I saw some spectacular Salvia lubeca this week. Even with the rain it was standing absolutely erect and the dark colored stems were loaded with purple buds and blooms. Some perennial salvias may have larger individual blooms but I doubt that any are neater.

With all this cool, rainy weather, many plants (especially trees) have doubled their normal spring growth cycle. In many cases this new growth is looking pallid, not so much from lack of sunshine as from lack of fertility. A supplemental feeding is in order.

With all the moisture in the soil, I suspect that Japanese beetle infestation is going to be heavier this year than it has been for the last several years. I suggest an application of Merit on the lawn now to reduce the number of Japanese beetles next year.

Salvia lubeca

Flower Carpet Coral

Cotton Seed Meal

Gift Certificates

Plant-tone®

fertileGRO™

Kelp Meal

Espoma 100% Organic®

Flower-tone®

Chesapeake Blue
Crab Compost

SeaMate™
1qt and 1gal sizes

Rose-tone®

Garden-tone®

SuperBio®

Almost at the same moment I received the question on lawn fertilization (see below), I had a customer stop me in the garden center and ask me if I could simplify the fertilization of her landscaped gardens and explain why we recommend the products that we do. At the risk of over simplification, here are some thoughts on fertilizing established plants. At a later date I will cover fertilization when installing new permanent plants.

a) Natural organic fertilizers are the best. Second best are fertilizers that are rich in natural organic products, but are not 100% natural organic. Most chemical fertilizers should be avoided. The exception is the lawn, where a few high tech inorganic fertilizers such as Turf Trust® are recommended for occasional use. This is because running a lawn mower weekly over a monoculture that wants to grow a foot tall and have flowers and seed is not what Mother Nature intended. We have developed grasses that will adapt to this treatment and we have developed and blended fertilizers to support it. However caution is in order; many chemical fertilizers do not provide the long term benefits that natural organic products do.

Natural organic fertilizers thicken and strengthen cell walls and thus make the plant more resistant to insects and diseases. Most chemical fertilizers stretch the cell walls. Also natural organic fertilizers tend to be much longer lasting than most chemical fertilizers. Some examples of 100% natural organic fertilizers are Cotton Seed Meal, Plant-tone® and fertileGRO™. Cotton Seed Meal is particularly beneficial because the seed contains everything that is necessary to support the initiation of plant life - including traces of many enzymes that scientist do not yet fully understand. Milorganite, another multi-use natural organic fertilizer, has been shown to repel deer while it is freshly applied.

Natural organic fertilizers encourage earthworms, which help break up clay soil and turn poor subsoil into rich topsoil. Some chemical fertilizers can actually kill earthworms. In addition, chemical and natural organic fertilizers differ in the way they become available to plants. Chemical fertilizers become available either by dissolving in water or as a reaction to heat. Neither process is perfect. Much fertilizer that dissolves in water is wasted by leaching away in a heavy rain. Fertilizers that are released by temperature can actually “dump” too many nutrients in the heat of a dry summer, when the plant is not able to use them - thus causing “root burn”. Natural organic fertilizers are broken down and made available to plants by soil microorganisms. These organisms are “dormant” when the soil temperature is cold. Therefore no matter how much natural organic fertilizer remains in cold soil, it sits there, undissolved until the soil warms. Water-soluble fertilizers just leach away over late fall, winter and early spring. The soil microorganisms that break down natural organic fertilizers are most active when the soil is warm and moist, just when the plants need the most food. Thus, there is less waste and less leaching of nutrients into our wetlands. In addition, these microorganisms break the fertilizer down into a form that cannot burn the roots.

b) Granular fertilizers provide longer lasting feeding than liquid fertilizers.

c) Every time you apply a granular fertilizer, I recommend you apply a bio-stimulator such as Kelp Meal at ½ the rate you applied the fertilizer. For example; if you used a handful of fertilizer, apply half a handful of kelp meal. (Remember we are discussing granular fertilizers applied to the landscape, not the lawn. Kelp Meal is generally too costly to apply to the lawn).

d) All the permanent plantings in your garden get fertilized between February 15th and March 15th. In general, these plantings get fed again after the middle of November. (Think Valentine’s Day and Thanksgiving; we love our plants and are thankful for them). Occasionally a supplemental feeding of granular fertilizers or liquid SeaMate™ may be appropriate. Pale, yellowish foliage is often an indicator of lack of fertility.

e) Roses are an exception; they get fed 6 times a year. The early spring feeding plus 5 more the middle of every month, never after August 15th. The later 5 feedings are simply a handful of Rose-tone®. The first feeding includes Rose-tone, plus a handful of each of Kelp Meal, Greensand and Sulphate of Potash Magnesia.

f) The fertilizer of choice for deciduous shrubs is either Plant-tone or fertileGRO. For evergreens, use either Cotton Seed Meal or Holly-tone®. EXCEPTION: yews, boxwoods and viburnums get Plant-tone.

g) The fertilizer of choice for sun loving perennials is Flower-tone® (or Bulb-tone®). Shade perennial gardens, especially those with ferns and wild flowers, get Cotton Seed Meal (or Holly-tone).

h) Spring flowering bulbs get Bulb-tone; a 2nd application is applied in early June. For summer blooming bulbs use Bulb-tone when planting and then again in mid-summer.

i) Trees growing in a lawn that is amply fertilized usually require no additional feeding. If deciduous trees are to be fed, use Tree-tone®. If evergreen trees are to be fed, use either Holly-tone or Cotton Seed Meal.

j) Annual bedding plants get Flower-tone incorporated in the soil at the time of planting, supplemented by a 2nd feeding in July. (Annuals and vegetables are not permanent plants and did not receive a Feb/Mar fertilization).

k) Vegetable gardens are often over-fertilized. Chesapeake Blue Crab Compost incorporated into the soil just before or at planting time is usually all that is needed. When supplemental fertilization is required, Garden-tone® is the choice.

l) WHEN IN DOUBT: remember you cannot hurt any plant with reasonable quantities of natural organic products. If the plant is growing in afternoon shade, feed it Cotton Seed Meal. If it is growing in afternoon sun use either Plant-tone or fertileGRO.

m) Granular fertilizers are easy to apply. They do not need to be worked in; although it is best - but not mandatory - to apply them before mulching. Just load the bags in your cart or wheel barrow, and sprinkle the appropriate products around the outer perimeter of each plant - just like you are feeding chickens. For large dense plantings of similar plants, you can broadcast the fertilizer over the entire surface. You need not mix the Kelp Meal and fertilizer together. Apply one and then the other in any order.

n) When you feel a plant needs a quick “shot in the arm” and you are tempted to reach for the blue water, reach instead for SeaMate. It has a gentle fertilizer as well as 2 bio-stimulators: Kelp Meal and humates.

Question & Answer

Question:
Really enjoy your show, Alan! How often can you safely fertilize a lawn? What product(s) do you recommend?  Thanks for your input.

- P.R. of Abingdon, MD

Answer:
How often you feed a lawn depends upon the type of grass that you have, the amount of sun, and the condition of the lawn.

Except for Zoysia lawns, sunny lawns require more fertilization than shady ones. New lawns and those that have been neglected require the most fertilization. Zoysia lawns require only one feeding per year - early May with Turf Trust or Espoma 100% Organic Lawn Food. In addition to fertilization, we recommend an application of beneficial microbes (SuperBio) concurrent with fertilization, if the lawn is new or in poor condition or if it is located where runoff to the bay or other wetlands is probable.

Most lawns do best with three feedings per year. Those that are in really good health can eventually get by with 2 feedings. New lawns and those in poor condition require four (plus SuperBio). When the spring is long and wet (like this year), we recommend an additional feeding at the end of May at half strength of Turf Trust or Espoma 100% Organic Lawn Food, preferably Turf Trust. But, never feed more than four times a year in total. We recommend a varied diet for your lawn; that is, each feeding should be with a different product, chosen from a combination of the following: Espoma Turf Tone, Espoma 100% Organic Lawn Food and Floradis Turf Trust.

If you are feeding twice a year, the dates are February 15th to March 15th and September 15th to October 15th. The dates for three feedings are February 15th to March 15th, August 20th to September 15th and November 10th to November 30th. The date of the fourth feeding is May 15th to May 30th. Sunny lawns get fertilized at the rate recommended on the package. Shady lawns get fed at half strength for all applications.

Question:
How do you propagate a hydrangea?  I have three, 3-5 year old established plants.  I would like to plant them in other places within my garden.  Thank you for your wonderful radio program.  We enjoy it, and have learned many garden tips from your knowledge.

- P.S. of Owings Mills, MD

Answer:
Most shrub hydrangeas can be dug and divided in the spring before the leaves appear.

All hydrangeas can be easily grown from tip cuttings taken in July. Hydrangea cuttings can be rooted by a procedure similar to rose cuttings, which I covered last week. But there are just enough differences that I think it best to repeat the entire procedure. Take your cuttings from this year's growth. Do not select the freshest, most tender growth, but that which has matured. I suggest a cutting 4-6 inches long. Cut the cutting straight across, 1/4 inch below a pair of leaves. If your cutting has a bud or flower at the tip, cut it off. Strip off the bottom row of leaves. Cut all but the top-most leaves in half.

Dip the cutting in rooting hormone and insert in a flower pot filled with soiless, very light, professional potting mix. So that you don't remove the rooting hormone as you insert the cutting, use a pencil or a stick to make the hole. Press the soil firmly around the cutting. Insert the cutting so the bottom row of leaves is about one half inch above the soil and about one inch of the stem is below the soil. If you use an 8" flower pot, you should be able to make 4-6 cuttings in the one pot. Water it lightly. Place a plastic bag as a tent over the cuttings and tie it with a piece of string around the pot. Before you do, insert a stake in the pot so that the plastic bag is not lying on the cuttings. Make a few small holes in the plastic bag so there is some ventilation.

Place the flower pot in a shady place where the sun will never reach it; otherwise the cuttings may overheat and die. Check the pot weekly to be sure the soil has stayed lightly moist and that none of the leaves have rotted. If any leaves have rotted, remove them: even a leafless cutting will sometimes root. After about 6-8 weeks, check to see whether or not the cuttings have rooted. If they have, remove the plastic bag. Keep your rooted rose cuttings indoors over the winter and treat them as a house plant. They will do best in a sunny window. Keep them lightly moist and fertilize after mid February with SeaMate. (1 tablespoon to a gallon of water with each watering). Next year, after Memorial Day, you can separate the rooted cuttings and plant each one outside.

Incidentally, crape myrtles are rooted by almost the same procedure except;

• The cutting should be cut on a 45 degree angle.

• The bottom 2 sets of leaves should be removed.

• The tip of new growth should be cut off if it is at all fresh and tender, as it usually is.

• The leaves do not need to be cut in half.

• You can usually squeeze twice as many crape myrtle cuttings into an 8" flower pot.

As with every Saturday morning from 7:00 am to 9:00 am, you can listen to the Garden Club Radio Show by tuning your radio to 680 AM if you live in the Maryland or Washington, DC area.  Another option is to listen online through WCBM's website.  Click here for more information about the radio show.

Happy Gardening,

Alan Summers