This could possibly qualify as today's daftest question, but I'm gonna ask anyway. I'm slowly filling my garden with hardy perennials, the labels on all of which say 'Feed regularly'. Of course, I realise that if something's going to be in the same spot for heaven-knows-how-long it's going to need a feed, but the daft question is ... what do I feed them with and how often? Now, I know you can buy Miracle-gro et.al, but it makes sense to make my own feed if possible. I am therefore wondering, if I make my own nettle liquid feed (and heaven knows I've enough nettles still to clear) would I need to feed the plants more frequently than if I used the proprietary brands?
I used to sue Phostrogen, but I've had more success with Miracle Gro this year, so that's the one I use now. Sorry, no help on what else you might use. Too hit-and-miss for me. Comfrey might be an alternative, and you could definitely grow-your-own (look out for Bocking-14 [I think the variety is called] as it is infertile and wo't self-seed all over your garden)
"I used to sue Phostrogen" I hope you taught them a lesson they won't forget Kristen lol. I have now stopped feeding my garden-all except the tomatoes ( new thing for me this year), they need to start readying themselves for winter. Although I accept it hits us before it hits the southern counties. As far as the effectiveness of nettle brew over say fish, blood and bone-I would choose fish, blood and bone-but it is very much a personal choice. It's a suck it and see situation.
We use nettle soup for a long time now and the tomatoes are really lovely, did not use it so much this year, and I think it did make sense to use it last year!! Just cover the nettles with some water, put a lid on it, leave it for a week, then its ready to use, dillute it 10:1, about, and just water with that, best if U have some comfrey in it too, you wil gain lots of experience how to make it, use it, in a few weeks, easy, cheap and effective!#I was gonna make a trial just to prove that it works, but hey my day is only 24hrs too! Maybe next year! As for established perennials, a little manure around the plant is the best, the rain will wash the good staff into your soil!
Hi Fidgetsmum. Not a daft question at all - a very important one - and I am sure people will have different opinions. My view is that plants in the border really don't need much if any feed. However if you have plants in a pot, or are growing vegetables then they do need feeding. I am on clay. The downside is that is puddles in winter and bakes solid in summer! But the good news is that it holds a lot of food. Therefore I virtually never feed my borders. The most that I do is to cut the old growth down once a year, compost it, and then spread it back again. That way I don't remove anything, but just recycle. If you are on a fast draining sandy soil, your nutrients will be washed away quite quickly and you will need to feed. In that case, some sort of manure is probably the best thing. It is really more of a soil conditioner than a feed. If you have plants in pots - you must feed. The reason is that apart from an initial small amount of feed that is added to the compost that you buy, there is absolutely no goodness in purchased compost. I feed regularly (when I can remember) with a soluble feed such as Miraclegrow and Phostrogen. But I also mix my compost with soil from the garden, so that it has a more permanent supply. If you grow veg - you must feed. The reason being is that you are taking material away and removing goodness from the ground, especially if you are growing things in a container or grow bag. So you must put something back. As I don't grow veg, I will leave that aspect to others. A bit of feed can be a good thing for a flower border. But it is not that neccessary. If you return the composted growth back to the border, you have removed nothing.
Many thanks for the helpful replies. Our 'soil' is so sandy it almost qualifies for a beach 'blue flag', any indentations just fill with sand after rain. On the upside, we no longer need the pick-axe we once had to resort to in our previous solid clay garden - although we do still have the coffee set a potter friend made for us from that clay ... about the only thing we ever 'grew' successfully!!
If your soil is sandy, any feed you apply will wash through very quickly. What you really need is soil conditioner - ie manure and other organic material. They will improve the soil, helping to hold both moisture and nutrients.
Thanks PeterS - we're doing our best to dig in whatever we can get hold of, but with Mr. F'smum often working abroad for weeks (not to mention the metal 'skewer' holding my spine together), getting to the local stables to bag up ' ... all you can get in your car for free' has to be done when either/both of us have the stamina. But then Rome wasn't built ..... etc
You will just have to keep an elephant. It eats about 350 kg of food a day and cr*ps about 22 times a day. That would soon do the job. :D
:dh: You might have told me that before we cleared the garden - it certainly resembled a game reserve :hehe:
