Home & Garden Tips from Northampton Nursery

Tips from the Pros
The Knowledge You Need About Fertilizers
Everyone wants their lawns and gardens to look their best, so that may explain why we get so many questions about fertilizers at this time of year. Almost everyone uses fertilizers at some point or another. They are added to the soil to help grow healthier, bigger and better plants, or to grow plants where the soil is not perfect. There are two basic kinds: organic and chemical. Organic fertilizers include manure, compost or peat moss. Organic compounds will not harm the plants or the surrounding soil, so they can be used freely and without concern. The downside is that they act more slowly than chemical fertilizers. Chemical fertilizers - also called inorganic fertilizers - contain varying mixes of nitrogen, phosphorus (phosphate) and potassium (potash). The percentage of each ingredient is marked on each mix in a series of numbers, such as 5-10-5 or 10-10-10. The first number is the nitrogen, the second the phosphorus/phosphate and the third the potassium/potash. The type of chemical fertilizer you use depends on what you need to fertilize. A 1-2-1 ration is often good for vegetable and flower gardens, which would translate into a 5-10-5 or 10-20-10 fertilizer. Most trees like a 2-1-1 ratio, which would be a fertilizer such as 10-5-5 or 20-10-10. Lawns prefer a 3-1-2 ratio fertilizer, so a fertilizer product with 30-10-20 on the label would be a good match.

Plant of the Month
Buddleia
Buddleia Butterfly Bush

If the purpose of a garden is to bring beauty into the world, why not double the pleasure if you can? When you plant the shrub known as buddleia, you not only get an array of fragrant summer blooms, you get colorful butterflies swarming all over those blooms. Buddleia - pronounced BUD-lee-ah or bud-LEE-ah - is popularly known as "the butterfly bush," and it well deserves its name. These medium- to large-sized shrubs will attract almost any kind of butterfly with their honey fragrance and giant clusters of lilac-like flowers. Buddleia comes in a variety of colors, from purple to red to pink to white, and all are equally attractive to butterflies. It is easy to grow, performs well in poor soils and likes sun and good drainage. It grows so well, in fact, that it can be unruly as it gets larger, so you'll want to space plantings by at least six feet. Most of today's buddleia have Chinese origins, and there are more than 100 species and cultivars to choose from. And the name? Buddleia was named for a 17th century British botanist named Adam Buddle when the first butterfly bush reached England in 1774.

Landscaping Trend
Fire Features Giving a Glow to More and More Homeowners
At the end of the day, there's nothing like unwinding in front of an open fire with family or friends. For many homeowners, however, this pleasure could only be enjoyed in the fall or winter months, when it was cool enough to use an indoor fireplace. No more. Outdoor fireplaces, fire pits, fire bowls and chimeneas are becoming more and more popular as "must-have" features for patios, back yards and pool areas. Once considered a luxury item, fire features are now much more affordable than they were in the past, with E.P. Henry and other manufacturers offering fire pit and fireplace kits at very reasonable prices. Homeowners who have installed outdoor fireplaces, fire bowls or fire pits report that they dramatically transform the look and feel of outdoor spaces. They provide an eye-catching place for people to gather, and they extend the entertainment day deeper into the night all summer. Even better, they can provide a source of warmth as autumn nights cool down, stretching the pleasures of outdoor living through the fall.