Dayton "Dirt" - January 16, 2015

The snow last Monday should be welcomed by gardeners for its protective insulating blanket on plants and for the long term benefits it will provide as the result will be more water in underground aquifers on which many of us and even municipalities depend for water supplies.  This week too was a radio report on National Public Radio that the city of Des Moines, Iowa is threatening to sue three county governments nearby that are in control of drainage water coming from farms that drain into the Racoon and Des Moines rivers that the city uses for drinking water. It seems that water from the field drains contains a high level of nitrates which leaches through the soil to the drain tiles  on farms.  The nitrates are the result of farmers fertilizing their crops and the fact the nitrogen readily leaches through the soil. Nitrates have been increasing the last few years and can be found at  high levels even at the mouth of the Mississippi River as it winds through millions of acres of farmland along with its myriad tributaries.  The city of Des Moines contends that to filter the nitrates from the drinking water is expensive so that their demand is that the counties manage the farm runoff to reduce the nitrate levels. 

 

High levels of nitrates are not only detrimental to human life but are devastating to aquatic life.  The threat of the lawsuit places the problems squarely on the county governments and ultimately on farmers as they must come up with a plan to reduce the runoff from farms.

 

Here in Akron, Ohio is the forced cleanup of the Cuyahoga River by the federal EPA and a federal judge due to the city’s discharge of sewer overflows into the river after heavy rain because of miles of combined sanitary and storm sewers.  Toledo, Ohio too was in the national spotlight as phosphorus from farms in the Maumee River Valley caused massive toxic algae blooms in the area of Toledo’s water intake pipes in  Lake Erie causing the city to lose its water because of the deadly  toxins produced by the algae.  What is known as non-point source pollution of water is coming under more scrutiny as it seems that more legal battles will be not only be fought in federal court but mandates will also be put into place by the state and federal governments as they  scramble to protect ground and surface water systems.

 

There is no question that the protection of such a valuable natural resources water for drinking, irrigation, recreation and healthy aquatic life is of a top priority.  The only question is : Who will bear the cost?

 

Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - January 9, 2015

The cold weather this week is like deja vu as the first in a series of polar vortices roared in last year the very same week.  As a precaution, all the small perennial plants and grasses in the cold storage huts are insulated with a thermal blanket which when laid over the plants, tends to hold in the ground heat in order to prevent the root system from receiving the brunt of the cold blast and thus killing the root systems.

On our thousands of evergreen azaleas in another cold storage house, a thicker blanker of ¼” thick foam is laid over small cold frames made from electrical conduit.  The suspension of this microfoam over and down around the plants prevents the sometimes wet microfoam from coming in direct contact with the plant’s leaves which tends to produce leaf burning when the azaleas are uncovered in March.

In Columbus, the garden center-landscape trade show had many interesting speakers on a wide variety of topics such as that to do with marketing, production and so on.  Many of the speakers are from various universities and actual business people that combines researched knowledge with practical experiences.  I especially remember a talk by Dr. Hannah Mathers about managing water quality for the irrigation of nursery stock.  Much of what Dr. Mathers related is still in practice at the nursery today.

Next week comes another batch of annual flowers and perennial cuttings from Costa Rica that again will be stuck into prepared cells of rooting media and then placed on the heating tubes in which hot water circulates.  The temperature at the rooting zone is maintained at 72º F by a boiler in which rooting will begin in one week and completely finished in another two weeks.  Next week too is the commencement of transplanting newly rooted geranium cuttings to hanging baskets and 1 gallon pots that will be ready for sale around the first week of May.

Even now, approaching the depths of winter with so much to do, the month of May is not far off.

Tom 

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