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BY Are tree roots growing into some of your plants under the tree? Find a good sized pot, be sure it has drainage holes, and plant in it under the tree. The pot will keep the tree roots from growing into your plant. A good soil and compost mixture will feed your plant. Plastic pot will be easier to work with and you can lift them without bothering the plant and leaving the space available for a new plant without tree roots. In several catalogs I found seeds formed into little clay balls that you toss to where you want several plants. These are supposed to work like pelleted seeds but easier to handle. I have never tried this, but it sounds like things can be crowded it you throw out too many in a small space. There are cow pots made by a dairy farmer from his herds manure. They come in various sizes and seeds started in them, then later, pot and all are planted. Rain releases the manure to feed the plants whose roots haven’t been bothered. Gardeners are busy thinking up new things. The farmer doesn’t have to send the manure to the landfill, and the pot fertilizes the plant. One year I bought some cones that fit on top of a one liter pop bottle filled with water. To use, turn the bottle over and stick the cone in the pot, or by a tomato or such plant, and it waters slowly down a number of inches to the roots. It does work but refilling the bottles take some time, but no water is wasted. One catalog had “scrubber gloves” to clean vegetables. The texture of the gloves is rough and will remove dirt without bruising your hands. The days are getting a little longer so it is time for an early light fertilization. I have noticed that the white flies have hatched out, and in the big south window are spider mites. I don’t like to fight white flies so I put plant and all outside to freeze after starting a new cutting from a small piece that I can see every inch. Or. the mites don’t like water, so if there are not too many, I put them in the shower, or put a systemic in the pot and water it in very well.
Crocus, Daffodils, and some tulips are up in the warmer area and
today ( The purple “Datura”, also known as Angels Trumpet, are about 3 inches high now. They need an early start as eventually they will be 5 to 6 feet tall with many “trumpets about 12 inches long and 4 inches across, mostly white, with a deep curly, dark purple edges.
On
Last fall I turned my pots upside down to prevent them from
filling with water to freeze and expand to break the pots. Now it is
time to upright them and those big ceramic pots are not easy. Lots of
soil will fall out giving me room to add compost and stir.
There are some bags now for rejuvenating left over soil so you
don’t have to buy all new soil potting soil every year. What I have
gotten has a very strong smell but it works! Sometimes I dump a number
of pots in one pile, mix in an equal amount of compost, add some
granular The directions on my Artichoke seeds says the plants require so many hours of very cool weather in order to bloom, so now I carry them outside in my little red wagon to be outside on above 40 degrees F. days, then pull them into the garage at night.
Later in the growing season, after a long, perhaps hot day, a
slight rain has cooled and cleaned the air. You need a special place to
sit. So think about creating a perfume garden. White flowers do not have
the bright colors to attract pollination but they look and smell
gorgeous when the moon is out.
In front, on a high trellis is a Moon Vine ( |