Page 10 - MNLGA Free State Winter 2025

THIS BUSINESS OF OURS (Continued)

area that are showing more made it better. We had recycled application of oil or something
and more dead wood from the asphalt millings put down while the stronger later in the season.
Chestnut Blight. Chestnut is a mixer was rebuilt and the potting However, I dislike using those on
durable wood, but after a long machine brought in. We need to be flowering plants.
time those branches are starting to aggressive in fighting weeds in that
Something I like doing this time of
fall. So, we have arranged to have area. However, a concrete pad big
year is moving up some plants to
the dead limbs taken down. Tree enough is just too expensive for us
get ahead on the winter potting.
work is expensive; and it has to be, at this point.
For example, certain Conifers like
because the insurance rates and
Aphids in our small Crape Myrtles Gold Mops, Arborvitaes, Junipers
workmen’s compensation must
were a problem again this year. and Pines can be left outside in
be eye popping. It’s just a fact of
I used horticultural oil in the late the winter. We also leave Helleri,
business.
winter, but we needed another Hoogandorn and Compacta
We hope that part of the tree work
will include cutting back some trees
to give more sun to one of our
growing areas. Our plants there
don’t get enough sun and even our
Azaleas don’t put out the roots they
should in the summer. We also ran
out of room for the large number of
three gallon Encores this year. The
result is that they won’t be ready for
sale until mid-summer next year.

We are well into our fall clean up:
weeding and moving stock closer
together for the winter. In one of the
houses, Robert had new ground
mat put down over a badly worn
area. Yesterday I said to Larry, “It
looks like we won’t say this year,
where are we going to put all this
stuff?” Once the plants are all
moved and cleaned up, we will
apply an herbicide. We have been
using FreeHand for three years now
and it seems to be working well.
Of course, there is no one-size- fits-
all in herbicides. We seem to have
two or three weeds that keep on
growing and spreading every year.
I will admit that the sanitation of
our mixing area is not the best we
could have and that last year we
Entrance to Muir Woods

10 WINTER 2025 • Free State News