Garden Cameos: Good soil foundation of fabulous garden

With Earth Day on the horizon, it makes me think about the ground, the soil, the earth that we gardeners love so much.

The soil is the basis for all things that grow. On this Earth Day, we must appreciate it. We gardeners know if we have good soil, it is the foundation for a fabulous garden.

Since Spring is breathing delightfully down our necks, it is time to give all of my readers the perennial feed formula that works with very little effort. The time to apply it is right now so get out the shopping list and make some notes.

In a wheelbarrow, I mix one-third peat moss, one-third 10-10-10 fertilizer with trace elements or minor nutrients, and one-third cottonseed meal. The cottonseed meal is a long-term organic slow release feed and the peat moss acts as the buffer in the trio. You can substitute your own recycled leaf mold or compost in place of the peat moss.

I use a bucket and add my ingredients by volume, a bucket of this, a bucket of that. I mix it up well with a shovel and proceed to apply it to my perennials. This mix needs to be dug into the ground around the plant. So my method of application is to apply the feed around the plants and then mulch over it. Then I water it in. So how much do you use? If you are a 12-inch tall perennial apply­ cup per plant. If you are a peony or a clematis vine, apply one cup per plant. If you are a large weigelia or hydrangea, apply at least two cups per plant.

This perennial feed formula is good for basically all plants that flower and ferns, and is a healthy, strong feeding formula.

If you are planning on making a new garden bed or even a veggie garden I use this formula to create great garden soil suitable for ornamentals, annuals, perennials and vegetables. I scope out the bed size and remove the grass by digging it up. I don’t really like Round Up as a method of erasing grass. I use one-third existing red clay (we have plenty of that!), one-third sand (play sand, river sand, builder’s sand) and one-third peat moss or compost. I then use a tiller to mix up and break up the soil. At that point I have great garden soil ready to plant. The last thing to do is to mulch all your garden beds with 2 inches of mulch every year.

This year there are several daphne, an evergreen shrub, that are catching my eye. George Gunter has a small lavender one called daphne Lawrence Crocker that is so fragrant that it will knock your socks off. It is a small one growing to 1-by-1 feet and wants to be in part shade. The term part shade usually means morning sun and afternoon shade.

The other daphne is daphne burkwoodii. This one is a rare one with light green leaves edged with darker green. Again, daphnes are a very temperamental shrub, but oh wow, they are rewarding.

Linda Cobb is a Master Gardener who lectures, teaches and does garden design in South Carolina. Rmail her at lindacobb@charter.net.Visit her website at mygardenersguide.com.