Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Mulching Success and Failure

Last December I mulched my potted plants to help them survive the winter cold. I used crumpled newspaper to give the surface of the soil an uneven cover, hopefully creating air pockets to keep the soil, roots, and stems from freezing. I then covered the paper with soil to keep it in place. Here are the results.

Winter Mulching Failure

The first test was my ornamental grass and geraniums in my repurposed BBQ planter. It wasn't a total failure. My ornamental grass is doing well, but the geraniums didn't produce any new growth. I hated to give up on them, so I put the root balls in another pot just in case I wasn't patient enough. To take their place, I purchased four new geraniums to start filling in the blank space.

Winter Mulching Success

In March when I uncovered the rhubarb roots, a few sprouts were already appearing. It didn't look too promising, but I went ahead and dug in some new compost and added some multipurpose plant food.

When I returned to the cabin at the beginning of May, I was surprised at the results. I would say this one was a resounding success. I'm glad. I love the taste of rhubarb in pies. -- Margy

5 comments:

  1. That's a good idea with the newspaper. Your rhubarb looks great xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's much easier to save rhubarb than it is to kill it.
    Lookin' good, Margy.
    K

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great idea on the newspaper.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I wish succes all jobs,with my best wishes

    ReplyDelete
  5. Rhubarb is such a hardy plant - we have had the same mother plant for some 25 years and keep sharing parts of her with friends that want a start. Geraniums are touchy to winter over - hope yours makes it.

    ReplyDelete

We welcome your comments and questions. - Wayne and Margy