Every now and again I sprout a green thumb – this season Walmart assisted by marking down their Boston ferns to $2.97 a basket. I bought half a dozen and would have gotten more but had no place to store them and was certain someone made an error in pricing. Being forthright I inquired and sure enough – they were $2.97 a piece.
I love these plants – they are terrific and really bring together an attempt at shabby chic cottage garden-setting; however, all of the plant-life is doing exceptionally well this year and the reason is unusual.
Last fall, rather than drive to the shop for kitty litter – I decided to order it online and Feline Pine seemed lie a great idea. In traveling, my son and I used Feline Pine and also cracked pine instead of clay because it seemed easier to transport and dispose of. The clay litter whether clumping or not, gets cumbersome to dispose of. We still cannot find the cracked pine used from DC to Florida that had absolutely zero smell, weighed hardly anything and worked like a charm – so I opted to just try Feline Pine last fall.
The Feline Pine really displaces any litter odor usually part and participle of a kitty litter station. Not only it masks odors but it also fluffs up and kind of self covers droppings and really hides the fact the litter is a kitty kat’s potty. Simply put – Feline Pine is better than clay and lasts longer as well.
Noting it is “pine” and oftentimes fertilizer and/or mulch is pine – I thought why not empty the litter in the flower beds around the plants and shrubberies – so throughout the fall and winter all the plants in our yard were surrounded by used Feline Pine. Surprisingly, the pine turns into a shaved cedar sort of appearance and the matter dissipates – so it really appears to be “light” mulch over time. I wasn’t certain the Feline Pine would better the perennials and shrubs but decided to go ahead and empty the boxes around all the garden areas and see what happened. The result was, and remains, uber healthy vibrant green plants this season that are doubling in their size and girth. It is amazing. Where the Feline Pine was placed we have increased greening apart from the surrounding areas – each bed of the reused pine is brilliant compared to the rest of the foliage nearby.
What a cost efficient way to minimize both cat litter requirements and fertilizing / pining flower beds. The neatest thing is that Feline Pine as a litter wipes out all odors and the boxes can be filled less, emptied rather than scooped and the bag lasts longer than a box of scoop-able litter. What a great discovery and the best thing is – the litter doesn’t feel like an environmental burden any longer – the pine eventually minces with the soil after enriching the flower beds. It is a win – win.
While the Boston ferns have not been fertilized or bedded into the planters, they hang and are watered twice daily and their color maps to the remaining landscape. We work not to touch the leaves as they brown from hand oils and this season they really compliment the yard.
At any rate – the shrubs are growing exponentially this season and rose bush has quadrupled in size and the Boston ferns just complete the package. So nice!
Ferns & Feline Pine – Summer Savings! Every now and again I sprout a green thumb - this season Walmart assisted by marking down their Boston ferns to $2.97 a basket.
