Sticks & Stones – Page 27 – News & Views from Christensen's Plant Center

When should you use Holly-tone®?

Holly-tone ® is a fertilizer designed to feed plants that prefer to live in acidic soils. Some examples of acid-loving plants are: azalea, dogwood, rhododendron, ferns, hemlock, holly, hydrangea, juniper, arborvitae, magnolia, Japanese Andromeda (pieris), pachysandra, vinca and many other evergreens.

In new plantings, dig a hole twice as wide and about as deep as the root ball. Add some compost, humus, or sphagnum peat to the soil - not too much, current recommendations are to use mostly native soil when backfilling.

Add one cup Holly-tone ® and mix thoroughly. Holly-tone ® is an organic, slow-release fertilizer and is enhanced with Bio-tone ® microbes, so it is very safe to use.

Established acid-loving plants should be fed twice yearly, spring and late fall. Sprinkle Holly-tone ® around like adding salt and pepper to food. If the area to be fed is mulched it is preferable to remove the mulch, feed, and then restore the mulch on top of the application of plant food.

Shrubs such as hollies, azaleas, and rhododendron use 1 cupful of Holly-tone ® per foot of branch spread. Double the quantity if spread is 3 feet or larger. In the spring, trees such as hollies, hemlocks and juniper use 1 lb.* of Holly-tone ® per inch of trunk diameter. Triple the quantity for diameters 3 inches and over. In the fall plants should be given a light feeding in the late fall.Use half the quantities recommended for the spring.

*One pound of Holly-tone ® equals approx. 3 cupfuls

A New Look at an Ancient Plant

What kind of plant has branched stems and leaves, neither flowers nor seeds, can grow in a variety of locations and has been with us for more than 300 million years?

FERNS!

They are an immense and diverse group of plants that are more versatile than many people may think. Not all of the many ferns hardy to our Zone 5 climate need be pictured as only woodland delicacies.

Many varieties are suitable for, believe it or not, rock and water gardens as well as sunny and dry locations. I have personally seen happy colonies of Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia pensylvanica) and Japanese Painted Fern (Athyrium n. Pictum) growing in full sun, provided (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) the soil is organically rich and consistently moist.

A few more sun-tolerant varieties include the Hayscented Fern (Dennstaedtia punctiloba), Lady Fern (Athyrium felix-femina), and Cinnamon Fern (Osmunda cinnamomea).

When established, Ostrich, Lady and especially Hayscented Ferns will also be able to tolerate drier soils.

These ancient beauties can be deciduous or evergreen and exist in many textures, colors (think Japanese Painted Ferns and Autumn Ferns) and sizes. Even better, most are resistant to rabbits and deer.

Their tropical look can soften up areas around a patio and the edges of hardscaped portions of the garden.

They truly are worth a second glance, beyond the forest setting, as long as proper research is done to choose the correct variety that should be used.