We're halfway through potting up all the plants we've overwintered, but are looking at temps below freezing for the next two nights. Today will be about getting covers ready for everything and setting up ambient warmth for several of our plants that are currently flowering. On my way home from a doctor's appointment, I stopped to pick up a cutting of a curly willow (Salix matsudana) from a woman in town whose tree was damaged in a recent snow storm.
This one cutting was turned into a dozen after I got home. I've planted out three or four and the remaining sections were loosely bundled and placed into our five gallon bucket with several other varieties of willow we're rooting in water.
What's growing on with you all?
Not growing in my yard, fortunately, but I realized that the interesting looking shoots I had been seeing come up in the patch of woods on my way to work are actually japanese knotweed.
I know it's not going to kill the plant, but those shoots are pretty satisfying to kick over, they just go flying... between the knotweed and the garlic mustard I've got plenty of invasives to deal with if I ever feel like going on a plant murder rampage. I've already pulled up a 5 gallon bucket full of garlic mustard in my yard which I'm turning into a gardener's revenge liquid fertilizer.
It won't kill it but you're awesome for slowing or stopping its negative ecological impacts! Do you prefer aerobic or anaerobic revenge liquid fertilizer?
I've got a normal compost bin going as well, but I'm trying the anaerobic method for the first time on this bucket. Just filled it up with invasive plants and water, added some leaf mold, put the top on and stuck it in a sunny spot. We'll see what happens!
Very cool. We have a few turned piles ourselves, but I'm a big fan of the anaerobic method as well. There was a talk by John Kempf about facultative soil microbiology and the benefits of having aerobic and anaerobic organisms present for soil health which you might find interesting
This is a great presentation, thanks for the link!