When it comes to gardening, I can mostly do what I want. If I keep it in a pot, Nick doesn’t care at all. He also doesn’t care if I weed, prune, or fertilize. However, he DOES care when it comes to putting things in the ground, though I still take gambles on small things that won’t be hard to take out later.
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| Sky pencil holly, laurel, bush tree, maple. |
This is my little nursery with last year’s experiments. Sometimes when I find seedlings I’ll put them in little pots to see if I can grow them bigger. Here I have some laurels that I plan to take to Mom and Dad’s farm to plant. They may not make it given the climate difference, but there’s no cost to trying. They’re looking a little yellow, so it’s time to get them in the ground and feed them. At front is a little bush tree that I think came from the neighbor’s yard and is growing well. The pathetic looking thing on the left is a sky pencil holly from the front yard that I’ve put into PICU (Plant Intensive Care Unit), to see if I can revive it. I also have a maple that got fried last year when I was away for a few days. Its leaves shriveled and fell off, but it stayed alive!
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| Unidentified thing (left) and sweet gum tree (right). |
This year’s experiments include a cutting from one of the sweet gum trees at the parking strip. This twig was growing from the base of the trunk, so I snipped it, dunked it in rooting hormone and stuck it in a little pot. Its leaves came out and are getting bigger! I moved him to an area of the yard that is a bit more protected so that he doesn’t stress from the direct sun.
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| Rosemary cuttings staged in a warm place. |
These rosemary clippings were gathered from a nearby source. I hope they take root so I can plant them in a hot spot next to the deck. It’d be great to have fresh rosemary for cooking!
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| New hose and water soluble fertilizer. |
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| This pieris breaks my heart. How do I make her happy? |
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The sky pencil hollies in the front yard have not been happy. I’m taking a bolder approach this year and if they don’t snap to, we need to do something else. I got some water soluble miracle grow and plan to feed them every 7 – 14 days, as suggested on the bag. The pieris that we transplanted from the front yard has had a rough go. Nick says it lost a lot of root mass in the move and he’s amazed it’s survived at all. This year we were heartened to see quite a lot of healthy new growth.
I admire your tenacity and success with a lot of your plants. They sure do make the place seem a lot prettier.
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