Products that Work for CG:

Bucket:

1. $3 at most stores
2. 5 gallon size
3. can be spray-painted any color
4. a nail hole in the bottom allows trees to be slowly deep-watered in times of drought
5. good to use as a mixing container for dirt
6. makes a nice storage container as well
7. one bucket is usually not enough

Top Soil:

1. $1 at home depot
2. 40 lb size
3. easy to pay more for garden soil or potting soil, but regular top soil is too easy to fix-up
4. not bad to use it even without mixing-in peat moss and fertilizer

Peat Moss:

1. $11 at most stores
2. pricey, but CG thinks that it is worth every penny
3. 40 lb size
4. a little goes a long way with this product
5. not dusty at all, unlike the cheaper brand
6. does not harden into solid chunks
7. good stuff

Mattock:

1. $20 to $30 at stores
2. range in size from 5 lbs to 20 lbs
3. heavier weight = better anger release
4. excellent for chopping roots, busting rocks or concrete
5. choose heavy-duty polymer over wood handle
   
   

Spade:

1. 96 cents at home depot
2. CG bought 3 of 'em.
3. hard plastic material, can leave them out where they're needed

*Bulb Fertilizer:

1. $4 at lowes
2. CG mixes this product into the amended topsoil when he's planting bulbs. A 5 gallon bucket is filled half-way with bagged topsoil, then peat moss and fertilizer is added and mixed. After the bulb planting area is dug, (1 inch deeper than required) a 1 inch layer of the special mix soil is applied. The bulb is placed on top of the special soil mix, then more soil from the bucket is added until it is an inch above the top of the bulb. Then, the regular dirt is used to fill the hole; any excess is used to 'mound-up' the area, so that water doesn't collect over the planted area.
   
   

*Azalea/Crepe Myrtle/Iris Fertilizer:

1. $8 at home depot
2. doesn't burn the leaves if CG gets crazy casting it!
3. azaleas are fertilized in late March and again in mid September
4. crepe myrtles and iris are fertilized in early May and late October

*General Purpose Fertilizer:

1. $6 at stores
2. has a good balance of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium
3. CG uses this product for the river birch, burning bushes, and forsythia
4. application times: early May and late October
   

*A word about fertilizers:

CG does not fertilize large areas, such as the lawn. Run-off from excess, or even properly fertilized lawns is not too friendly to the fishes downstream. A thick buffer area of drainage-loving plants (Louisiana iris!) or even weeds will significantly, or even totally reduce any potential downstream danger. When fertilizing planting beds, it's best for the plants and the fishes if the fertilizer is worked (massaged) into the soil. This way, you are replacing nutrients directly into the soil that would have otherwise been delivered by the flood waters of a stream or river. The plant has plenty of time to use the amended minerals, and there's zero run-off. Natural flooding delivers rich nutrients to the soil, but is delicately balanced, and doesn't need any of the overly phosphoric run-off from fertilized farms or lawns.