I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving.
I remember the Thanksgiving of 1970 in which all of our family traveled to Rural Valley, Pennsylvania near Kittanning to finish cutting, bailing and loading cut Christmas trees. There was no turkey and stuffing that year as we got so behind on the work and we just had to work in the field to catch up.
Poinsettias are coloring up nicely as the bracts, which are modified leaves, are just about through expanding and donning their crisp colors of red, white, pink, marble and burgundy. Poinsettias, like Chrysanthemums, are sensitive to day length in that short days signal them to bloom.
Poinsettias will not bloom if held over from the previous year if they have interruption from a light at night.
In fact, years ago when Yoder Brothers of Barberton used to grow poinsettias along Van Buren Ave., I remember an article in the Akron Beacon Journal in which the city of Barberton shut off street lights adjacent to Yoder’s greenhouse so that the red light emanating from the lamps would not prevent the poinsettias from blooming.
Its okay to hill up your more tender teas and floribunda roses with bark mulch to at least a depth of 10-12” for winter protection of the bud union near ground level. You will not have to do this mounding with shrub roses such as the knockout series as they are on their own roots and perfectly winter hardy.
Years ago Melvin Wyant of Wyant’s Roses in Mentor, Ohio told me that no matter what you do for winter protection of tea roses, you should expect to lose at least 10% of them.
In fact, his observations led them to believe that yellow roses especially are weaker by nature.
In Wolf Creek Gardens, some of our Rhododendrons are in wind swept areas so that we have put up some burlap screening to break the force of the wind to prevent leaf burning.
You see those big leaves transpire a lot of water and the plants cannot take up water from frozen soil.
It’s not too early to shop for a cut tree as you’re able to get the best selection and we’re able to hold it for you for later pick up or delivery and setup if you’re not ready yet.
I’ve got to go!
Tom
Monday, November 30, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Dayton "Dirt" November 20, 2009
Even though everything has just about shut down for winter, our Azaleas, Rhododendron and Mountain Laurel “youngsters”, many of which we propagated last summer, are doing well in a cool greenhouse as they are developing quite a root system.
We give them a low concentration of a liquid feed we mix up ourselves that is a “dark weather” feed as it is high in nitrate nitrogen as opposed to the ammonium form of which is commonly used in the warm growing season. Your houseplants would do well with a fertilizer low in ammonical nitrogen too at this time of year as there is less chance of root injury.
We’re in full swing now into making grave blankets and I’ll be delivering many to local cemeteries just before Thanksgiving.
I always call my customer after I deliver their blanket or grave pillow and I remember on one occasion that I delivered one to Greenlawn cemetery in which the customer called me back to tell me that there was no blanket on the grave!
I remember specifically placing the blanket on that particular grave then when I returned to check out the problem, someone had dragged the blanket 300 feet to the east to another grave as evidenced by the snow trail.
Fortunately, the above problem is rare, at least at Christmas time.
This year I’ll miss my uncle George as we traveled together to Burton, Ohio to decorate the graves of my great grandparents Susan and George L. Dayton and then drove south about a hundred miles to Coshocoton to decorate the grave of my great uncle Hughe Dayton. Unfortunately, my Uncle George will need a blanket on his grave as he passed away in March.
Maybe you have potatoes and some other root vegetables in the ground or stored and some canned goods or frozen vegetables that came out of your garden. Just think how wonderful it will be when you can show off your own produce to your extended family and friends at Thanksgiving!
Our cut trees will be her next week and will start setting them up for sale the day after Thanksgiving.
Even though for most of us, 2009 hasn’t been that great financially. Just remember to count your blessings as they almost always outweigh the negatives.
Happy gardening,
Tom
We give them a low concentration of a liquid feed we mix up ourselves that is a “dark weather” feed as it is high in nitrate nitrogen as opposed to the ammonium form of which is commonly used in the warm growing season. Your houseplants would do well with a fertilizer low in ammonical nitrogen too at this time of year as there is less chance of root injury.
We’re in full swing now into making grave blankets and I’ll be delivering many to local cemeteries just before Thanksgiving.
I always call my customer after I deliver their blanket or grave pillow and I remember on one occasion that I delivered one to Greenlawn cemetery in which the customer called me back to tell me that there was no blanket on the grave!
I remember specifically placing the blanket on that particular grave then when I returned to check out the problem, someone had dragged the blanket 300 feet to the east to another grave as evidenced by the snow trail.
Fortunately, the above problem is rare, at least at Christmas time.
This year I’ll miss my uncle George as we traveled together to Burton, Ohio to decorate the graves of my great grandparents Susan and George L. Dayton and then drove south about a hundred miles to Coshocoton to decorate the grave of my great uncle Hughe Dayton. Unfortunately, my Uncle George will need a blanket on his grave as he passed away in March.
Maybe you have potatoes and some other root vegetables in the ground or stored and some canned goods or frozen vegetables that came out of your garden. Just think how wonderful it will be when you can show off your own produce to your extended family and friends at Thanksgiving!
Our cut trees will be her next week and will start setting them up for sale the day after Thanksgiving.
Even though for most of us, 2009 hasn’t been that great financially. Just remember to count your blessings as they almost always outweigh the negatives.
Happy gardening,
Tom
Friday, November 13, 2009
Dayton "Dirt" November 13, 2009
I guess it seems foolish to some at the nursery but I am all excited about storing our creeping phlox and German iris in a winter storage house with roll up sides for cross ventilation. You see, these two types of plants are notorious for getting a rot known as botrytis that is difficult to control when conditions are dark and humid in the storage house. I’m excited because I’m confident the plants will love it and our customers will benefit from better quality stock.
Another item that we grew are laceleaf maples in a 7 gallon container that will explode in growth in May due to their huge root system. These maples are grafted at about 30” in height so that their finished height will normally be between 4 and 6 feet and just about as wide.
They’re full and robust and we’ll be able to offer them at less cost than a comparable balled and burlapped size.
Next spring, almost all of our fruit trees will be established in a 7 gallon container with two varieties of apples that are red and delicious tasting called Liberty and Pristine. What makes these two varieties special is that they are resistant to many pests and diseases that affect other apple trees so that they would be great to plant for you organic gardeners out there.
Our pick-you-own blueberries are closer to becoming a reality in that we have prepared the ground for next spring’s planting of Patriot, Earliblue and Hardiblue varieties. Once they get going, we’ll sell them already picked in our new barn with other home-grown produce with plenty of healthy “brainberries” left to pick yourself.
I call blueberries “brainberries” sometimes as scientists have proven by experiment that blueberries help to maintain one’s cognitive abilities.
I think even better is that they just taste so good!
Just a reminder, remember to give any of your plants underneath and overhang a good deep watering, as if they go into winter on the dry side, they may not live until spring because the cold air of winter has a profound drying effect on evergreens especially.
Tom
Another item that we grew are laceleaf maples in a 7 gallon container that will explode in growth in May due to their huge root system. These maples are grafted at about 30” in height so that their finished height will normally be between 4 and 6 feet and just about as wide.
They’re full and robust and we’ll be able to offer them at less cost than a comparable balled and burlapped size.
Next spring, almost all of our fruit trees will be established in a 7 gallon container with two varieties of apples that are red and delicious tasting called Liberty and Pristine. What makes these two varieties special is that they are resistant to many pests and diseases that affect other apple trees so that they would be great to plant for you organic gardeners out there.
Our pick-you-own blueberries are closer to becoming a reality in that we have prepared the ground for next spring’s planting of Patriot, Earliblue and Hardiblue varieties. Once they get going, we’ll sell them already picked in our new barn with other home-grown produce with plenty of healthy “brainberries” left to pick yourself.
I call blueberries “brainberries” sometimes as scientists have proven by experiment that blueberries help to maintain one’s cognitive abilities.
I think even better is that they just taste so good!
Just a reminder, remember to give any of your plants underneath and overhang a good deep watering, as if they go into winter on the dry side, they may not live until spring because the cold air of winter has a profound drying effect on evergreens especially.
Tom
Friday, November 6, 2009
Dayton "Dirt" November 6, 2009
The days have grown short and its time to finish your fall gardening chores before the winter snow sets in.
This weekend is the last time I would put on a winterizer fertilizer on your lawn as putting it on later might negate the beneficial effects of the nitrogen and potassium portions of the fertilizer as they are readily leached through the soil because of falling ground temperatures in which the lawn grasses cannot pick up and store these nutrients.
You still have plenty of time to plant Holland flower bulbs as they will have plenty of time to root in this fall and then produce their promise of spring which is already inside the bulb.
It is still too early to cover tea and floribunda roses with a heavy mulch for winter protection but you can trim any rose now (except climbers) to prevent wind whipping.
A trim to about 2-3 feet is all that is needed for shrub, tea or floribunda types.
We’re now in the process of collecting branches for grave blankets and have already cut scotch pine for our cascading types of blankets.
We use Colorado Spruce for other types of blankets but we don’t like to cut the branches too early as they tend to shed needles when processed inside the greenhouse.
Our Christmas trees will be coming from southern Ohio again this year but will not include any Douglas Fir or Concolor Fir due to a late frost that killed the new growth on these trees.
The dead growth is just hanging on the trees even now and doesn’t make a pretty picture although the trees should look fine next year after a flush of growth in May.
We’re just about buttoned up for winter and planting, mulching and building in Wolf Creek Gardens and our new building is going strong.
Already I’m excited about this coming spring as I know its around the corner once February has passed.
Tom
This weekend is the last time I would put on a winterizer fertilizer on your lawn as putting it on later might negate the beneficial effects of the nitrogen and potassium portions of the fertilizer as they are readily leached through the soil because of falling ground temperatures in which the lawn grasses cannot pick up and store these nutrients.
You still have plenty of time to plant Holland flower bulbs as they will have plenty of time to root in this fall and then produce their promise of spring which is already inside the bulb.
It is still too early to cover tea and floribunda roses with a heavy mulch for winter protection but you can trim any rose now (except climbers) to prevent wind whipping.
A trim to about 2-3 feet is all that is needed for shrub, tea or floribunda types.
We’re now in the process of collecting branches for grave blankets and have already cut scotch pine for our cascading types of blankets.
We use Colorado Spruce for other types of blankets but we don’t like to cut the branches too early as they tend to shed needles when processed inside the greenhouse.
Our Christmas trees will be coming from southern Ohio again this year but will not include any Douglas Fir or Concolor Fir due to a late frost that killed the new growth on these trees.
The dead growth is just hanging on the trees even now and doesn’t make a pretty picture although the trees should look fine next year after a flush of growth in May.
We’re just about buttoned up for winter and planting, mulching and building in Wolf Creek Gardens and our new building is going strong.
Already I’m excited about this coming spring as I know its around the corner once February has passed.
Tom
Friday, October 30, 2009
Dayton "Dirt" Green Blog November, 2009
According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, some aspects of the green energy industry are not so green. Most notably, it is that windmills are killing our birds!
The most notorious wind farm for bird killing according to the article is located at Altamont Pass, California in which estimates are as high as 10,000 birds being killed every year.
Michael Fry, of the American Bird Conservancy, estimates that wind turbines kill between 75,000 and 275,000 birds per year.
Environmental groups are pushing for a twelve fold increase of generating capacity from wind by 2030 so that we might possibly expect a twelve fold increase in the slaughter of birds from wind turbines.
Oil companies that have been found guilty of killing birds that come into contact with crude oil or other residues from oil operations have received stiff fines under the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Even electric utilities such as Pacificorp have paid fines for electrocuting 232 eagles in Wyoming over a two year period because of poorly designed power lines.
What is interesting about the wind turbine industry is that there have been no prosecutions for killing birds as required by the 1918 law. According to Mr. Fry, “Somebody has given the wind industry a get-out-of-jail-free card”.
According to the wind industry’s website, the number of birds killed is small when compared to the number (about 1 billion) that are killed by cats every year.
Robert Bryce, the author of this article, notes that the lawn does not require cats to appear in court and be prosecuted as it would the wind industry.
Rob Lee, of the Fish and Wildlife Service was a lead investigator of bird kills in western oil fields. According to Mr. Lee, solving bird problems in the oil fields was easy and cheap whereas the fix for the wind turbine industry is not easy or cheap.
A larger question according to Robert Bryce who is also the managing editor of Energy Tribune, is why a federal law is being applied with a double standard as federal officials turn a blind eye to the harm done by “green” energy while slapping heavy fines on other industries for bird kills.
The most notorious wind farm for bird killing according to the article is located at Altamont Pass, California in which estimates are as high as 10,000 birds being killed every year.
Michael Fry, of the American Bird Conservancy, estimates that wind turbines kill between 75,000 and 275,000 birds per year.
Environmental groups are pushing for a twelve fold increase of generating capacity from wind by 2030 so that we might possibly expect a twelve fold increase in the slaughter of birds from wind turbines.
Oil companies that have been found guilty of killing birds that come into contact with crude oil or other residues from oil operations have received stiff fines under the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Even electric utilities such as Pacificorp have paid fines for electrocuting 232 eagles in Wyoming over a two year period because of poorly designed power lines.
What is interesting about the wind turbine industry is that there have been no prosecutions for killing birds as required by the 1918 law. According to Mr. Fry, “Somebody has given the wind industry a get-out-of-jail-free card”.
According to the wind industry’s website, the number of birds killed is small when compared to the number (about 1 billion) that are killed by cats every year.
Robert Bryce, the author of this article, notes that the lawn does not require cats to appear in court and be prosecuted as it would the wind industry.
Rob Lee, of the Fish and Wildlife Service was a lead investigator of bird kills in western oil fields. According to Mr. Lee, solving bird problems in the oil fields was easy and cheap whereas the fix for the wind turbine industry is not easy or cheap.
A larger question according to Robert Bryce who is also the managing editor of Energy Tribune, is why a federal law is being applied with a double standard as federal officials turn a blind eye to the harm done by “green” energy while slapping heavy fines on other industries for bird kills.
Dayton "Dirt" October 30, 2009
With the generally wet and cool October, it has made it more difficult to get all the fall gardening chores done.
At the nursery, we’re just about done potting trees and shrubs for this season. Some new plants that we bought and potted in our greenhouse won’t be ready for sale for at least two to three years such as a new red Mountain Laurel called ‘Firecracker’, a compact yellow Rhododendron called ‘Big Deal’ and a deciduous Azalea that is orange and yellow called ‘Arneson’s Gem’.
These items are just the “tip of the iceberg” of what will be new for 2011 and 2012.
Another nursery chore is putting the trees and shrubs to “bed” that we grew this summer for next spring’s sales. The plants will go into an over-wintering Quonset type structure that will be covered with white polyethylene plastic that will keep the wind and extreme cold off the plants even with no heat in the structures.
Some young stock such as our rooted cuttings from the summer will require a layer of ¼” thick foam to keep them a little warmer so that the bark does not crack on the young plants.
The green roof on our new building has caused quite a stir as many of the persons coming off the street try to figure it out.
I have even heard a comment from the local hardware that some think there are leaves on the porch roof!
Green roof’s are not really that unusual as they city of Chicago has a green roof on city hall as well as scattered green roofs in Columbus and Cleveland State University.
In fact, Stuggart, Germany requires a green roof for projects exceeding certain limits of size.
I’ll be sure to do a more detailed explanation of this roof when I see you at our winter seminars this winter.
Happy Gardening,
Tom
At the nursery, we’re just about done potting trees and shrubs for this season. Some new plants that we bought and potted in our greenhouse won’t be ready for sale for at least two to three years such as a new red Mountain Laurel called ‘Firecracker’, a compact yellow Rhododendron called ‘Big Deal’ and a deciduous Azalea that is orange and yellow called ‘Arneson’s Gem’.
These items are just the “tip of the iceberg” of what will be new for 2011 and 2012.
Another nursery chore is putting the trees and shrubs to “bed” that we grew this summer for next spring’s sales. The plants will go into an over-wintering Quonset type structure that will be covered with white polyethylene plastic that will keep the wind and extreme cold off the plants even with no heat in the structures.
Some young stock such as our rooted cuttings from the summer will require a layer of ¼” thick foam to keep them a little warmer so that the bark does not crack on the young plants.
The green roof on our new building has caused quite a stir as many of the persons coming off the street try to figure it out.
I have even heard a comment from the local hardware that some think there are leaves on the porch roof!
Green roof’s are not really that unusual as they city of Chicago has a green roof on city hall as well as scattered green roofs in Columbus and Cleveland State University.
In fact, Stuggart, Germany requires a green roof for projects exceeding certain limits of size.
I’ll be sure to do a more detailed explanation of this roof when I see you at our winter seminars this winter.
Happy Gardening,
Tom
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Dayton "Dirt" October 23, 2009
The construction of our new barn is going well and I’m particularly excited about the completion of our green roof porch. The multi-colors of the Sedum’s foliage will make the roof appear as Joseph’s Coat, the coat of many colors.
This green roof will reduce water runoff as it will absorb the water and release it slowly.
The other practical aspects of this type of roof is that it evens out temperature extremes on the roof liner which extends the life of the liner.
With the green mass, the inside of a building will remain much cooler due to the evaporation of water from the plants and the absence of a baking hot surface as is the usual case.
We’re in full sway of putting away our backstock of plants and will be putting away the stock for sale next week so that we may start covering our storage houses with white overwintering plastic in early November.
We’ve bought and grown a lot of stock for next spring’s opening and have to be very careful to ventilate the houses and to even water them in the depths of winter.
Rodents can be a problem even though we catch many in mouse traps.
I prefer the storage of plants even with all its headaches as I am able to hand pick the best stock in the fall for later spring sales.
Enjoy the fall as soon Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here!
Tom
This green roof will reduce water runoff as it will absorb the water and release it slowly.
The other practical aspects of this type of roof is that it evens out temperature extremes on the roof liner which extends the life of the liner.
With the green mass, the inside of a building will remain much cooler due to the evaporation of water from the plants and the absence of a baking hot surface as is the usual case.
We’re in full sway of putting away our backstock of plants and will be putting away the stock for sale next week so that we may start covering our storage houses with white overwintering plastic in early November.
We’ve bought and grown a lot of stock for next spring’s opening and have to be very careful to ventilate the houses and to even water them in the depths of winter.
Rodents can be a problem even though we catch many in mouse traps.
I prefer the storage of plants even with all its headaches as I am able to hand pick the best stock in the fall for later spring sales.
Enjoy the fall as soon Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here!
Tom
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