On Fertilizing

I am certainly not the only gardener (the kind who loves plants, not the kind who "landscapes") that has a mixed feelings about fertilizing. I had a conversation at The Hort with one horticulturist who divulged an on-going battle amongst the staff concerning fertilizing - or the lack there of.

Personally, I like to do it when it rains (hence the fuzzy shots). Actually, I have rather strict requirements of when the time is right to fertilize: the second day of a good solid rain, preferably when I know a third day is coming - though I can always fake a third day with the hose, never in winter - though sometimes it's hard to tell if winter has ended and it's truly spring, and I try to do it when Kenai is not around.

She rolls in it. She rolls in everything: cat poop, dog poop (not her own - she steps in that), the salvias, poison oak, and my husband. My personal favorite is her love of perfume. Two squirts on the carpet and she's like a cat in catnip for 10 minutes. It's so funny! But I don't think it's funny when she rolls in fertilizer.

Obviously with all these restrictions, I don't fertilize very often. Maybe 4 times a year, 6 at the most, and depending on which part of the garden. We use Whitney's Organic General Purpose. It's a great product. My brother-in-law, David, turned me on to it years ago. And as long as I'm hitting the plants, I always throw a cup on the compost pile(s). It's basically the same thing as compost starter without the expense.

The Rose Lady across the street laughs at me every year cause there's Bonnie, out in the rain, weeding and fertilizing. "Are you from Oregon?!" Wish I were. Note she's outside with me while I garden.

Why am writing about fertilizing in July? Shockingly, it rained today! Okay, it's a spit really, but it made me think of spring.