 ello fellow earthlings, I can't
believe that it's almost Thanks- giving. The winter madness is also almost
upon us. It has been a really good year in many of your gardens and I hope
that this column has guided a few of you into the realm of pesticide and
chemical fertilizer free gardening practices.
 While I usually answer questions,
for the first time I have a question to ask our local municipalities: If
so many San Diego residents are becoming aware of the toxic runoff caused
by chemical use in their personal properties, why can't you start a program
that will slowly wean our parks and public spaces off of those same chemicals?
Golf courses are beginning to get a clue about the environmental consequences
of harmful pesticide use, as well as the impact those products have on employee
health and insurance costs.
This particular Goddess is tired
of beach closings and the beautiful bay that is basically a toxic waste
dump. If you need helpful, objective advice, I suggest that you call the
Garden Goddess. I will get my network of Goddii together to help you detox
our parks so that the future generations of "America's Finest City"
have something to brag about.
You readers know that I'm about positive,
fun solutions to our gardening dilemmas that are environmentally friendly.
It kind of bums me out to have to scold the people steering the boat before
nature does it herself. Sermon over, let's stroll in the rose garden for
a while...
Fall in southern California is a
pretty busy time in the organically maintained ornamental garden. A lot
of different projects, from that final lawn feeding to grabbing the last
few tomatoes, are the chores of the day. During all of this activity, it's
also time to take a look at those rose bushes that gave you all of that
enjoyment and fragrance starting around March and did not stop until this
month. It's time to reward those gems of the garden while preparing them
for an even better spring in 1998. The steps are easy and the cost is low
and some of the ingredients may even be free of cost.
The following is an abbreviated version
of the Goddess' fail proof rose elixir for fall. You won't have to do a
thing to the rose garden until early January after this little exercise.
So let's do it!
The first step in the fall treatment
of your roses is to count how many bushes you have. This will help to save
time and confusion when you go to the garden center to pick up the materials
to make the sauce.
Second step is to actually do some
math. For each rose bush you will need the following:
- 1/4 lb. Sulfate of potash magnesia (Sul-Po-Mag)
- 1/4 lb. Soft rock Phosphate
- 1/2 lb. Kelp enzyme (Kelzyme)
- 1 cubic foot of organic compost or mulch
The Sul-Po-Mag and the Soft rock
Phosphate can be found at Grangetto's farm and garden supply in Escondido,
Encinitas, Fallbrook, and Valley Center; in San Diego, or go to Walter Andersen
Nursery and ask for Dale or Ken.
Kelzyme is produced by Environmental
Health Sciences in San Diego, 619-338-9230, ask for Doug Snyder. The organic
compost or mulch can be found at any garden center, including the ones mentioned
above. Those of you who are making backyard compost can use that or call
your local waste management firm and see if they have a mulch/composting
program for the public.
Once you have obtained sufficient
raw materials for the roses, it will be time to have some real fun. Let's
do some science first....
(Note: The minerals that you are
about to apply to the rose garden perform a number of functions that take
too long to explain here. However, if you really want the full low-down,
call me and I'll be happy to fax or e-mail the detail science.)
Sulfate of potash magnesia is a naturally
occurring combination of elements that have a number of effects on your
soil and roses. The sulfur helps to lower the pH of the soil and is also
a necessary element in the process of photosynthesis. The potassium helps
to build sturdy plants with a resistance to certain fungi (powdery mildew
and rust). The magnesium is a necessary element in the process of cell division
plants cannot grow larger without an ample supply of available magnesium.
Many "rose experts" suggest
that to get magnesium you should apply Epsom salts to the soil. Please
do not do this. We have salty water, salty soil and salty air. No plant
needs that much salt. High-salt fertilizers are one of the problems facing
farmers in the central valley who have created toxic soils from the use
of high salt products. Please do not listen to these people; they'll poison
your entire yard if you let them. They're the same people that told the
farmers to kill their soils.
The soft rock phosphate will provide
phosphate to help achieve the blooms that you want over a longer period
of time than with the frequent use of chemical fertilizers, and it is a
natural product as well.
I'm most excited about the recent
availability of Kelzyme to the public. Farmers have known about this product
for a long time. It is actually used as an animal feed for supplying lots
of valuable nutrients to livestock at a low price. Plants, and especially
roses, benefit from these elements as well. Environmental Health Sciences
is a small local company worth supporting. Their product makes plants grow
and the high calcium in the product is slowly released so you only need
to reapply about once a year.
The mulch/compost adds organic material
to the soil and creates a vapor barrier so that water cannot evaporate as
it does from exposed soils. That's enough science, let's get back to the
garden...
Now that you have got all of these
products back to your garden it's time to apply them. The minerals are mixed
at the rate of:
- 1 part Sul-Po-Mag
- 1 part Soft rock Phosphate
- 2 parts Kelzyme
Apply them at the rate of 1 pound
per rose bush around the drip line of the bush, or inside about a two foot
circle around the bush.
Then you mulch each rose with the
compost/mulch at the rate of one cubic foot of compost/mulch per rose, covering
the minerals.
YOU'RE DONE.
Water the entire rose garden thoroughly
and sit back and wait for pruning time and that first bud of spring and
the hundreds of disease resistant roses that will follow in all their natural
splendor. Next time we'll be discussing the need for lots of mulch on the
ground to prevent costly erosion problems due to El Niño rains. Come
up and see me sometime.  | 
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