Re: fertilizing


Hi James

> 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.;-)

Assuming a universally low soil fertility when beginning a perennial 
garden, the amount of fertilizer to be applied will definitely depend 
upon the plants you wish to grow. Perovskia (mentioned a few days 
ago) for instance is best in very low soil fertility, whereas 
delphiniums will eat a compost heap for breakfast, osmocote for 
lunch and a barrow load of processed pig food for dinner, then cry 
out "Mom, I'm Hungry!"

The most luxuriant, floriferous and healthy perennial gardens I have 
seen were achieved using copious quantities of mulch (just about 
anything available) combined with regular light dressings of a 
granular low yield balanced fertilizer (5-5-5 or some such). These 
gardens were quite "flashy" using roses, delphiniums, begonias 
(New Zealand remember) dahlias etc. and even azaleas, which 
surprised me (maybe they withheld the fertilizer from these and just 
used the mulch).

The look of a low fertile perennial garden (in NZ anyway) is far more 
subdued, colours are muted, plants look a little harder and the whole 
effect is more like a water colour rather than the oil painting of the 
highly fertile garden...and far less work staking etc. So I guess what 
i'm saying is that the amount of fertilizer you apply will depend not 
only on the plants that you choose but also upon the mood that you 
want your garden to reflect. 

Sorry if this sounds a little grand and high-falutin from someone who 
knows little about gardening generally, but I do think that when 
considering plants and fertilizer regimes, (which will sort themselves 
out according to needs) it is most important to be quite definite 
about the general effect you are wanting to create as this will have a 
tremendous bearing on both plants and fertilizer use.

So, what effect are you wanting to achieve, and what plants would 
you like to use? Or did you mention this and my ramblings have 
overtaken me again?

Just as an aside. Since we shifted to Wanganui, which is a little 
cooler than Auckland and has a much more solid soil structure, 
there has been a noticeable difference in the growth response of 
our delphiniums to additional fertilizer and it is costing far less $ to 
achieve the same, or even better result.

regards

Terry Dowdeswell
1570 Brunswick Road
RD1
Wanganui
New Zealand
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
terry@delphinium.co.nz
http://www.delphinium.co.nz
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dowdeswell's Delphiniums
http://www.delphinium.co.nz
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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