It seems so strange that it’s only one week until Christmas.
We still have a decent selection of Fraser Fir and Scotch Pine and as I stated before, they are all Ohio fresh! One of the box stores in Wadsworth had an advertisement for inexpensive (cheap) cut trees in which the ad states that the trees were fresh and shipped weekly to the store. I went to inspect these “bargains” and found they were not fresh at all but instead ready to burn!
I know before I would take a tree into my house like that I would put up an artificial.
We don’t have a cut-your-own operation of Christmas trees but if you really want to cut your own, I would recommend Galehouse Tree Farm in Doylestown as their name has been synonymous with Christmas trees for years and years.
It’s still not too late to take a soil test in your lawn or garden or the spread if you need it to raise the pH of the soil.
I’m very excited about showing off our new barn when those of you coming for seminars this winter will be able to see it. I think you’ll like everything about it but right now I don’t like the acoustics as the sound is bouncing off the wooden walls and ceilings.
I have to figure out a solution before the seminars begin (at least I hope to work out a solution)
If you come over to buy a cut tree we’ll be happy to put a fresh cut on the trunk if you’re going to put it up the same day.
We’re still making and delivering grave blankets and wreaths to local cemeteries until noon on Christmas Eve as long as the cemetery office is open in case I have trouble finding the grave site.
I must apologize that we sold out of many wreaths and white pine roping early in the season. When I called for a second, fresher batch of roping on December 3rd, the major supplier for all of Northeast Ohio stated they had sold out and that there would be no more!
Hopefully everyone has all the Christmas shopping done by now. I am “one of those” that waits until the last minute as I really don’t like to shop.
For unusual gifts, the Christkindl Market in downtown Akron is interesting as some of the vendors are from Akron’s sister city in Germany called Chemnitz where many family industries are busily making high quality Christmas ornaments as they have for generations.
Well, hope to see you soon.
Tom
Friday, December 18, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Dayton "Dirt" - December 11, 2009
It’s strange but there is a definite pattern to business that only changes slowly over the years.
Our cut Scotch Pine trees are beginning to sell now where as before, only our Fraser Firs were the hot sellers.
Unfortunately, we don’t have Concolor Fir and Douglas Fir this year as a severe frost in May killed the new growth on the trees.
The frosted growth is still hanging on the trees and doesn’t do anything for the saleability of these trees so that we decided to skip a year.
Its not too late to order an artificial or live wreath or grave blanket for delivery or pick up as we will still make and customize the decorations according to your specifications even up to and including Christmas Eve.
If you want one shipped to a distant locality though, it’s best to allow 5 business days.
One of the most beautiful poinsettias this year is called Ice Crystals in which the flower bracts are dark pink with a pale pink to white radiating from the midrib of the bract.
This variety seems to be a favorite of the Cleveland Botanical Garden this year as it is quite unusual as well as beautiful.
For those of you who want to keep a poinsettia from year to year, my advice to you is to throw the plant out unless you enjoy playing with it to get it to bloom next year.
I know that I would never mess with left over poinsettias the next year as to me it’s not worth the hassle.
Be sure not to let your cut tree run out of water as sometimes once a tree runs out of water, it won’t “drink” anymore.
If you haven’t covered your tea or floribunda roses yet, get with it as they do need winter protection.
As the snow falls and doesn’t leave the ground, hungry deer will be chomping on your shrubs such as Taxus, Rhododendron and certain deciduous shrubs so be sure to spray them with Liquid Fence as directed the next dry day that is above freezing.
We had a problem with deer in the Rhododendron-Azalea garden a few years back but the Liquid Fence product has kept them at bay.
It works too on the thousands of tulips at the nursery as were sure to apply the product just as the plants emerge in spring.
If you have deer in your area and have tulips emerging, one day the bulbs will be fine and the next morning they’ll be chomped to bits down to the ground so be sure to mark some required action on your gardening calendar or download our online calendar for your convenience.
Hope for snow!
Tom
Our cut Scotch Pine trees are beginning to sell now where as before, only our Fraser Firs were the hot sellers.
Unfortunately, we don’t have Concolor Fir and Douglas Fir this year as a severe frost in May killed the new growth on the trees.
The frosted growth is still hanging on the trees and doesn’t do anything for the saleability of these trees so that we decided to skip a year.
Its not too late to order an artificial or live wreath or grave blanket for delivery or pick up as we will still make and customize the decorations according to your specifications even up to and including Christmas Eve.
If you want one shipped to a distant locality though, it’s best to allow 5 business days.
One of the most beautiful poinsettias this year is called Ice Crystals in which the flower bracts are dark pink with a pale pink to white radiating from the midrib of the bract.
This variety seems to be a favorite of the Cleveland Botanical Garden this year as it is quite unusual as well as beautiful.
For those of you who want to keep a poinsettia from year to year, my advice to you is to throw the plant out unless you enjoy playing with it to get it to bloom next year.
I know that I would never mess with left over poinsettias the next year as to me it’s not worth the hassle.
Be sure not to let your cut tree run out of water as sometimes once a tree runs out of water, it won’t “drink” anymore.
If you haven’t covered your tea or floribunda roses yet, get with it as they do need winter protection.
As the snow falls and doesn’t leave the ground, hungry deer will be chomping on your shrubs such as Taxus, Rhododendron and certain deciduous shrubs so be sure to spray them with Liquid Fence as directed the next dry day that is above freezing.
We had a problem with deer in the Rhododendron-Azalea garden a few years back but the Liquid Fence product has kept them at bay.
It works too on the thousands of tulips at the nursery as were sure to apply the product just as the plants emerge in spring.
If you have deer in your area and have tulips emerging, one day the bulbs will be fine and the next morning they’ll be chomped to bits down to the ground so be sure to mark some required action on your gardening calendar or download our online calendar for your convenience.
Hope for snow!
Tom
Dayton "Dirt" - December 6, 2009
With the first week of December almost over, the Christmas season seems like its in full swing.
Cut tree buyers are looking for that elusive perfect tree but I always remind myself that a tree that looks “perfect” to me does not to someone else as all of us have our own particular idea of perfection or beauty.
In my opinion, if a cut Christmas tree is too thickly branched, it would look good out in the yard but not as a Christmas tree as ornaments will tend to lay on the tree instead of hanging.
An old-fashioned Christmas would have included handmade ornaments for the tree as well as a garland made from cranberries or popcorn strung together with a needle.
I can remember asking my parents for a Huffy bicycle made in Cleveland that I saw in the Kresge store in the Norton shopping center.
I asked my mother to look at the bicycle and I can still remember her asking me how much it cost to which I replied $19.95.
My mother said “My, that’s so expensive!”
Finally after two and one half years I received the bike as a Christmas present and I still have it!
Fraser Firs are still the favorite cut Christmas tree as they rarely shed needles and are easy to decorate with their soft pliable needles.
Colorado Spruce on the other hand are very sharp needled and generally don’t hold their needles as well.
In some University controlled tests, researchers concluded that the best way to keep your tree fresh is to use plain water.
In fact, many of the different tree preservatives tested actually hastened the deterioration of the tree.
It is important that you make a fresh cut in the trunk of your tree just before you place it in the stand which helps the tree to intake water.
Be sure you do not shave the outer bark from the tree if it won’t fit your stand as the tree for sure will not take up water.
It is best to have the right size stand for the particular tree size but I always liked a stand larger than recommended as it is much easier to stand a tree straight than one that has a crooked trunk.
I have already told you about the Cinco brand of tree stand as it does work extremely well especially when you have a tree with a crooked trunk.
With a Cinco stand, there is no need to upgrade to the next size up as this stand’s design has plenty of room available for adjustment.
As with the past years’, our trees are all from the State of Ohio because I can be sure of the freshness and not worry about the harvesting being done too early as many times it is with big operations farther north.
Happy tree hunting,
Tom
Cut tree buyers are looking for that elusive perfect tree but I always remind myself that a tree that looks “perfect” to me does not to someone else as all of us have our own particular idea of perfection or beauty.
In my opinion, if a cut Christmas tree is too thickly branched, it would look good out in the yard but not as a Christmas tree as ornaments will tend to lay on the tree instead of hanging.
An old-fashioned Christmas would have included handmade ornaments for the tree as well as a garland made from cranberries or popcorn strung together with a needle.
I can remember asking my parents for a Huffy bicycle made in Cleveland that I saw in the Kresge store in the Norton shopping center.
I asked my mother to look at the bicycle and I can still remember her asking me how much it cost to which I replied $19.95.
My mother said “My, that’s so expensive!”
Finally after two and one half years I received the bike as a Christmas present and I still have it!
Fraser Firs are still the favorite cut Christmas tree as they rarely shed needles and are easy to decorate with their soft pliable needles.
Colorado Spruce on the other hand are very sharp needled and generally don’t hold their needles as well.
In some University controlled tests, researchers concluded that the best way to keep your tree fresh is to use plain water.
In fact, many of the different tree preservatives tested actually hastened the deterioration of the tree.
It is important that you make a fresh cut in the trunk of your tree just before you place it in the stand which helps the tree to intake water.
Be sure you do not shave the outer bark from the tree if it won’t fit your stand as the tree for sure will not take up water.
It is best to have the right size stand for the particular tree size but I always liked a stand larger than recommended as it is much easier to stand a tree straight than one that has a crooked trunk.
I have already told you about the Cinco brand of tree stand as it does work extremely well especially when you have a tree with a crooked trunk.
With a Cinco stand, there is no need to upgrade to the next size up as this stand’s design has plenty of room available for adjustment.
As with the past years’, our trees are all from the State of Ohio because I can be sure of the freshness and not worry about the harvesting being done too early as many times it is with big operations farther north.
Happy tree hunting,
Tom
Monday, November 30, 2009
Dayton "Dirt" November 27, 2009
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
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
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
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