Mulch, final thought

While thinking about your daylilies for next year, consider mulch: what type(s) to use, where to purchase, when to use, most economical, etc. Organic mulch will certainly enhance your daylilies and their surrounding soil. And we would love to hear from you about your mulching techniques/types. We are never too old to learn something new, huh?

Weather has been overcast and drizzly today. Good for the daylilies. Please visit our website: http://www.oakvillefarm.com to find the perfect daylily that will beautify your yard for years to come.

Our next topic will be about Ph of the soil.

If you have other questions concerning daylilies, please send us a comment.

Until next time, Happy Gardening.

Mulch, Part 3

Hello daylily bloggers. What's the scoop? (Ha-Ha)

Had a question sent my way, How/Where do you purchase mulch?

Several ways to obtain mulch ...

1) Go to a local Home and Garden Center and buy mulch in bags, ie bagged mulch. It comes in 2 cubic feet size bags or larger. Some varieties that are available are pine bark nuggets,
red/black/brown colored mulch, cedar mulch, pine bark mulch and hardwood mulch.

2) Mulch can be purchased in bulk. A sawmill may have mulch piles and sell it by the scoop.

3) In some areas, your local landfill has mulch and will either give it away or sell very reasonably. Some landfills do not load it for you. Plus the mulch may not be clean, it could have large pieces of wood or trash. So I suggest that you call ahead to check on availability, loading practices and price.

4) An Equestrian Farm may have an area of manure piles (great mulch plus bonus of fertilizer) and offer that for free or at a minimal fee. I have known that a farmer is so glad to have the manure moved/cleaned up that they are willing to give it away just for the asking. Again, check on loading.

5) If there is a tree trimming service doing work in your area, ask them to dump their product in a pile in your yard. There is usually no charge.

6) If you and your kids want a "Family Project", you may go to a neighbors house ... offer to rake, bundle and take the leaves away for a small fee. That is a two for one deal ... yard gets cleaned/family time together/mulch for your daylilies. WOW.

7) Another way to get your own mulch, besides using your oak leaves and grass clippings, purchase a "chipper shredder" and make your own.

So when leaving your property to make mulch purchases, be sure to have access to a truck and/or trailer for best hauling purposes. Correct tools: leather gloves, shovel, rake, pitch fork may be handy to have. AND remember the daylilies will thank you by providing beautiful blooms in the summer.


*****Another great mulch, which we have LOADS of ....

Goat Nanny Berries

Yes, goat poop, as laymen call it. When cleaning out the barn, we use the waste on daylilies. Decomposes well and provides nutrients.


With great imagination, little leg work and lots of determination, MULCH can be found and used to make "Happy Gardening". Until next time. Have a good day.

Mulch, part 2

On our daylily blog, I like to share as many pictures of daylilies and relevant gardening items. And since I so do love to take photos, I decided to go out in the neighborhood and take photos of mulch. I had a great time. Spent time visiting with neighbors who were outside enjoying this beautiful weather. By the way, not a cloud in the sky, light breeze here in north central North Carolina.

I want to thank the Bradley family, Hawks' family and Wright family for graciously letting me take pix. Here are my "finds" for today ....

Pine Straw
Last night I referred to it as pine needles, well, actually we call it "pine straw".
It is easy to rake up, transport and spread around daylilies. Does not have weed seeds. It is also sold locally in bales. Sometimes the pine straw is clean, without pine cones, but either way it works well as mulch.

Grass Clippings
Use a mulching blade on your lawn mower, if possible. Grass comes out finely cut up. It rakes easily. As a younger person, I remember helping to rake leaves and only then jumping in that great soft pile of leaves, throwing them on my brother and listening to the adults laughing over our foolishness. Such fun!


This shows grass clippings placed around daylilies here at Oakville Farm.


Straw
Now, before using straw, know for sure that WEEDS/GRASS will follow. It looks good initially, but will sprout.

Oak Leaves
Good mulch, decomposes adding nutrients to soil.

This is how our neighbor prepares the leaves for mulching ...


And there you have it .... Mulch, part 2.

I shall return tomorrow with more photos of mulch. If you have good mulching techniques, or know of other good mulches, please leave us a comment. Until next time, Happy Gardening.

Let's think about Mulch ...

Hope all is well for everyone. We are fine here at Oakville Farm.

Guess you noticed that we took a break from blogging. But we are back. Have had many questions about daylilies: mulching, dividing, Ph, winter preparation and alike. So we will be addressing these and other issues that are of interest.

Tonight I would like to discuss Mulch.

Yes, we suggest that you place mulch around your daylilies. Mulch helps cut down on weeds, helps soil retain moisture, helps keep consistent temperature around plant, plus it looks good. It makes the DAYLILIES look good also.

Mulch should be about 3" deep, however keep a 1"-2" area around the crown of the daylily open so the plant "can breathe". This shades the soil, keeping it cooler. Mulch will also help fertilize the soil as it decomposes. Mulch can be placed around daylilies in the spring and then added as needed.

When looking for a good mulch, be sure to remember to get a mulch that is not high in Nitrogen. Large amounts of nitrogen will promote foliage growth and not bloom growth.

Daylilies are hardy perennials and do not usually require mulch for the winter months. If daylilies are set out in the fall, shortly before frost, a light covering of mulch would be beneficial. If you live in a colder zone and wish to use mulch, use a light covering and be sure to take it off in the spring after the danger of frost has past.

There are two types of Mulch: Organic and Inorganic. Organic mulch comes from from natural products and enriches the soil through decomposition. Inorganic mulch is man-made, rarely needs replacing and does not add nutrients to the soil.

Mulch:

Grass clippings ...
mostly weed seed free, widely available, has little nutrients, a good mulch

Hay and Straw ...
widely available, good mulch, get weed seed free if possible

Horse Manure ...
good mixed with wood shavings

Peat Moss ...
when used as a top mulch can from a layer and act as a water shedding agent, not good

Raked Leaves ...
composts well, very little to no nutrients

Pine Needles ...
widely available, weed seed free

Shredded Bark ...
is OK, does not break down quickly, usually used in permanent beds

Saw Dust ...
may deplete soil of nitrogen, packs down too hard, not recommended

Decorative Rock/Stone ...
not a natural mulch, does not add nutrients to soil

Consider personal preference, availability, and locality when choosing an appropriate mulch, because mulching can lead to beautiful, lush, bountiful daylilies.

So until next time, Happy Gardening.


PS This is a good site for general daylily information: http://www.ofts.com/bill/culture.html

Labor Day

Hello Daylily Admirers,

Sherman and I lined out more than twenty daylily cultivars this weekend. We plant our daylilies in rows, makes for easier cultivating with the tractor, ya know. So after we dug up the daylilies, divided them and replanted in rows, we had more than ten new rows of daylilies. And we here at Oakville Farm look forward to sharing those great daylilies with you.

Our official daylily shipping season ends October 1, 2009. So we will be adding the new daylily cultivars to the website these autumn and winter seasons. So check back often to http://www.oakvillefarm.com for new cultivars.

Hope everyone has had or is having a relaxing day. It was nice to see Joanne and meet her son, Seth, today. Hope you will enjoy your new daylilies.

While they were visiting this afternoon, we had a nice light drizzling rain. The rain has been coming down since 1 PM and is continuing. A nice rain that is soaking in. Perfect, perfect, perfect!!

Here is one of the new daylilies for next season:

First Knight
large bloom 6", rebloomer, cream yellow


All for now and as always, we wish you "Happy Gardening".

Hello All....

Daylilies...daylilies.....daylilies. Aren't they a beautiful sight in your yard as a stand alone cultivar, along the driveway, in a flowerbed, or even as erosion control on an embankment? Daylilies are such a versatile, easy growing perennial that each of us enjoys. So, by the way, if you are not currently enjoying daylilies, please join us daylily lovers and "get hooked". Daylilies are tolerant of less than perfect water conditions, disease resistant, pest/insect free. What plant could be better for you?

Please checkout our website:http://www.oakvillefarm.com
for a good selection of daylilies. You may find a daylily that will fit just right in your yard.

Until next time, Happy Gardening.

Hey all Daylily Folks

Hope everyone is having a good day. It is a Saturday and for most folks, that means "THE WEEKEND" and hopefully time off from the regular job. If so, find time to walk through your daylilies. What's blooming? Where do you need more daylilies? Is it time to divide your daylilies and share their wealth with others?

We just had a nice hard downpour. And looking out the window, I see all the beautiful green! In the past, our August weather has been dry and hot. This summer we have had much rain and things are so lush and green. The daylilies are showing such new growth. The vegetable garden is growing well, with okra and peas coming in on a daily basis. The muscadine grape vines are loaded with grapes and should be ready for picking very soon now. Oh I love the edible bounty provided this time of year.

So, outside I go. Until next time, Happy Gardening.