Great Garden Questions Answered – Bulbs in Containers, Podcast, Cardboard Sheet Mulch – In this video I answer garden and landscape questions that were asked in last week’s video. Ask gardening questions down below the video for next week’s q and a.
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33 Comments
The daffodils I planted back in november are coming up already.
I’m so with you on pen & paper. It will never fail us ,if the electric goes off or internet goes down we will still have our pen & paper. I draw out my gardens & name the plants & placement.
Thank you for another great Q&A. I always come away having learned something. After one of you recent videos I ordered a Dwarf Sawahara Cypress. The lower 25% on one side is brown, I'm assuming from crowding as it was grown. Will that ever fill in with new growth or should I just turn the bad side so it's not forward facing and deal with it?
Thanks for the beautyberry pruning tip! I’ll have to cut it shorter than I did last year.
You recently discussed the topic of defining what perennials are as well as behavior in winter, and I think I have an interesting follow up to that here. I have discovered (because I'm new) that Yarrow, Catmint, and Verbena are semi-evergreen in Zone 7, as we had 22 of 30 days with lows below freezing in central Oklahoma 7A. Over a week of that was consecutive and in the mid to upper 20's with wind (soil never dropped below 45F). In spite of this, those plants held their blooms and have put out more since we warmed back up a bit. Zone 7 sure is full of surprises! I've come across some odd advice on these which I feel fits into the Garden Myths category. If one reads about any of these plants on the popular gardening sites (the not .edu sites) the authors will state contradicting things in the same articles, such as these plants will die to the ground after a frost (intentional use of that word), or that you should cut them to the ground before a hard freeze as the whole plant WILL DIE if you don't do this. Meanwhile the .edu sites like NCSU make little to no mention of winter behavior. I would think the best thing to do is nothing and let the plants do what they want but I'm curious for your input here. Also, if we have the occasional warm winter and these plants don't die back like typical perennials, how do they preform the following season without a reset?
Edit: I should add that they were fertilized once in spring with Plant Tone and have received no supplemental water from me since our hot early October, though we have been getting regular rainfall.
Hi and thank you! I fall planted hardy annuals in Sept, to winter over for earlier blooms in the spring. When planted out, they were between 3-4 inches tall. I had to put them under a row cover to keep the rabbits from eating them. After a couple frosts, {not until Nov 10th in 6b!!} I removed the row cover and…the rabbits ate them. They were in the ground about 6 weeks. Question, finally – if they rooted in well, will they still return in the spring, or should I plan to replant? {Bells of Ireland, Sweet William, Campanula}
Regarding the question about storing in the garage, there are many options for grow lights that you could set up in your garage to help your leafy green plants survive the winter. I do that with my tropical plants when we start getting freezing temps here in SC. Mine are small enough I can keep them in a sunny room, but I still supplement them with grow lights on a timer (wifi plugs are awesome). So if you can't get them any sun in the garage at all, maybe look at different types of grow lights and spectrums they provide. Humidty and warmth might still be an issue in a garage though. So pull them outside when you can! Plant dollys are great to have as well, either diy, purpose bought or reuse furniture dollys.
Do you plot your plant locations on graph paper? Can you show us what yours location map or lists looks like?
My attempts look like a 6 year old made it. Thank you for your hard work to help us!
As always great helpful info in all of these Q & As. I recently moved a larger established red weeping Japanese maple (no idea sp. was here when we bought the house.) I waited for it to go dormant (zone 7a) and moved it, but couldn’t get as much root ball as I wanted since it was jammed in a corner and mostly why I wanted to move it! Should I be cutting it back pretty hard before it tries to leaf out in the spring or will that do more damage? I know it might not survive, but I had to try! It was so squished in the corner and we have other plans for that area anyway..
Thank you for answering my pool demolition question regarding directions on how to improve the soil. I appreciate it!
You can use disinfectant wipes to clean your pruners too.
As I was told by one of the local native plant society folks: "Natives aren't invasive! But they sure can be aggressive! That's why they've survived as natives!" 😜
My experience with Carolina Cherry Laurels: make sure you plant them where you want them and don't let them get taller than you want. Know that the fruits will drop and anywhere they drop, new plants will start growing fast!
They are easy enough to whack with a trimmer, mower or pull by hand, but it can get tedious. They aren't super aggressive, but you got to keep on top of them or next thing you know you've got a yard full of them!
That's what the previous owners of my place let happen and I've got several 20ft+ tall cherry laurels in spots I don't want them. I hate cutting stuff down, but I'm going to in order to plant things I want. Otherwise, they are very pretty plants and wildlife loves them. Birds and pollinators are always on them depending on time of year.
Any comments on applying compost during winter
Zone 8 (8b), oregon, would it be okay to prune a bit off a Trumpet Vine now (Dec 2022).
Anything that keeps you moving forward – love this advice.
The bluejays eat the berries off my barberry bushes. So I do think they're keeping it in check, at least in my zone, in NJ.
Also would you mind sharing what camera you use? Thank you.
In all these years, I think this is the first time that I have ever seen Holly bombing one of your videos! Just gotta chuckle from her. Please give her a big hug from me.
Thank you for answering my quest. On planting a blueberry inside a black tire. So glad i asked,
Thank you for the response Jim! Very knowledgeable and helpful as always
Hi Jim. I have two native dogwoods we planted from a twig. They are 10 years of age now. They have about 10 ft tall now. Neither has bloomed ever. I have asked many of why they aren’t blooming. Help!! Zone 8 in central MS.
In my front yard I have a beautiful vitex that is about 15 feet tall or taller. I want to lower the canopy about a foot or two. Is this possible without damaging the tree?
I’m in 7a/b with you in the Triangle and am planting trees and shrubs so they can get settled in as much as possible before the heat of next summer. Is there any benefit to putting organic fertilizer in the planting hole now? I know it won’t be active while the soil temperatures are low, but will it still be beneficial in the spring?
Jim is it possible to evaluate the health of soil by site and touch?
Zone 6B, Mountain City TN. I need to sign up for your landscape consultations for 3 parts of my landscape. Can you recommend a free or paid software tool to show you a general concept design, do you do this, or do we send pics in advance of the location(s) and you freestyle? I know of Garden Puzzle but one of the cons is "no Undo" button and I do a lot of undoing! Come see us in the mountains!
We use cardboard for all our beds…I collect boxes from my neighbors lol and use them for new beds and for garden paths…works great and it's free!
31:02 Thank you Jim for answering my question about plants in heavy clay soil that don't want to grow. I'll try raising some of them next spring. I appreciate your wisdom!
Regarding the podcast idea, I would think you could start with just making these weekly Q&A videos into podcasts! It would give people a chance to listen when they are on the go or working in their own gardens.
Another interesting Q&A. Here in 8b Pacific Northwest, we just came out of a snow and ice week, but my annual sweet pea vine is growing, though it’s not flowering. I thought it would just die I covered a raised planter with frost protection cloth just during the worst, more to protect bulbs and perennials. In that planter, my bubble gum vista is growing, despite being exposed to near freezing temps many times without the cloth. Of course it’s not in flower. I am continually surprised.
You have rabbits eating your pansies, we have wild turkeys and peafowl eating anything leafy. We also have deer but they are easy to fence out…not so much for the feathered visitors. Cannot cover everything!
Will my Alliums still bloom? I've recently planted Allium bulbs (late spring/summer-blooming) here in Z8a and most have already sprouted leaves. I waited until late Nov but maybe soil has been warmer than typical. Bulbs were planted 4-5 in deep. Will leaves die back over the winter and flower buds survive? Should I have waited until mid-winter to plant these?
I am curious why you said soft touch hollies make terrible landscape plants. I replaced a few small boxwoods that were too bug infested. The hollies are slow growing but seem to be doing well and require very little care. Did I make a bad choice?
I have a Pugster Blue butterfly bush in a pot for the past 2 years. I was told they don’t like to be fertilized. Do I need to put fresh dirt in the pot or will it keep growing in the same pot?
Living in Indiana (zone 5) I'm wanting a Japanese maples in my landscape. Hoping for a purchase of something from Mr. Maple. In addition I'd like to grow a maple from seed. I'm not seeing seeds on the ground from my neighbors bloodgood. Not all species produce seeds? Thanks Jim.