Denny's Soapbox

Planting Tips Before you Dig

Officially, spring is here. The planting season begins. There are a few tips on planting that, if followed, will ensure you greater success with your landscape.

Do Not Plant Shrubs Too Close To the House

Unfortunately, this is done all too often. When planting around the foundation of your home, determine how wide you want your new plants to grow, regardless of how small they are at the time of planting. Let’s say you buy 1gallon Blue Maid® spreading hollies. They are now 9 inches wide. You would like them to grow to 36 inches wide. You want to keep all plants 1 foot off the foundation. Let’s do the math. The radius of the mature holly is 18 inches. Add the 12 inches off the house and you want to install those new hollies 30 inches from the foundation regardless of how small they are when you plant.

Do Not Shop For Plants Over the Phone

Nobody would buy a couch over the phone. So why is it that many people make buying decisions for plants over the phone? You call the garden center and ask “How much are your 1 gallon azaleas?” Listen up; you’re buying the plant, not the container it’s growing in. Plants, like couches, should be viewed first before making a buying decision. The size of the actual plant growing in a certain size container can vary considerably. This is true from flats of annuals to large shade trees.

Get Lots of Plant Information When Buying

You can solve lots of unintended problems by shopping at a nursery store or garden center that has knowledgeable people on hand. Look for retailers that have Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association certified nursery technicians. These people have been trained by Ohio State University extension to answer all your questions and advise you on putting the right plant in the right place. Not having this information, you greatly increase the chances of putting the wrong plant in the wrong place. You will find these OSU-trained individuals at most year-round garden centers and nursery stores. Indiana and Kentucky have similar programs for employees in those states.

All Mulch and Top Soil Is Not the Same

There are too many homeowners who believe all mulch and soil are the same quality; it’s just that some retailers sell theirs for less. Nothing could be further from the truth. When buying wood mulch, all bark is much better than so-called “hardwood”. This “hardwood” could be: processed hardwood of a tree, 2-by-4s from old houses, ground-up yard waste, sawdust; and/or used wood pallets. Good mulch is properly cured, whereas cheap mulch is not. Cheap mulch is chemically treated to give it the appearance of cured mulch. Mulch that has been double or triple screened can blow away after being placed on planting beds. It’s the same with topsoil. Some top soil is so fine and sandy that, when dry, gets as hard and compacted as concrete.

Some top soil for sale is not soil at all, but a mixture of sawdust, manure, and hardwood fines. Some of the 40-lb bags of peat moss and topsoil is nothing more than Michigan lake muck in a bag and usually sells for less than two dollars; the only difference between what’s in the top soil and the peat is the printing on the bag.

Contact Denny McKeown at www.bloomingarden.com

Listen to Denny’s Gardening Show 6-9 am Saturday on WUBE-FM (105.1)