Barbara, who was featured in Friday's post has graciously offered some tips to our readers.
The article in the Pacific Northwest Magazine 2 years ago says of Barbara, "This human whirlwind plants 300 'Princess Irene' tulips every fall and several flats of coleus each spring."
Barbara's biggest tip is to improve your soil.
"This is the most important rule of good gardening. We have lots of rich but heavy clay in this region....glacial till, hard pan, and all very dense. I apply a feeding mulch to my soil once in the spring and again in the fall. This autumn the mulch will be applied in thick layers to protect and feed roots of perennials, trees and shrubs...three to four inches as a rule and sometimes eight inches to a foot high where the tender herbaceous plant roots reside underground.
I didn't lose one plant during last winter's freeze). Having said that, it is best not to place mulch against or near the trunks of woody plants (trees, hydrangeas, rhododendrons) as that invites rot and disease.
In the spring I apply another layer of feeding mulch as the fall layer of mulch has decomposed and is traveling through layers of clay to enrich the soil and the plant roots. That is the fertilizer for my garden beds. I do not heap big rotting leaves in my planting beds as in my amateur experience that creates a haven for slugs, snails and other plant devouring bugs to set up housekeeping.
My mulch of choice is Gardner and Bloome Soil Building Compost. It contains lots of nutritious goodies. City Peoples Mercantile stocks it.
Amend your soil. You will not regret the time you devote to doing this simple task. Just think of the calories you are burning and that will make the work more enjoyable.
Take a hot shower for your sore muscles, freshen up, and return to the garden with that glass of wine and admire your work."
Barbara also does a lot of container gardening and says they need the most attention.
She told us "Whoever said container gardening is easy hasn't seen my jungle. Container plants need lots of food and water to live well and flourish. When planting out my annuals in containers I literally dump Osmocote slow release fertilizer into the pots and mix it into the fresh soil.
You notice I said "fresh" soil. Yes, every spring and fall I remove the top eight inches or so from pots and replace it with fresh potting soil. Gardner and Bloome Potting Soil. I also apply liquid fertilizer (Grow Big is my favorite for lush foliar growth). The liquid is added regularly in the containers where I don't want flowers (coleus, bananas, for example). Otherwise I use the product made for blooms as buds begin to set.
My container arrangements are enormous by summer's end and that's what I want- rich, lush, healthy plants spilling out everywhere, looking wildly dramatic but well groomed.
Otherwise, why bother planting containers in the first place, right?"
And lastly Barbara tells us a little about watering.
"On very hot days containers need water twice and sometimes three times a day. I use terracotta in my back garden for more of a natural look. The positive about terracotta besides the warmth in it's coloration: The containers breath and keep the plants warm.
The negative about terracotta? It can crack more easily than clay in cold weather, and the soil and plant roots dry out more quickly. I love the way terracotta weathers so live with those issues.
And Barbara says to check out the The Northwest Horticultural Society site which has lots of great information.
And Barbara leaves us with "My last tip to you, fellow gardener: HAVE FUN!"
Thanks Barbara for all the great tips and information! Sign us up if you ever do classes in the neighborhood!
(Photo courtesy of Pacific Northwest Magazine)
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