Seed orders are coming in, so I thought I would post something about the method I use for sowing seed that can take several years in order  to reach a size that is sufficient to pot-on.

Years ago I utilized large seed frames with 4ft x 4ft x18” cells set into the ground. The extreme size of those cells, allowed me to get away with paying little of the attention that one has to devote to individual pots. I rarely had to water, and if need be I could leave the seed or seedlings be for several years.  However, I found all that bending over to be exceedingly tiresome.  For me the Ah-ha moment came when I  spotted some Bus-Boy trays for sale.
I haven’t come across a better container for sowing seeds into that have an extended or multi-staged germination period, as is often required with Paeonia  or Trillium seed, and I also use them for sowing tree seeds, in addition to seeds gathered from the cones of Witches Brooms. These Bus-Boy trays are well suited for sowing large batches of seed, such as the 300 – 400 seeds one gets from a single  Arisaema sikokianum fruiting head.
What follows is a method that I have used for over a decade to transform  these readily available, and durable, plastic bins into miniature seed frames.  They large enough to withstand the rapid drying out that smaller pots experience, and yet portable enough to pick up and carry over to a table, so no more bending over to inspect or weed.
Being easy to make and requiring few tools is also a big plus.  Here’s what you’ll need.

The warehouse store we frequent sells Bus-Boxes in 2-packs.

Some galvanized hardware cloth (aka wire mesh).  I prefer the 1/2” square  as apposed to the 1/4”. 
Some fine gauge galvanized wire (I like 20 gauge as it’s pliable yet strong).
Some sort of wire-cutters or tin-snips
Needle-nosed pliers.
Drill & smallish bit

I start off by drilling a bunch of drainage holes.

Then unroll the enough hardware cloth so that it extends beyond each edge of the tray by 3 mesh squares, and cut it off from the roll.

Remove each corner of the wire mesh, 3 squares x 3 squares.  When all four corners are cut, fold down each side of the wire mesh by, firmly and evenly, pressing the mesh over each side of the tray.  Then cut a 5-6” length of wire from the wire spool, and using the needle-nosed pliers, “stitch” the folded-over sides together.

The finished project should look something like this.  A tight fitting but removable lid that will allow rain and snow in, while keeping birds, cats, and all manner of rodents out!
Now you are ready to fill your mini seed frame.  Remove the lid and fill the tray with whatever mix is suitable for the plants you are going to grow.  I fill the trays to within about 1.5” below the top edge of the trays, as the mix will settle over time.  Sow the seed, cover with grit,  water, and then find an out of the way place to leave the trays outside, where they’ll get rain and snow, as well as bright (but not direct sunlight), and pretty much forget about them.  By late Spring or early Summer, if germination has occurred, I’ll remove the lids (if the expanding foliage gets close to reaching the screen).  If not, I may not check them again for another week or two.

So long as the trays are not exposed to direct sunlight, I find they last for 5 or 6 years (outside), before they become brittle and break, so I get roughly two  3-year cycles of use from each tray.

Good Luck!

Serious winter weather has been delayed at settling in here in SE Michigan, where I live. Good thing, as I had procrastinated in placing the protective shielding around all of the new Conifers added this year.   I take these extra measures to shield young plants from the sun and wind for their first winter (sometimes two), in this Zone 5a garden. The reason for doing so dates back months ago.  I removed my new treasures from their pots, and carefully teased away as much of the organic-based, potting medium from their root systems as I deemed safe.  While doing so, I untangle the root system and spread out the flare roots prior to planting into a much leaner, mineral-based soil mix that makes up my raised beds.  This opening-up of the root system does extend the period of time it takes for the recent additions to become fully established into their new homes.
What follows is a brief summary of what I do to help the (as yet), settled in plants cope with the changing seasons.  The process is pretty quick and easy to accomplish, does not require any specialized tools, and is inexpensive.
I start with the paper yard waste bags that are available at most hardware and garden centers.  I unfold a bag, open it up  (as if it’s to be filled), and cut off the bottom of the bag so that I’m left with a paper tube.  As I don’t care to look at the printed company logos all winter,  I turn the paper tube inside out.
Nearly all of the Conifers  I add to the garden are small so the full length of the paper tube isn’t needed.  I work one end of the paper tube down and inside the tube until it reaches the other end.  What results is a double-walled paper tube, that’s roughly 18” tall X 18” in diameter.  If more than 18” in height is needed,  I simply roll one edge down inside the tube until I’ve the height I need.
I  secure the paper tubes by pushing 3 bamboo stakes (usually evenly-spaced), around the plant, with the stakes in contact with the paper tube and the conifer centered within.  These paper tubes keep the winter sun and wind off my little plants, the paper holds up thru the winter weather, and very rarely have I had a tube blown off by the wind.  The open tops allow in all of the rain or snow, along with light, and do not trap too much heat on sunnier days.

The above “Bagged” conifer is planted atop a raised bed with a full Southern exposure.  The protective tube shields it from the desiccating environment.  Un-bagged, the conifer would be in full sun as well as windswept all winter long.

To better secure the bag around the Pinus virginiana ‘Wate’s Golden Broom’ (that is planted on this exposed site), I drove each stake thru the lower end of the bag.

Then I simply roll the upper end down inside and tuck the top of the stakes under the rolled, lip-edge of the tube.

The rock-work of this bed makes staging the stakes evenly around the conifer impossible.  I work the stakes in (where possible), and the effect is the same.

I roll the North side of the bags down farther than the South side. Doing so keeps the lower angled winter sun from striking the inside of the bag on its North side, preventing heat build-up inside the bag.

For conifers of unproven hardiness (in my garden), such as this Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Filip’s Golden Tears’, I will “Bag” them for an additional year or even two, until the plant has grown on to attain a larger caliper before it’s subjected to a winter without shielding it.

Yet another “Bagged” conifer.

Snug as a Bug, and waiting for Spring!

Jacques

While winter has the garden locked in its icy grip, it’s time to pursue other activities.

The property that surrounds our home (when we purchased it over 3 decades ago), has evolved from the yard that we started with into a garden. As the garden developed and matured over the ensuing years, it has become a home and refuge to countless others. Like many gardeners, we relish this opportunity to share our haven with most of the co-resident wildlife here. As the diversity of the plant life expanded within the variety of micro-habitats we created, so too did the variety and numbers of our fellow creatures.

No other group brings such animated life to our garden as do the birds. Getting them thru a Michigan winter requires assistance beyond creating this sheltered space. As a life-long feeder of wild birds, I’ve learned that the greatest variety of foods offered yields the greatest variety of birds. When the weather turns bitterly cold (as it is now), the preferred food choice for many of the birds is shelled peanuts.

For a couple of years now, I’ve been trying various styles of homemade feeders that I intended to be used solely by birds, however, resident squirrels have other ideas on the matter. It’s not that I mind the 3 or 4 different species of squirrels here, getting the sustenance they need in order to survive. I place peanuts on the platform feeders and onto the ground for their indulgence. But it’s been a battle of wills keeping certain furry individuals in their proper place.

What follows is an abbreviated instruction for assembling the latest (and for the past 2 weeks now) squirrel-baffling peanut feeder that I’m using. And it was crazy-inexpensive to make as well.

Supplies

• An empty plastic peanut butter jar w/lid
• A piece of 2” plastic pipe, (on my first try, using 1 1/2” pipe the saddle sat too low on the floor of the jar).
• Fine galvanized wire
• Fender washer 

• Tools
• Dremel tool w/ cutting and grinding heads
• Coarse file
• Hand-held propane torch
• Pliers
• Scrap piece of 1” copper pipe

A peanut butter jar and a scrap piece of 2” pipe.  From the length of the 2” pipe I cut off roughly a 5″ piece, however before I remove the piece I need, I first make 2 parallel cuts about .75” apart, running the length of the piece of pipe I’ll need (roughly 5”). Then make the perpendicular cut across the pipe to remove the 5″ piece. What you should have is a length of pipe with a 3/4”- 1” slot; remove the length of the pipe (the blank).

This blank, with repeated trial fittings and recutting, grinding, filing, will become the saddle that will sit, centered in the bottom of the plastic jar. Its purpose is to deflect the peanuts towards the feeding openings in the jar. Now the fun starts!

With the blank resting on the cut-out slot along the bottom, I’ll set the empty plastic jar in front of and centered with the side of the blank, so that when I bend down and am eye-level with the blank, I can look at the base of the jar, and see where on the blank I’ll need to mark the lines that will indicate the tapered inside walls of the jar. Then I set the jar, on top of and centered, on the blank so I can eye-ball and mark the top sides of the blank indicating where it will meet the inside of the jar. Next, I cut the blank along the lines and file it, then try a dry-fit of the blank inside the bottom of the jar. It never has fit the first time, so I eye-ball where further filing needs to be done. This process takes several tries until the fit is correct. I remove the ill-fitting blank, refile, try another fit, see what needs to be filed, remove and repeat until it fits. The finished saddle should sit centered in the bottom of the jar (without distorting the thin plastic walls of the jar).  

Next, remove the blank from the jar and set it on the work surface. Looking straight down on it, make an arching half-circle line on each side of the blank, so the top of each arch is in the midpoint (length-wise) and roughly 3/4” apart (see finished saddle). When the arching lines reach the mid-line of the blank, I continue the line straight down to the bottom of the blank.  Cut out the insides of the lines and file the blank smooth.

This is how the finished saddle should look. I laid it upside-down so that you can get a better look at the underside, I failed to take a profile image to show how the ends are tapered from top to bottom (my bad).

Above, this is how the finished saddle looks after its placed inside the jar.

With the finished saddle in place, I light the propane torch and heat up a scrap piece of 1” copper pipe (I used a 1” copper union), held with pliers. The heated copper union is then lined up with the center of the end of the saddle. My aim is to have to bottom of the opening that I am about to make be at least 1/2” above the floor of the jar. Once I’ve got the proper alignment, I push the hot copper pipe thru the plastic while thrusting the copper slightly back and forth, to make the feeding holes on each side of the feeder.

Here’s what it looks like when filled with peanuts.  Note the feeding hole is approx. 1/2” off the floor of the jar; this keeps enough peanuts in place (at the lip of the hole), and prevents the peanuts behind from tumbling out the holes.  Also, note the smaller hole beneath the feeding hole.  It’s made by heating up a piece of heavy wire and poking it thru on each side.  I’ll run a cut piece of wire thru both of these tiny holes, and thru the jar, extending out roughly 1.5” on each end.  This wire acts as a training perch until the birds figure out what’s what. Once they figure out how to reach their prize, I remove the wire so that larger birds can’t use it.  All of the smaller birds simply grasp the bottom lip edge of the feeding hole, grab a peanut, and go!

I drilled out a center hole thru the lid, run a length of fine galvanized wire thru the hole, and thru some washers, tie it to a nut and I’m done.  Oh, I also file down a raised line of plastic that borders the top side of the lid, to prevent it from being used as a possible toehold by determined squirrels.

Here’s a finished feeder, hung less than 12” outside my bedroom window where the previously, squirrel-vandalized, peanut feeder was hung.  The perching wire’s been removed as the birds have been using this feeder for two weeks now. Not a single squirrel has breached this feeder and not without repeated attempts!

Watching the parade of Chickadees, Titmice, Nut-hatches, smaller woodpeckers, and the like visit this feeder has added endless hours of enjoyment, especially during this Covid winter!

I hope you are enjoying your co-residents as well.

Jacques