Amending Flower Beds - Or Any Planting Area

While driving around the Lowcountry, I have noticed a lot of planting this spring, so here is a recipe for amending the soil for flower beds. You could use the same recipe for trees and shrubs with some slight modification. Test soil first, if possible. Wait 30 days to plant, if possible.

Amend whole area not just the hole! With trees and shrubs do not till deeper than the root ball of the plants you are planting. Once the amendments settle you do not want your plant planted too deep.  This recipe is based on per 100 sq. ft. of planting area:

·         Mule Mix (Turface)– 200 lbs. per 100 sqft.  Mule Mix is super-heated calcified clay.  Mule Mix helps improve drainage and reduces compaction.  Mule Mix will last in the soil for over 20 years.  The particle can hold its weight in water and then releases it slowly as the plant needs it.  We have used this product to correct many water issues (too wet and too dry – it is like a thermos knows whether to dry or wet) over the years.

·         Bolster 04-04-04 Sustane – 2.5 lbs. per 100 sqft.  This product will increases fertilizer efficiency and improves soil biology.  It contains mycorrhiza spores increasing the ability for the roots absorb nutrients and water. Also contains biostimulants and iron.

·         SeaHume – 1.5 lbs. per 100 sqft. Humic acid and seaweed. Super product for establishing plants. Stimulates growth of beneficial microorganisms and root growth. Over 60 minor nutrients, amino acids, gibberellins and much, much more.  

·         Cotton Burr Compost – (4) 3 cu.ft. bags per 100 sq.ft. (sandy soil, increase to (6) bags).  Cotton Burr Compost is nature’s perfect soil conditioner.  The cotton boll (burr) is full of nutrients and will not tie up nitrogen like wood and wood-based soil amendments.  It will loosen up clay soils and add water holding capacities to sandy soils (also like a thermos!).  Cotton Burr is an excellent food source for beneficial soil organisms that help make nutrients available to plants, aerate the soil and helps keep harmful organisms and diseases in check. 

·         Flower Bed Amendment – (5) 1 cu.ft. bags per 100 sqft (in sand, increase to (8) bags).  This product not only contains Cotton Burrs, but also composted cattle manure, feather meal, cotton seed meal and alfalfa meal.  Alfalfa meal is high in nitrogen and contains Triacantanol, a natural root growth enhancer, and may help in the suppression and control of certain fungal diseases.

·         Diehard Transplant – inoculates soil with beneficial fungi, bacteria, and Trichoderma. Seaweed, humic acid, wetting agents and root promoting vitamins, and amino acids. Put Diehard Transplant in direct contact with the root system, so the mycorrhizal fungi will colonize the roots quickly.

Mix these products together and till into 6-8 inches of soil.  With clay soil, you should have 1/3 amendments and 2/3 clay.  With sandy soil, it should be ½ amendments and ½ sand. For trees and shrubs adjust depth according to root ball size.

After tilling the bed, top dress with (4) bags of Natures Blend and then (2) bags of Cotton Burr Compost. For annuals cap it off with one pound of 17-00-09. Plant annuals through this top dressed area. With this mixture, every time you water your plants are getting a “compost tea” full of nutrients.

Test your soil after 30 days and add any other amendments that your soil test indicates you need.

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

Aeration and Soil Test

As the night time temperatures warm up and the grass starts to actively grow, aerating should be considered for the health of your whole landscape. Wet soils compact way more than dry soils, and we have had our share of wet soils this past fall. If you have ever considered aerating, this is the year to do it. While you have the holes open in your yard, there are many products that you can add to that root zone area that will benefit your turf, trees, and shrubs.

Soil testing is also something to consider this year because of all the rain and the leaching of nutrients. Since I have tested many of the same properties soil annually for over twenty years, I can see that many nutrients have been flushed out by all the rain and need to be replaced.

Aerating reduces compaction, reduces thatch, increases oxygen movement to the roots, brings beneficial microorganisms to the surface, cuts runners, and allows better penetration of water, fertilizers, or control products into the soil.

Right after aerating, while the holes are open, is a good time to add SeaHume G, BGK 7500, products containing mycorrhiza, Crab Shell, Mule Mix and/or Cotton Burr Compost.  Even if you are not aerating, these products are great to add to your lawn and beds.

·         SeaHume G is a bio-stimulant humic acid product that will help your roots grow, soften up the soil, feed beneficial micro-organisms in the soil, make nutrients that are in the soil more available to the plants, and keep fertilizer from leaching. SeaHume G also contains 10% cold water seaweed. The seaweed also acts as a bio-stimulant and is a source of over 60 minor elements, amino acids, and natural chelating agents.

·         BGK 7500 is a granular organic product that has thatch eating bacteria mix in with a 03-03-03 fertilizer. BGK 7500 is also fortified with 6% humic acid.

·         04-04-04 Bolster and other products that contain mycorrhiza. By applying these products while the roots are exposed, the mycorrhiza can attach to the roots quickly. These friendly fungi will help the plant absorb water and nutrients from the soil while competing with bad fungus in the soil.

·         Crab Shell by Neptune’s Harvest will increase the chitin eating bacteria in the soil. These bacteria will help control nematodes and fungus. I would definitely use this product in areas that I have problems with large / brown patch.

·         Mule Mix (Turface) can last about 20 years in the soil and help manage moisture.  This is a clay product that has been super-heated until it pops!  This makes this product sterile as well as turns it into a little capillary.  This capillary holds water and then releases it as the plant needs it.  This product is used on baseball infields to manage the moisture levels in clay; otherwise the clay would be rock hard or moist and slimy. Mule Mix (Turface) will also keep fertilizer and water from leaching in sandy soils. Mule Mix (Turface) is great for wet or dry areas.

·         Cotton Burr Compost will add water holding capabilities to the soil by adding organic matter to the soil.  Cotton Burr Compost will soften up clay as well as giving sandy soil nutrient holding capacity.  Cotton Burr Compost is very high in nutrition and will also help increase populations of beneficial organisms in the soil.

All the above products will help conserve moisture as well.

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

Spring Is Coming

Thank you to those of you that check on my health the week after I recommended to hold off on using Cotton Burr Compost, if your yard was super saturated with all this rain! I appreciate your concern “that I had finally lost it”. Sometimes you have to do whatever it takes to dry things out. Pulling back mulch and not adding new mulch may seem drastic but necessary under certain extreme conditions (like your flower bed has been under water for months). Hopefully, we are going to have a dry week or two and get our yards back to the new normal.

With the grass staying green well into December and the conditions perfect for large patch fungus, be prepared to see a lot more fungus this spring. Using fungicides are like getting a flu shot, you want to put out the fungicide before you get the problem. Unlike the flu shot, fungicides do have curative rates; however, the curative rates usually involve putting out twice the product and putting out the fungicide twice as often.

Roses, Indian Hawthorne, Hydrangea, and other plants that are susceptible to black spot or other leaf spot diseases are going to need extra protection this year. Rake up old fallen leaves and be ready to protect the new growth as it emerges.

Have you applied a systemic insecticide to your plants that usually have insect issues like aphids, white flies, lace bugs, or scale? Gardenias, crepe myrtles, camellias, hollies, lantana and azaleas are just a few plants that will turn black from sooty mold if the insects are not maintained.

Trees and shrubs are beginning to put on new growth. Have you spread some spring food out for them yet? If you do not have a recent soil test, Possum’s 17-00-09 should get you going in the right direction. After all the rain last year a new soil test is a very good idea.

Did you apply your preemerge to your lawn and beds? It is not too late! Weed seeds germinate almost all year here.

This past week one of my stores was going to get a tune up for a blower. The small engine shop he called told him 2 months before they could look at it. I hope your mower is ready to go!

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