RAINY DAYS & MONDAYS
Datebook: April 18, 2024. Today, I’m taking advantage of a rainy day to do a little writing.
I look forward to rainy days to get caught up on things. I always have a list. Unfortunately, we haven’t had many of those recently, so I was excited about the opportunity that presented itself today. I had a lot I needed to do... and we needed the rain!
First a quick business update... we’ve had a busy start to our season out here!
Warm weather coming early this year brought everything on a little more quickly than normal. Of course, early warm weather always comes with late cold snaps, and that created some unwanted “opportunities” for us, but we managed to get through them.
Now that we’re in the last half of April, we should be moving out of the frosty temps... hopefully! Now’s a great time to plant trees, shrubs and perennials, but I’d hold off setting out the summer veggies for a few more weeks. Things like peppers and tomatoes like warm soils and consistently warm weather, and we’re not quite there yet. I’ll be planting mine after Mother’s Day.
If you haven’t been out this spring, or you haven’t heard us talking about it previously, you may not be aware of our new greenhouse project.
It’s a large, almost 8,000 square foot, building that is replacing our old lath house and shade structure. Both of those used to sit right behind our store and were full of flowers and perennials through the growing season. Old age and storm damage finally caught up with them, and they were taken down this past winter. The new greenhouse is taking their place.
Cameron Rees, General Manager
And the new building is getting close to completion!
As I look at the new greenhouse right now, the roof is almost complete and there’s just a little bit of the side walls left to put up. The electricians still need to get in there and do their part, and there’s still some furnace work left to do, but we’re getting close to the finish line... and we’re all getting very excited! It’s been fun to watch it go up, but now we’re just ready for it to be done!
It’s impressive and makes things look a lot different. A large construction project during our busy season wasn’t exactly what we had planned, but things never go quite according to plan, do they? We’re making the best of it and adjusting as needed. Things look different, but everything is still out there.
We appreciate your patience through this construction process! It will be done soon, and things will be a lot better for it.
If you haven’t been out yet to see what’s happening, come on by, check it out, and let us know what you think!
—Cameron Rees
what’s new?
Gifts for all the Moms in your life!
It’s that time of year again, people! Time to show your mom, mother-in-law, stepmom, or that special lady that helped raise you, just how much you love and appreciate her! Yep, Mother’s Day is May 12th and Skinner’s is here to help! We have beautiful hanging baskets bursting with color and Patio containers with an array of foliage and flowers. We are filled to the brim with amazing houseplants too! Air plants are another unique gift to give, low maintenance and easy to take care of for that super busy mom! At Skinner’s, we can help you customize any container you find to make that gift even more special. Stop by today and we will help make their hearts melt……
earth day - arbor day tree sale!
Hey everyone! Earth Day is Monday, April 22nd this year and Arbor Day is Friday, April 26th, so we are celebrating with a special deal to help honor the spirit of these two garden-loving holidays.
ALL TREES ARE 15% OFF NOW THROUGH APRIL 28TH!
“THYMELY” ADVICE:
DO I NEED TO BUY NEW POTTING MIX?
“Can I reuse my old potting mix?”
We get this question all the time, and the answer is... yes!
It is definitely okay to reuse the potting mix you had in your containers and hanging baskets the previous year. Potting mix doesn’t go “bad”. It’s just as good at the start of a new season as it was at the end of last season. About all you need to pay attention to is how heavy or dense your mix is feeling.
Potting mix consists of mostly organic ingredients... things like peat moss, coconut coir, compost, or bark. All organic matter breaks down over time into smaller and smaller pieces. That’s the composting process and it’s natural. As this happens to your potting mix, you’ll notice it getting denser, and it will tend to hold onto more water. That’s why it feels heavier.
This is okay to a point, but when the potting mix gets too dense and holds onto too much water, you’re going to have problems, meaning your plants aren’t going to grow as well.
You’ll need to either swap out the old for some new, or blend some of the old with some new mix to lighten it up. Both works.
If you decide to swap out the old, make sure you don’t throw it away! Add your old potting soil to your compost pile or chop it up and blend it into your garden beds. It makes a great soil amendment.
One last bit of advice.... Don’t forget to fertilize.
Good soil for good roots is part of the secret to having great looking plants, but the other is to fertilize regularly.
For this, you have a couple of options. You can use a water-soluble fertilizer weekly, like Fertilome All-Purpose Water-Soluble Plant Food or Fertilome Blooming and Rooting Soluble Plant Food, or ideally, both. Just alternate back and forth between the two of them. Both of these dilute easily into water.
The other option is to use a slow-release fertilizer. These are granular fertilizers that have been formulated to slowly release their fertility over time, often several months. Fertilome Multi-Cote and Fertilome Start and Grow are two we like to use.
Whichever way you choose to fertilize is up to you!
