That's odd, I'm doing almost the same thing, except mixing these into my existing garden. Native milkweed, butterfly weed, and so on. I started last year and the number of butterflies, including monarchs, went up (well, monarchs went from 1 to 2, but at least it's an improvement). This time, though,...

It's good that you split front and back because this soil has a split personality that didn't show on the older soil test. The back's showing a high calcium level that's throwing the numbers a bit more out of whack than they really are. The magnesium and potassium "shortages" don't really exist, as ...

I'd say if you're noting reduced efficacy, it's time to buy new. My Tenacity from the year it was released is still working fine, so I don't think it's got a limit (unheated, uncooled garage), and the mix lasts well over a year at the floor value, but everybody's mileage will vary.

I'm not ignoring you, I'm just busy. :-) Really, any calcitic. Fast is going to be a flash in the pan. So $15 a bag fast lime will work quickly, but wash out faster, too. Slow will hang around a little longer (the $7 a bag stuff). Maybe a mix of both? If so, triple the amounts for slow as it's going...

Thanks for adding it to the queue, I failed to notice this. (glares at soil) This Disappoints Me. But it's the way sandy soils go. They require frequent taps. So... Recommendations: April: Apply 2 pounds per thousand calcitic lime. Memorial Day: Feed with balanced (20-20-20 or the like) fertilizer a...

Why not try 3) first and and then go with 1) if that doesn't work?

Now it shows up. This happens sometimes when I have 35 windows open... You're actually in exceptionally good shape at this point; your soil is going to be one where the soil balances at a lower pH (mine does this as well, with the balance point around 6.0 to 6.1--yours looks like 6.2 or so). The cal...

Sadly, there is nothing attached to this post or I'd be more than happy to read it for you.

Blood meal is another source of protein (yes, hemoglobin, the primary source of nitrogen here, is a protein*), it's just a much faster to decay protein that most; the bell curve on this one is tilted sharply toward the front, but it's a common source of misinformation that it's immediately available...

Carbon copy 2023. You're actually in excellent shape for 2024, although I think the one small recommendation I might make is to use a balanced fertilizer in May and September. Your potassium levels are maybe just a wee bit low for a very high pH, and phosphorus isn't particularly available at that p...

The footprint's remained approximately the same on one, grown slightly on the other. I just moved the one that stayed the same because it was staying the same due to heavy competition from a Thuja. I'm hoping it does a lot better this year.

PreM is strongly binding, so it should be OK as long as the first quarter inch or so isn't a torrent. If you suspect it even might be, hold off. About the only thing to worry about is runoff initially or erosion of soil.

If it's a sales point, I have two Knockouts; red and yellow. They're coming up on 20, or about the maximum age, but I still don't see signs of senescence. I don't do much to them except cane out the dead stuff and occasionally cut them back in spring. And feed, of course. You gotta feed a rose in sp...

Old farmers and people in general say a lot of things. Staking a tree for overlong will make it not invest a lot of energy in root mass (why bother if the stake is there?) but you can always recover that by slowly releasing the stake over the course of several years. It's also not an extreme issue i...

I had 1.2 bags of calcitic lime and that covered 60% of the lawn before our rainstorm (my soil pH came back at 5.7, mostly calcium short, with my soil balancing around 6.2). So I picked up six more bags tonight (2 bags fast, 4 bags very slow calcitic to maintain it over the next two years).

It does depend on where you ask the question. As you asked it here--yes, most of us will answer that your own care will surpass any company. Because ours does; we get our soil tests, inspect our lawns, spray our weeds, and so on. I'm down to fiddling in parts per billion on manganese and selenium. I...

I am sorry to hear that! It's a good idea. Roses can be a bit touchy; the most simple ones are the Knockout variety (which do not climb and are of the bush variety). They're practically indestructible. I don't know much about climbing roses myself, so did a bit of spot research. Most agree that "Lad...

Just when planting, and really, a gentle feeding even at that point isn't a mistake. Overfeeding at any time when young is a problem as you'll end up with weak wood.

OM of 6% is in the Excellent range. I'd try to keep it there, but that doesn't mean synthetics are off the table. I'd strongly suggest organics, but that doesn't mean you have to do that.

It does look better! I'm still tempted to tell you to pull off that last little lower branch that just doesn't look right....