Podcast with Avid Container Gardener

This weekend I interviewed Kathy, an avid container gardener who has a beautiful mix of plants in containers on her pool patio and

shady areas around her yard. Hope her selections help you!

Here's the link to the podcast:

http://www.utterli.com/u/utt/u-ODUxMjE3Mw#utt-ODUxMjE3Mw

Soil Testing

In the interview with Dr. Thomas, he mentioned that soil testing was key. Here is a clip on how to do your own soil test:

Horticulture Professional Answers Fertilizer Questions

This is an e-mail I did with horticulture professor, Dr. Paul Thomas on fertilizer. He co-taught my horticulture and greenhouse management class last semester. Hope this answers some of your questions on the topic.



What fertilizer is best for plants in the summer months?


The best fertilizer for your garden plants in summer is happily the easiest to come by. Granular fertilizer with an N-P-K analysis of 10-10-10 or 8-8-8 will work great for vegetables, shrubs, young trees and flowers. The only time you need special fertilizers are when fertilizing azaleas, rhododendrons, and other acid-loving plants. For these plants, an acid-forming fertilizer is best.


What is the best way to apply this fertilizer?


Fertilizer application may seem easy, but we kill a great many young plants by spreading it improperly. First, follow the label or bag rate recommendations to the letter. The detailed recommendations are there for a reason. Fertilizers are all very different and you need to pay attention to how much is recommended. Secondly, when spreading the fertilizer, keep it off foliage and stems. Be especially sure not to allow small piles of fertilizer form up against stems. This is almost always fatal. Keep the fertilizer at least an inch away from stems. Thirdly, always water the plant after fertilizer to wash off the fertilizer dust from the leaves and to being the dissolving process that allows the plants to take up the fertility. Failure to do so yields burn damage on leaves and dessicated, shriveled stems. Fertilizer burn can also be an entry pathway for plant disease.

How often should you apply fertilizer?

For most vegetable, flower and shrubbery plants, applying fertilizer every three weeks during the growing season is the most you would ever do. Trees and shrubs do not need to be fertilized after the spring flush of growth is over, usually by the first week of July. Flowers and vegetables grow continuously, and there for need a steady source of fertility. You can usually stop fertilizing flowers and vegetables in August. Remember that over-fertilization can reduce flowers and sometimes retard growth in vegetables and flowers.

Should different fertilizers be used in the cooler months?

If you live in the south, where pansies, dianthus and other cool crops such as broccoli, kale and cabbage, can be grown all winter, a fertilizer that is high in nitrate is best. Summer fertilizer usually is a mix of ammonium and nitrate, which together forms (no surprise) ammonium nitrate. In winter plants have problems taking up ammonium, so sticking with nitrate only fertilizer products is recommended.

Is it safe to fertilize vegetable plants? Is there a stopping pointfor fertilizer application prior to harvest? If so, how long?

Because most vegetables grow continuously during the entire summer, it is safe to fertilize on a steady schedule. However, once a plant has produced nearly mature fruit or vegetables, you should consider backing off the amount of fertility. In general, most common garden vegetables can be allowed to grow without additional fertility by the first week in August. Alternatively, applying half the rate to plants such as indeterminate tomatoes will keep the plants strong until first frost.

Walter Reeves - Gardening in Georgia

I keep mentioning Water Reeves and his show "Gardening in Georgia". He is a retired Extension Agent from Georgia and is emmensely knowledgable about gardening. You should check out his show if you're at all interested in gardening. It comes on Georgia Public Television (GPB) on Wednesday nights at 7pm and again on Saturday at 12:30 and 6:30.

Walter Reeves is a recent discovery for me as my father told me about him and his show just a few weeks ago. I'm not sure how I gardened before I watched "Gardening in Georgia!"

Ferns for Southern Gardens

I had a comment about ferns earlier. After watching "Gardening in Georgia" with Walter Reeves today, I have more information on ferns for you. Here is a list of ferns that are suitable for Georgia's climate:

Japanese Holley Fern – Resembles a Japanese Holley.
Japanese Painted Fern – Grayish and purple coloring.
Dixie Wood Fern – Tall and skinny
Christmas Fern – Evergreen
Autumn Fern – Bronze coloring, spread wide and pretty tall.
Tassel Fern – Hairy
Deer Tongue Fern – Doesn’t really look like a traditional fern, more like lilly leaves but wider.
Peacock Fern – Blue/Green Coloring
Cinnamon Fern - Red spores that stand up like cinnamon sticks.
Resurrection Fern – Grows on trees, turns brown in winter.

Most of these ferns are suited for shady or partly shady areas.

Garden Annuals Quick Guide

As I was searching for a list of garden annuals (plants that will come back year after year) to create a economical garden, I came across this quick reference guide on Walter Reeve's website, www.gardeningingeorgia.com. This is a publication authored by my last semester's Horticulture teacher that offers headings such as "Annuals Suitable for Containers." The plants under this heading would be great for your patio garden or elsewhere in your yard! The quick guides are at the bottom of the publication. Happy gardning!

http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/b954.htm

Container Garden Recipes and Hardiness Zones

For those of you interested in creating container gardens for your outdoor spaces, this website is a great resource. It offers container garden "recipes" that are very pretty. They have taken all of the guess work out of creating a container garden for any area (full sun, shade, or sun and shade). They offer a  list of plants to buy, what kind of container to use, and where to plant each plant in the container for the best effect. 

Here it is: http://www.simplybeautifulgardens.com/containers.aspx

Also, gardeners must know which hardiness zone you live in so that you plant plants that are appropriate to that zone. For example, North Georgia is in hardiness zones 7a - 7b while and Middle Georgia are in hardiness zones 8a - 8b. If you look on the tag of the plant at the home improvement store, it should say which zone the plant is best suited for. Here is a website which contains a map of all the hardiness zones in the U.S. Plants grow best in their appropriate hardiness zone. Here is a website which details all of the hardiness zones in the U.S. - http://www.garden.org/zipzone/

Happy container gardening!