground heat. This early in the season the plants are still hardening off since they have been grown all summer under high fertility and the “softness” of these beautiful plants is why we don’t sell them in fall.

As it warms up, tree guards must be applied to the trees that remain in the sales area to protect against rabbits and liquid fence will be applied to the rhododendron-azalea garden as the deer, by evidence of their hoof prints in the snow have been gathering around the plants to check them out for a later meal.

Grave blankets, wreaths and roping are all available later today with grave blanket deliveries starting on Monday. Branch collection has been a little more difficult this year but I think that it will be more in the future due to lack of supply of “branch trees”.

The Owl Barn is the only building open this Christmas season while the main store of the garden center is undergoing major renovations of lighting, flooring and painting. With Thanksgiving so late this year, the Christmas season will seem to run shorter of days up until Christmas Day.

While our cut trees will be available for viewing on Tuesday, November 26th after some are selected for customers that want a tree as soon as they come in. For us it’s back to work.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tom