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May 23, 2023

Growing Things: Missing morning glories

Plus, beating back tree roots, eliminating fertilizer for more blossoms and an

Plus, beating back tree roots, eliminating fertilizer for more blossoms and an touch of inspiration

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Q I am growing morning glories for the first time this year. I started them indoors in 16 cm-wide pots with potting mix. While I did get some sprouts many did not sprout. Probably only 50 per cent made it. They were fresh seeds I bought this year. Can you tell me why this happened?

A Morning glory seeds like to be soaked overnight in water. The skin on the seeds is very hard and the soaking will soften that skin making it easier for the seed to germinate. You will also find that the germination time will decrease if you soak the seeds. Nothing fancy in this process. Just use an old container filled with water and toss in the seeds. Don't soak them longer than 24 hours.

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Q I have two raised vegetable beds that are 56 cm deep x 1.3 m wide x 3m long. The roots from my neighbour's trees came through the bottom of the bed and over the years have sucked the nutrients out of the soil. I have removed the earth and roots and want to refill the beds with soil. What can I put at the bottom of the beds to prevent the roots from coming back? Wood from pallets? Landscape fabric? Straw? Gravel? What do you suggest?

A There are two ways to attack this problem. The first method you have already started by removing the soil and cutting out the roots. The next step would be to install a weed barrier fabric. This is not your ordinary everyday landscape fabric. This is a heavy-duty woven fabric that will aid in keeping the roots at bay to a certain extent and for a certain length of time while allowing water to drain out.

The other alternative is to dig a trench on the side of the bed where the roots are invading. The trench should be at the same depth as the roots are. The next step is to install a vertical barrier of some type. Metal roofing panels are one example. Heavy-duty plastic deck boards are another. Install the panels to a depth of approximately 60 cm.

Tree roots are extremely persistent and powerful and have been known to break into concrete foundations if given the slightest opening. Both of the suggestions I’ve offered will not likely be permanent solutions and you may have to redo the whole process in a few years.

Q We just put cedar bark chips around our lilacs. Will this harm them? They are about four years old. They did not bloom well this year and we wondered if the cedar chips may be the reason. Could it be caused by trimming them last year after they had finished blooming?

A The cedar chips will not harm the lilacs. If you trimmed the lilacs after they had bloomed last year that was the perfect time to prune them. Lilacs bloom on the previous year's wood. Check to see if the plants are too close to a lawn where they may be receiving more nitrogen than they need. Fertilizing a lawn that is close to flowering shrubs or trees will often give the plants more nitrogen, which results in more leaves while inhibiting the formation of blooms. The other concern that comes to mind is a lack of sun. Lilacs need four full hours of sun each day to bloom.

I leave you with something that I found inspirational on the cover of the West Coast Seed catalog this year. The title on the cover was simple but so effective, Help Repair The World, and gardening can do this.

Learn more by emailing your questions to [email protected], reading past columns at edmontonjournal.com or my book, Just Ask Jerry. You can also follow me on Twitter @justaskjerry01.

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