Monday, March 12, 2012

Things are Taking Off

Wow, this spring is coming on fast. Keeping up with three stores is hard enough, and with the speed things are happening this spring, it is hard to keep up writing about them, too. Here are a few things to keep in mind this year.

Daffodils for the most part bloomed very early. Remember to leave their foliage, so it can collect sunlight and replenish the bulb for next year. Some Mighty Plant sprayed onto the foliage and a tablespoon of 04-04-04 will help you have bigger blooms next year. If all you had was a big group of green foliage this year, consider dividing the bulbs this fall after the bulb has been replenished by the green foliage. Mark where the bulbs are now so you know where to dig

After attending a Charleston Lowcountry Rose Society meeting on fertilization and care of roses last Monday, I have a basic hybrid mix of some things you should be doing in the rose garden.

  • Pruning the roses should be complete by now.
  • Sanitation (mainly after black spot) on the ground can be achieved through a Lime / Sulfur mix sprayed on the ground (be careful of new young foliage – a lot easier) or replacing of all the mulch (lots of work and removing some good organic matter).
  • Top dress bed with Flower Bed Conditioner (contains composted cotton burrs and cattle manure, feather meal, cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal, and a dash of sulfur) at 1 inch (a one cubic foot bag should cover 12 square feet). Keep 3 inches away from main rose stem and spread it out beyond drip line.
  • These are general fertilizer recommendations – for best results bring us a soil test.

19-05-10 Plantacote 8 month release half a cup per bush

ProMag slow and fast release magnesium at ¼ cup per bush

SeaHume granular applied at a cup per bush

  • Begin spraying new foliage for black spot. Honor Guard (systemic) and Dithane (contact) are two good products to start with.
  • Spray Mighty Plant mixed with Fish / Seaweed blend and SeaHume every 3 weeks. Mighty Plant is Messenger plus an 18-18-18 water soluble fertilizer.

If you have not had time to get your preemergent weed control out for summer annual weeds, do not delay any longer. Weed Beater Complete granular is a neat product that kills weeds that are up and contains a preemergent as well. It does not contain atrazine (aka the tree and shrub killer) or fertilizer, so it is a great product to use now as long as you haven’t already put out a preemerge product for weeds. You do not want to double dip the preemergent weed control.

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.