Dayton "Dirt" - August 28, 2015

The Igloo mums are finally ready and now adorn the sales area in front of the store so that now, the age-old question about mums of "will they come back next spring?", can be answered with a resounding yes! The Igloos are actually a Dendrantemum and not a Chrysanthemum that gives them  ironclad hardiness.  The other benefit of the Igloo mums is that they bloom somewhat in late June and July and then can be cut back to display a full bloom in early September.

Next Friday at 7:30 am is the start of our annual 50% off sale of trees, shrubs, roses and perennials Garden Club Members only for the first 4 days after which the sale is open to everyone.  Again, just a reminder that no notice of this sale will be via a postcard so that our mass e-mails will notify most Garden Club Members of the sale as we do now our other specials.  Garden Club Members that do not have e-mail and are interested in periodic e-mail blasts should forward their address as soon as possible.  Hopefully those members without e-mail will be notified by friensd and relatives.  Non Garden Club Members, as always, may take advantage of the sale as long as they sign up the same day.

Look for the list of items on sale on Thurs, Sept 3rd and remember, inventory usually is depleted quickly so get here early!

The word at the nursery is mums, mums and more mums with cabbage, kale and perennial aster included as fall is at hand.

Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - August 16, 2015

With Labor Day approaching, many customers are looking forward to our annual clearance sale in which many items will be 50% off the regular price. As always, not everything will be on sale as much of the stock is grown here and will be stored for sales next spring. All items that are 50% off will be clearly marked and once they are sold there will be no more available. For the very best selection, it’s best to arrive early on the first day of the sale. A listing of sale items will be available on the internet on Thursday afternoon, Sept. 3rd and in printed form on the opening Friday of the sale; however, the list will be updated only about every 2-3 days as we take stock of what has been sold. One thing different about the sale this year is that we will e-mail all of the garden club members that will get first choice of the sale items for the first three days of the sale and then on Monday, members and non-members of the garden club are  eligible for the sale prices. We have discontinued the mailing of postcards as the cost of postage is astronomical! Our hope is that those of you without e-mail will receive the message via friends and  relatives that do have e-mail. The thousands of dollars saved in postage costs can then be passed on in additional savings and “deals” instead of transferring these dollars to the post office. The “Big Sale” begins Friday, September 4th when the gates open at 7:30 a.m. Hope to see you  there! We’re hoping to restock some out of stock items such as arborvitae and Green Giant Western Red Cedars before the sale but may not be able to do it due to the dry weather. More “tweaks” of the grounds are going on and the seemingly never ending potting of trees, shrubs and perennials for next year’s sales. Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - August 7, 2015

At the nursery this past week and next is the word “plant”. Thousands of perennials are now being potted to supplement our spring potted crop of plants so that sales in May begin earlier in spring.  With the hard winter, some species of perennials have not done well being overwintered above ground in pots so that cold frames to suspend a ¼” thick insulating of a product called microfoam will be suspended over the product in addition to the protection of the white layer of plastic over the overwintering structure which in effect is a cold frame within a cold frame.  This structure will further insulate the root system of the plants from extreme cold and yet allow aeration of the structure to keep down fungus disease.

Repair and maintenance of almost all the equipment is completed as it’s constant and hard use during the rushed spring season is over. The propagation of numerous shrubs is complete while the cuttings sit under intermittent mist which will root most of them in about 6-8 weeks.  A concern for customers is the presence of crabgrass in the lawn even after a pre-emergent crabgrass killer was applied in April.  The reason for this annual grass spreading over lawns is the fact that a crabgrass preventer does prevent germination of this weed up to 95% but the remaining 5% has grown prolifically from the more than adequate rainfall resulting in the phenomenal growth of the survivors!  One preventive measure to perform with the return of normal, drier weather would be to stir any hardwood bark mulch with a rake, fertilize the bed with the addition of 10 lbs. of 10-10-10 fertilizer per 1000 ft² and then the watering of this area to prevent the shotgun fungus that will spot siding on the house with a sticky resin that is nearly impossible to remove.  By fertilizing and watering the mulch, bacteria will begin to grow and are able to subdue this nasty fungal pest that seems to thrive in drier hardwood mulches.

With the August sun comes quick ripening of peppers and tomatoes that will overwhelm everyone as freezing and canning of the vegetable bounty of the garden moves into full swing.

Well, the motto at the nursery is to “pot on” as late August and September will bring another set of chores.

Tom