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Food . It might be tempting to spray the blue stuff everywhere to force plants to bloom. But the last thing this garden needs is harsh chemicals that can burn the plants and add unwanted salts to the soil. So I’m sprinkling dried kelp meal around, and spraying a foliar feed of fish emulsion and other liquid organic ingredients.
Mulch . Frankly, at this point, the purpose of the mulch is really just to make me feel better. The garden just looks a little tidier when the dirt is a uniform rich black. But there are plenty of soil conditioner mixes out there that have organic nutrients and beneficial microbes added, and I usually mix in worm castings from my bin and a few handfuls of dry organic fertilizer as well, just to give an extra boost at the root zone.
Oh, and if you’re gonna spend some cash … I have finally learned that it doesn’t do much good to go out and buy a bunch of blooming plants to try to spruce up the garden at the last minute. It would be cost-prohibitive to really buy enough plants to make a difference, and it’s a waste of money anyway. Plants that are covered with blooms in the nursery have probably been exhausted from overfeeding and won’t last as long as plants that have been allowed to develop normally and bloom later, once they reach maturity.
If I do get the urge to splurge before the end of the month, it would make much more sense to buy some high-impact decorative element for the garden, like a piece of furniture, sculpture or architectural salvage, or a big, brightly colored pot that can sit in the perennial border. The right piece in the right place can really draw attention away from plants that are past their prime and give the garden a focal point.
I don’t know what this garden will look like a few weeks from now. Maybe a few plants will take pity on me and bloom. The rest of it will look a little tidier and better cared-for, but that’s probably about it. If only my guests would show up in May or June, when the garden is at its peak. But the timing of houseguests, like the timing of the garden itself, is just one more thing I can’t control. All I can do is spray kelp meal (on the garden, not the guests) and hope.
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Lanphere Dunes Restoration
STAFF PICK / outdoors / 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Meet at Pacific Union School. Help remove non-native invasives at the Lanphere Dunes Unit of the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Tools and gloves provided, wear work clothes and bring water. Carpool to the protected site. 444-1397.
44th Annual Kinetic Grand Championship Race
STAFF PICK / events, art, outdoors, sports, for kids, free / 9 a.m.-6 p.m. A 3-day, 42-mile kinetic sculpture race over land, sand, mud and water! LeMans start at the Noon Whistle on the Arcata Plaza. Follow the race through Manila, Eureka and into Ferndale on Memorial Day for the Glorious Finish. kineticgrandchampionship.com. 889-3024.
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Organic Gardening Seminar
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