DATE: Sunday, November 16, 1997             TAG: 9711150096

SECTION: HOME                    PAGE: G1   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: REMINDERS

SOURCE: ROBERT STIFFLER

                                            LENGTH:  140 lines

IF YOU WANT A TREE YOU CAN PLANT AFTER CHRISTMAS, HERE ARE SOME TO CONSIDER

Thanksgiving is just ahead, but it's not too early to think about your Christmas tree. Decide now, with your children, what you're going to buy and avoid arguments when you get to the Christmas tree lot.

Plantable trees, which have roots and can be grown in the yard, are one option. They're not as popular in this area as further north, but some choices that will grow here include:

Dwarf Alberta spruce - A small one can be used as a table centerpiece and planted in a patio planter afterward.

Emerald green arborvitae - It has aromatic foliage.

Leyland cypress - This is not often used as a Christmas tree, but it is a fine tree for outdoor use, if you can visualize it as your Christmas tree indoors.

Norway spruce - This is the most popular plantable tree, says Mike Webster, manager of McDonald Garden Center in Virginia Beach. Webster no longer sells white pine, which used to be a preferred tree, because he thinks Norway spruce makes a prettier Christmas tree and is easier to grow.

Blue Spruce is always listed by nurseries but is extremely difficult to grow in this area and would get a no vote from this columnist.

Next week, I'll give some information on cut trees for indoor use. RELIEF FOR CHAPPED SKIN

Cracks down the sides of your thumbnails? Heels getting rough and scaly? Those are among the early signs of winter, especially if you've been digging in your garden. Bag Balm to the rescue.

Bag Balm is that greasy stuff farmers slap on the udders of their Holstein cows up in Vermont. It will work wonders on your hands. Put it on for three nights in a row. Wear gloves all night and your hands will be soft as a baby's. Well, at least they'll be a lot better than they were.

Bag Balm works better than any expensive hand lotion I've ever tried. Even beauty salons carry it. Virginia Beach Feed & Seed, which I'm told sells more than anyone else in the area, say people use it year-round.

It's great stuff, and inexpensive. It's available in a variety of sizes, so you can buy according to how many cows you milk - or how sore your hands are. COLONIAL LANDSCAPING

A familiar face will return to Norfolk on Thursday night when Rollin Woolley, landscape supervisor at Colonial Williamsburg, will take you on a special behind-the-scenes look at the gardens and grounds of the Governor's Palace and other restored gardens in Colonial Williamsburg.

Wooley, who once was extension agent in Newport News and later worked at McDonald Garden Center, oversees landscaping of Colonial Williamsburg's 175 acres.

The Norfolk Botanical Garden Society's meeting begins with dinner at 6 p.m. Thursday, followed by Woolley's talk at 7:30. The lecture is free to NBG members and $5 for non-members. Call 441-5838. FERTILIZE ROSES

Last fall Conard-Pyle, one of the country's largest rose growers, recommended fertilizing roses in the fall with a long-lasting fertilizer. I did that and found that it saved a lot of time in the spring, when there are one hundred other things to do. You may want to try it now, but be sure to use an organic, long-lasting fertilizer. PREPARE CONTAINER PLANTS

Barbara Yaeger at Conard-Pyle recommends that if you grow roses or any other plant in a container, now is the time to prepare them for winter. Place them where there is no direct sun or wind. Under a deck can be ideal. Some plants can be put in a garage, but they need to be in front of a window where they get some light.

If you have no choice but to leave your containers outdoors, you can wrap them with old carpet to prevent roots from freezing. GET BLOOMING

There's increasing evidence that fertilizing with superphosphate will produce more and larger blooms on many plants. Also a dose of superphosphate will sometimes force plants that never have bloomed to start blooming.

Superphosphate is available in small bags in garden centers. A new line of products includes one named ``Start and Bloom'' from Hoffman. It has an analysis of 10-52-10 and is dissolved in water. That analysis should make almost anything bloom. LIGHT UP FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Confused about how to decorate your home with lights this holiday season? Call (800) 761-6432 and Nida Lighting will send you a free home decorating guide. GET BLOOMING

Last week I noticed a row of newly planted hollies with very yellow leaves and lots of red berries. The yellow foliage is often caused by the stress of producing so many berries.

If yours are like that, you may want to fertilize them with a good fertilizer for hollies or other acid-loving plants and add some liquid iron. That should give your plants dark green leaves by spring. REPOT POT-BOUND PLANTS

Some authorities say not to repot houseplants until spring. I'm of the opinion they should be repotted whenever they need it. Often they need it after spending the summer outdoors. Roots grow beyond the capacity of the pot.

A few years back I bought a Dallas fern from Joe Carr at Gardens in a Flowerpot in Norfolk. It's the only fern I consider dependable for use in a house. After a couple of years, it began to go downhill. It had grown fast and filled out, so I decided to repot it in a container at least 2 inches larger in diameter. Today that fern is a beauty and I'm convinced all it needed was repotting.

If you have houseplants that you suspect are too large for their pots, get larger containers and repot them. Just be careful not to overwater after repotting. And make sure that your plant is not one that wants to be pot-bound. Some do, such as Hoya. MAPLE MULCH

As if you weren't confused enough about what mulch to use, with choices such as pine straw, pine bark, hardwood mulch and eucalyptus mulch, now comes a new one - Vermont maple mulch.

It's made from the fallen leaves of maple trees and is attractive. But it appears that it would blow away on a windy day. Directions say to incorporate it into the soil.

For information, write to P.O. Box 183, Peru, Vt. 05152. Voice/fax (310) 459-1187. E-mail MapleMulch aol.com FERTILIZE WITH CARE

When grass looks bad, there's the temptation to throw more fertilizer on it. Resist the temptation. A headline in Landscape Management magazine says, ``Too much nitrogen is bad for shaded turf.''

Researchers at Ohio State University are confirming that applying too much nitrogen to turfgrass growing in shade can weaken or kill it instead of making the grass more vigorous. Nitrogen is the first number on a bag of fertilizer and is often the major component in fertilizer intended for grass. ``GARDEN OF LIGHTS''

The ``Garden of Lights'' at the Norfolk Botanical Garden will brighten the holiday nights starting at 5:30 p.m. Friday and continuing daily from 5:30 to 10 p.m. through Jan. 1. The display illustrates in lights the four seasons in a garden, with everything from hummingbirds to sunflowers and scarecrows. New this season is a replica of a Navy aircraft carrier.

This display has a reputation for being the best holiday light display in the area. Cost is $7 per car except on Fridays and Saturdays, when the fee is $9. Double-axle vehicles are $15. Norfolk Botanical Garden Society members receive $1 off the regular admission. Call (757) 441-5830, Ext. 18.

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