Gardening on Warm Winter Day

Today the temperature was in the mid '50s and so I took advantage of the warm weather and went to work in my garden. The snowdrops were blooming and this white flower is generally the first flower to bloom in spring.

Snowdrops and purple crocus are the first flowers in early spring

I took some time to remove the mulch from my spring garden beds and saw that the crocus and daffodils were coming up also. Now I know that these warm days is just a break because cold weather is in the forecast for this weekend, but instead of covering the new growth up with a light layer of leaves, I think I will make up my spring fertilizer.

This flower garden fertilizer is one that was passed down from my dad, he would mix 8 lbs of compost with 3 lbs of bone meal and if there was any ash left in the firepit he would add that to the wheelbarrow and mix all the ingredients with a shovel.  Learn more about this spring flower garden fertilizer here

I will put a layer of fertilizer over the flower beds and around the spring flowering shrubs. Like my lilac and forsythia and by doing this I know that when it comes time for the flowers to bloom that they will be beautiful.

I spent three hours in the garden today and really enjoyed getting my flower beds ready for the next growing season.

Watering Houseplants with Spray-N-Grow

Last summer my neighbor bought two bottles Spry-n-grow from amazon.com and gave me one of them.  I had read about the amazing plant growth and vitality when using this nutrient formula for plants and I was happy that I got a free bottle. 

 I used the spray-n-grow for my outdoor gardens and the plants greened up quickly in the spring and were very healthy but when the cold season came I did not think to feed my indoor plants with spray n grow until I happened to come across the formula under my sink and thought I would give it a try.

Purple Orchid houseplant

I followed the directions as indicated on the bottle and mixed on a teaspoon of spray n grow in 16 ounces of water and waited a few minutes before use as this is what the direction indicated. Then I watered my house plants.

Within 10 days I did notice new leaf buds and thought that my plants looked overall greener. I will continue to water my houseplants with spray-n-grow throughout the winter months and hope that I have more orchid blooms.

Learn more about Spray-N-Grow here: 

Updating Outdoor Planters to Winter Arrangements

Now that winter is here and I can no longer look out at my lovely gardens so I decided I would update my plastic planters by turning them into winter arrangement.

Before beginning the transformation of my window boxes and garden planters I will need to cut some branches from the evergreen trees growing in my yard and then I will cut some lower branches from our Frazier fur Christmas tree. I may have to buy some branches from the Christmas tree outlets and if so I will get some spruce and pine branches.

Whenever I put together an outdoor arrangement I always start with a resin container then fill it up with regular potting soil, then water the soil until it drains from the bottom of the planter. The first time I created a winter arrangement I used a clay pot and come January it cracked.

Putting together a winter arrangement is fun. I start with tall cut branches in the center and then add shorter branches. I like to mix up the colors of the evergreen branches because it makes the planter interesting. When the planter is filled with the evergreen branches I will then spray the greens with wilt proof.

Now I can decorate with weatherproof red bows, pine cones, honeycombs, ornaments or festive holiday bows that are hot glued to a pick. I also like to add natural holly branches with the red berries to give the arrangement some natural beauty.

Do make winter arrangements out of evergreen branches?

Save money and have fun by making outdoor winter arrangements for your plastic planters.  Here is a video that will inspire you: 

Poly Rake Product Review

This year we bought one of those large poly lawn rakes from Lowes.com garden center. This rake has no metal on it and is lighter in weight so if you have a large yard or a lot of leaves this rake sure does make removing the leaves easier.

The rake has a 46 inch handle, 30 inch head with 30 tines and the total weight is two pounds. I used this rake today and found that I did not have to bend over as much and that I could move a whole lot of leaves from under the shrubs and in the gardens with little effort.

My husband swears by a metal rake but when he picked up my rake with the cushioned handle and the next to nothing weight, well it was hard to get my poly rake back.

If you are looking for a new rake to remove the leaves from your yard then I would recommend a poly lawn rake because it gets the job down quickly and efficiently and you are not as sore as you are when you use a traditional metal rake.

Note: I would recommend that you pick up one for your husband too, because even though he may be a die hard metal tines rake fan, if he gets his hands on your rake you may not get it back. 

Winter Care for Ajuga Reptans/Creeping Bugleweed

Now that the warm days of autumn are coming to an end I thought it would best to take care of my ajuga creeping bugleweed for winter. Normally I do not do much with this hardy evergreen groundcover but last year our winter was brutal and I lost many plants and vegetation due to extreme cold weather and ice.

This year I attended to my ajuga plants by removing all of the weeds and wild grasses that were growing too close and then I applied Scotts Organics NatureScapes red mulch around the creeping bugleweed.

Ajuga puts out runners and you do want to cover up the runners. It is best to allow space in between the plant's leaves and stems. This mulch will protect the roots that grow close to the soil surface. It will also protect the plants from becoming uprooted when snow or ice starts to melt.

Here are some photographs of my ajuga gardens:

Did you know that ajuga is one of the top 10 hardy groundcovers?  Learn more about ajuga by viewing this YouTube video