While I have never been an avid user of synthetic chemicals, I used them when necessary.  I was raised on a farm, where chemical use is common place and while studying at the University of Illinois, I learned the importance of chemicals for treatment of most pests.  But, at the seminar, I heard a presentation by Gretchen from Dr. Earth Organics.  She was an excellent speaker and she explained the importance of mycchorizae and probiotics for the health of your soil.  Let me tell you, I was convinced, and will definitely be using their line of fertilizers, inoculants, and hopefully their planting mixes to enhance my soil even more at planting. 

I am also extremely thrilled that we have received our shipment of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  So far, I have bought, Golden and Red Marconi pepper, Charentais cantaloupe, Tigger melon (one that stays really small, like softball size.  I think it will be perfect filled with Vanilla icecream!), Moon & Stars watermelon, Swiss Chard (which I have never grown before), Chioggia Beet, Chantenay Red Core Carrot, Rosa Bianca Eggplant, Rocky Top lettuce mix, Red Romaine lettuce, Red Kuri squash, and a few varieties of peas.  I can’t wait for mid March, when I can start all these seeds in the greenhouse and get that much closer to Summer and harvest!

What do you intend to do to your garden this year?  Do you plant a big vegetable garden or concentrate solely on flowers?  Share your insight…I can’t wait to hear your tricks!

Naturally yours,

Colleen

So, we started the big discussion, what are we going to do with the north end of the garden?  Our vegetable garden is actually located on my parents’ farm, because our yard is too small and shady for the (overly ambitious) vegetable garden that we plant each year.  The yard area of the farm has very sandy soil, particularly in the northern end.  Our cantaloupes were a disaster, not only did we plant them late, not one of them got large or ripe enough to eat.  Surely, a husband and wife who each have a degree in horticulture and my two lifelong farmer parents should be able to make a better effort! 

Last year we did add two dump trailers full of composted horse manure to the garden, but I think the north end was missed and we are talking about a garden which measures approximately 30’x80’.  So this year, what shall we do?  Definitely add more mushroom compost, and I think the melons will get moved farther south into the heavier ground, maybe moving the peppers into the spot of the melons, we know that peppers like it hot and drier. 

Here is a neat trick that I saw on the PBS show “Cultivating Life”, we record all episodes on the DVR,  I can watch them all year, even if I was at work when it aired.  Prepare your soil by hand or roto tilling.  Lay out some weed barrier fabric, preferably a heavy one like we sell at Tholens’-Dewitt Pro5.  This year I want 2 rows compiled of red, green, and yellow bells and a few hot peppers to make salsa, so I am going to use a 30’ piece of 3’ width.  Put the fabric down and use some fabric staples to hold it tight to the ground.  Then take a small canister torch and burn a hole every 18”, big enough to set your transplant into.  Plant your pepper, and I think I will use some soaker hose along the plants.  The black fabric will help the soil heat up faster in the spring (since peppers like lots of heat) and it will make 2 more rows that we don’t have to till between or hoe!  That makes me VERY happy! 

I am also excited about the success that I had with my green beans last year.  When my niece and I planted them, before we lifted the string (so I could remember where the row was located) we laid down and “stapled” some soaker hose along the row.  Once a week my husband would turn on the soaker for an hour or so, and we had the nicest beans, with no mildew, or weeds between the rows, because the water was going just where we needed it! 

I can’t wait to tell you all about the garden that I envision, and I probably will go on later about the “Tomato Problem” and the beauty of leaf lettuce.   I hope that you will read this and you will start to plan your garden too, because I think that half the fun of gardening or maybe the vast majority of the fun is in the planning!  Very soon we will receive our new line of organic heirloom seeds from Baker Seeds, which we are very excited about!  So stop in the store, we are starting to unpack all our seed starting supplies, fertilizers, etc.  We look forward to seeing you!

Naturally yours,

Colleen Nelson

B.S. Ornamental Horticulture, University of Illinois

Gardening Enthusiast

1.       Today it might be cold, but tomorrow it will probably be sunny and eighty degrees.  It seems like anything might happen.  The mystery is part of the beauty.

2.       Corn and soybeans.  Trevor’s favorite joke was to ask me, “What is this crop?” at every field we passed.  While that was his way of telling me how boring this area is, to me it means continuity.  I always feel close to home when I see those gorgeous ears of corn change from standing up proudly to dangling close to the stalk, like a pregnant woman with a heavy burden.  It also reminds me of how fortunate we are to have such fertile soil in our region. 

3.       The changing of foliage from green to yellow, red, orange, scarlet, or purple makes my heart go pitter patter.  It is the time of year when Maples justify themselves for not having showy flowers and the Black Gums tell us, “this is what you have been waiting for all year.”   All gracing us with their best, so in the winter we can remember how beautiful they were before they lost their “clothes”.

4.       Every fall we head down to Champaign to pick apples.  Cool, crisp, sweeter than honey apples.  Another reminder of the abundance the Midwest provides.  While we are there we always walk the University of Illinois campus, where I earned my horticulture degree, and pretend to be students…although I don’t think we are fooling anyone these days.

5.       I could go on more, but my favorite part of fall is planting trees!  We planted quite a few trees this year, a Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica), several apricots, and lots of small fruits.  But, I still have plans to do lots of planting this fall.  Please, don’t tell my husband yet!  On my list are ‘Baby Blue Eyes’  Spruce ( Picea pungens  ‘Baby Blue Eyes’), Pin Oaks (Quercus palustris), an ‘Imperial’  Thornless Honeylocust  (Gleditsia tricanthos var. inermis ‘Impcole’), blueberries, Asian Pears, and ‘Honeycrisp’ Apples. 

Fall is great for planting!  Most plants will enjoy the cooler temperatures and be ready to start rooting next spring, before it is dry enough for us to begin digging.  That means that your new tree will be less stressed next summer.  Your new tree will still have to watered as though it had just been planted, but watering is easy when you put yourself on a schedule. 

Remember, fall is for planting.  So maybe this is the year that you start a new family tradition of coming out to Tholens’ Garden Center, picking out a gorgeous tree and planting it as a family.  Then you can add that to your list of why you love fall in Illinois!

Colleen Nelson

B.S. Ornamental Horticulture, 6 year employee of Tholens’ Landscape & Garden Center & Plant Enthusiast

P.S. Need an even bigger reason to plant a tree?  Starting September 18, 2009, all spring dug trees will be 25% off!

So, you wonder, how do we diagnose that your tree is not getting enough water?  We ask lots of questions!  The first indicator that your tree needs more water is often yellow leaves or some fall color.  Early fall color, in particular, tells you that your tree is in desperate need of help.  We can also diagnose lack of water by brown crunchy leaves which are falling off the tree, bending of the new growth, etc.  If you think your tree might be dry, give it water, then call us.  If the soil is saturated and squishy, it is not too dry. 

We recommend deep, infrequent watering.  Please lay a hose at the base of the tree with a trickle the size of your small finger for 30 – 45 minutes; twice a week, less if we have had more than 1” of rain, that week.  Remember that your tree has its own method of communicating with you; it is telling you if it is healthy or sick.  So make an effort every day to look at the tree and make sure it isn’t waving a yellow leaf at you!

Happy Gardening,

Colleen

Wayne used to say that because a shade tree takes many years to do its job, shading a structure, a patio, or providing a place for a boy to learn how to climb.  The point is, the sooner you plant the tree, the sooner you will reap some benefits.  So, no matter if it is April, August, or October, if the tree was dug at the right time, you can successfully transplant it. 

Twenty years ago, you could make a statement about what could have been done on your property.  Now, there are more new subdivisions than we could have imagined 20 years ago.  Just think of the growth that Kankakee County experienced in the last 30 years.  So instead, we can consider who will own our properties in twenty years and think, “Boy, it would have been nice if someone had planted a shade tree twenty years ago when they built this house.”

An experienced gardener can age a subdivision based on the size or species of its trees.  For example, in subdivisions built in the sixties we often find Honeylocust trees, in the seventies and eighties Silver Maples were the norm.  In the nineties, a lot of Ash trees were planted.  So how will your subdivision be recognized?  Since the turn of the century, I think a lot of subdivisions will be dated by their lack of trees!  Understandably, people who have just built a new home have blown the budget by the time they get to landscaping, however, planting a tree now will help them decrease their cooling costs in the future by hundreds of dollars.  Remember that tree planting will save you money in the long run…a bit of an investment!

As I was writing this, I thought of what a great analogy it is to call a tree an investment.  Just like choosing a stock to invest in, you have to consider your needs, in the short term and long term, how much you can afford to spend, what you need to get out of it and how fast.  Does it have pros and cons?  Then there is the question of future investments, watering requirements, fertilizer and more.  Depending on the type of tree and the size you choose initially, you will start to get shade within 10-20 years.  So you are asking, what is the dividend?  The shade and energy savings ($$) will far exceed your initial investment!  You will continue to reap that benefit for 30+ years.

So one positive thing to come from all this rain is that the grass is greening up beautifully!  Now would be a terrific time to apply some fertilizer to your lawn and flower beds.  Those plants need a good breakfast to start the season.   It takes a lot of energy to sprout up out of the ground, send up leaves and flowers.  I wouldn’t want to try all that on an empty stomach! 

It is also really important to get your pre-emergent herbicide down right away.  If the weed seed has not started germinating, it won’t be long.  Pre-emergent herbicide will not kill weeds once they are growing; it prevents seed from germinating, so this is a preventative treatment.  Like your grandma used to say, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Did you get your ornamental grasses cut back?  If not, that is another really important thing to get done.  If you wait too long you are going to damage all the tender new leaves which are shooting up and have not unfurled yet. 

You could also get busy trimming back roses and fertilizing them too.  The first application of fertilizer should be in early to mid April.  Roses, particularly non shrub types, are heavy feeders and should really be on a strict fertilizing schedule.

Call us if you have any questions at 815-939-9670.  We are here Monday-Friday, 8am-5:30pm!

We are so excited to have FreeMode Media building a new website for the garden center.  If you ever visited our old website, you know that we needed help!  We hope that the blog will help our customers to find some answers, learn about some of our favorite plants, maybe our customers will teach us a thing or two too! 

Most posts will probably be about whatever I, Colleen Nelson, feel like pontificating on, but if you have a suggestion for a topic, please let us know.  Maybe there is something in the gardening world, or something that you saw on TV that you think warrants conversation…well this is your forum too!  Please have fun and keep it respectful!

We’d love to hear from you!

Colleen Nelson