Re: fertilizing

At 07:34 PM 2/17/2000 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi all-
>One of my goals this year is to do a better job of fertilizing my
>existing garden plants but honestly I am not the type to have 12
>different types for various perennials/roses/shrubs etc.  Can anyone
>recommend a good as-close-to-all-purpose fertilizer as you can get?

Compost.:-)

>Last year I used Osmocote (18-6-12) when planting perennials

Hmmm. In my experience, high Nitrogen fertilizers overstimulate perennial
flowers. Whether slow release like your Osmocote or simply regular garden
blends - the effect is the same.  The effect is shoot elongation and floppy
flowers. Oh, to be sure the garden looks like its growing like mad with
greenery everywhere but that greenery is often not tough enough to support
the weight of the blooms it produces.  Delphiniums (and Terry might want to
comment on this) are particularly easy to make shoot for the sky with an
extra dose of N - however, if you do this you had better make sure you have
a bundle of stakes handy 'cause you're going to need them.;-)

One of the nicest small perennial gardens in the Toronto area is owned by
David Tomlinson (about 1 acre) and all the feed his plants get are the
leaves he mulches with every fall. I remember well the gasps the audience
gave when David showed his gardens at one of our plant seminars (I ran
seminars when I ran my nursery) and told them to forget about putting
fertilizer on the plants. If they didn't have leaves - just use a half inch
of compost in the spring. (Over a beer afterwards we joked that he just
killed my retail garden centre fertilizer sales);-)

Several years of mulch/compost and you create a soil that will support the
luxuriant growth of perennials and create a much healthier garden soil
(hence healthier plants) as well.

>Do you have preferences of liquid v. granular?  Slow release v. regular
>feedings?  I'm starting from near-zero knowledge on this...all help is
>appreciated.

My book on old gardening methods is due to be released in April or May and
one of my favourite quotes from the book comes from an American grower
around NY city in the late 1800's when he's talking about all the various
fertilizer compounds - one for tomatoes - one for roses etc etc.  He goes
on to point out in his pithy terms that none of these differences are
recognized as being "more efficacious" in his trials. "Use well-rotted
manure and lots of it" says he.

Its hard to improve on the old masters when it comes to basic gardening.:-)

Doug
Doug Green,
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