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)

• Perennial Paradise (218) 766-3568 is the largest perennial resource in Clearwater County.  We have thousands of perennials with over 200 varieties that are Zone hardy for this area.  The garden center perennials cover all ranges of color schemas that would enhance any of your gardening needs.
• Hanson’s Greenhouse in Shevlin sell bedding plants for both flower and vegetable gardening needs.
• Erickson’s Greenhouse also sell bedding plants for flower and vegetable gardens.
• Clearwater Nursery has many varieties of trees, shrubs, fruit trees, vines and some perennials, edging, landscape fabric and other resources. Come out to see Perennial Paradise.  All the trees growing on the garden center lot are from Clearwater Nursery.
• Francis Floral in Bagley sell cut flowers and annuals in the spring.

All  five business are within seven miles of each other from Shevlin to Bagley.  Each business specializes in different resources for your garden needs.  It is important for you as a shopper to understand what you are looking for and understand plant types and their purposes.  Supporting your local economy is critical for the community.  It provides jobs and keeps hard earned money with in the county that might otherwise be out sourced to larger communities.  In addition to the above mentioned businesses Bagley and Shevlin offer a wide variety of good shopping and eating establishments to ease your shopping without the hustle bustle of big city traffic.  Time efficiency is critical to our busy lives.  Many businesses in our local area are more than willing to assist you in your shopping needs.

Feeling very sick and dizzy I tripped over the couch and fell on the floor.   When I went to the refrigerator all that was palatable was the Pepto Bismol  in the refrigerator.    Every bone in my body said,  ”Don’t open today!”.     I trudged to the closet to pull out my shirt and jeans.   Dang!  I forgot to put them in the dryer last night.   Throwing on my shirt wet from the washer actually felt pretty good because my body felt like it had a fever.   I gulped down Pepto Bismol like kool-aid.  I put on my shoes and went outside.    Hmmm!  Things to do!

• Prep the cash register.   (Oops, forgot to get more dollar bills from the bank!)
• Turn on the sprinklers.  
• Make the coffee and set out the refreshments.
• Tidy up all the empty spots where perennials were sold the day before.
• Rearrange the sitting area.
• Sweep the selling lot aisles and inside the garden center.
• Make a list of people that I need to call.
• Turn on the peaceful music.
• Put up the highway signs.

 Every time I tried to hammer in a stake I hit a rock.   After 12-15 attempts, sick to my stomach, tired, headache and frustrated I sat down in the open field and prayed.  ”God see me through!”  After a bit, I stood up collected my thoughts and bingo the stake went in with ease.   Walking down the ditch to my truck I tripped over a rock and fell.  This time I laid on the thistle and weeds in the ditch and just laughed.  I wanted to cry and and scream, but instead and said,  whatever!.   I rolled back up in a sitting position and accidently put my hand on a ripe thistle.  Retracting my hand back, I could see the 50-60 thistles stuck in my hand.  Bit by bit they came out.  I glanced at my watch 6:52 a.m. and still one more large ten foot sign to put up.    With all my might, I said some self talk.    ”Dave,  get a grip this is just a road block it is not a fact.”  Now stand up and hold your head high.  You have a dream, and you desire to see other people find their dreams unfold.   Now 6:53 a.m., jumped in the truck, hand oozing with pain I grabbed a hold of the key and started up the truck.     Drove up to the garden center lot and  closed my eyes for what seemed like an eternity.   Pulling out the key to unlock the gate I pulled it back and set up the entrance signs.   My dogs came up to me and wagged their tails.   Dumb and Dumber names I have earmarked for them.  I sad down next to one of them and she licked my hand, I smiled.  I looked around and saw once again the beauty that I see every day.   The sun glistened from the wet mist of the sprinklers and the scents of the flowers brought to my attention that though the nite was a huge challenge that a new day is upon me.   6:57a.m.   I stood up and unlocked the garden center doors, took a deep breath and said,  it will happen.   Suddenly without notice the sprinkler fell off the stand and shot straight at me totally soaking me like a wet rag.   It felt good, still feeling sick I laughed and said, “Bring it on”.   I feltl like a  5 year old in a swimming pool.  Suddenly the dogs started to bark and in the distant I could hear my first customer of the day driving down the road.   The car pulled up to the parking lot and a lady came out and said,  ”Good Morning. I waited all week to get here to see this place, I have heard so much about it.”  She walked around for the longest time and kept making comments like  ”It is so calming around here and so beautiful”!     Tears came to my eyes and the words streamed through my mind as if to say, “Yes, it really is paradise”.     

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.