Newsletter & Tips

Fall feels like it is here. The nights are nice and cool and the days very comfortable. We had an inch of rain this week and more on the way for next week. The ground is moist. It is the best planting time of all the seasons. I know I sound like a broken record but I can’t emphasize enough that fall is the ideal time for planting trees and shrubs. The diagram above shows very well why. The diagram shows a tree but the same logic applies to shrubs. FALL IS THE BEST TIME FOR PLANTING TREES AND SHRUBS. Take advantage of the beautiful weather we are having and do fall planting. Your fall installed plants will do much better next summer than those planted in the spring. Plant wildflower seeds this month as well. Sow them right before a rain and they will take hold and next spring will be beautiful blooms.

We are having some nice fall weather now. Cooling down this week. The long range forecast calls for a pattern change and rain maybe next weekend. FALL IS THE BEST TIME OF YEAR FOR PLANTING TREES AND SHRUBS Our BARE ROOT FRUIT TREE LIST FOR JANUARY 2023 is now available. We have copies available at the nursery or I can email you a list upon request. Fall fertilizing should be done now or very soon. If you have not done your fall fertilizing yet you should do it as soon as possible. This fertilizing is important because it gives plants a good boost and also gives them stored food for winter. Next spring they will use that stored food for growth as soon as the weather warms. A balanced fertilizer is good for almost everything in the landscape. Citrus trees would like a citrus fertilizer and this should be the last application for them for the season. Don’t feed them in the winter. Rhododendrons and azaleas should not be fertilized now unless it is with a bloom fertilizer. This will help give more blooms next spring. The same could be used on Dogwoods if you have one that does not …

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June started off with nice moderate temperatures and an inch of rain this past weekend here at the nursery. Now we get a couple of days of heat and then cool back down to the seasonal temperatures for June. Next week is upper 80’s to low 90’s for highs and nice cool overnight temperatures. Great time of the year to get out early and do gardening and planting. Water things well and then let them go through the rest of the day. Mulch new plantings well and water enough so that they stay moist but not soaked. WATERING It’s time to pay close attention to watering. Deep soaking and watering early are the best practices. When watering trees, be sure to give established trees a deep soak once or twice a week depending on temperatures. Newly planted trees should be watered daily for the first week or so then cut back to about two or three times per week. Do not give short daily watering. Give good deep soaks. A good rule to use is to give 10 gallons of water per week for every inch of trunk diameter and be sure to soak to a depth of at least …

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Well, other than a few warm days, April is turning out to be a very nice month weather. As I write this, the forecast for next week at this point is calling for rain on Monday and a chance of rain later in the week. Hopefully “they” are right and it comes to pass. We have a large selection of vegetable starts and more coming on in our greenhouse, plus regular deliveries, so we will have a good selection of vegetables for the planting season. This month is usually a good time to get started with the vegetable garden. Get it prepped if you haven’t done that yet so you can plant your vegetable starts soon. I always use Bio-Live fertilizer and bone meal and kelp meal mixed in the soil before I plant. Bone meal adds calcium to prevent blossom end rot. Kelp meal helps with disease prevention. After you have your plants in, use straw or mulch on the top to help keep the moisture in and keep the weeds down. Many other things are needing to be done in the landscape during April. Rhododendrons should have the flower trusses that are spent snapped off at the base …

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After a dry February and dry start to March, there is now showing a chance for some rain early next week and maybe a bit more later in the 10 day forecast. Hopefully it comes to fruition. As far as watering goes right now, just water enough to keep newly planted bare root trees or other newly planted items moist. The ground does not dry out very fast with the cool nights and mild days. It is not necessary to water a lot yet. I’m watering trees in the new orchard about once every two weeks right now. Once they are in full leaf I will step that up a bit. Probably once a week or so. And when I get the drip system set up to where they can get a good deep soak, then once a week will be sufficient for the entire watering season. I do have 3″ of mulch around the trees as well. It is now time to get ready to start fertilizing soon. As soon as deciduous trees and shrubs have their full set of leaves, you should give them their first fertilizing of the year. A balanced fertilizer works well for most things. …

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