I live out in the country and it seems that I am always battling back the weeds that sneak in.  The birds don’t help either.  Once certain weeds get established in a garden it is almost impossible to erradicate them.  On several occasions in the past, I have had huge gardens that became infested.   At times, I gave up and just mowed them over.   In recent years, I have made my gardens smaller and used the resources of weed killer, mulch and weed fabric.  Gardens can not be planted and just left, they need to be tended to and managed.   Some things to consider if you have weed infestation or want to keep them under control.

1.  Allow  PREEN to become your best friend.  You can purchase this product at any hardware store.   Keep in mind that Preen can only be effective  on weed free soil.  It does not allow weeds to germinate.  At first i recommend that you apply it every 3 weeks.  This is more than they recommend.  But it is necessary.   If the weeds are removed, this product will keep weeds at bay.  If weeds are present, it will not rid them.

2.  Mulch of any kind is critical around perennials and shrubs, along with preen

3.  In the spring I burn my gardens, it kills alot of weed seeds that may have dropped in the summer.  Once thistle gets established it is very difficult to rid there after.

We all know what weeds and weedy gardens look like, so no picture is  on line at this time.   Contact me for more information or tips   (docsperennials@yahoo.com)

My kids were small at this time and I always felt it was a waste to use disposable diapers as I knew they would just end up in the landfills.

One day I had an idea!  I took one of my son’s wet diaper and threw it in a bucket of water.  It swelled up about the size of a basketball.  I was amazed at the amount of water it could retain.  Lifting it out of the bucket it was heavy, but no water dripped from it.

I laid the diaper on the picnic table and opened it up, then took it apart.  The plastic peeled off the cotton liner easily.  I threw the plastic away and took the inside liner and noticed that the water was absorbed by  small gel particles.

I then dug a hole about 15 inches deep in the driest part of my land.   I dropped the cotton liner in the hole and added 4 inches of dirt.   I placed a deciduous sapling tree on the 4 inches of dirt and filled the hole to the top.   I watered it a bit but did not water it the rest of the summer.   That summer it was dry and we received very little rain.  The tree did not appear ever to show signs of wilt.  The vegetation around it  looked stressed.  The tree grew almost 2 feet that year.    In the fall, I dug a hole next to the tree and noticed that the tree roots had established themselves around the the diaper cotton liner and branched out from there.  My conclusion was that the diaper liner attracted moisture and that the tree was satisfactorily  supplied moisture when it was needed.

The following spring, the tree was one of the first trees to leaf out and seemed very healthy.   I purchased 4 plastic garbage cans.   Two for holding used wet diapers (not the poopy ones).  One for holding water of which I would later throw the used wet ones in this to absorb as much water as they could and 1 for holding the liner after I pulled off the plastic liners.  I then took a big stick and stirred the liners until they broke up like mashed potaotes.   That spring I purchased more saplings and planted each tree in like manner with digging the hole, putting in a few shovel scoops of diaper mash,  four inches of dirt on top of the mash and finally the tree.  At the end of the summer I counted the trees that survived.  I planted 200.   197 trees survived the hot summer.   I did not water any of them.  My success rate went up to almost 97% from 25-30% without the mash.

The following spring I contacted day care centers and close friends to save their used wet diapers of which they did.  At one point, I believe I had over 1,000 diapers waiting to be harvested and recycled.  By this time, my kids were assisting.   I know my son for one thought his father had lost his marbles.  That spring I planted over 1,000 trees in and around the property with the same success with the 197 trees.  If you were to come out to the garden center I could point out to you which trees were planted in diaper mash.      Since that time, I have seen in garden centers an absorbing  granual that you can dip your trees in that probably has the same effect as the diaper mash.

I wish now that I would have taken pictures of my diaper mash assembly with my kids helping.   I got quite a reputation in town and was often called the  “diaper man”.    People laughed at me all the time, but my experiment worked.    Sometimes when ideas pop in your head, dare to be different and try them out, you might just surprize yourself and others with a new discovery.

There are all sorts of clippers out there.  I personally like Fiskars.  They are reliable and don’t break after the 5th use.   When gardening you need to be able to snip this and that at a moments notice, clipping off branches, dead heading, not good for clipping your finger nails.

2. Preen weed preventer

Use Preen faithfully in your flower gardens.  I generally apply it every 6 weeks.  If you apply preen to a garden with weeds in it, it will have no effect.   Preen is used to keep weeds from germinating.   I recommend that you groom up a garden and if you can till it up so that only black dirt is exposed.  Apply Preen, it does work after a few applications.  Use it on existing gardens to keep new weeds from germinating.   Though the Preen package says safe for all gardens, vegetables included I tend to question that as it is a powerful chemical.  Should you desire to know other ways to keep your vegetable gardens weed free contact me and we can discuss other options.

When I plant my perennials in pots, I always add Preen,  the perennials grow without the competition of weeds  growing along side.   Jennifer’s Hardware or Bagley Hardware Hank in Bagley is a good place to purchase this.  If you have more questions  call Perennial Paradise at (218) 766-3568.  Perennial Paradise is your Clearwater County MN garden center and I am here to help!

3. Bug spray

There is a ton of bug sprays out there.  I tend to spray bug spray on my clothes  rather than my skin.  The skin is our largest organ in our body.  It is very absorbent,  20 years down the road, I don’t want to hear from the doctor saying,  “You have too much DEET in your system!!

4. Miracle gro

Miracle gro is as the box states.  When you follow directions! It works well, when you don’t the plants die.

People need vitamins to stay healthy as do perennials!

It doesn’t take much!  Too much fertilizer will burn and kill your plants.   Should you need help in knowing how much and when to apply, feel free to come out and talk to me, Dave Christensen or call  Perennial Paradise at  (218) 766-3568.   Apply fertilizer from start of spring up to July 1st. After that, plants needs to start setting in roots in preparation for winter.

Perennials generally do fine with just a good growing soil.  Perennials can be very sensitive to fertilizer until they are established.   As with all fertilizers it is important to read the label to ensure proper application.

All the trees at Perennial Paradise have been purchased from Clearwater Nursery.  These trees have gained good growth these last two years and are beginning to provide much needed shade at the center.  Proper fertilizer allows these trees to grow quickly and appear content.  A picture does not do justice to the beauty they are providing the garden center.   Let us give u a tour of all the different types of trees that are at the center and let us recommend  to you some of our favorite choices.