Costco has their summer bulbs and bare roots in!
I came home with a bag of calla lily bulbs. It was a great value -- $11 for 6 bulbs, and they had Picasso, my favorite calla. This is better than even ADR prices. I almost bought all 3 varieties of mixed callas.
PLANT ADDICTS CHAT #5
This reminds me that i wanted to tell you all that HD now carries
Corn Gluten weed killer. It is a regular sized bag on the shelf.
I don't remember the price...maybe $12-something???
G.
Does that corn gluten work as well as RU?
Corn gluten does not kill anything, it prevents seed germination. Since crab grass is an annual, that keeps it out of your lawn. For proper timing, apply when Forsythia in blooming. Corn gluten has the the added benefit of being a protein. As it breaks down it slowly releases nitrogen, greening up your lawn without overstimulating it and making it susceptible disease like most commercial "lawn foods". Also, it does not result in fertilizer runoff getting into the bay.
Interesting. Thanks for the facts. If I apply it in addition to what the lawn company does, will it burn or damage my lawn?
Because of its nature, it cannot burn your lawn or damage it in any other way.
Alright thanks!!
Why fertilize your lawn, Sequoia? You'll just have to mow it more often ; - )
The single best thing you can do for your lawn is get it aerated every year, making sure the clay plugs are raked away and replaced with an organic "top dressing".
I use corn gluten on mine; the stuff really works!
Glad to hear a positive review on it, Muddy! I'd heard it worked "sort of," better than nothing but not half as well as Preen (for landscape beds) of Haltz (for lawns, to prevent crabgrass). No harm in trying it, as Sally pointed out!
It has eliminated the crab grass in my sister's lawn and it does well enough as a slow release nitrogen source that they no longer engage a lawn service to fertilize in the spring.
Yeah I'll have to give it a look this spring. It would be nice to have a weed free lawn, something I am yet unfamiliar with at this house.
FYI--
The bag HD now carries is small--like all their other shelf-size garden
products. maybe 2-3lbs.
Will try to remember to check today. G.
If I remember the cost and rate, it gets 'to be an investment ' when you do it on a half acre lot.. I'll have to consider it as such, an investment in an organic lawn.
Can I apply it with a rotary spreader?
FYI--
I looked and looked today and I no longer could find it.
I checked all places in garden where it could be. Nothing!
Not even an empty spot on a shelf.
I KNOW it was sitting there with a price tag on the shelf below it.
Tony even was helping me look for it.
Verrrrrryyyy intersting....G.
Here it is! I ordered this online from Home Depot last night because this discussion reminded me that it's that time: this needs to be applied when Forsythia blooms http://www.homedepot.com/p/Green-It-64-oz-Ready-to-Spray-Liquid-Corn-Gluten-Weed-Preventer-4002710/203148546?N=5yc1vZc5um
I can't remember if it's exactly the same brand, but last year I also used a sprayable corn gluten product that I ordered from HD.
The year before, I used granular corn gluten from Gardens Alive, but I read a review saying that the liquid kind was better. I also liked not having to pay postage. HD lets you pick up online orders for free at the store.
$22 for 2,000 sq ft. I'm calculating- we need 6 or 7 of them. Considering that we have a female dog, my personal vote is we spend the money on flowers, not lawn. LOL
Here's HD's granular corn gluten weed preventer: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Concern-5-lb-Weed-Prevention-Plus-Bag-97181/202672702?MERCH=REC-_-NavPLPHorizontal1_rr-_-NA-_-202672702-_-N
My big "ah-hah!" moment was when I realized that all of the chemicals my lawn company was putting down were killing the earthworms along with the grubs...and I was paying them to put weed control products on my weed-free lawn.
I agree, if your lawn doesn't bother you, why bother getting rid of the weeds?
Muddy, your lawn "service" killing the earthworms means less aeration and less organics in the soil, so you pay them to have your lawn fed and you pay someone for aeration.
Here is a better seed starting mix HD has this spring.
This shows a 10qts. bag. fpr $3.97
The one in the stores is a bit bigger-12qt. and costs $5.97.
http://www.homedepot.com/s/seed%2520starter%2520mix?NCNI-5
We did not have this before. I bought a bag today--feels so soft and fluffy....
G.
I found I still have a hunk of coir. I mixed it with some potting mix and it seems like a nice moist but draining mix for my seeds.
Sally-
A VEY informed gardener (customer) was buying the huge bag of vermiculite
today to grow his seeds in. Talking a huge amount of seeds here...
We chatted a bit--and he likes to mic it about 50/50 with potting Mix and likes it.
I also read on some Thread here that vermiculite id better for seed starting
then Perlite--as it holds moisture longer...
OK! Just spitting this out for you all...g.
greenthumb, you're right, that's why I stopped that lawn care program years ago. The earthworms were dying and the grubs were thriving because they like compacted soil. The lawn company's standard solution is more chemicals to kill the grubs, of course!
All I've been doing since then is using corn gluten meal to keep weeds from sprouting, getting the lawn aerated every year, mowing at 3", letting most grass clippings stay on the lawn, and seeding bare areas.
11.98 for a 5lb bag? Eesh..it only does 250 sq ft per bag. That's way too much money to spend on such a product.
Seq, I agree; the liquid form is a much better deal: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Green-It-64-oz-Ready-to-Spray-Liquid-Corn-Gluten-Weed-Preventer-4002710/203148546?N=5yc1vZc5um
Lawn companies would charge $60-80 to put weed control on my lawn, so for me it's much much cheaper to buy 2 containers of the liquid corn gluten. $21.97 covers 2000 sq.ft.
Ok, that's a lot more reasonable. I suppose I could just spray problem spots.
So I've run into a dilemma already at the start of the season. I was so enamored with my blooming Witchazels and Loretta's pics of her 'Diane' that I went out and bought one without a thought of where it would go in the yard. Well I decided that I would edit our Dragon Eye Pine as it does not seem to like our cold winters and I don't want to have to baby it. Great, problem solved! Now a new problem; I was banging around the internet and got all excited about Magnolias. So I was checking out what Whitman Farms has to offer, originally looking for a yellow variety. This was until I came upon Magnolia sieboldii ‘Colossus’. Now I'm thinking I'll put that where I was going to put the Witchazel, but now what do I do with the Witchazel?!?!!?
Tough decisions but I know how I am. I'm probably going to buy the Colossus and just stick the Witchazel somewhere else. Ugh, the day and the life of a plant addict/hoarder.
Among all the shrubs we have had come in--I spotted a Witchazel in full bloom.
AND--I knew what it was! Thanks to you all...
There were 2 of them--just one all yellow. $59.98.
G.
Did it smell good, Gita? That seems to vary with the cultivar, maybe even within the cultivar... I bought mine when it wasn't blooming, and although it's grown into a nice little tree, I'm still bummed that it's scentless.
Jeff , this was interesting. And don't think the site name means it isn't worthy.
http://overplanted.com/profiles/magnolia-colossus.php
I scored 9 Alleghany pachysandra (a native groundcover I've been looking for) for $2 each at a fancy garden center... I came across one in a 4 inch pot, marked down to $7 from $10, and I asked if there were others. The staffer thought not, but he looked anyway, and he found 8 more crammed into some back corner. They looked really rough, with just a couple of leaves in each pot, but they had awesome roots and will probably bounce back beautifully. He asked if I wanted all of them, and I said, make me a deal! :-)
Awesome Jill!
I did read that link Sally. It seems like a really good shrub to have. Still deciding. Whitman's has them in a size 1 pot for $25. You guys should check out their site. They have a ton of cool plants and really good feedback on here.
link for Whitman's please? local or mail order?
http://www.whitmanfarms.com/
She's a nursery in Oregon. The owner answered the phone when I had a questions about her Witchazels. It was impressive.
I was at HD's today for something non-gardening related, and of course had to check out the plants.
They had nice looking hellebores and Phlox divaricata, but no witch hazel. Jill, that's a good point about buying them in bloom. I guess I waited too long to look for one. I think most are past their bloom time now.
HD had a couple of very nice looking of Chamaecyparis obtusa that I was *this* close to purchasing. I may need to go back and get it...
Jill, what a steal!!!
Has anyone bought anything from Plant Delights? They have a hellebore I've been drooling over.
I got hellebores from Burpee this year - Stained Glass and Phoebe. Burpee is somehow connected to Dan Hinkley's Heronswood and I think these were some of his. They are a nice size and really healthy for mail order. After I posted this, I did a google search on Heronswood:
http://gardenrant.com/2012/07/the-story-ends-well-for-heronswood.html
This message was edited Apr 4, 2015 6:23 PM
Sequoia, thanks for continuing to make the rest of us plant addicts look relatively sane ; - )
SSG, Chamaecyparis obtusa is the only shrub I've ever managed to kill...not deliberately; I'm not sure what happened to it. It might have resented being transplanted, or it might have been in a spot that was too moist.
That was a great deal, Jill ! I'll have to keep my eyes open at local garden centers. The ones I bought from North Creek Nurseries survived the winter in fine form.
Haha...whatever Muddy! :-)
SSG: I've bought from Plant Delights last year, they were fine. They are quite pricey though and their website is terrible but if you've found something you like there you won't be disappointed when you get it.
I think I got a couple of the Allegheny Pachy's from North Creek also, but need to figure out where they got planted.
Now I "need" to check our local HD & Lowe's. I lost a very vertical cultivar of norway spruce right after putting it in the ground in fall, want to find a replacement (and get my refund from Lowe's).
I brought back a number of hellebore seedlings, mostly 2 or 3 years old, from a friend's garden in NC. Several "fancy" ones seem to have disappeared from the back tree line, maybe less hardy than the older cultivars or? but anyway, I have some free replacements now!
I took a bunch of layered pieces of my FIL's quince bush and potted them up also. I think this is the first time I've brought more plants back from NC than I brought down... I have a box of amaryllises that bloomed for them over the winter too. I did bring a "token" strawberry begonia in an antique cachepot with a strawberry plant painted on it... it has pride of place now on their breakfast table.
I was outside in the rain this morning digging up saplings at my parents' place. A number of ones that Mom had marked for me 2 years ago are now too big to move easily, but I found a few others... I think I have a couple maples, a dogwood or two, and some sumac (not the poison one!), maybe a hickory... I'll know better once they leaf out.
Fun to be back this evening and see everything starting to bloom, although I haven't actually set foot in the back yard yet.