How can I never mulch again?
My dream is to never mulch again. I’m trying to fill all my bare areas with native groundcovers, but I want ones that don’t disappear over the winter. So far, I have Christmas ferns. Flowers would be nice. Ideas?
Robin’s plantain is a kind of fleabane (Erigeron) with furry graygreen leaves reminiscent of lamb’s ears. Its spreads into a dense clump, leaving no space for weeds. Frilly daisy-like flowers top long stems in May. Primarily white, flowers may also shade into pink. It’s happy in sun to part shade, dry to moderately wet soils. More options you’d like include: green-and-gold (yellow spring flowers), Allegheny pachysandra (patterned leaves, unusual flowers), golden groundsel (yellow flowers), low crested iris (purple) and an old favorite, moss phlox (pink, violet or white flowers.) Rushes, poverty grass (curly), and low clumping grasses look ornamental year round, too.
The soil in our vegetable garden tested very low in N and K but high in P. We added blood meal, but the lower kale leaves and broccoli leaves faded or turned yellow. The broccoli didn’t thrive. I try to avoid non-organic fertilizers. Suggestions, please, for improving NPK, adding micronutrients to green up the vegetables, and repelling pests?
Nitrogen (N) is the nutrient required in the greatest quantity by vegetable plants. Fertilizers from organic matter release nutrients slowly in spring when soil temps are relatively low and organisms and processes work sluggishly to make these nutrients available to plants. Thus your yellow leaves. Dry or liquid fertilizer are fine. The fertilizer’s NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) ratio should be as close to 1-0-1 as possible since the soil is already high in P but low in K. This
can be difficult to achieve with organic fertilizers. Consider applying potassium sulfate or potassium chloride to correct the low K (potassium). Don’t worry about micronutrients, unless your soil test results
recommend them. All of the meals (alfalfa, fish, cottonseed, and soybean meal) are fine fertilizers. See our HGIC webpage on fertilizing vegetables.
More suggestions: MD gardeners typically have
better luck with fall broccoli (planted late July). To exclude pest insects, cover kale, broccoli and other cabbage family members with floating row cover.
University of Maryland
Extension’s Home and Garden Information Center offers free gardening and pest information at extension.umd.edu/hgic. Click “Ask Maryland’s Gardening Experts” to send questions and photos.