I thought it would be a good idea to do a thread and maybe even a sticky thread........lol
When you are first starting off with lilies or been planting them for years people come up with some cool ideas to help make the gardening easier.
One thing that I have used is color popsicle sticks.......I used them to mark some of the mixed trumpets and mixed OT's I planted so I can find them in the spring. Since they were in mixed lots and not knowing the name this way I could tell what will be an OT and a Trumpet or whatever else..... the popsicle sticks are cheap at a dollar store and sold in the crafts department
Another tool that I would not be without is my PH Meter........I use it lots to test the soil.
Not sure what everyone uses to clip own these HUGE tough OT's at the end of the year but would love to hear your ideas. I tried regular shears and they do not cut through the huge stems...
So far it works quite well for me to use a small pruning shear for the OT lilies, but if I'd run into problem in the future with some monster stems I'd probably use my two handed anvil lopper as it gives you good power to cut through most things .
I had to use my bypass lopper as well for the stems.....
could use the pruning shears on some of them as well
also going to use straw for extra insulation on the lily beds this winter...............I put on quite a bit of mulch but think the straw will add some extra protection. I have a lot of new bulbs planted this fall.........
I think another useful tool with lily is a set of tweezers. I actually used them quite a bit to pull out the pollen on the lily flowers...
must be tons of more tips from people on here......
also if you have not read McRae's book...........Buy it..... that is the biggest lesson I learned of everything..........
I wouldn'tr be without my "Easy Digger". It allows me to weed right up to the lily stems without affecting the stem. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007LTRGU/
I bought something yesterday that really help...........it is a snake watering spout you attach to the hose.........you have several options for spraying and it lets you get the water right where you need it done....I find watering taking up major amount of time here and no water in the rain barrel these days so put the house up and attach it to plant stand that mimics water over top of the plants.........so far it is working great...
I think that I am going to get a smaller set of loppers.........to trim some of these as well. Bought some bigger loppers yesterday that are 3 times as strong as my others for cutting back stems in the fall and hope they work good...
some of the tough asciatic lily stems are huge this year.
also a good investment is frost blankets for the spring......they have saved many a lily here in the spring time already
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