Bulbs....

Bulbs!!

Why Bulbs?

Lots of bang for your buck- or lots of return for not much initial investment. They are fairly cheap- the more expensive bulbs can run you $12 for three. Commonly you can buy 50 bulbs for $30! You plant in the fall, when the weather begins to cool AND the ground is cool. And they return every year, in the spring when most other garden flowers are still asleep. Bulbs are unfussy (when you choose hardy ones)!

How do I make them look, uh, good/ right or natural? 

Naturalize! In gardening, naturalizing often refers to an informal-looking, unplanned plantings of bulbs. Naturalized areas will flourish when planted with self-propagating and spreading bulb species (like crocus, daffodil, grape hyacinths, snowdrops, Glory-of-the-Snow, squill)- choose varieties that will spread freely in fields, meadows, lawns, and along wooded paths. Choose varieties that require little to no care after planting time! YES. (Not tulips, folks.)

Plant under established trees to achieve an effortless “meadow” look! In time, these plantings will redesign themselves, rearranging themselves into a natural, native pattern with nearly no effort on the gardener’s part!

Plant large quantities- not just three or four, think 10 or 25.

Choose varieties that will make you happy (obviously) but keep in mind bloom time- think early, middle, late and make sure you plant varieties that bloom in each period. I simply let the package description guide me- approximate size, early-middle-late bloom time and color. (Also- choose varieties that

How do I actually plant them??

One- get a bulb planting tool. This makes planting en masse much easier. Lots of people use regular hand trowel/ spades. Not me! I have my handy dandy old-lady cone shaped, tin can planter!

Two- out line your planting area (I use marking paint, lots of people use hoses). Choose areas that are not boggy and are not in deep, evergreen shade. Early spring tree shade (from deciduous trees) is usually pretty light- trees will not have leaved out yet. Make a natural, rounded shape- I always design beds with soft serpentine curves to mimic natural shapes and also make mowing and edging easier. Keep shapes minimal (not too many curves here).

Three- scatter bulbs (a mixture of sizes, varieties and bloom times) around areas. Adjust your spacing to reflect the size of the bloom. Check out the chart and make sure the bulbs are spaced far enough away from each other! Largest bulb/ blooms will be your focus, so plant those first and put all the other small bulbs around them. Put a few outside your planting area to make it seem really informal!

Four- kneepads and digging tool time! Make sure you pay attention to the size of the bulb. This tells you (as does the packaging) how deep to plant the bulb. 3 times the height of the bulb- rule of thumb. (little bitty 1” grape hyacinths are planted 3” below the surface) Leaves holes open, as you will be adding fertilizer and compost on top. Choose Bulb Fertilizer or high phosphorus fertilizer as it won’t leach into soil and is available to the bulb roots. Always plant bulbs with the tip up! This is where the stem comes from; don’t injure it when you are putting your soil back on top.

I like Bulb Tone- a natural fertilizer (not synthetic) that has some bone meal and blood meal BUT includes alfalfa meal and seaweed. Seems to help enrich the clay soil….

My choices for cool naturalizing bulbs:

Chionodoxa

Drumstick Allium

Fritillaria

Galanthus

 

 

Daffodil, Narcissus, Jonquil

Grape Hyacinth

But I love Tulips? What to do? They keeps petering out….

Tulips take more work in Kansas… we have tough clay soil. It is rich with nutrients but it’s all bound up in the clay! So to get a successful tulip stand started you just have to turn over and amend the entire bed. Mark it out, turn it over (tilling usually) then work in great compost. This needs to be the rich stuff- it can include manure but Choice Compost, Cotton Burr work best. They include alfalfa meal, hay meal and the like. I don’t usually use peat moss but you can… this adds more acid, at least temporarily, to the soil. 

 In other news:

October 15, 2011 Tree Farm Grand Opening/ Field Day

Kid friendly, family time: pumpkin painting, trebuchet. Lunch in our kitchen!

50% off all container stock, in stock cash/carry, no warranty.

25% off crabapples and pear trees. Limited stock of red maples!

8 a.m.- 5 p.m.

Pool Closing time... MWCP!

Pool Closings

It's that time of year again, when we all start thinking about pool closings. One question you might ask yourself is do I need to close my pool or spa down? This is answered by another question: are you planning on heating your pool or spa for the the season? If you are planning on heating your pool and or spa then, no, you don't need a closing. If your not, then you do need a closing.

What is involved in a pool closing? 

There are a lot of steps involved with a pool closing. First you need to drain to pool down past the lowest plumbing line in the pool, usually the return lines.

Then you need to blow the lines out with an air blower, a shopvac will not work don't try it. 

After lines are blown out, antifreeze will need blown through all of the lines. 

Then all lines will need to be plugged, and all equipment needs to have all plugs removed. 

You may be asking how do you winterize the main drain lines? You just blow air through the line, and then air lock it by closing the valve while the air is still on. Don't worry, there is enough water in the bottom of the pool to keep it from freezing. Chemicals will be placed in remaining water to help make it easier to open in the spring time. 

If you have a spa all these steps will need to be done on it as well. One thing that you have to remember is that all lines must have all water removed from them or there can be a possible freeze break. Also one good rule of thumb is blow antifreeze in the lines and when you see a faint hint of it coming out you have enough in the lines. This is also good if you do not know how the plumbing was run. 

Finally, you want to install the cover on the pool and spa. And remember to set up the cover pump if applicable.

Pool closing can be a overwhelming task and is usually best left to a pool professional. It can also take specialized equipment to winterize your pool. Also remember that most of the pool equipment have plugs in them. Heaters like to have hidden ones, so pay close attention to them. And if you don't close your pool properly, you may damage your pool. This can be a very expensive repair for you if a line breaks. Ask a pool professional to close your pool.

Midwest Custom Pools is not responsible if you close you pool on your own! This is simply information on what to expect your pool professional to do during the close.

Chamber After Hours- Wed 9/28

  Come visit us at the Tree Farm tomorrow night (Wednesday, September 28th) from 5-7 pm. Burgers, drinks (both beer flavored and cider flavored), ride the rides (the mini-excavator) and use the medieval battle thing (trebuchet)!! It'll be fun. It's a debut of our outdoor kitchen and a chance to wander among our trees. See you there!

The time to plant trees....

More from Mike at the tree farm:
Ooops....due to all of our expansion, I lost quite a bit of production area and have over 400 five gallon trees to line out this fall. These trees are NOT "plant it and forget it" kind of trees. These are much younger, smaller trees that will need annual pruning for 3-4 years in order to develop a strong leader and dense canopy. They may even need a stake to keep them straight. Don't worry though.... we have care sheets available. And if you have questions, you can call or stop by the farm! Varieties include:
-Bald Cypress
-Crabapples:
  Royal Gem, Royal Raindrops, Sargentina, Sargent, Spring Snow
-Maples:
Autumn Fantasy, October Glory, Oregon Trail Sugar, Red Sunset
-Swamp White Oak
-Cleveland Select Oak

Notes from Laurel, the designer: A great way to use these little trees is on large acreage. If you've been waiting to plant that windbreak but need to save money, this is the ticket. As Mike says, you must be willing to do the work to get a well formed tree! But at $30 a pop, these are a bargain. So think mass planting (like a north windbreak) OR do something dramatic and think English country manor and plant "pleached" trees on the front of your property. That is a fancy word to describe trees that have been pruned up to create an open area at the bottom but the upper branches grow together to provide privacy on top. It still feels airy but offers a green privacy fence! (doesn't work for the dogs of course :)) Pleaching has a long and labor-intensive history, but you can do an American version by planting these young trees, with stakes together to form a barrier. Ask us if you have questions!

Narrow Trees- from the Tree Farm

Need shade for a narrow area? We have the solution! Choose a tree with a narrow canopy- this will allow cars, people, etc to move underneath with very little issue. From a design standpoint, these narrow trees also provide a privacy block, while still allowing light and air to move through. Imagine blocking that harsh 5 o'clock sun into your house with a row of narrow, upright trees?

photo courtesy of oregonstate.edu

-Armstrong Maple is a fast growing tree that will reach 45' tall with a spread of only 15'.  Fall color varies from yellow to orange-red. This is one tough, durable tree- often chosen as a street tree where space demands a tree that doesn't spread!








-Cleveland Select Pear is also a tall, narrow tree that is a fast grower! This tree will grow to 40' tall with a spread of 15' as well. The canopy is very dense so not only does it provide shade, but it can also be used for screening. It starts spring awash in white blossoms followed by dark green glossy leaves in teh summer that turn purplish red in the fall. These trees do not break apart as often as the Bradford Pear. I have a row planted on the north end of the pond, and in 5 years, they have yet to lose a branch!


-Musashino Zelkova is a very narrow, upright, vase-shaped tree that will reach 45' H and 15' W. The leaves are a medium green color which turn yellow in the fall. It a has a delicate, lacy canopy compared to the other two trees. We will be digging a limited number of these this fall, so you can handpick from the field! Here is a Schmidt pdf about this rarely seen, very useful tree!

Japanese Maples

Many people long for just the right spot to plant a Japanese Maple. Before you rush out and buy one, there are a few things to know about the knockout.
Most Japanese Maples are burgundy but not all. Many are green (Virdis) or have green leaves, red stems (Coralbark). Most turn amazing fall colors: orange, gold, yellow, scarlet, plum, etc. As well, there are two distinct classes: acer palmatum (regular shaped maple leaves) and acer dissectum (laceleaf or a smaller, more divided leaf). Usually the laceleaf varieties stay a bit smaller.
Japanese Maples, while really maples, behave more like a Hydrangea or another shade loving tree. They are a great focal point near your house, due to their smaller scale and lovely detail, but they require at least partial shade everyday. Morning sun and afternoon shade is a perfect setup for these beauties! Protection from the elements is essential as well. Early spring frosts and winds from the south can really hurt these trees but plant them close to the house, in a protected noon and you'll be pleased at the results.

Mike at the tree farm has this to say:

Image courtesy of Bucholz Nursery

Bloodgood is the standard of the purple leaved tree form Japanese Maples. They will eventually grow to be 18' high and wide. The foliage comes out reddish purple and hold the color well until a heat wave hits! The color will then get a bit more green but go back to red as soon as the cool weather comes back.
Emperor I is very similar to the Bloodgood in shape, height and width. However, it holds its color better in hot weather and leaves out a bit later than the Bloodgood. Thus avoiding those late freezes that can kill a tender Japanese Maple. 
Tameukeyama is one of the best weeping lace-leaf varieties for our area. The leaves hold their deep purple color through the heat. They stay small, usually hitting 8' H x 12' W at maturity.

Mike's Site Selection advice: Drainage is key to the happiness of these trees. They don't like wet feet so make sure water doesn't stand in the area you've chosen.  When you plant your tree, make sure the root ball is2-3" above grade. (In other words, find the root flare- where the trunk connects to the root- and don't bury that). Slope the soil up to the root ball- this way water will not pool around the plant and you won't be burying your tree in mulch. Always keep in mind the final mature size (especially with Bloodgoods and that type)- you cannot prune these forever and keep them 6' tall. They want to grow- plant them where their mature size will be an asset!

Here is a cool site that explains about finding the root flare! Also, if you love to look at the ever-expanding world of Japanese Maples, go to the Bucholz Nursery library online.

News from the tree farm... We're in maintenance mode now!

The combination of hot days and warm nights really doesn't allow plants any time to recover from the scorching heat. We are attempting to put out the fires (metaphorically) by running the field irrigation (even on trees that have been in the ground for 3 years)!
Mike says: "Don't forget about the trees in your yard. Even if you have an irrigation system, it is not enough water! Larger trees may not show any signs of stress until next year." Check the soil around your trees and shrubs by putting your finger or a rod into the ground about 1 1/2" down. If it is dry, give it a long slow drink- this means 30 minutes to 1 hour on drip directly to the root system of the tree. (The larger the tree, the longer you water. 30 minutes is good for most shrubs.)

Pink Velour Crape Myrtle, loving the heat. That makes one of us.

On the positive side, this heat is really making the crape myrtles happy! We carry Tonto (deep red) and Pink Velour. They love the heat! Keep an eye out around town for neighborhood crape myrtles.