By Matthew Appleby
Thursday, 10 April 2014
London garden centre The Chelsea Gardener has bought Anthony de Grey Gardens, Trellises and Garden Lighting businesses.
On Wednesday, expert plant pathologist Margery Daughtrey will give two talks in Westchester on plant diseases that home gardeners and landscapers should be on the lookout for in 2014, including ones that affect white pines, boxwoods, roses and impatiens.
At 10 a.m., she will give a lecture titled “Flourishing Gardens vs. Plant Diseases and Pests” at the Scarsdale Library as part of the 2014 Home Gardening Lecture Series sponsored by the master gardeners of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester. Advance tickets cost $15, and walk-ins pay $18. For more information, visit http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/westchester/ or call 914-285-3590.
At 7:30 p.m., she will present a talk titled “Bees, Trees, and Berries: How global plant movement and change can affect our gardens” at the Chappaqua Library as part of the twice-yearly Rocky Hills Lecture Series. She is returning for an encore presentation after a very well-attended talk at the library in October.
In Chappaqua, she will be introduced by Scot Medbury, president of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Admission is free, and there will be light refreshments available before the lecture.
Daughtrey, who is based at Cornell’s Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center in Riverhead, has 35 years of experience as a plant pathologist and is known for her research on new ornamental plant diseases. She is particularly good at explaining complicated science in layman’s terms, without talking down to her audience.
One of the things she’ll be covering, especially in her Chappaqua talk, is the return of white pine blister rust in the Northeast, “after such heroic efforts have been made to control it in the past,” she says. “This disease alternates between currants and pine trees, in one of the world’s strangest life cycles. The fungus has apparently acquired the ability to attack previously resistant plants.”
Of particular interest for homeowners with extensive boxwood collections — they are so reliably deer resistant — will be her update on the new boxwood blight disease.
And she will have the latest on impatiens downy mildew and the rose rosette virus that has been devastating some large collections of roses. “I’ll describe some of the natural — or should I say unnatural? — history of that disease, and how to recognize it and deal with it.”
The Scarsdale Public Library is at 54 Olmsted Road. For more information, call 914-722-1300. The Chappaqua Library is at 195 S. Greeley Ave. For information, call 914-238-4779.
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TORRINGTON Seasons of Growth owner Jenn Plasky was the guest speaker at the Torrington-Winsted Rotary meeting Tuesday.
Plasky spoke about the areas one should focus on in getting their yard or garden ready for spring.
Plasky said the four areas to focus on are pruning, dividing, fertilizing, and mulching.
“There are four reasons to prune – to remove damaged areas, improve air flow, prevent crossing branches and create a fuller hedge,” said Plasky.
One of the most common mistakes seen in pruning is shaping the bush so it’s wider on the top and smaller on the bottom. Plasky said that the bush should be narrower on the top and taper out towards the bottom, as this shape gives more sunlight to the bottom of the bush. She cited a house on Route 202 coming from Litchfield as having “perfectly shaped bushes.”
Plasky talked about the importance of picking a bush that’s going to fit the space you want. One of the reasons you should not prune is to radically change the natural shape of the plant, for example to keep a larger bush smaller to make it fit in the space you want.
“When pruning a bush remove the branches at the base, which opens the bush and promotes good air flow,” said Plasky.
Good air flow allows the leaves to dry out more thereby preventing fungal disease from developing.
Plasky went over proper pruning methods for flowering bushes so one doesn’t inadvertently cut off the buds of the bush. “Spring is the best time to prune because you can see the buds,” Plasky said.
According to Plasky, Spring is also the best time to relocate plants. She said the best way to do this is to take as many roots as possible, use transplant fertilizer and water and mulch well.
Plasky explained the importance of mulch and it’s not just for weed control. Mulch holds in water, regulates the soil temperature, and certain kinds of mulch, like Sweet Peet, can fertilize the plant. She recommends first removing the old mulch, using a 3 to 4 inch layer and to keep the mulch a half inch away from stems of plants. For bushes and trees the mulch should extend to where the leaf canopy ends. What’s not recommended is black landscape fabric under the mulch.
“It’s not recommended because it just creates an extra layer for the rainwater to get through,” said Plasky.
The presentation concluded with landscaping questions from Rotary members.
One question involved how to kill off pesky weeds, the solution for which is tilling or using landscaping fabric to choke them out before planting. Another question comes from Rotary member Kevin Purcell – what do you when deer have eaten all the leaves off your holly bushes? Plasky suggests liquid fertilizer, which is more readily used. Waiting for regrowth and then pruning away the dead areas.
To find out more about Seasons of Growth visit www.seasonsofgrowthllc.com. The company does horticultural design and wedding flowers. The company also has a radio show in partnership with Region 6 Gardens on WAPJ 89.9 and 105.1 Fridays at 4:30 p.m. throughout April and May.
Jenny Golfin can be reached at 860-489-3121, ext. 357.
(Lander, Wyo.) – Q: When is the best time to plant a tree? A: 20 years ago!
Unless you can time travel, the second best time to plant a tree is now. Trees can be planted throughout much of the year, and spring is a perfect time to plant a tree. Before trees set leaf buds is an optimal time as the tree isn’t under stress. It also satiates the need that at least a few readers have to be puttering outside when most plants can’t yet be out.
Now that the ground has defrosted, adequate holes can be dug without too much character building. Ha! Maybe not, if you’ve got lots of rocks. The depth will depend on the size of the root ball being planted. Dig deep enough so that the soil surface of the root ball is level with new soil surface. Make sure the base of the hole is solid, so that the tree mass will be supported firmly.
If roots are tight and curled from being cooped up in a container, take a few minutes to gently loosen them. This will encourage them to grow out and away from the trunk. Trees that have spent time in hard plastic containers often have curled roots, while balled and burlap packaged trees are usually not as curled.
If you want to amend the soil, planting is the time to do so. Don’t overdo it, though. If you create too rich of a soil mix immediately around the tree, the roots won’t be encourage to grow out and create an extended network. As Griff jokingly says, “It’s just like a kid- you don’t want to make the home so nice that they never want to leave!” A good rule of thumb is to mix 2/3rds original soil with 1/3rd amendments to back fill. Use Soil Pep© if you are planting in clay soil, and compost for sandier soil.
Keep in mind that once the tree is nestled into the ground, your work really begins! You’ll need to water the tree regularly. Aim for a twice-a-week schedule that alternately wets and then dries the roots. The wet/dry cycle forces the roots to grow deeper. Not watering deeply enough entices the roots to remain shallow. You’ve watered enough if soil is moist 10-12” deep. A spade or long screwdriver is a handy tool to use to check.
Root feeders are an easy way to deliver water several inches below the soil surface, rather than waiting for water to percolate. An alternate method is burying vertical-oriented PVC pipes with holes drilled into the lower part to deliver water below the soil surface.
Tie out trees that are planted in windy areas for the first year. After that, the roots should have established themselves enough to support the tree. Then there is the task of trying to protect the tree from being browsed by deer. It’s a daunting task! A small, low profile cage to protect the truck is a good idea. It’s OK if a few branches are nibbled, but the trunk needs to be protected.
Remember that planting a tree is a commitment to a long-term relationship of care and nurturing. It’s going to be a few years before you don’t have to pamper your trees. In a Master Gardener class, the three-year tree growth cycle in Wyoming was described as; “Sleep, Creep, Leap.” My own experience was much slower: 3 years as a toothpick, then a Qtip, then Dumdum, then a TootsiePop, and then finally a small tree on it’s 7th year. My advice is to plant as large a tree as you can afford. (Yes, I said that even before starting to work at Sprouts!
If you’re after shade as soon as possible, consider one of the faster growing species: cottonwood, willow, aspen and silver maple. The trade off for fast growth is less sturdy limbs. You’ll need to routinely evaluate the tree and prune it regularly to create as strong a structure as possible. Hardier trees, and hence a bit slower growing, include: ash, linden, honey locust, oaks, evergreens and especially spruce.
Regardless of what you’re looking for, we’ve got a wide variety of trees available for you. Take a look here for catalogs of shade trees, flowering trees, and evergreens. While you’re at it, browse around our newly designed web page! Trees are a great gift for future generations. We in Lander are fortunate that others before us planted so many lovely trees- let’s pay it forward!
We at Sprouts love growing plants, and want to share our love of gardening with you. We hope that these tips help you learn, solve problems, and grow. Our intention is to address basic issues, and provide references for additional information.
You can expect a new tip from us each week on Buckrail.com! We don’t intend for the tips to be the end-all, be-all of the gardening world.
8591 Wyoming 789, Lander, WY 82520
(307) 332-3572.
Remove faded flowers and developing seed pods from spring flowering bulbs that are to be kept for bloom next year. Do not remove any of the green foliage. Wait until the foliage turns mostly yellow before you cut it back.
Bulbs that reliably rebloom here do not need to be dug up; they can be left in the ground. Bulbs that rebloom well in our area include leucojum, many narcissuses and some daffodils, Dutch iris, amaryllis, ground orchid (Bletilla), Easter lily, wood hyacinth, freesia, star flower (Ipheion), hyacinths (will rebloom but the spikes are much smaller) and calla lily.
Many other bulbs, such as tulips, crocus, anemones, scilla and muscari, will rarely repeat bloom or will produce inferior flowers next year, so they should be pulled up when finished blooming.
By Dianne Venetta for GalTime.com
Organic gardening is the method of gardening that utilizes only materials derived from living things, ie. all natural plant foods and pesticides. Once you know the basic tenets of this practice, organic vegetable gardening is simple. And the payoff is enormous: no toxic chemicals, no waste, better for the environment as a whole, and not to mention a crop full of natural, delicious vegetables. Remember these 10 steps and you’ll have a successful crop in no time!
Soil. It all begins here. Amending your soil with organic material such as composted manure or yard and kitchen scrap compost will get your dirt off to a good start. The inclusion of organic material provides a solid basis of nutrients for your plants which helps to cut down on the need for commercially made fertilizers and improves soil structure making it easier for your plant to absorb the important minerals they need. Sandy soil will not hold its moisture well. Heavy clay soil may prove too dense for healthy root development.
Fertilizer. In addition to compost, your plants will enjoy a healthy dose of other organic foodstuffs like worm poop and pee (we call this worm tea), eggshells, Epsom salts, bone meal, blood meal…the list goes on, but the key word is all-natural. Mother Nature knows what she’s doing and these sources provide essential vitamins and minerals for your plants.
Beneficial insects. When planning your garden, educate yourself on which plants repel insects, which plants invite them, and what each bug eats. For instance, ladybugs eat aphids, which is a good thing because aphids will suck the life from just about any plant! By inviting ladybugs into your garden you are employing a natural form of pest control and not toxic chemicals.
Layout. When designing your garden, it’s important to adhere to spacing guidelines for your plants. By keeping them close, their leaves will shade the ground beneath them. This not only cuts down on weed growth, but also helps the soil retain water, cutting down on water usage. Organic gardeners are excellent custodians of the environment. Too close, and you’ll invite the growth of fungus and disease.
Companion planting. Including a wide variety of plants in your garden and planting them according to their relationship with others helps in many ways. For instance, bean plants fix nitrogen into the soil, which corn plants use to produce healthy cobs. Corn provides support for the climbing vines of the bean family. Add squash to the base and you have instant weed control!
Crop rotation. This is the practice of rotating a plant’s location from season to season. Relocating your plants cuts down on soil depletion and disease infestation. In addition, plants like beans will actually put nutrients into the soil that can be used by the next crop, ie. corn. Disease will be reduced because the organisms that infect one plant pose no harm to the next, so rotating eliminates the likelihood a disease will spread.
Water. Conserving water is a key component of organic gardening. Good watering practices include the capturing and storing of rain, the use of drips hoses, and plenty of mulch. With a sprinkler system, a large amount of water can be lost to evaporation. If sprinklers must be used, it’s best to water in the early morning or early evening hours. Using mulch around your plants is another way to conserve water because it keeps the soil moist longer, requiring less water to be used.
Weeds. Weed removal is best done by hand, without the use of chemicals. While tedious, this duty can be cut down tremendously by the use of smart planting. Remember, keeping plants close helps prevent weed growth. Natural mulch is another great method. Not only does it help prevent weeds, it has the added benefit of providing nutrients into the soil as it breaks down.
Cover crops. These are the plants you grow in between seasons. They help to replenish the soil with vital nutrients and prevent soil erosion. They can also be used to feed the beneficial insects in the absence of your vegetable crop and keep weeds at bay.
Seeds. Organic gardening is all about using sustainable methods and what better way to be self-sustaining than to use your own seeds! The practice of saving seeds has been around for centuries and ensures you “know what you grow.” But to ensure purity and avoid cross-pollination, you must keep some distance between the same plants of different varieties. You don’t want to be disappointed when you plant those tomato seeds next year and discover the result is a hybrid–and not the decadent beefsteak tomato you were looking forward to. Only heirlooms can produce the original fruit, not hybrids.
Organic vegetable gardening is all about sustainable practices. It’s conservation at its best, because you are using what you have and what you can find in nature. From fall leaves to leftover food, you waste nothing in an organic garden. Plants help each other, insects play a role…why even Mother Nature helps by delivering an extra shot of nitrogen in every rain drop!
But more than being a good steward of the environment, organic gardening makes for a healthier you.
More from GalTime.com:
What the Flowers You Love Say About You
Eco-Herb Plants Make Great Gifts
Got Sprouts? Transplant With Success
What Are You Waiting For? Get Your Garden Going
By Dianne Venetta for GalTime.com
Organic gardening is the method of gardening that utilizes only materials derived from living things, ie. all natural plant foods and pesticides. Once you know the basic tenets of this practice, organic vegetable gardening is simple. And the payoff is enormous: no toxic chemicals, no waste, better for the environment as a whole, and not to mention a crop full of natural, delicious vegetables. Remember these 10 steps and you’ll have a successful crop in no time!
Soil. It all begins here. Amending your soil with organic material such as composted manure or yard and kitchen scrap compost will get your dirt off to a good start. The inclusion of organic material provides a solid basis of nutrients for your plants which helps to cut down on the need for commercially made fertilizers and improves soil structure making it easier for your plant to absorb the important minerals they need. Sandy soil will not hold its moisture well. Heavy clay soil may prove too dense for healthy root development.
Fertilizer. In addition to compost, your plants will enjoy a healthy dose of other organic foodstuffs like worm poop and pee (we call this worm tea), eggshells, Epsom salts, bone meal, blood meal…the list goes on, but the key word is all-natural. Mother Nature knows what she’s doing and these sources provide essential vitamins and minerals for your plants.
Beneficial insects. When planning your garden, educate yourself on which plants repel insects, which plants invite them, and what each bug eats. For instance, ladybugs eat aphids, which is a good thing because aphids will suck the life from just about any plant! By inviting ladybugs into your garden you are employing a natural form of pest control and not toxic chemicals.
Layout. When designing your garden, it’s important to adhere to spacing guidelines for your plants. By keeping them close, their leaves will shade the ground beneath them. This not only cuts down on weed growth, but also helps the soil retain water, cutting down on water usage. Organic gardeners are excellent custodians of the environment. Too close, and you’ll invite the growth of fungus and disease.
Companion planting. Including a wide variety of plants in your garden and planting them according to their relationship with others helps in many ways. For instance, bean plants fix nitrogen into the soil, which corn plants use to produce healthy cobs. Corn provides support for the climbing vines of the bean family. Add squash to the base and you have instant weed control!
Crop rotation. This is the practice of rotating a plant’s location from season to season. Relocating your plants cuts down on soil depletion and disease infestation. In addition, plants like beans will actually put nutrients into the soil that can be used by the next crop, ie. corn. Disease will be reduced because the organisms that infect one plant pose no harm to the next, so rotating eliminates the likelihood a disease will spread.
Water. Conserving water is a key component of organic gardening. Good watering practices include the capturing and storing of rain, the use of drips hoses, and plenty of mulch. With a sprinkler system, a large amount of water can be lost to evaporation. If sprinklers must be used, it’s best to water in the early morning or early evening hours. Using mulch around your plants is another way to conserve water because it keeps the soil moist longer, requiring less water to be used.
Weeds. Weed removal is best done by hand, without the use of chemicals. While tedious, this duty can be cut down tremendously by the use of smart planting. Remember, keeping plants close helps prevent weed growth. Natural mulch is another great method. Not only does it help prevent weeds, it has the added benefit of providing nutrients into the soil as it breaks down.
Cover crops. These are the plants you grow in between seasons. They help to replenish the soil with vital nutrients and prevent soil erosion. They can also be used to feed the beneficial insects in the absence of your vegetable crop and keep weeds at bay.
Seeds. Organic gardening is all about using sustainable methods and what better way to be self-sustaining than to use your own seeds! The practice of saving seeds has been around for centuries and ensures you “know what you grow.” But to ensure purity and avoid cross-pollination, you must keep some distance between the same plants of different varieties. You don’t want to be disappointed when you plant those tomato seeds next year and discover the result is a hybrid–and not the decadent beefsteak tomato you were looking forward to. Only heirlooms can produce the original fruit, not hybrids.
Organic vegetable gardening is all about sustainable practices. It’s conservation at its best, because you are using what you have and what you can find in nature. From fall leaves to leftover food, you waste nothing in an organic garden. Plants help each other, insects play a role…why even Mother Nature helps by delivering an extra shot of nitrogen in every rain drop!
But more than being a good steward of the environment, organic gardening makes for a healthier you.
More from GalTime.com:
What the Flowers You Love Say About You
Eco-Herb Plants Make Great Gifts
Got Sprouts? Transplant With Success
What Are You Waiting For? Get Your Garden Going
Have you ever wondered what makes some gardens absolutely outstanding? Would you like yours to be one of those too? Or are you just ready after a long winter to see colorful Alaska gardens in bloom?
In cooperation with the UAF Cooperative Extension, the Resurrection Bay Garden Club presents award-winning Alaska garden designer and author Brenda Adams on Saturday, April 19 at 2 p.m. at the Seward Community Library Museum as she reveals one of the most important secrets to stunning garden beauty. Her FREE presentation “Compelling Combinations – Creating Sizzle and Subtlety” will guide you in the use of foliage, color, texture, form, and other plant attributes to create combinations that far exceed the beauty of each individual plant.
“I’m really looking forward to visiting Seward!” the author said, adding that she has been to our neck of the woods many times before. Brenda, who teaches Garden Design at the University of Alaska Anchorage, has designed more than 150 unique gardens and was president of the Homer Garden Club for six years. She is the celebrated author of “There’s a Moose in My Garden,” which will also be available for purchase and signing at the meeting.
If interested in hiring Brenda while she is in town, you can contact her directly by calling 235-1900 or by calling brenda@gardensbybrenda.com.
Don’t forget Melissa Garden Design of Fethiye offers high quality plants, garden design and maintenance services.
Melissa Garden Design of Fethiye is almost /directly opposite Azda on the 22-metre road. Melissa takes its name from its owner, Melis, a graduate of prestigious Istanbul University’s Landscape Design department.
Melis offers a comprehensive garden design and maintenance service from pools (swimming and purely decorative) to outdoor buildings – one of which features in the front garden of her site – to garden furniture, accessories and landscaping work in general – with lots of interesting, high quality plants, shrubs and trees also on offer.
What’s more Melis speaks fluent English and, with her background in cosmopolitan Istanbul, is very sympathetic to the demands of foreign residents establishing gardens here.
So, if you want an unusual plant for a gift check out the range of clematis in stock, or invest in a standard rose. In the meantime, if you have recently built a house and not yet considered what to do with the garden, or if you are bored and want a garden makeover, go down to Melissa Garden Design and talk to Melis.
For more information click www.melissalandscape.com and take a look at their colourful website.
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MANCHESTER – If you want to learn more about designing organic vegetable gardens, then plan to attend Thursday, April 17, at 7 p.m., at the Northshire Bookstore for the next Sustainable Living series presentation; “Four Square Garden Design.”
Learn how to simplify your vegetable garden and have more fun growing food. In this photographic presentation kitchen garden designer Ellen Ecker Ogden, author of “The Complete Kitchen Garden,” will show you a new way to design your garden based on a classic four square approach. You will learn how to build up your healthy organic soil and create a beautiful garden area that turns work into play. Copies of her book will be available for sale at the store.
For more information, call 802-362-4310, or visit www.SustainableDesignOfVT.com online.