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Tips for Choosing and Growing Local Roses

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What better way to enjoy the romance of the garden than by growing roses? Rose gardening has gotten a bad rap in recent years. Growing roses doesn’t have to be a challenge. Choose the right plant for your garden and you’re halfway to having a spectacular rose garden. Learn the basics of caring for roses and your gardens will be the envy of the neighborhood.

In a nutshell, there are four magic ingredients for making your roses happy and your garden a reality.

  1. The Soil

Roses prefer a soil pH ranging from 6.5 to 6.8. It is important to use “Soil Sulfur” every spring and Watters acidifying “All Purpose Plant Food” 7-4-4 every other month during the growing season. Soils with good drainage are best. When improving the soil, it is important to incorporate additional soil amendments. Incorporate Watters “Premium Mulch” into the planting hole for best garden drainage and better blooms.

  1. Irrigation

Water requirements vary depending on season and condition. Deep water rose bushes twice weekly for a good start. Monitor the health and vigor of your plants and adjust as conditions require. Roses need to breathe between water cycles. It is best to err on the dry side rather than soaking wet. Older roses appreciate deep watering once a week during the growing season. Add them to the irrigation system that takes care of your trees and they will truly be happy. Morning water is best. Avoid late evening irrigation, which could foster powdery mildew.

 

  1. Spacing

Grouping your roses too close together may foster powdery mildew as well. Let your roses breathe; don’t plant them too close together. Follow spacing requirements for each particular variety when planting rose bushes. Roses planted with four-foot spacing is a good start.

  1. Sun

Give your roses at least six hours of sunlight each day. If possible, let the morning provide the bulk of those six hours, since the afternoon sun can cause flowers to fade sooner than a cooler exposure.

 

Which Rose is Right for Me?

Roses can be grown in any location, and there are sizes that accommodate any landscape environment. This will help you choose the right variety for your own garden. There are too many sub-varieties to list here, but there are four major rose types for this column.

 

Bush Roses are the largest category. A familiar example of a bush rose is a hybrid tea, the most popular variety in the U.S. today. New colors are introduced every year. They are reliable and easy to care for and not as delicate as some bushes, so they are good for even new gardeners. The one drawback of some hybrid teas is their reduced fragrance, even though this group has the largest individual flowers of other roses.

 

Climbing Roses

The name is actually a misnomer. Roses do not actually climb. Their long canes can be attached to supports like trellises and arbors. There are two main types of climbers: large climbers, with thick canes that bloom all season like the Josephs Coat Rose; the second type of climber is the rambler with thinner canes and heavy clusters of flowers that cover the plant in early spring. A good example here would be a Lady Banks Rose.

 

Shrub Roses

These are hardy and super easy to grow. They grow upright and have numerous canes that are often trimmed to create a sturdy hedge. They self-prune and set new flower buds all by themselves making shrub roses the perfect hardy landscape shrub and a far more attractive deterrent than a metal fence ever dreamed of being.

 

Groundcover Roses

This variety has a creeping habit. Its canes produce low mounds of roses. Much like the shrub rose, groundcover roses repeatedly bloom without care from their owners. Growing only to knee high, they make excellent colored accents to soften rock lawns, yet they are small enough to enjoy in container and raised bed gardens.

You have to stop and smell the roses here at Watters Garden Center. No other flower elicits such universal pleasure.

 

Until next issue, I’ll be helping rose gardeners here at Watters Garden Center. QCBN

By Ken Lain

Ken Lain, the mountain gardener, can be found throughout the week at Watters Garden Center, 1815 W. Iron Springs Rd in Prescott, or contacted through his website at WattersGardenCenter.com or FB.com/WattersGardenCenter. Until next issue, I’ll see you in the garden center.

The Secret Garden: Living Christmas Trees Planted as a Natural Screen

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As the autumn colors drop the last of their leaves, the gardens can feel naked. Without strategically placed evergreens in the yard, it easily feels like prying eyes look right through your home. Not only does your own privacy seemingly disappear, but that neighbor’s debris pile can be witnessed through winter.

The solution to both of these unwanted invasions of privacy is not rocket science. November is an ideal time to plant a wall of living trees to block the messy view and to create the privacy you desire. Enjoy that hot tub once again.

When you’re ready to choose the trees for your living wall of green, read through the list that follows. It is comprised of screeners that do well locally. The list contains the names of evergreens that over the years have performed well.To successfully add evergreens to a landscape, there are several essential steps worth your time and energy. The most important requirement for evergreen trees to thrive is drainage. Blend one shovelful of Watters Premium Mulch into every three shovels full of native earth to pack around your plant’s roots. Feed new trees with my specially formulated All Purpose Plant Food, 7-4-4; the cottonseed meal in this natural food promotes better root formation while maintaining good foliage color. Finally, water your newly planted trees with a solution of Root & Grow. This water additive tickles the roots of a plant and helps to form a deep root system.

Austrian Mountain Pine – This dense pine is easy to care for and as cold hardy as native pines. Its rich green needles are sturdy and more numerous than those of other pines, with less needle drop in summer. Thick right to the ground and 25’ tall it makes the perfect windbreak while preventing prying eyes from looking in on your private hot tub sessions.

Deodar Cedar – This is the largest of the screening plants, growing to over 50 feet tall and 18 feet wide with long swooping branches of Arizona blue foliage. Growing some two to three feet per year, it is one of the fastest growing of the screeners. As with most upright evergreens, this cedar can thrive on low water use, drought conditions and drip irrigation. Make sure to give it plenty of growing space, because this tree is going to need it!

Norway Spruce – Very cold-hardy, this spruce is the perfect symmetrically shaped Christmas tree. Excellent choice for a front holiday tree or as a semi-formal accent in large yards. Makes a pretty evergreen background for contrasting foliage colors, flowering shrubs or to highlight a n autumn leaf show in trees and shrubs. Line them up into a windbreak. Easily hides lights and sound barrier along busy streets.

Arizona Cypress – My favorite native evergreen screener is the Arizona cypress. It is like a large alligator juniper in size and color, but grows faster and fills in more completely than other screen plants. Growing to over 20 feet tall and 12 feet wide in just a few years, you can see why this is the number one choice for a planted screen. If you prefer a cypress in rich green instead of an Arizona blue, go for the Leyland cypress. Both trees grow to the same size and have the same water and soil needs.

Juniper – Finally, let’s look at the juniper family. Hillspire, blue point and Wichita are on the extensive list of junipers available at the garden center now. Juniper forests surround us, so you know that junipers are naturals to plant locally. Whichever color and height you like, all grow well here.

There are more choices, such as the larger evergreen shrubs and deciduous trees like aspens, but we’ll save those landscape tips for another time.

Book just Published! The Secret Garden: Plants as a Natural Screen is an all local garden book where I go into deep detail. Free copies are available for download at WattersGardenCenter.com under “LEARN.”

Until next issue, I’ll be helping locals screen for more privacy in their own backyard. QCBN

By Ken Lain

Ken Lain can be found throughout the week at Watters Garden Center, 1815 W. Iron Springs Rd in Prescott, or contacted through his web site at WattersGardenCenter.com or FB.com/WattersGardenCenter .

Boxwoods Make A Garden Look Better

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Thanks to its versatility, boxwood can fit into any landscape, whether a formal or casual design. In winter’s sparse garden, this shrub’s strong shape, rich green color and air of old-world formality can dominate the scene. In summer, when the garden is in full bloom, it blends into the lushness, providing shape and structure. There are about 90 species and over 365 different kinds of boxwood. They vary tremendously in size, shape, leaf characteristics, growth rates and hardiness. The secret to working with these evergreens is in choosing the varieties that best fit the growing conditions where you are creating your landscape. Here are our top picks and some ways to use them.

Hedges – Boxwoods take well to shearing, which makes them likely candidates for hedges. They are suitable for defining different spaces in the garden, as a border along a property line or for a tidy foundation cover-up.

If you want a tight, close hedge, place your plants half as far away from one another as the mature width listed on the plant tag and they will fill in exactly the way you want. Here are three of the hardiest mountain varieties ready for planting now:

Winter Gem Boxwood

Variegated English Boxwood

Green Mountain Boxwood

 

Edgers and low hedges – Gardeners have been clipping boxwood shrubs into tight formations since 4,000 BC when some Egyptians picked up a pair of shears and went to work. From parterres and knot gardens to defined borders along walkways or beds, low-growing boxwoods such as these three varieties lend themselves to a structured look:

Dwarf English Boxwood

Morris Midget Boxwood

Wee Willie Boxwood

 

Green Accents – Enhance your front door area with a single boxwood or with several of these shapely plants (we love three staggered heights packed into a tight grouping). Use them to define corners in a border or add to billowing borders for structure. These cultivars make it easy:

Chicagoland Green Boxwood

Faulkner Boxwood

Green Velvet Boxwood

 

Topiary – Select taller varieties for swooping spiral or tiered ball topiary forms. Smaller varieties can be sheared into whatever shape you fancy, from a classic orb to whimsical whatevers. Take clippers and shape these varieties:

Green Tower Boxwood

Green Mountain Boxwood

Golden Triumph Boxwood

 

Containers and Raised beds – Almost all boxwoods are candidates for containers because they look just as good in January as they do in June. Choose a fast-draining pot that is at least as wide and tall as the plant itself, and preferably bigger. The larger the container, the more soil it holds and the less often you have to water. This one’s a great container candidate:

Petite Pillar Dwarf Boxwood

 

Keeping Boxwoods Happy

Provide excellent drainage – Boxwoods are highly adaptable to various soil types, including average or poor soils and acidic or alkaline conditions provided the soil is well drained. Boxwoods can’t take standing water and heavy wet soil which can lead to root rot. Prevent this problem by amending your garden soil to a 50 percent blend of Watters Premium Mulch and native garden soil; then plant on a slight mound in the yard. For containers and raised beds plant directly into Watters Potting Soil.

Keep them clean – When a boxwood is sheared to produce denser outer foliage, air circulation is inhibited and light is prevented from reaching the inner sections of the plant. The resulting dead leaves and stems that accumulate in the center can promote fungal diseases that can be fatal. Prune back all dying branches to healthy wood, remove all debris from the center of the plant, and thin out some of the outside growth so that air and light can reach into and maintain a healthy center.

Sun exposure – Boxwoods thrive in either full sun or light shade. But if exposed to extreme winds and full sun, boxwoods can struggle the first years in a garden, especially in winter. These conditions are especially common on mountain ridgelines. Protect boxwoods by keeping them vigorous and healthy; water as needed and apply a fresh layer of mulch in fall to help prevent winter damage. Spray with Watters “Wilt Stop” to withstand extreme exposure.

Fertilizing – Apply Watters 7-4-4 All Purpose Food in spring, summer, and fall for the greenest plants. Gardeners who plan around holidays use Easter, Independence Day, and Halloween as reminders to feed their healthy boxwoods.

Until next issue, I’ll be here at Watters Garden Center helping local gardeners care for their boxwoods. QCBN

By Ken Lain

Ken Lain can be found throughout the week at Watters Garden Center, 1815 W. Iron Springs Rd in Prescott, or contacted through his web \site at WattersGardenCenter.com or FB.com/WattersGardenCenter .

 

Eight Gardening Tasks You Must Complete This Month

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October is a critical month in landscape maintenance and should not be ignored. As we transition into autumn and the first frosts in November, these key steps keep our landscapes healthy, weed-free and ready for their long slumber through winter. These strategic steps also will provide a rich harvest from the vegetable garden through the holidays. Broccoli at Christmas is possible with task #6, weed prevention with #8, and vibrant green evergreens right through the coldest winter days with #1. So, here are the essential October gardening tasks that should be completed by the end of the month.

#1 The most critical job of fall is also the easiest gardening task: feeding everything in our landscapes. The entire yard should be fed within the next few weeks. Stay away from synthetic winterizer plant food. Much safer results are delivered with my 7-4-4 “All Purpose Plant Food.” This locally blended natural plant food is safer for pets and people, and is less threatening to our drinking water than synthetic foods. Evergreens will keep their vibrant green color through winter with this October feeding, and it’s a must for spring bloomers like lilacs and forsythias. Native pinion and ponderosa pines should receive this meal to fend off bark beetles, scale and aphids. Even houseplants should be given a small taste.

#2 This is the time to treat pinion pines for scale. Each tree gets treated with Watters “Plant Protector,” and it doesn’t take an arborist to apply this liquid bug killer. Diluted with water in a two-gallon watering can and applied at the base of each evergreen, the roots will absorb it and do the rest. I think of it as an antibiotic for trees. Reapply in March, and you will have great-looking pest-free trees in your landscape.

#3 When nighttime temperatures drop below 55 degrees, it is time for a cool weather weed killer. Glyphosate based weed killers will not work in October. Ragweed, dandelions and all the other nasty autumn weeds are controlled easily by using liquid “Weed Beater Ultra.” Spray it on and watch them “melt away” in a day.

#4 Watch for large aphids. If the leaves and rocks at the bases of trees are glistening like a morning’s dew, aphids have begun their assault. Get on them right away by hosing down these pests with specially formulated “Multi-Purpose Insect Spray.” Not only will it eliminate aphids from any landscape, it will do away with any other bugs. Spray at the house foundation to keep away ants and spiders.

#5 This move can save you from a plumber’s bill to repair frozen water systems. Every fall I buy next spring’s mulch, manure and shredded bark products and use them as insulating bags. They are perfect to use as cold protection over my valve box lids, around the well house, and around back flow preventers. The garden will need them anyway next spring, so why not get double duty out of those bags of soil amendments?

#6 By the end of October, trees will be bare and the summer flowers dead. Strategically place some blooming autumn plants in your landscape, containers and vegetable garden, and you’ll have flowers in bloom through the end of the year. By the end of the month, plant pansies, kale, mums, violas, broccoli, cabbages, lettuces and cauliflowers to avoid having your landscape left looking bare.

#7 If your lawn looks heat-stressed or doggie-damaged, it’s best to de-thatch before adding that one last feeding of 7-4-4 “All Purpose Plant Food.”

Two weeks after applying food to your lawn, add a granular supplement called “Soil Activator.” This food-activator combination should keep the lawn green long after your neighbors wish they had done the same. This extra step encourages growth in the damaged spots of the lawn as well.

#8 If you have a rock lawn, apply “Weed & Grass Stopper.” Winter weeds like fox tails and dandelions will emerge and become a serious problem just after the holidays. This granular weed stopper prevents weeds from coming back by seed. This is especially important if you missed applying it during this summer’s monsoon season.

With these minimal maintenance tasks, you’ll find your winter-blooming flowers brighter, your evergreens greener and your spring growth more vibrant. If you have questions about any of these eight tasks, please stop by the garden center where my staff and I will be glad to sort out your concerns.

Plants of October – It’s the start of autumn; that means that Prescott’s Pansies are celebrating their existence! Blooming through autumn right into spring, this clown-faced variety blooms more months of the year than any other mountain flower. This local favorite will bloom like crazy through the end of the year, but for success, the right planting time is paramount. They need planting before the first frost so they have time to root fully.

 

Free Gardening Classes are hosted here at Watters Garden Center every Saturday at 9:30 a.m. Each is fun, filled with truly local advice and has lots of local gardeners asking the right local gardening questions. Take a look at the October class schedule.

 

Until next issue, I’ll be here at Watters Garden Center helping local gardeners with their October gardening list. QCBN

By Ken Lain

Ken Lain, the mountain gardener, can be found throughout the week at Watters Garden Center, 1815 W. Iron Springs Rd in Prescott, or contacted through his website at WattersGardenCenter.com or FB.com/WattersGardenCenter.

 

 

Design a Rose Garden in Five Steps or Less By Ken Lain

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Ah, roses. From bud to bloom to falling petals, no garden, from cottage to contemporary, is complete without at least a few of these dreamy flowering shrubs. Their broad variety of growth habits, sizes, colors and textures can fill any niche in the home landscape, and as breeders have made improvements in disease resistance, they’re less work, too. As long as the site is right, there is no reason you can’t have roses in all parts of your garden. Here are five favorite ways to use them.

Create Structure

Sure, you could plant an evergreen or conifer, but taller shrub roses planted close together make a beautiful, efficient hedge to create privacy or to define property lines. Lower growers are spectacular when used to outline a path or dividing parts of the garden from another. The secret to a dense rose hedge is planting your bushes close, not more than 18” apart. Here are three to try: White Rugosa Rose, Tahitian Treasure Rose, Sunny Knock Out Rose.

 

Vertical Impact

Climbing and rambling roses such as Eden Climber Rose are great at adding interest to dull walls and fences. They also provide cooling, flower cover to arbors and pergolas; use shorter varieties to cover pillars or tuteurs. We recommend these three with caution: some climbers grow large, so choose accordingly and provide a sturdy structure. Here are three to try:

Cecile Brunner Climbing Rose (10-20 ft long)

Golden Showers Climbing Rose (12-14 ft long)

White Lady Banks Climbing Rose (15-20 ft long).

 

Spruce Up a Mixed Border

Roses can play a supporting role as well. Look for taller varieties such as The Charlatan Climbing Rose to add height and scale to the back of a border and free-flowering, mid-sized shrubs to amp-up the summer show of foundation plantings comprised of mixed evergreens. Here are three to try: Iceberg Shrub Rose, Francis Meilland Hybrid Tea Rose, Chateau Merlot Shrub Rose.

 

Romance a Container

Most larger roses are eye-popping in a large container and can live their lifetime in just one large pot. Many places in the yard are nearly impossible to plant in. Using resort sized pots poolside, on patios and hard parts of the garden to plant is a beautiful solution to problem areas. Try planting one of the new compact roses such as a Sweet Spot Peach alone or snuggled in with a mix of perennials and annuals. Here are three to try: Sunrosa Soft Pink Shrub Rose, Sweet Spot Calypso Rose, Peachy Keen Shrub Rose.

 

Dressed to Thrill

Roses are always impressive when planted in mass, trained into unique forms like a tree rose or allowed to ramble as a groundcover like with an Apricot Drift Rose. When designed correctly, your landscape will be a showstopper worthy of any garden tour and easier to care for than you think.

 

Until next issue, I’ll be helping locals design with roses here at Watters Garden Center. QCBN

By Ken Lain

Ken Lain, the mountain gardener, can be found throughout the week at Watters Garden Center, 1815 W. Iron Springs Rd in Prescott, or contacted through his web site at WattersGardenCenter.com or FB.com/WattersGardenCenter .

Ten Foolproof Plants Fun to Grow with Kids

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Some of our fondest memories are gardening together, collecting worms from under the tree pots at the nursery, picking a basket full of flowers and the summer harvest. When my kids were small, they worked with me, and instead of money we would visit the pet shop, buy a goldfish and release them into the pond. This was always after the ice cream shop, of course.

My grandson and I now hang together in the same way. His unofficial nickname is “Garden Guy Junior,” and we love gardening together. These are memories that bind generations together.

Kids love to get outside and get their hands dirty! They are naturally curious about nature. It’s the reason my latest grandson and I can spend 15 minutes watching a bug crawl across the driveway, and he’s only three. Spend time with your child in the gardens. Teach them to appreciate caring and nurturing plants and the value of growing your food. With fun early gardening experiences, there’s a greater chance they develop their green thumbs and enjoy gardening on their own when the time comes.

Here are my foolproof ideas that get kids involved with nature and the gardens that naturally follow:

 

– Give them their spot. Give them a row at the back of your vegetable garden, a small raised garden bed or a group of containers on your deck. Teach them pride of ownership with their spaces to plant.

 

– Grow plants from seed. Seed germination is as fascinating thing to adults and even more so to children. Be sure to pick seeds that quickly germinate to keep their interest piqued. Here are some fun and easy plants children can start by seed and readily available here at Watters Garden Center:

 

*Vegetables: Beans, Cherry    *Tomatoes, Lettuce, Sprouts, Squash, Pumpkins, especially giant pumpkins.

 

*Flowers: Sunflowers, Nasturtiums, Zinnias, Marigolds, Wildflower seed mixes.

 

– More plants that are fun to grow are plant color packs and 4-inch pots of Geraniums, Dahlias, Petunias, Impatiens, Salvia, Lantana, Eggplant, Corn, Peppers and anything else that piques your child’s interest. Summer is so much fun when visiting the garden center with the kids young and old alike.

 

– Keep them involved in the harvest. Let them harvest the vegetables and help prepare them for dinner. Assist them in cutting flowers and arranging them in a vase.

 

– Teach kids about beneficial insects. Bugs good for the garden are available here at Watters. Pick up a packet of Ladybugs, Praying Mantis or Red worms, then release them in your garden together.

  

– Plant miniature gardens together. Air plants, terrariums, fairy gardens, and miniature train gardens are all popular with kids. Choose a wide, shallow container and plants with small foliage, or ground cover type plants. Arrange the plants into miniature landscapes complete with gravel paths, mini benches and arbors. Let your child help pick out the little accessories or choose their toys to include in the garden.

 

– Plant places to play. Make a teepee using bamboo sticks tied together at the top with twine. Help your child plant bean seeds at the base of each pole and watch them grow. If you have enough space, you can also grow a “house” of sunflowers.

 

– Plant a garden for birds and butterflies. Kids love to watch birds at a feeder and to chase butterflies. Teach children how to attract hummingbirds and butterflies into your landscape. Provide these winged friends with plants for shelter, a place to protect their young, food, flowers and water.

 

Don’t forget to take photos of your child in their garden and share them with friends and family. These moments are treasured for years to come.

 

Until next issue, I’ll see you at Watters Garden Center. QCBN

 

By Ken Lain

Ken Lain, the mountain gardener, can be found throughout the week at Watters Garden Center, 1815 W. Iron Springs Road in Prescott, or contacted through his web site at www.wattersgardencenter.com or Facebook page facebook.com/WattersGardenCenter .

Nine Steps to an Easy Garden

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A good garden results in coffee time with your thoughts, watching a sunrise, the majesty of a butterfly or the buzzing of hummingbirds.

“Gardener” is a label proudly worn, but there are some unpleasant tasks that can be eliminated. Weeds are my nemesis, watering is a bane, and chemicals must be avoided for a life lived well. Simplify is my motto in the garden. “Do something right the first time” and “quality over quantity” are mottos posted above my monitor that I take into account before writing any garden advice.

Below are personal garden tips that make local gardening easier. I know some of the tips are common sense, and some seem like more work in the short term, but together they make for more beauty with less work.

 

Feed the Soil

Start with great soil and you’ll grow great plants. Many gardeners only view mulch as decoration. Composted mulch does make a garden look more attractive, but it also keeps the soil and plant roots cool, retains moisture so you can water less often, prevents weeds from sprouting and feeds the soil. Right there, you’ve cut down on watering, weeding and fertilizer time.

Many of you are gardening in dead soil and don’t even realize it. The little top soil that was on your property was scraped away by the home builder to make room for footers, driveways and patios. No living organisms, worms or beneficial fungi remain. You will need to rebuild your soil.

 

Choose Lower Maintenance Perennials

Make perennial flowers, that take care of themselves, the backbone of your garden. Plants like red Salvia, blue Russian sage, agave, yucca and sedums look good all season and don’t need deadheading, pinching or staking. Here are even more low maintenance perennials.

 

Raised Beds, Containers

 

It’s much easier to control your garden with definite boundaries. You control the soil, water, exposure and even limit the growth of the plants in containers. Raised beds separate the garden beds from their surroundings. Ideally, lift the beds up by 12 inches or more. You’ll have the benefits of controlling your borders and you’ll be saving your back from some bending.

 

Insider Container Tip

Fill containers with Watters Potting Soil. This is my personal soil recipe created with mountain plants in mind. Plants love the flavor and root deep into the soil without becoming soggy.

Group Plants by Their Needs

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “Right plant for the right spot.” Put sun lovers in the sun and ground covers where they can roam. But consider how efficient it would be if you put all your water hogs together – so, you turn on the sprinklers on in one area and you’re done. The same goes for plants that require a lot of deadheading or vegetables that need a daily harvest. You can still mix in different bloom times and variations in color, form and texture. It’s just the heavy maintenance chores that should be consolidated.

 

Aqua Boost, Drip Irrigation

This is one of those suggestions that sounds like it’s going to cost a fortune and require a professional to install, but it doesn’t have to. Here at Watters, we reduced drip irrigation to a tinker toy level. There is an initial cost, although nowhere near what you might think, and you need some measurements. Drip irrigation is far more efficient than any other type of watering. It pushes water deep into the root level. Add an inexpensive timer and think of all the time you’ve saved yourself.

Aqua Boost Crystal cuts the number of times you need to water in half. The Watters-created crystals absorb 200 times their weight in water that hold moisture at the root leave. Beneficial mycorrhizal fungi are used in this formula to revitalize garden soil and stimulate additional root formation, a must for raised beds and container gardening.

 

Watters All Purpose Food

Again, my own personal recipe with local plants in mind. This food breaks down slowly and allows better uptake for young plants. Watters All Purpose Food 7-4-4 was created for mountain plants. It feeds landscape plants better, and is less likely to pollute your well and local water sources. Because of the slow breakdown of this, food plants have time to take up and use all the food, unlike synthetic fertilizers. Use three time a year: spring, summer and fall.

Prevent Weeds

Pre-Emergent prevents seed from ever germinating, but timing is everything. I use Hi-Yield Weed and Grass Preventer twice and year and rarely have weed outbreaks. Apply now as the monsoon rains begin and again just after the New Year. This winter/summer application greatly reduces the work needed weeding. One bag covers a very large garden plot.

 

Until next issue, I’ll be helping gardeners here at Watters Garden Center. QCBN

 

By Ken Lain

Ken Lain, the mountain gardener, can be found throughout the week at Watters Garden Center, 1815 W. Iron Springs Rd in Prescott, or contacted through his web site at WattersGardenCenter.com or FB.com/WattersGardenCenter .

Ladybugs: Do they Really Work in the Garden?

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There are many reasons to love ladybugs. This little red beetle started as a legend during the middle ages. European farmers, about 1000 A.D., struggled with insects that would eat and destroy their crops. At the first sign of crop damage, farmers would pray to “Our Lady the Virgin Mary” for help. The little bugs would come and eat the harmful insects, so farmers, assuming that ladybugs were in answer to their prayers, named the bugs “Our Lady’s Beetles,” which eventually morphed into “ladybugs.” Since the 1800s, farmers have been raising ladybugs domestically to control pests on their organic farms.

Today, you can buy ladybugs at Watters Garden Center to release in your own garden and control unwanted insects. Ladybugs are gaining popularity as natural insect control by people who prefer not to use chemicals in their gardens.

Ladybugs are most active during the warm days of spring through autumn. They primarily scarf up aphids but also devour scale, mealybugs, spider mites and thrips. They are unrelenting little eaters, each consuming as many as 5,000 aphids in its lifetime.

There are more than 500 species of ladybugs in the United States alone, and more than 4,500 in the world. The ladybug we recommend at Watters Garden Center is the species Hippodamia convergens. You can recognize this particular ladybug by the two white dashes on the back of its body. Watters carries these ladybugs starting in March and continuing through the spring season.

 

How to Release Ladybugs in the Garden

 

Keep Them Cool

When you get home with your ladybugs, leave their container sealed and place it in the refrigerator or a cool space (35-40 degrees). Ladybugs have wings and like to use them, so you will need to slow them down long enough for them to find your gardens attractive. Being cool calms them. Keep them refrigerated until you’re ready to release them in the evening.

 

Ladybugs Will be Thirsty

On the evening of their dispersal, spray or mist the parts of the garden where you plan to release your ladybugs. This will allow them to re-hydrate before searching for a meal. You will not have to do this again, as ladybugs get most of their moisture from the insects they consume.

 

Release Them at Dusk

Introduce ladybugs to your garden at the base of a plant just as dusk overtakes the area you’ve chosen for their release. If you have a plant with a particular aphid problem open the cup at the base of that plant. This will give them the night to settle in, find food and realize that your garden is a great place to live!

 

Get Your Kids Involved!

Kids especially have fun releasing ladybugs and this is a great way to teach them about environmental responsibility. Ladybugs stick around safe sources of food, so kids will find them all season long. Stop by the garden center for a cup of ladybugs, take them to your garden, then have fun enjoying nature at work.

 

Until next issue, I’ll see you at the ladybug counter here at Watters. QCBN

By Ken Lain

Ken Lain, the mountain gardener, can be found throughout the week at Watters Garden Center, 1815 W. Iron Springs Road in Prescott, or contacted through his web site at WattersGardenCenter.com or FB.com/WattersGardenCenter .

 

Preparing Garden Soils for Spring Planting

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We know that the better the soil, the larger the harvest, the brighter the flowers, the easier the gardening. Once you’ve tried digging the first planting hole in a mountain garden, you learn that our native soils are HARD! That’s why successful mountain gardening has always come down to soil quality. Skimp on spring soil preparation to “soften” the ground and a garden’s production can drop close to zero.

January is my month to amend garden beds, turn the soil and let the garden rest before planting March 1. Let me share a few secrets to mountain soil prep that return bushels of produce and a season full of flowers. Any backyard garden, whether in the ground or in raised beds, requires these easy steps.

The more organic material any soil contains, the better the soil quality. Our mountain soils are hard because they lack organics such as compost, manures and leaf molds. Because plants use up organic resources throughout the year, new organics must be added to keep the vitality of the soil alive.

A word of caution for those gardeners new to horse country. You are apt to see a sign in a front yard advertising “Free Manure.” Proceed with caution before you haul away this free organic additive and turn it into your gardens. Horse manure is a great source of organic nitrogen, but not until it’s aged. Never introduce fresh manure into your garden. The salt and nitrogen damage is unpredictable.

Whatever goes into a horse’s mouth comes out the other end. That includes weeds as well as straw and hay. Also, huge white grubs find their way into the warmth of a huge pile of manure. The only way to get fresh manure suitable for gardening without the weeds and bugs is to age it, also known as composting. You must compost first and then check that there are no large white bugs eating at the middle of the pile. If this scenario isn’t for you, fear not. You don’t have to deal with fresh manure to enjoy the pleasures of a successful garden.

For my smaller garden plots, I use deodorized Barnyard Manure that comes bagged and ready to add to the garden. This aged poop has a mixture of mature manure types, it doesn’t smell, and it isn’t slimy. This year my gardens received a generous dose of 50 percent Watters Barnyard Manure and 50 percent of Watters Premium Mulch.

The mulch and manure additives ensure proper drainage, root growth and water retention for your garden. But, certain mountain plants require calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and some other minor elements, all of which should be added to garden soil.

Before turning the compost additives into the planting bed, add two sources of nutrition. The first is a layer of gypsum, also known as calcium sulfate, the most effective source of calcium for plants. The second is an organic plant food I created, called All Purpose Plant Food 7-4-4. It also works well in flowerbeds to produce amazing color and fragrance!

Soil pH creeps up during the growing season. This is a problem that results from poor water and one that must be corrected to keep plants in the ideal 6.5-7.5 pH range. When your garden pH rises above 8.0, production stops, fruit drops, the plants yellow, wilt and finally drop their leaves. Granular “Soil Sulfur” turned into your garden soil to one shovel’s depth is the correction to bad garden pH, and every mountain garden needs it.

In summary, here is the formula of soil amendments and additives to use this spring: Begin with a two-inch layer of 50 percent Premium Mulch and 50 percent Watters Barnyard Manure. On top of this organic layer sprinkle the recommended rates of gypsum, All Purpose Plant Food 7-4-4 and Soil Sulfur. Turn these to one shovel’s depth into your garden soil and you are ready to plant.

Freshly turned soil is light and airy, so tread carefully on your amended garden soil so it retains this texture. Walk on predefined paths or use a wood plank to walk over the soil without compacting it unnecessarily. We should have at least two good winter storms before March first, but if not, deeply water your garden soil two times before planting. This will reduce damage if too much manure was added or if it congregated unevenly into the soil.

Exact additive amounts were not given in this column because those depend on the size of your garden plot. So, visit for exact quantities of each additive to purchase, remembering to bring along your garden measurements.

Until next issue, I’ll be helping gardeners prepare their soil here at Watters. QCBN

By Ken Lain

Ken Lain, the mountain gardener, can be found throughout the week at Watters Garden Center, 1815 W. Iron Springs Rd in Prescott, or contacted through his website at WattersGardenCenter.com or FB.com/WattersGardenCenter .

 

Holiday Evergreens are Ready for Planting

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During the coldest months of the year, evergreens are the anchors that hold together our landscapes. Up to 25 percent of any mountain landscape should be allotted to evergreens. Get this ratio wrong and that winter landscape will appear bare, especially if neighboring yards have evergreens galore. This is a good time to assess the balance of your yard and if it’s found lacking, plant new evergreens. They are at their best now through March, as the chilly months are when they show off their beauty.

Many evergreens are so stately and perfectly formed that owners decorate them with festive lights and bows to bring magical holiday touches outside of their homes. Don’t have a majestic evergreen in your landscape? Well, it’s not too late to plant one. Truly, the climate in the mountains of Arizona is so mild that evergreens can be planted right through winter. In fact, many of the conifer evergreens are so tough they prefer to be planted when it is cold outside. So, plant your choice of these mountain evergreens and decorate them for a little magic of your own.

 

Colorado Spruce

When customers don’t know the name of this tree, they simply refer to it as “The one that looks like a Christmas tree.” The very stiff branches swoop horizontally forming a perfect broad pyramid. Considered drought hardy, this tree prefers dry windy conditions. Size: 60’W x 25’H

 

Blue Diamond Spruce

This new spruce introduction is a real gem. A cousin to the Colorado spruce, it is considered more special because it of its intensely blue needles that produce an almost silver colored tree. Dwarf in size, the tree needs no pruning. It’s happy growing anywhere in our mountain landscape, but also could be grown in a raised bed or large container without overpowering the space. Size: 10’H x 5’W

 

Austrian Pine

This long-needled pine is often mistaken for a young ponderosa, but it is far more graceful. Whereas the ponderosa loses all its lower branches as it matures, the Austrian’s rich green needles seem to flow right to the ground for balanced appeal. Its dense, stout, pyramidal growth is uniform right to the crown. It is the hardiest of the ornamental pines without the bug issues that plague many of the native pines. It makes a most effective windbreak or privacy screen, and prefers winter planting. Size: 35’H x 20’W

 

Pinyon Pine

A local native that is exceptionally hardy and drought tolerant, the pinyon pine is slow growing with a broad, rounded crown. New growth is blue to green with clusters of pinecones as the tree matures. Edible seeds from the cones are considered a delicacy, commonly known as pine nuts. Perfect for all natural landscapes it makes an attractive grouping on hillsides or berms with other low growing perennials. It can take a starring role as a picturesque specimen in a rock garden.   Size: 15’H x 10’W

 

Vanderwolf Pine

Take a close look and you will see that the top of the each needle is blue, with a green underside. This very handsome pine is so soft that most viewers want to hug it! Its very unusual and distinctive shape is unique to mountain landscapes. Size: 25’H x 12’W

 

Fat Albert Blue Spruce

Sporting a shape similar to that of the Colorado Spruce, Fat Albert doesn’t grow as tall so it won’t “take over” more than its allotted space. A broad, pyramidal shape with exceptional blue needles, it presents a consistent blue color. Size: 25’H x 12’W

 

Dwarf Alberta Spruce

This slowest growing of the evergreens is the easiest to maintain. Its perfect cone shape displays dense green soft-to-the-touch needles. Although it often is used to make a formal statement in a garden, it is excellent as a container plant or miniature Christmas tree. Size: 8’H x 3’W

 

Black Hills Spruce

With the deepest green of any evergreen and a density that light dares not shine through it, this spruce’s perfect cone-shaped symmetry stands out in any landscape. It is so cold hardy this it prefers being planted in mid-winter. Although the tree looks delicious, neither javelina nor deer like to nibble on this evergreen. Size: 50’H x 20’W

 

Until next month, I’ll see you in the garden center. QCBN

By Ken Lain

Throughout the week Ken Lain, the mountain gardener can be located at Watters Garden Center, 1815 W. Iron Springs Road in Prescott, or contacted through his website at WattersGardenCenter.com.