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Plants are just one of the components that build the successful garden. You already know my position on the role of fertilizer and water from the garden hose.

A conversation this week brought two more garden components to the forefront. They were mulch and soil amendments.

It seems that the questioner had the opportunity to get some free mulch. A friend of her brother or something like that knew a tree trimmer who was looking for a home for some of his chippings. Was this a goldmine or a problem?

Several issues quickly appear. First, when you use fresh or green material as a mulch, the aging or decaying process will suck nitrogen from the soil. Thus, fresh mulch may force you to increase your nitrogen levels to compensate.

Second, we probably have no way of knowing what is being chipped. If he were trimming walnut trees you would get the full killing power that you get from a walnut tree in your yard. Most of you know that walnut tree roots give off a rather effective plant killer to promote the survival chances of this slow growing tree.

Third, if the grindings included material from diseased trees there is a chance that you can bring additional disease problems into your landscape. Many of these may be species specific, but we are dealing with common plants found in the landscape.

Mulch purchased from a replicable supplier should be aged and handled in a way to remove the risks and do the job intended, while gradually adding compost to the soil. In fact, a primary source of wood for mulch is the grinding of old shipping pallets.

In the second instance, surplus mushroom soil, complements of her minister, had landed in her garden. The source probably has additional potential, but I'll limit it to saying I am not available for pastoral counseling. The after effects of the effort were that she was able to salvage one plant from the area before they all died. She has hopes that it will recover.

Mushrooms, I think, are grown in mix of soil, hay and manure. This combination is very high in nutrients. Soil coming directly from the mushroom house is so high, in fact, that it can prove deadly to normal garden plants.Aged mushroom soil is an excellent form of compost to add in limited or reasonable quantities. The aging process, I believe, should be at least a year. I frequently hear of garden disasters linked to this soil amendment.There is a simple test one can use to test any soil amendment you are adding to your garden. Tomato plants are very sensitive to soil fertility. If a tomato plant survives a week (I think it is three days in the industry) in your proposed soil amendment you will have no problems.

The people producing bagged soil go through a lot of tomato plants. Be careful that you don't join the carnage by using poor quality mulch and soil amendments.

The only drawback to being one who makes his livelihood growing plants for gardeners is that one usually finds no time for his own gardens until the spring rush starts to wane.

I was getting especially annoyed at the weeds in one large bed that features daffodils followed by daylilies followed by various fall bloomers that generally sport daisy-like flowers and ornamental grasses. Several days ago I found an extra 10 or 15 minutes and I attacked.

Amazed that I had rendered almost 300 square feet of flowerbed free of weeds in that short time I began to weigh the virtues of gardens versus extensive swaths of lawn.

The lawn requires at least weekly mowing. Once established, with the aid of mulch my flowerbeds require a bit of weeding, at most, once a month. I wonder which takes more time.

The goal of those seeking a lush lawn is a green monoculture. I'll quickly admit I am trying to improve the appearance of my lawn. Raising the mower blades and mowing in imaginative directions, together with spreading additional grass seed has done wonders, but it still won't win any awards.

The next step would be to attack with chemicals. Fertilizer will help but increase the time I spend mowing. Chemicals for weed control will drive me closer to the monoculture. The monoculture would also greatly reduce the presence of host plants for beneficial insects.

Digressing, I am convinced that the arrival of agricultural chemicals over half a century ago, often supplanted traditional practices of crop rotation. As agriculture swung to single crop monocultures, I suspect we saw diminished populations of beneficial insects both in and above the soil, requiring even more chemicals.

Back to the lawn. The lush lawn requires lots of fertilizer, chemical controls, water, and labor while it eliminates insects good and bad. There are many who wonder whether this is environmentally sound and sustainable.

I know many of you are already thinking about the water, fertilizers and other chemicals that go into the gardens. I repeat my challenge. Cut the water and fertilizer in half and when you see no difference cut them in half again.

My water and fertilizer challenge is easy if we think about the plants that go into the garden and where we place then. We won't have to eliminate many of the plants we see offered.

I am not chemical use adverse, but I suspect that if we work with nature they can become a rather small part of our gardening activities.

Often I ponder about what to write. I solve the problem when I run errands. I keep one eye on the road and the other in the landscapes I pass. Ideas pop up. Even pulling weeds will do the job.

When we talk about perennials we assume that they will return each year without thinking much about their longevity. Most have a definable lifespan, which can be extended with proper care and division as they expand or the center of the clump shows decline.

One perennial that lasts a lifetime is the peony. I remember them from grandmother's garden, mother's garden and now my gardens. I think about them now because their buds are swelling and will soon highlight the show in my perennial border.

From years ago I remember reds, pinks and whites with large double flowers. The color line today has been expanded to include more shades, bi-colors and even a reported yellow one. I haven't rounded up enough dollars to spring for the yellow one yet.

They are easy to grow and, as I implied, are long lived without much attention.

Several drawbacks do exist. The flowers are so large that often with stormy weather they bend to the ground, obstructing their glory. They also are a relatively short-lived flower, lasting only a week or so.

Also, after bloom the robust foliage loses much of its appeal. I do not find this a problem in a border where there are other plants to draw later season attention. As with most perennials, delaying cutting off the aging stems helps the plant build strength for the next season.

The most frequent human distress with peonies is the almost guaranteed presence of ants rushing up the stems to visit the swelling buds. Is it a problem? Does something need to be done?

That leads to an interesting story or bit of science. Let's start with the ants. In the insect world they are the renowned aggressive hard workers. If you mess with them you will soon discover that they can bite only with slightly less effect than a bee. In other words, they are bullies not to be messed with.

The peony plant, like many tropical dwelling plants where insects are a year round problem, has small glands at the base of their flower. As the buds swell, these glands secrete a sugary substance called extrafloral nectar, which attracts the ants.

Combine the above facts and you have a plant working to attract bully ants to protect it from other insects. Research shows that when the ants are kept off the peony plants, the flowers are of lower quality.

If you have peonies that you wish to divide or transplant, the best time of the year to do it is in the period between August 15 and September 15. That's true for most spring blooming perennials, although less important than with the peony.

Dividing or transplanting peonies in the above time frame permits the warm soils of fall to produce root growth, while the cooling air temperatures restrict top growth.

My peonies may outlive me but that won't prevent me from adding more to my garden.

Rain is pounding on my house roof as I prepare a list of annuals that will tolerate and even thrive in a hot dry summer. My list includes portulaca, venidium or gazbera, abelmoschus, vinca, neimbergia and begonias.

Over half a century ago my grandmother and I cherished the low growing, almost succulent portulaca in the front edge of the flowerbed. Back then they would reseed in the garden and if we waited until the end of May we had free plants to transplant.

Today's newer hybrids reseed reluctantly but offer larger single or double flowers in whites, yellows, oranges, pinks and reds. Seed varieties are common and there is a large offering of vegetatively propagated plants that exhibit larger flowers.

Venidium has a jagged gray foliage and sports a flower like the gerbera daisy. A single plant will form a large clump and flower heavily. They have staying power past Thanksgiving as they are quite cold tolerant. The height seldom exceeds a foot.

One fault of both portulacas and venidium is that the flowers close as evening approaches.

Abelmoschus is reported to thrive in the potholes in a vacant paved parking lot. I haven't planted this little known member of the hibiscus family there but can attest to its toughness. Flower color is in the red ranges. It has a large oak shaped leaf. With patience you can get this one to reseed easily.

Vinca is a great hot weather plant with impatien like flowers for dry, sunny locations. Colors include white, pink, reds and purple. The plant is slightly smaller than the common impatien. It has good, deep green waxy leaves.

The problem with vinca is that is likes it hot and dry. Most of us have visited and deserted our plant sources before the soil is fit to plant vinca. As of now I still am nervous about how vinca will survive in our gardens until the hot weather arrives. This should be a late May addition.

Neimbergia is a rather short plant with small leaves and radient stems. It has an airy look and comes in blue and white. It, too, is quite cold tolerant and will survive the first frosts of fall.

For shade you can use begonias. There is a multitude of different forms and species of this waxy leaf plant. They can range from quite short to quite tall.

Hidden in the last paragraphs are some hints for anyone looking for plants that will tolerate dry conditions. They include gray leaves, waxy leaves, tiny leaves and succulent leaves. Those are generalizations that are true across the plant kingdom.

Many years ago I heard a crop farmer, who I respected greatly, state that the best years were the ones when rainfall was adequate or a bit short. Watching my ornamental landscape unfold this spring I can't help but think that the same is true in the flower garden.

I should have quit with the last paragraph but will repeat one of my common themes. Your flower plants will be happiest if your garden hose gets lots of vacation time.

Somewhere out there, there must be a Daphne blooming. If not, some garden writer in some unknown gardening publication must have extolled the merits of the plant. How else can I explain the number of questions about the plant I received this week?

Daphne is a sprawling shrub with a wonderful fragrance you will never forget. Its merits stop there. It is difficult to grow. It is very scarce and expensive in the trade because it likes to die.

If you find one, plant it gently where it will spend the rest of its lifetime. They seldom survive a second transplanting. They don't like to be disturbed in any way. Look, smell, but don't touch. If I haven't discouraged you, Carol Mache is the most common cultivar.

Another request this week came in an email that ended "Please help me." This problem concerned a weed running amuck in the writer's lawn. I was told that she had had several professional applications of Roundup with no success.

I was also told that it looked a little like a violet but was not a violet. Not knowing the weed, I was at a loss to help. Roundup is an excellent killer of weeds when absorbed through green tissue.Its weakness is that a few weeds have a waxy leaf cover that interferes with the absorption and effectiveness of roundup. Violets are one of those plants.

My suggestion was to identify the weed. The easiest way to identify a plant would be to take a sample to a professional like the extension service in Lancaster operated by Penn State University.

The second choice is to find a plant or weed identification guide. With these you answer a sequence of questions until you have eliminated all but the villain or friend, whichever is the case. They are kind of fun.

With identification, control can be plotted. If spraying is the choice, one needs to think about the residual effect. With roundup you can spray and plant immediately with no threat to the new plants. Many herbicides have a defined time period before re-planting can safely occur.

One good example is the crabgrass control available for our lawns. You cannot immediately follow most control applications with reseeding. If the chemical stops the crab grass it will also inhibit the germination of desired grass seed.

Switching gears to another common question this week, concerning pruning of the shrubs now flowering. The accepted practice is to prune immediately after the flowers fade. This allows for new growth and the formation of next years' buds in late summer.

As you look at these shrubs don't be afraid to remove some of the oldest stems at ground level. Such action will increase the vigor and performance of the shrub.

Someone told me about his honeysuckle vine that was mutilated during a construction project. His dreaded salvage efforts removed over half the vine. The result is that it is growing back fuller and better than ever.

Finally, I frequently get asked, "can I keep this shrub that says it will get four to six feet tall at four feet?" The answer, of course, is yes, but the better choice is to select a shrub that will not grow past the four-foot mark unless you like that whacked at look.

Questions are fun. They tell me what to write about. Keep them coming.