Q & A
1. How to Plant Shrubs, Trees & Perennials?
Dig the hole TWICE as WIDE as the pot and the SAME DEPTH as the pot. Loosen the roots if necessary and place plant in the hole. Unless this is a new bed prepared with excellent topsoil and compost, mix the dug soil with compost (1/3 – ½ ratio) and press back into the hole around the root ball, making sure to tamp soil. Mix the fertilizer in the hole with the soil at the root depth or broadcast on surface around the stem/trunk. Water thoroughly.
2. How to Care for Your Plants?
Annuals & Hanging Baskets: We add slow release fertilizer to the soil when we pot up the plants but annuals are heavy feeders. Once a week through September feed them with a liquid fertilizer like Miracle-Gro or Jack’s Classic. Long durations of rain can leach nutrients out of the container and long durations of high temperatures can volatize the nutrients. Container plants require more frequent watering, at least once a day and even on overcast days. Prune/deadhead to maintain a fresh look.
Vegetables & Herbs: Fertilize the soil at the time of planting and add compost to soil around plant unless the complete bed has been prepared with new compost. Watering is key to survival. Daily watering may be required for a few weeks, and then every other day unless we experience hot, dry weather and then you will need to irrigate daily. Fertilize once a month. I like to add fish emulsion/kelp extract to tomatoes, eggplant and peppers when they start setting fruit or seaweed compost to the base of the plant. This can reduce calcium end rot.
Herbs do not require a lot of fertilizer. Compost and slow release fertilizer in the beginning of the growing season should be sufficient. Frequent cutting/pinching of herbs will result in lush, productive plants.
Perennials, Shrubs & Trees: For spring and summer plantings fertilize with an all-purpose, or tree fertilizer at planting and then mid-summer. Fertilize with a phosphate-based fertilizer in the fall. For fall plantings fertilize with a phosphate-based fertilizer only and then resume regular fertilizers in the spring.
Watering is the key factor to plant survival. Do not plant a live product and leave for two weeks and except it to survive! Plan on watering daily for at least two – three weeks and then every other day for the rest of the summer, unless we get heavy downpours. However new plantings will require the investment of watering all summer and into fall for the first year. Mulch around plants helps control weeds and retain water but remember not to mound the bark mulch around stems and trunks. This can smother the plants and lead to stem rot or bark diseases, thus slowly killing your plants. Routinely deadhead spent blossoms to encourage more shoot and root growth of the perennials. Prune flowering shrubs. Spring flowering shrubs should be pruned immediately following blossom time.
3. Disease & Pest Problems?
Disease and pests plague plants each season and differ year to year depending on the weather conditions. We do not encourage the use of strong chemicals but we do sell some biological controls that can help alleviate some problems. Photos and samples are great ways to help identify diseases and pests, however PLEASE BRING SAMPLES IN SEALED CLEAR ZIPLOC BAGS to avoid transferring the problems…! Some diseases may not be easily diagnosed and may need further analysis. The University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension Plant Diagnostic Lab is an excellent source for testing.
In cases where disease persists remove all the leaves and stem and if necessary the plant and soil surrounding the plant. DO NOT COMPOST the material. Seal in bag and dispose of in trash. Sanitize your tools between each cut and sanitize your gloves.