I had grey clay in California. It was so pure, I had an artist and a pottery teacher who would use it for their clay to sculpt and throw pots, respectively.
My husband is a HUGE fan of river rock mulch, so that is what we have in all of our planting beds. Laying down compost is a no-go. Can I use a compost tea to any effect? Also, as a bleed black and gold Purdue fan, I will say that both your men’s and women’s basketball teams were amazing to watch play! You have every reason to be proud of your NC State teams.
The Pacific Northwest (PNW) only has oppressive heat during the month of July. Usually, rain or light snow is spread out throughout the year, the worst weather are the days with freezing rain. It is possible to grow cannas and calla lilies without having to heavily mulch them. In February daffodils are blooming and by April1st all the tulips are in bloom. There are flowers there blooming 11 months of the year if you include conifers. I have seen blooming azaleas and camellias in January in Portland, Oregon. I also saw a pair of mated hummingbirds there in downtown Portland, OR during January. The PNW is very similar to parts of England in terms of weather and the plants that grow well there. The PNW has natural phosphorus in the water and the frequent rain makes a lot of nitrogen available to the plants there. A lot of the drainage ditches in the PNW are filled with orange daylilies (Hemerocallis) also called 'ditch lilies'.
Praying that your dad is feeling better and on the road to recovery! BTW, I remember the days when the big rivalry was UNC and NC State. Duke who? I'm a Tarheel alum (1983) and except for Duke, I always pull for the OG ACC schools, so I was pulling for State. Their run was bringing back shades of the Jim Valvano team. Hate that they lost!
Hi Jim! I am in zone 8b Bonney Lake, WA. I have a front yard border garden bed on the northern side of my property that gets shaded by 2 giant evergreens. It looks like a multi-trunk tree with how close these 2 are. The evergreens are located south to the questioned bed by 10 feet, but the property line is 20 feet away. I'm in an 90s era development .25 acre lot. The house is west to the tree. The house shadow doesn't affect this bed. In the morning the bed gets full sun, in the middle of the day it's shaded and then for a couple of hours, it gets blasted with the evening sun. I've put a mix of plants in this spot, and nothing really thrives except the Spanish Lavender. I haven't put part shade plants there because of the couple hours of full sun it would get. I've experienced a David Viburnum and Hydrangea Macrophylla (Bloomstruck) get leaf scorch in this area, but the roses grow slowly, and the Russian Sage dissappeared I'm nervous to try Heuchera or Hosta. Are these my best options, though? What kind of sun is this spot!? Any plant recommendations would be greatly appreciated! The rest of the front yard garden gets full, unrelenting sun next to the road and driveway, which I've seemed to figure out. Cutting the tree down isn't in the budget, lol!
Love your channel and all the helpful info and inspiration! We moved to a six year old house on .5 acre in upstate SC in 2021 (now zone 8A) and have put in hundreds of plants as we reclaim large lawn areas. Last year we noticed several formerly healthy plants dying for no reason. We finally discovered that we have voles. Little by little we have been digging up the most precious trees and shrubs and are replanting them in a hardware cloth ring about 12” deep x 12-20” wide and adding crushed gravel to the bottom of the hole and at the base of each plant. We have raked away all the mulch from plants. This is the most disheartening gardening problem we have faced in almost 50 years of gardening! The voles loved, and ate, many hostas, a 6’ Japanese maple, gaura, burning love leucothoe…ferns and lots more. We are waiting to see what wakes up from dormancy. You talked this week about digging rough edged holes to avoid roots circling; are we making the roots circle with the hardware cloth collars? Are there any other solutions for voles? We’ve tried repellents (castor oil mixed w water and dishsoap), a granular repellent with castor oil as main ingredient, mouse traps under buckets (got a few), vole X bait and solar vibration stakes. Nothing seems to decrease their tunnels, and until spring fully arrives we won’t know what we’ve lost. Help?!? A new housing development behind us plus our amended soil rich with wood chips, compost and mulch have created a perfect storm. Any suggestions you have would be appreciated!
Great idea on the fence protectant. Years ago when we were installing a very long wooden fence, an older neighbor gave us some advice: once you paint it, you will be a slave to it…so glad we didn’t paint.
Thank you Jim for all you do. Praying your Father gets better. My question is, what plants will you never grow again? For whatever reason, invasive, not any luck growing? Im zone 10 btw so appreciate all you pass our way.
Life happens ❤ relocate your son, Mom and now your Dad has needs.we are all like our garden. We all need care. I always recommend that you Consult your local Municipal Land Use Laws for drainage issues, Extension Soil Conservation District office, etc. as we have made a mistake with covering everything with impermeable material, don’t you agree? 😮😅😊
Best wishes for a speedy recovery for your Dad! Tar Heel grad and die hard fan here with a NC State grad husband! Pulled hard for the Wolfpack (women and men), but they both had great runs!! Thanks to you and Steph for all that you do! Have learned so much from you all!!
I’ve been following you for almost 4 years now and got the Learn to Garden video subscription for Christmas. All amazing and I’ve learned so much! Could you share some mistakes you’ve made in ornamental gardening over the years and biggest lessons you’ve learned from them?
For the person wanting a hedge of Sunshine L. and loropetalum, consider a size appropriate dystillium. I have a screen of these plants, including a podocarpus. Colors look great together.
Thanks for the wonderful videos. I got into growing plants from my love of maintaining turf, and it graduated into watching your channel to learn about various plants for a screened hedge. Later this year I’m planning on planting hundreds of feet of privacy plants around the outside of the property, and I will be going through a ton of your videos!
Oh boy that grey clay is really something else here on the outskirts of Charlotte, NC. My property is heavily wooded in areas and we get some great organic soil from composting leaves from the trees. I've heard of adding clay breaker from Lowes or home depot (gypsum) and it had helped in areas of planting shrubs and trees. It's so interesting how the first 12 inches of soil is that great black composted soil but underneath that is that nasty clay. My Dad lives one mile from me also on a half wooded lot and his soil is hard red clay. We have cleared trees for a vegetable garden and for the past 20 years that garden has always done well but if you go down too deep it's like an underground spring under there with that grey clay and water that stands a foot deep. We had a crawdad living in our garden for several years. No idea where he came from but he was as big as my size 6 shoe. LOL! Thanks for the Q&A as these videos are so helpful.
I'd skip the claybreaker and just get the orange soil conditioner bags from home depot (pine bark fines) I'm I'm Indianland, also plant high, get that root ball sticking up above the grade and mound it.
@paulgreenleaf600 thank you! I will definitely try that! Is it good for vegetable gardens or just regular planting areas for Shrubs? Do you till it in?
@acatinthecradle For shrubs and trees I use the pine bark soil conditioner to mix 50/50 with the clay, especially underneath the plant to create good drainage. We moved to our homesteed property two years ago it was all pasture, so I rent a large stand-on tiller and tilled the pasture to breakdown all the grass and roots and then piled on a foot of aged blended compost and planted directly into the compost (you can only do this with compost made for direct planting, some compost gets to hot and burns plants) Then this season I piled on another layer of compost to plant directly into... very much like a raised bed. It's a hybrid I don't have any boxes built so technically its an in-ground bed but it has about 18inches of compost above the original grade, you have to step up to get into the vegetable garden from the lawn if that makes sense.
When I moved into my house there was a very sickly pear tree. When I finally decided to dig it out, I dug at least 1 ft down, maybe 2. Never found that root flare 😬 ended up sawing the trunk under the soil. No wonder it was so sad every year
Thank you for talking about the Hornbeam tree in this video. I am looking for a narrow tree and saw this in a youtube HOUSE TOUR | Inside a Cozy Connecticut by Homeworthy. It is at 20:23 mark on the video of the hornbeam. You mentioned there are many different types of Hornbeams. Thank you so much for your great information. I will be watching ! Praying for your dad and your family
In 8a just outside Charlotte. I feel silly asking because I’m sure you’ve covered it a million times. How much do you fertilize your annuals? I’ve seen your once a year overall fertilization, but I was wondering if you fertilize the annuals more often. You have been such an inspiration for my garden!! Thank you!!
Eleanor Taber Indian Hawthorne is amazing. I have three that are gorgeous and the only maintenence they have required of me is the occasional pruning on an errant branch. They are planted in full sun in gravel-laden soil.
Jim, could you address more in depth the difference between wood chips and wood mulch, where they come from on the tree, and the appropriate places to use them. I heard you talk a little about it, but I want to make sure I’m understanding it right. Thanks!
Zone 7b, Marietta GA. Would be great to see a video about dogwood diseases/issues and what to do about it. I have 2 acres and all my dogwoods look very diseased. Bark peeling off, very few flowers, dead limbs, etc.
How do you mulch in areas with herbaceous plants that you are trying to let spread, like a mountain mint, while still controlling weeds and improving with mulch? I can't seem to balance very well. Thanks!!!
I’m hoping your dad feels better soon. When my gallbladder got taken out I felt like a new person after. I never realized how much it was hurting me till they removed it. I was deep cleaning my house two days later full of energy. Lol I’m not advising thar btw
Hi Jim. Wishing your dad well. Good question for Masters Sunday: Do you watch the Masters golf tournament and have you ever been to Augusta National? (The landscaping there is superb.)
Also, how does a plant know the difference between being in ground vs. a container? If the proper nutrients & moisture are provided, how would it know any difference? I've always wondered this... bc plants can grow different in containers than they would in ground. I always thought of it like a goldfish maybe? Ha bigger bowl, bigger fish? Deeper ground, hardier roots? Many prayers and love for your daddy & your family. Your dad must be an amazing man just judging from the kind soul you have.
Hope it's not too late for a question?! 😬🙏 So I had a Miss Kim in a container for its first year, leafed out with buds and bloomed great even after transplanting to ground in spring 2023. Was the first of anything to go completely dormant, and I had bird netting stretched over in hopes of deterring deer. (Gparents have very high deer pressure.. PNW, puget sound/Seattle area, Zone 8b) Watched it carefully for signs of chomping, didn't think I saw much (ofc I could be wrong since it wasn't actively growing) but this year its the 2nd yr in ground in my gparents landscape and there are NO buds. Not a single one. I remember it leafing out before you could easily spot the tiny clusters on branch ends, but this year I don't know if it's just late to set buds or if the deer really chomped every single bud? I wasn't aware deer are many lilacs, since they are very prevalent in the area i live in and are fragrant... I just have a hard time believing not one single bloom survived? Only did light pruning after flowering/transplant.. it was transplanted before the blooms faded... could the deer really have eaten every last bloom or are they maybe slow to push out clusters? Thank you for being you & being so real and down to earth!! BOTH of you are the sweetest and deserve every bit of joy from the dreams youre living out today! (Much more relatable and pleasing to watch and learn from then some others that just seem "snooty" ... **wink Thanks Guys!! ❤🫡🌿
Hope your dad is feeling better! I have an 80% native garden that I use to attract butterflies. It seems my Florida friendly flowers (pentas, hibiscus) are having problems with beetles eating the roots. Is there anything I can do that won't hurt the butterflies?
Hey Jim!! I've been following along for over a year now and have turned my entire backyard that used to be empty into a summertime shade garden due to 4 southern red oaks that shade it when they are fully bloomed out. I've had a bit of a struggle growing encore azaleas successfully. I am in zone 7b heber springs, AR (north central). I tried to give it a go this spring again and planted 9. I noticed that 2 of them had wilty leaves and I watered them a bit and no success. It rained heavily 2 days ago and suddenly they came back to life. My soil in the backyard is not really to clay based. It is actually amended from years of oak leaves decomposing on it and it can stay moist for a bit after it rains but maybe I'm misunderstanding the difference between moist and wet soil when it comes to encore azaleas. When I see them get a little wilty should I give them a night to see if they rebound and if they fail to do so would you advise I drown them for a good 20 to 30 seconds and can you please explain the difference between moist and wet soil in next week's garden q and a. Thank you in advance. Ramon Jorge . Heber Springs, AR
Mr. Putnam, regarding the heat cap, I believe those crazy temperatures on the Gulf Coast are largely due to drought conditions. With no rain, there’s nothing to cool the ground and it just gets hotter and hotter every day. We went like three months without any significant rainfall down here last summer. And yes we hit 107+. It’s only gonna get worse from here on out, I fear.
Sounds like your gray clay is similar to our red clay here in eastern Alabama. It just holds water to the point that I can't plant anything the North side of our house at the foundation because lack of sunlight + heavy red clay = root rot for everything. I've found very little that has been able to survive more than one season in it.
Prayers for your dads speedy recovery 🙏. Q? Is Red CreepingThyme a good choice as ground cover in flower bed for weed control and keep roots cool etc? (Zone 9b Texas Gulf Coast)
Really enjoyed this one! Especially liked you calling out the high quality of women’s basketball and the Pack’s run this year. Just purchased your Weekly series and excited to use it. Question - Is there ever a bad time to add compost to plants? Thanks for all you do!
Jim, I know that you have touched on this in the past. In a seed starting mix, and or a potting mix. Can you use compost(sieved) with pine bark only? From a monetary standpoint I see the distinct advantage of using pine bark fines over using perlite in the mix. I will not be using any kind of 'mixing ratio formula', but will mix by feel.
I was 11 at the 1983 NCAA Championship. My grandfather, the closest thing to a father I ever had was never into sports too much, but he was fighting cancer then and well before the Wolfpack made that inexplicable run in 1983 he was a fan. In truth, he just liked Jim Valvano. Papaw would rather watch the coaches and the bench react to the game than the game itself. To paraphrase his perspective on Valvano, "he jumps up and down like a monkey, you know what he is thinking, the isn't hiding anything. You already know that tie is going to be a mess and the jacket is coming off early on. You can trust people like him. You can't trust people like Smith and the K person in Durham." Imagine someone saying all that with a laryngectomy, basically he was getting all wound up and blowing air through his mouth, while covering the hole in his throat that was supposed to remove the cancer. To add a bit more color, my grandma, also not a sports person, decided at the same time she was pulling for the Tarheels because Dean Smith, just seemed like a gentlemen. If you are from NC, or into the ACC at that time you know the dynamic playing out. We all pretty much lost interest after Papaw died. Sadly Valvano was only a few years behind although no one knew that at the time. I am not into sports either, but I will never forget that little bit of magic in 1983. They were losing team that went all the way. 2024 was looking similar, but they lost the Final Four. Still, a very good season for them. I still hope Papaw and Jimmy V were off somewhere "jumpin' up and down like monkeys" when they pulled that ACC Tournament out of a hat.
Thanks for all the Q&A videos! How small could you realistically keep a Golden Oakland Holly? I know in one of your videos you mentioned hoping to keep it at 8 ft. I was curious if you were able to do that or an update on what size is doable? Many thanks!
To the question about being a Tarheel or not, I'd also suggest that's exactly the answer to how you should protect your wooden fence when the time comes. The "Tarheel State" is named such because North Carolina was one of the world leaders in the production of Pine Tar and Turpentine. And, the reason why those were hugely important crops is because they are the world's best natural wood protectants. In fact, Pine Tar and Turpentine is so good at protecting wood that it's what sailors used to protect their ships for thousands of years. The pine products have natural antimicrobial/bacterial things going on in there so it keeps the rot at bay for a long time. Boring insects also don't like the flavor. For tool handles, you'll find nothing better than Pine Tar thinned down with Turpentine to keep your handles lively. For fine woodworking, the pine tar gives a lovely warm hue and you can add in some shellac flakes to create a harder/shinier surface for things like table tops. In other words, if you're going to be doing anything to the fence, consider painting it with Pine Tar and keeping your State tradition alive! Be the Tarheel!!
Your Loropetalum is gorgeous. The cultivars I've seen and grown are all more red-leaved. I recently purchased a mail-order ‘Carolina Midnight’ and I hope it soon looks as fabulous as yours.
I love your garden & I really find your videos helpful in my own gardening adventure. Do you have any problems with termites getting into the wood chips you're using for paths in your garden? I am in central Alabama & termites are an issue for me here whenever I use any wood (other than pressure treated) that comes into long-term contact with the ground, so I'm curious to know whether you have similar issues & how you deal with them if so.
You mentioned preparing the new garden with wood chips, etc. I’m building a home here I. Charlotte, nc. Will be completed around September. How long will it take for chips to break down before planting? You guys have a year before next spring but I’ll have only 6 months. Still a good idea?
There is no pain quite as awful as gallbladder-related pain. Eyeball, cornea, bad migraines, impacted tooth infections, & 3rd degree burns, do compete. Poor man. Prayers for his full & speedy recovery.
Hi Jim! Thanks for tackling my question about the grey clay. I had a feeling that was going to be your answer. It's been a real struggle. A follow up question relating to this conundrum: I've got a native red maple that has surface roots (normal for maples I know) but because of the clay, they extend well beyond the drip line. They have invaded well into my raised beds which are 15 feet away from the base of the tree. They have become a serious trip hazard, not to mention the lawn mower can get over them. Would it be ok to cut them off and let them just rot in the ground beyond the drip line? Thanks again for sharing your knowledge with us. I have learned so much over the years. Thank you!
No definitely don't do that. It would be better to just remove the tree completely if you cut its major surface roots. Almost all trees have large roots way way beyond their 'drip line'. Roots from any tree will eventually grow into a nearby raised bed or compost pile. I have one near a large oak that gets filled up with roots every year that need to be cut away, but these are small diameter 'feeder' roots not large structural ones.
I have been following the new house series since the pandemic. The garden is truly amazing. You put down compost then wood chips and pine straw in the beginning. Can I reverse that and put down wood chips then compost on top in South Atlanta, Zone 8?
I've had a Sugar Tyme crabapple in the ground for 4 years and this was the first year it was completely resplendent with beautiful blossoms. It now has a tent caterpillar nest on one of its branches. Should I leave it alone and hope the birds will take care of it? Dust the tree with Bonide?
You mentioning pecan shells as mulch reminded me that my dad used to get peanut shells to put into his garden. What are your thoughts on using them and where would can you get them?
Well wishes to your dad, Jim. I have a question for you and Stephany. Over the past four years I have been planting a monarch garden in one section of the yard. It’s often difficult to find native non/sprayed milkweed. About a month ago, I planted 6 native milkweed plants from a local nursery that promised me the plants weren’t sprayed. I had a caterpillar explosion on this plants and all of a sudden realized as the caterpillars matured, they were turning black. I read this is called “Black Death” and it means the milkweed was sprayed. I obviously ripped the milkweed out. Will the sprayed milkweed poison other milkweed growing in my garden or poison my soil (that is lush and dark due to the Jim P. Amendment recipe). I don’t want to contaminate any other caterpillars… it was horrifying to see. Two things to know… I don’t spray ANYTHING on our property and I’m zone 9b coastal NE FL.
I potted 50 bare root pine tree seedlings too deep about a month ago. Root crown is 2 inches deep. Should I repot with root crown higher up or leave alone ? I didn’t know if the young seedling could adjust as it grows ? Zone 8. Thanks for all your great videos ! Jonathan
In one of the videos I've watched you were moving potted plants. It looked like you used some specialized dolly. Was that a plant dolly and do you have a recommendation for a good one that isn't insanely expensive?
I would love a no grass back yard but I have 2 dogs who need to use it for peeing/pooping. How do you manage your dog’s needs in your yard and if you say the woods, then what would you recommend if I don’t have back yard woods available to me?
We had some beautiful views of your property, and I love the look of the back of the house. Thanks for sharing. Seeing the different views of the property, I was still looking for the Tokyo Towers fringe tree. Do you still have it? I’m in southern NJ and would like to invest in one; just not sure if it is worth it. Please comment.
It is still there. We are hoping that as it gets older, the amount of blooms increases. Ours is in too much shade. One we planted in full sun at another home is gorgeous-if you want a fastigiate small tree.
@@stephanycoakley7352 Thank you so much for your response! I have a small, but nice spot in my backyard that gets about 7 hours of sun a day, so maybe I will make that investment!
What's about a native Juncus in a swale, ton of varieties and looks? So you get native ornamental grass and interest but it's tough and can flood and dry. Could also add inpussy Willow and sweetspire and other natives used to flooding like winter berry. Any reason to not drop these in if you don't try and mulch it and use some rock to catch debris first?
Just installed a spiral Juncus at a lake edge for a friend. I pulled out a clump of native grass and got a mud bath 😂 Planted a swamp Hibiscus, Lobelia, Ogon and have plans for more water lovers. Spiral Juncus is such a cool plant!
We have just removed a large shed at the end of our garden and removed the foundations. Any advice on anything special to do to prepare the ground to be a plant bed? Behind the new bed is a line of poplars and then a giant (really HUGE!) ancient oak. Our garden is west facing and the new bed gets good sun from 1pm onwards. The soil is mostly clay and very compacted. Our idea is to just loosen the clay a bit and then wood chip. My main worry is if soil may have been damaged by 20 years plus of that building being on top of it.
River birch is a host plant to 317 moths and butterflies. Its seeds welcome song birds and mammals and is a native conservation plant. You can plant all kinds of things under it too!
Best wishes for your dad's speedy recovery. Are there advantages to planting with an auger? Heard recently that shovels create a glazed wall at the edge of the hole while an auger fluffs the soil. Hmmm....
I am in Fort Worth zone 8b. We have a weeping redbud that is 6 years old and this year we have very sparse leafs compared to other years should I trim the bottoms of the stems? That seems to be where most of the growth is. Thank you for your time.
Hi Jim, thanks for another great video. Question for you, how does Cedar Apple Rust spread on a tree? My Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry had it on one small branch last year. Does the disease travel thorough the whole tree? I cut the branch back 1/2 way, but I see it on the lower half of the branch. My local extension suggested treating it was fungicide. I applied that today to the whole tree. This is my first experience with it. Thanks NJ Zone 7B
Prayers for your dad! Q: following your excellent advice I'm planting a bunch of creeping juniper on a steep steep bank in my back yard. It was a pain to get them in but most are in now. However(!), I was a knuckle head and put a few in that are 'upside-down ' and the existing growth is pointing up hill. Should I pull those out and replant or will the plants 'adjust' as they grow?
Alexandria, VA Zone 7: To amend soil in large 'empty' beds (approx 30ft x 30ft) with severely compacted base layer of soil, would it help to till before topping with compost & wood chips? I installed fabric 4 years ago that I've been recently removing from under about 3-5 inches of mulch/soil, and the soil under the fabric is very compacted (like concrete), even still having the exact shape of the skid steer tracks/ruts from when all that initial work was done. It's very slow to drain too even where I removed the fabric. While there is nothing planted in these spaces yet, should I pull that mulch layer back and till the compacted soil layer to increase oxygen & drainage before re-covering with that mulch/hummus layer (as compost) and adding wood chips? It’s back breaking work, so I’m hoping to do it right this time for my forever home, and will also plan to add some amonium nitrate to help the wood chips break down over the next year before planting ornamental trees/shrubs. Wood chips arrived today, so am hoping to proceed with more confidence on whether to till or not. I can wait a year or so for soil to transform, but if compacted soil will take several years or likely remain compacted I’m willing to do the hard work now if needed. Thanks for your advice here, and hoping for good health for you and your family.
Another great video! Thanks Jim! I have a question for you this week. I garden in Las Vegas NV Zone 9a. Last fall I purchased a Acer palmatum 'Geisha Gone Wild' Japanese Maple from Mr. Maple. I also purchased the wire you use for your maple. 😊 And I have tied the leading branch in an S shape and left the other two smaller branches for insurance. It looks beautiful right now with lots of foliage. My question is when should I trim off the smaller two branches. I was thinking in the Fall, but wanted an expert opinion. Thanks a bunch!
Question: I love the look of the Taiga Clematis you planted in a recent video but am wondering how much sun it prefers? I have a spot that is close to all day sun (few hours of early morning shade) that I want a showy vine for. I’m in 9A on the Alabama Gulf Coast. If you think the Taiga Clematis would fry in that spot, I’d be grateful for alternative suggestions! Hope your dad has a quick recovery!
NC State grad here, go pack! 🐺 Just returned from vacation & our 6ft Chinese fringe tree was bent completely over (emailed pics). However, the trunk did not snap. Had it staked the first year and removed late winter. I’m wondering if the grower made a mistake with the leader since it’s coming off at an angle from the main trunk. I’ve restaked it but know it cannot support the weight of new growth. Is there a way to save this tree? Many thanks for these great Q&A videos.
Zone 8, Charlotte. I have a lorapetalum planted on a fairly steep hill. When it was planted, it was upright. Over time, it's now growing "out" not "up" (on its way to being horizontal). I fear it's going eventually come out of the ground in heavy wind or rain. Can I stake it and gently nudge it back to an "up" direction over time, or is it best to hard prune it and reset it in the ground altogether (and stake it from there)? I don't want to move it from its location, as its a great screen from neighbors and it is really happy otherwise in its location.
Love your QnA .. but when n where do we ask 😕 … I have clay soil n been amending it the best I can BUT the problem is what do I do with the clay that I dig out..where do I put it? Have a stand development yard. We have been dumping it in the back corner n now we have a mound of wet (with all this rain) soil clay mud we can’t to anything with. .. 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
The point of amending is to add organic matter to improve the characteristics of your native soil. So why are you removing/relocating your clay based soil?
@@douellette7960 there’s just to much of it. I dig out some of clay then I use some of the clay n mix top soil, compost-, leaves … .. doing what I thought needed to b done. ..
Hi Jim! Im in zone 7, right outside of Baltimore and planted a new garden bed under a black walnut last year. This year, lesser celandine is EVERYWHERE! My bit of research says nothing kills it but glyphosphate (sp) but wont that kill my plants? How can I treat my flower beds for this invasive weed without causing harm to my plants? Do I just bury in mulch? Sheet mulch? If i take this approach and bury the tree's surface roots, is that harmful to the tree?
My current "lawn" is 75% weeds. I have no interest in maintaining a perfect lawn, but I would like green space for hanging out / dog, etc. Thoughts on "lawn" alternatives -- creeping thyme? clover? Zone 8A - Athens, Ga. Thanks!
Hey Jim! Thank you for another great Q&A video! Praying for you dad to make a quick recovery. Question on Purple Daydream loropetalum - I had some frost damage on all of them back in March that turned 80% of the new foliage and blooms brown. Now they’re very sparse and looking like they’re dying. Is there anything I can do to rejuvenate this foliage? I’m in 8a - Central AL if this is a factor. Thanks!
Not Jim , but if it's just frost damage and the rest of the plants looks healthy, just trim the damaged leaves back. My loropetalum near ATL GA is slowing down on blooms, so now would be a great time for pruning.
Not Jim, but mine didn’t look great coming out of winter either in ATL. I spread some compost around them & fertilized with either plant tone or holly tone. Foliage bounced back quickly and looks great now. I’m monitoring and making sure they don’t get too dry now, second year in the ground.
@@KateMaureen14 Thank you so much! Taking a closer look at them, it looks more like when we had temps that dropped down to 28-29 while it was in bloom, it browned out most all of the blooms and has also defoliated about half its leaves. I’ll continue to monitor through the spring. Thanks again!
@@rachelsgarden interesting, I have an old variety in my yard that's huge and it did just fine this year. Even my hydrangeas are doing well when I didn't get blooms last year. Funny how that works haha
Hey Jim, I've had 3 flamethrower redbuds die on me and I'm hoping you can help me figure out why. I'm located in Raleigh. The last 3 years I've planted one in the spring (in 3 different spots) and each time they seem to thrive all through the spring summer and fall, but then die at some point in the winter. I've been planting them in full sun with well drained soil. I'm guessing maybe they need more winter protection while young? I'm so frustrated because I love flamethrower redbuds so much but I don't want to keep throwing away money 😭
How does the weekly garden planner work if my zone is different than yours? Or is it more based around frost date? I'm zone 6B/7A and my last frost is usually April 15 and in the fall, first frost is around Halloween.
What would be some foundation plants that you’d recommend for full shade in Auburn AL zone 8a? The North side of the house has proven impossible as I’ve had problems with our soil holding onto water and it sitting in the bottom of the root hole.
