Park Seed Garden Journal

I received a great question from one of our readers earlier this month. Thought I would share in case anyone else is wondering the same thing.

"I have a circular drive way. inside of the u shape is an assortment of pines, cedar and bull. one cherry tree is there also. my question is, i was wondering if the pine needles are a good mulch, or if i need to rake them and take them out of there? also how would i incorporate them into the soil?"

Of course, I didn’t know the answer, so asked one of our Horticulturists.

"Pine needles are a great mulch as they don’t break down easily, so you won’t have to keep replacing them.  You can’t really incorporate them into the soil because of this, so if you want a mulch that will break down back into the soil, you should probably use something like pine bark mulch or another shredded wood product."

Spreading Garden Knowledge,

Nadia

nvanderhall@gmail.com 

Well, most of us are experiencing cold weather and it’s not a lot fun in the garden this time of year, but there are still a few things we can do to keep our gardens looking great!

• It is important to rotate house plants so they all receive equivalent amounts of light
• Winter is a great time to clean up your garden. Cut back dormant perennials, get rid of foliage that is lying on the ground (great to add to the compost pile!) or vines that have gone dormant. You can also start pruning trees and shrubs.
• Get rid of those weeds that have persisted from fall, or that seem to come out when it gets cool. It’s easiest to get the roots up when the ground is damp.
• Mulch bulb plantings **Christmas tree branches make a great mulch**
• Clean and fill bird feeders

The list of to-do’s is pretty short! But, the most important thing to do is rest, once spring gets here there will be PLENTY to do. So, I suggest sitting in front of the fire — and start dreaming about your spring garden with the help of our 2007 spring catalog — it’s free!

Happy Holidays,

Nadia

nvanderhall@gmail.com

A collegue and I experienced the very competitive — but for a good cause — art of Christmas tree decorating. Every year companies around town sponsor a Christmas tree, for Hospice, and other companies decorate them. I never knew how challenging it could be to decorate a tree. We decorated for 7.5 hours!! The most time- consuming part was fastening all of the ornaments on with floral wire, but still, 7.5 hours?! In the end, all of the trees raised a lot of money for Hospice. And, I had a wonderful time making our theme, "A Butterfly Garden," work with the idea of Christmas still in mind. I thought I would share pictures of the beautiful outcome.

                        This last picture is our stand where people actually bid on the tree. I know, it’s blank — bidding didn’t start until that weekend!!

For more information about Hospice, please visit www.hospicepiedmont.org.

Happy Holidays,

Nadia

nvanderhall@gmail.com