Basics of Organic Fertilizers

(This is the 2nd part of two posts on fertilizers. Read the first post here.) 

I love the idea of using organic fertilizers! Using them makes me feel good about "reusing" something and not damaging something downstream at the same time. Its like guilt free fertilizing! Organic fertilizers are naturally-occurring fertilizers such as compost, bone meal or manure. Organic fertilizers help amend the quality of your existing soil and as compared to inorganic fertlilizers they are adsorbed more slowly over time (resulting in fewer applications) and help improve the moisture retention of your soil. They also lead to less runoff of excess chemicals and are typically cheaper (especially when they are "home grown" with a chicken coop or worm or bin composting). Here are some types of organic fertilizers you may want to consider:

• Mushroom Compost - This is the organic material left over from the intentional growth of mushrooms that has been steam treated to remove critters, weed seeds and other pathogens. According to http://www.mushroomcompost.org/, the average mushroom compost has a mix of 1.12: .67:, 1.24. (If you aren't sure what these number mean, read about N:P:K values here.)
• Bone Meal - Bone meal is literally milled bones. It has a N:P:K ration of 4:15:0. This makes it great for stimulating root growth - which is why its often used for planting bulbs.
• Black Cow - Black cow is just what you are thinking: good ole "manure". I just checked my bag and it boasts a N:P:K ratio of 1.5:1.5:1.5. This sort of leaves me wondering what the rest of it is since only 4.5% of the composition is accounted for. Anyone know?
• Garden Compost - I have had a composting bin for a few years now and I often use it as part of a soil cocktail when planting new plants. I use it for general purposes in the garden, but I'm not sure its N:P:K makeup. I'd love to know if anyone else has knows if there are best applications for compost from kitchen scraps.
• Worm Compost - In the Fall of 2009, I started worm composting. I wasn't able to stick with it long enough to generate must compost or compost tea. For me, I didn't feel like the worms could accommodate the volume of kitchen scraps that we regularly generate and I found that I needed to keep both a worm bin and a normal compost bin going at the same time. I also found the worm composting bin to be a bit high maintenance. Nonetheless, many a gardener uses worm castings and tea in their garden and there are certainly plenty of "worm poop" enthusiasts out there!
• Chick coop poop - I have several friends with chickens and I am the grateful benefactor of their surplus eggs from time to time. After touring gardens on the Henside the Beltine: Tour De Coup, one friend, Jody, was an instant convert. She was struck by the gorgeous gardens, not chickens, on the tour. Chicken droppings are high in Nitrogen and are great at boosting new plant growth!  

Right now, I'm still working on getting my compost bin running and generating soil again. I've been at it since the end of January, so hopefully, we'll have some "black gold" again soon! In the meantime, I try to keep both mushroom compost and black cow on hand when putting in new shrubs and plants.

March 2011 Garden Event Roundup

Here's what's happening for the rest of this month in and around the gardens of Raleigh!

• March 6th - "Native Azaleas" Workshop  (NC Botanical Gardens, Chapel Hill)
• March 8th - Japanese Plants and Collectors (JC Raulston Arboretum, Raleigh)
• March 11th - Spring Walk in the Garden (Duke Gardens, Durham)
• March 12th -  "Soils, Water, and Site Conditions for Home Landscapes" Workshop  (NC Botanical Gardens, Chapel Hill)
• March 12th - 3rd Annual Camellia Show (JC Raulston Arboretum, Raleigh) 
• March 13th -  "Container Gardening" Workshop  (NC Botanical Gardens, Chapel Hill)
• March 17th - "Plant Exploration in Crete" Lecture (JC Raulston Arboretum, Raleigh)
• March 26th -  "Get Growing Vegetables" Workshop  (NC Botanical Gardens, Chapel Hill)
• March 26th - "Weeds 101" Workshop  (NC Botanical Gardens, Chapel Hill) 
• March 31st - Backyard Birdhouses Lecture (JC Raulston Arboretum, Raleigh)

Hope to see you out and about! Happy gardening!

Floral Design with The Art of Flowers

In the not to0 distant past, I took a few floral design classes with Art of Flowers in Raleigh (hosted by Watered Garden Florist). I had a great time and loved having access to so many professional cut flowers. The classes also included a number of tips and tricks.

Two of my favorite tips relate to ways to help keep flowers "full" looking and upright in a vase.

1. Create a ball out of a piece of chicken wire about the same diameter as the top of your vase. Then stick your trimmed leaves through the wire ball at various angles to help disperse stems while keeping them upright.
2. Create a criss-cross grid out of thin floral (or trimmed scotch) tape strips across the top of your vase. Insert your flowers into the grid to help keep them upright. (For me, this one sounds better in theory in practice as I've found changing water to be a challenge with this approach. Its also a pain when a leaf falls into the water under the grid.)
   

During one of the classes, I ventured out to do a monochromatic design in a low shallow bowl. (As an aside, the owners of Art of Flowers had picked up the bowls on a trip to Africa - which is pretty neat!) I never would have tried this before as oasis was the only true support for the flowers. I clothed my oasis in a blanket of moss. Below is the outcome: it made a pretty cheery centerpiece in the dining room.

The fee for the classes is extremely reasonable when you consider that its both educational and entertaining to participate and you get to take home an arrangement to boot!

The Flower Shuttle

A few years ago, I volunteered to do floral table decorations for a local non-profit's annual fund-raising dinner. After our event was over, we had a plethora of Gladiolus that were just hitting their stride: they actually looked better after the event than during it.

We decided to donate them to The Flower Shuttle, another local non profit who receives used or unsold and near "expiring" florals and remixes them to brighten the days of people in hospitals and retirement homes.

Since then, I've volunteered twice at their Tuesday morning sessions. The ladies (and gentlemen) of the Flower Shutter are great. Each Tuesday, they meet to assemble arrangements and it is one smooth running operation! Everyone has a job; from putting out flowers, filling vases and running the refreshment stand (yes, they have refreshments) to welcoming and getting newbies oriented.

I highly recommend it as something to do in the "off season". Its a great place to contribute to our community while exercising your creative juices - you may even pick up a floral design trick or two!

Signs of Spring

For the first time this year, I've noticed a few narcissus (daffodil) and tulip blooms peaking through the soil. I love them for blooms, but I'm just as excited about the Spring that follows.

Last May, our first night away (sans babies) included a trip to the Fearrington House Inn (and gardens)! I captured quite a few pictures there including one of these gorgeous purple (gladiator?) alliums. They globes are striking against the rustic horizontal siding on the barn.

Come on Spring!

Basics of Inorganic Fertilizers

This year I had an indoor Christmas cactus that never did bloom. Turns out, I didn't fertilize it appropriately. I'm now hoping for a "Valentine's Cactus". I've also had some very stagnant indoor African Violets and Orchids, as of late. I've never been very consistent about fertilizing in the Spring, but this year, I really want to give my plants the best start that I can.

I'm also terrible at remembering what to use where, so I'm writing this down for posterity and so that I (and you) can reference it later. In full disclosure, I do prefer to use organic fertilizers like black cow and composting soil (from a tumbler or worms), but since that isn't always available here are some basis of inorganic fertilizers.

Inorganic fertilizer is basically composed of three main "ingredients": nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). These chemicals are used in various ratios to drive differing results in plant growth: nitrogent for shoot growth, phosphorus for root growth and potassium for fruits and flowers. I once heard that if you can't remember how component each is used to remember: shoots, roots, fruits. This stuck with me! A fertilizer that is labeled 10 - 10- 10 is equal parts nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. So, if you are trying to encourage root growth, you'd choose a fertilizer with higher 2nd number: indicating that there is a higher ratio of phosphorus in the product as compared to nitrogen and potassium. Similarly, if its blooms you are after you'd choose a product with a higher "3rd" number, for potassium.

Here are some examples, using products you may have heard of:

• Holly Tone is a 4 - 3 - 4 fertilizer. That means 4% nitrogen, 3% phosphorus, 4% potassium. The label recommends it for evergreens, cameillas and hollies. You could use a fertilizer higher in potatssium (the "fruits") to drive more blooms on blooming evergreens like Cameillas.
• All Purpose Miracle Grow - is a 12 - 4 - 8 fertilizer. Its most commonly recommended and used for annuals and you and see why as it promotes lots of green "shoot" growth and blooms.
• Osmocote Plus - is a 15-9-12 fertilizer.
• Superphosphate fertlizers contain a ratio of 0 - 46 - 0 and they are often used during Fall plantings to encourage root growth while getting plants established.

Hope this helps. While there is lots of science behind fertilizers, selecting and applying one isn't scientific. Problems like root burn and other negative side effects can occur. My advice is to not over do it and consult help from a master gardener or garden center expert when you need it!

Winter/Early Spring 2011 Events

• February 5th - A Winter Walk through the Garden (NC Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill)
• February 8th - Plantsman's Tour: Winter Favorites (J. Raulston Arboretum, Raleigh)
• Feburary 13th - A Winter Walk through the Garden (J. Raulston Arboretum, Raleigh)
• February 25 - Plants Delight Open House
• February 26 - Plants Delight Open House
• March 4 - Plants Delight Open House
  
• March 5 - Plants Delight Open House