I only have 3 kinds of Hellebores but all seem to grow fine. Most of my ferns seem to do ok too.  However…. The electric company just came through our easement and cut down 5 of my neighbor’s 50yr old trees to my west and suddenly my shade garden is in full sun in the late afternoon.

Kitty

We have quarries that sell lime sand.  But I use the sand out of the creek and add the lime(coarse) from the local source.  I only use the lime or broken concrete on certain ferns and hellebores.  Well, I read old wildflower books and try lime to see if that will make my plants grow better.  Nancy

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From: "Kitty Morrissy" <1*@rewrite.hort.net>
To:
Cc:
Sent: Sun, 4 Sep 2016 12:12:43 -0400
Subject: RE: soil vs soil-less

I’ve not heard of lime sand either. But then, it’s not something I’d use. Our soil here is clay and basic – meaning you don’t use sand or lime.

Kitty

I would add some compost and large grained sand.  I really like the small pine chips( which sounds like what you had given to you) if I can find them too.  Don't forget some lime sand if you are potting hellebores.  Nancy   Tennessee 

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To: p*@hort.net
Subject: soil vs soil-less
Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2016 16:57:22 -0400
From: 1*@rewrite.hort.net

A little off-topic but I am potting perennials so…

 

I mix my own potting soil, usually eyeballing it at 45% bagged top soil, 45% sphagnum peat, and 10% perlite.  This gets adjusted if I happen to have compost or something else available, or if a plant needs it, I’ll add grit. And I always put in time-release fertilizer.

 

A guy just gave me 3 bags of top soil he got at Wal-Mart that he didn’t need.  At a glance it seemed nicer than the usual cheap muck-based top soil I buy. But when I started using it, there didn’t seem to be any actual soil in the bag. I checked it and it is composed of Pine Fines, Hardwood Fines, Forest Fines, Forest Products, and a touch of Sand.  Sand is a component of soil but fines have to break down before they become soil.

 

This seems like a good additive for my mix but it isn’t soil. There’s no clay and I depend on having some clay for  cation exchange. So I’m mixing some of the muck brand top soil in with it but still wondering if this is going to be a good mix.  I also cut back a bit on the sphagnum peat.

 

Maybe I’m overthinking this as nurseries use soil-less mixes all the time.  But do you think my mix is ok for overwintering pots and do you think they should get away with labeling a bag as top soil when there is no soil in the bag?

 

Kitty