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WBM october 2010
favorite time-released fertilizer to perk up flowering
trees, shrubs and perennial beds.
To the new or otherwise preoccupied gardener
this may all seem overwhelming. But
in the time it takes to water in freshly planted
pots of pansies, a mental list of chores can be
made (and transferred to paper). It’s the planting,
dividing and transplanting that could
(happily) take up a few October Saturdays.
Fertilization and maintenance
Gardener Tom Ericson, co-owner of The
Transplanted Garden, says that without a good
feeding, the blooms of even the hardiest flowering
plants can either peter out way before
their time or give a consistently below average
performance. “We’re basically growing hydroponically
here,” Ericson says. Sandy coastal
Carolina soil offers easy digging and excellent
drainage but little to no nutritive value, so it’s
the gardener’s job to compensate.
Ericson suggests using compost and organic
time-release fertilizers seasonally for long-term
benefit. “Chemical fertilizers wash through the
soil so quickly and tend to wipe out beneficial
microbes that help build a richer, healthier soil,”
he says. Hog compost is his compost of choice.
He doses his flowering plants and trees with a
half inch of it every fall and again in spring.
He also applies super-phosphate to several
of his flowering shrubs and trees several times
throughout the year. “Feed your crape myrtles
instead of pruning them, if it’s bigger blooms
you’re looking for,” Ericson says. Deadheading
crape myrtles in October, he adds, also stimulate
earlier, more fantastic blooms.
Ever-clumping, seemingly self-sufficient daylilies,
daffodils and most hardy bulbs are no exception.
They all lose their zest over time without a
good feeding and the occasional dividing.
Also, take the time this month to take inventory.
Are some areas over-crowded? As your
garden has grown and changed, is there anything
that needs more or less sun for optimum
flower performance?
Over-crowding is easily solved by transplanting
and dividing. When you transplant shrubs
and divide clumps of bulbs and perennials,
don’t forget to throw in a little compost or
fertilizer as you’re planting. The reward for
dividing is more color longer in the spring and
summer. If space is limited, offer clumps of