Published on Tuesday 12 June 2012 12:00

A COURSE offering free horticultural training is set to get under way next month.

Bridgend Growing Communities offers horticultural training in food growing at Bridgend Allotments.

Its Growing Greener Futures programme is aimed at people on benefits, or low wages, and is funded by Awards for All.

The course will be delivered over 12 weeks, starting from July 2, and will take place on Mondays between 10am and 1pm, or Thursdays from 1pm to 4pm.

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WINNING TIP: Open-air cinema, Parc de la Villette

In the summer, I enjoy nothing more than strolling up the Canal Saint Martin to Parc de la Villette in the north-east of the city. Here a giant inflatable screen that sways slightly in the evening breeze shows old films to anyone who cares to watch, in English and French. Bring a blanket, cheese, bread and wine for a proper Parisian picnic. villette.com/fr/agenda/Cinema-en-plein-air-2012.htm; 19th arrondissement
nighthouse

Café Maure de la Mosquée
Part of the Grande Mosquée de Paris, this cafe is in a tranquil, shaded courtyard. Waiters bring mint tea and sweet pastries and you can while away the time admiring the ripening figs overhead. Once refreshed you can take a stroll around the nearby Jardin des Plantes (jardindesplantes.net), Paris’s beautiful old botanical gardens.
mosquee-de-paris.org, 29 rue Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire; 5th arrondissement
Moominmama33

The Promenade Plantée
This disused elevated railway line has been turned into an attractive park, reached by stone steps behind the Bastille opera house, and stretching east as far as the périphérique. It is extremely relaxing, with trees, flowers, water features, benches and a big open area half-way along. There are lots of places where you can get down to street level for food and drinks.
promenade-plantee.org; 12th arr
Grandthing

Piscine Josephine Baker
It’s a hot day in Paris and you want to soak up the sun and occasionally cool off. Try Piscine Josephine Baker, on quai François Mauriac. As if having a swimming pool on a barge in the Seine isn’t cool enough, it also has a retractable roof to really make the most of summer days. The water for the pool comes from the Seine itself. It is filtered for the pool, and then goes back into the Seine afterwards. I wonder what Josephine would have made of it.
8 quai François Mauriac; 13th arr
unguarded

Parc Andre Citroen. Photograph: Alamy

Parc Andre Citroen
Opened in 1992, this post-modernist park was built on the site of a Citroen factory. There are two enormous modern greenhouses, acres of grass, a long mirror pool with dancing water jets, six themed gardens and enormous magnolias. My favourite area is the White Garden, easily accessed from Ballard metro station, with walled multilevel gardens.
gardenvisit.com/garden/parc_andre_citroen_paris; 15th arr
lisbetallen

Parc des Buttes Chaumont
This is one of the more spectacular public gardens of Paris. An early example of regeneration, it was sculpted from an abandoned quarry in the 1860s. The park is full of follies: an island, a lake, a grotto, a waterfall, two bridges. But its pièce de résistance is the Romanesque gazebo atop a rocky crag, with views to the Sacré Cœur across rooftops.
butteschaumont.free.fr; 19th arr
lizcleere

Île de la Jatte
A river island on the outer edge of Neuilly-sur-Seine, L’Ile de La Jatte offers memorable views of Paris. The island’s park, famously painted by Georges Seurat, is home to 27 beehives, whose occupants harvest pollen from the city’s flowers. The park is used appreciatively by the island’s residents, but there’s plenty of room for visitors to relax or play. The best views are from the footpath around the island, particularly at its most northerly point.
zatherb

Picnic on the Pont des Arts
Many Parisians’ favourite summer pastime is le pique-nique. My favourite spot is the Pont des Arts, a pedestrian bridge over the Seine from the Louvre, where families, friends and lovers lay blankets across the wooden slats while the sun sets behind the Eiffel Tower and boats and barges pass beneath.
1st arr
anthonycuthbertson

Paris Plage. Photograph: Alamy

Pedalos on Paris Plage
Each year bargeloads of sand transform the riverbanks into an urban beach. For a month from 20 July, Paris Plage offers the complete beach experience … almost. It’s maybe best described as a caricature of a beach, with palm trees, oversized deckchairs, ice-creams and beach volleyball. Bassin de la Villette offers free pedalos and rowing boats, from which you can enjoy the games of pétanque, giant sandcastles and free concerts beside the Seine-side.
paris.fr
tooeyotoole

Canal St Martin
Hang out with the beautiful young things along the cobbled walkways next to the water and admire the green wrought-iron swing bridges as the boats go past, or take a turn around the quartier surrounding rue de Lancry. The boulangerie Du Pain et des Idées (open Mon-Fri) on rue Yves Toudic has delicious picnic fare, and if you want an apéritif, the Verre Volé wine bar on rue de Lancry serves delicious wine and light bites, or Chez Prune café on quai de Valmy by the canal’s edge is great for people-watching.
10th arr
missmarple0512

Bike About Tours
I used to live in Paris, so felt I knew it quite well until I joined a Bike About Tours group for a most uplifting and interesting tour (adults €30). Bike About Tours was set up by two Kiwi ex-pats whose mission is to show English-speakers the real Paris. Bike About is all about the lesser-known charms of the city – quaint little side streets, the guides’ favourite bakeries, unexpected history lessons (like the mini cannon ball still stuck in the side of a church wall from Revolution days). We even had exclusive access to a beautiful “secret” courtyard garden behind one of Paris’s more well-known streets. In a couple of hours, I found out more about this amazing city than in any of my classes at the Sorbonne.
bikeabouttours.com/index.htm
clairecasa

People watching at the Pompidou
Enjoy an unrivalled view of the Pompidou Centre from the cafes and wine bars opposite. Or people-watch the many hundreds who throng the square every day from the cobbled slope at one end, itself always packed with people of all nationalities. Or buy a baguette and sit on the edge of the pool in place Igor Stravinsky and follow the progress of the zany, multi-coloured, mobile statues and fountains as they spray their water everywhere.
centrepompidou.fr; 4th arr
jenandbrian

Place des Vosges. Photograph: Alamy

Place des Vosges
Walk through historic Le Marais, the most branché neighbourhood of Paris, to the supremely elegant Place des Vosges. Victor Hugo was inspired by what he saw from the window of his home at number six, now a museum. The red bricks, natural stone and grey slate mansard roofs of the perfectly proportioned square are best appreciated from its pretty park. Picnic on baguettes by the fountains and trees, while the kids play in the sandpit. But don’t sit on the lawns if the “pelouse au repos” signs are out.
parismarais.com; 3rd/4th arr
LizCleere

Drinking wine on the banks of the Seine
Grab a bottle of something red or even sparkling and head down to the Seine. In the summer you will see lots of locals just sitting and sipping along the river banks. There is nothing more relaxing than joining them, watching the world go by. Almost anywhere on the stretch between Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower will do.
Lisamat

Cooking classes and food tasting
This wonderful cooking class begins with a visit to a market to choose fresh ingredients, and ends almost four hours later after you’ve enjoyed a delicious traditional French meal, which you cook with the help of the chef, Philippe. He was absolutely charming, very patient and incredibly skilful. He spoke fluent English and taught us a few key French words and phrases related to food, as well as several traditional recipes.
Ooh La La Foods (+33 970 447 765, paris-cooking-class.com)
AlexMcQ

Welcome to Paris: walking tour and boat cruise
This is a great way to discover Paris and its famous landmarks, such as Notre Dame, the Louvre, Sainte Chapelle and the Eiffel Tower, plus the 17 bridges across the Seine. The guides are locals who love their city and share stories and historic information in a very entertaining way, even for children – and are fluent English speakers.
paris-adventures.com
alexmcq

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Designer extraordinaire Kristan Cunningham was raised in West Virginia, and she’s coming back for a homecoming at Tamarack on June 21. She took time out of her busy schedule (she’s filming a new show for OWN Network) to give me some great ideas for outdoor spaces.

I spoke with Cunningham from her Los Angeles studio. Her DIY spirit combined with her designer eye led to a partnership with Lowe’s. She’s giving design tips using its products, but these ideas can be translated for any home.

“As we head into summer, we want our homes to feel topnotch — we want it to be done! The trend over the last few years is, ‘Let’s make the outdoors an extension of the indoors.’

“It used to be a couple of plastic chairs, but you’ve gotta up the ante now,” she said, with indoor-type furnishings designed for outdoor conditions.

Cunningham is redesigning her mom’s patio with the help of online shopping.

“The whole shebang looks like it belongs in a living room,” she said. But every DIY project doesn’t have to be extensive and overwhelming, Cunningham said.

“Lightly decorating gets a lot of impact, especially outdoors because it’s less expected.”

She suggested a one-hour do-it-yourself project she calls an “unexpected garden moment.” Placing an urn, a pedestal or a fountain can make an artistic statement while creating a visual destination or focal point.

“Think of how nice it is when you open that back door. If you put one rug down, that’s impactful — that’s a space-changer. The whole yard looks well appointed now because there’s a great rug.”

She advises that you walk out your door and see where your eye falls; that’s where you put your “statement piece.” Scale, she added, is key.

A simple cherry-red or canary-yellow lacquered arbor with uplighting can add a pop of color and is an easy project. Paint, she said, is cheap, and it gives you the biggest bang for your buck.

The Los Angeles-based designer, who admits to reading Architectural Digest at age 9, said painting a front door is an inexpensive and easy way to add a dash of color to the front of the house without much commitment on the homeowner’s part.

“The front door is your calling card, it’s the outfit you put on your house,” Cunningham said. She recommends using a product that’s paint and primer all in one, and use a brush, not a roller.

“With a roller, you get that orange-peel look. Use a brush on any millwork, and with any type of paint it looks like it’s done with old-school, oil-based paint. It just looks more expensive.

“If you don’t like it, it’s a can of paint and an afternoon. It can be changed,” she said. She suggested using the popular decorator colors such as bright orange, salmon, shrimp, turquoise, bright green.

Going with a color that’s on trend says “I’m hip!” But when it’s just the front door, it’s a good way to use the color without painting the whole house.

Painting the floor of a front porch, using tape to make “barcode stripes,” is another way to introduce color to the outdoors. You can paint the whole porch, or paint a “rug” on one section.

“I never met a stripe I didn’t like,” she said with a laugh. “I like the ‘barcode style’ with a skinny stripe, a 2-inch, an 8-inch stripe.

“With the barcode stripes, there’s less measuring, and you can introduce colors like acid green in small doses, with charcoal gray, dove gray.”

“A zippy door color, the right light fixture, a special approach to the house or apartment numbers and a pair of container gardens provide the welcome statement you want,” Cunningham said.

Cunningham is one of the most recognizable faces in design television. In 2001, she was on HGTV’s “Designer’s Challenge,” and one year later she kicked off the first of 10 seasons as part of the HGTV “Design on a Dime” family. She has previously worked for the “Rachael Ray Show” as the resident design guru. Premiering this July on OWN, Cunningham will host the competition series “Super Saver Showdown.”

In “Supersaver Showdown,” Cunningham said it’s like “couponers meets project runway meets design.” She will be the host, mentor and judge, “a la Tim Gunn,” she said with a laugh.

“People have 48 hours to throw the party for someone in need,” she said. “It’s amazing what people can do with $100 for 40 people. In a million years you won’t believe what these people do … They all are calling in favors from the church and neighbors for tables and chairs and all sorts of things, and while it doesn’t cost much, it still feels fancy-pants.

“They make hot-dog-budget food into fancy,” she said.

Cunningham will be the special guest of the Tamarack Foundation for its inaugural Ladies’ Luncheon from noon to 1 p.m. June 21 at the Tamarack Conference Center in Beckley.

She’ll talk about design tips for the home or office, and a bit about what it’s really like behind the cameras at HGTV, as well as answer questions one-on-one.

The price is $30 per person and includes a meal prepared by Tamarack’s Greenbrier-trained chefs.

Event sponsors are Lewis Automotive, Tamarack Foundation and WV Living magazine. All proceeds from the event will benefit West Virginia artisans.

For reservations, contact the Tamarack Foundation by June 14 at 304-926-3770 or spr…@tamarackwv.com. The Tamarack Foundation partners with artisan-owned small businesses in all 55 counties to produce art and products for Tamarack and other markets. A recent economic impact study showed that in one year, the artists and artisans associated with the Foundation and Tamarack contributed $18.6 million to West Virginia’s economy.

@bodsub1:East End Garden Showcase

@rag:The East End Garden Showcase of more than 30 urban gardens in the historic Charleston neighborhood district will be held through June 23 (gardens will be open from dawn to dusk).

Participating gardeners welcome visitors and ask that participants respect their property and gardening efforts. (Don’t pick the flowers!)

Pick up a free tour brochure at Zegeer Hardware, Contemporary Galleries, Bluegrass Kitchen or any garden along the way (look for the blue yard signs). Brochures can be downloaded at www.CharlestonEastEnd.com.

Admission is free. The event is presented by Masters Law Firm LC.

Reach Sara Busse at sara.bu…@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1249.

Now that all the plants are in the ground and summer is well under way with everything growing lush very quickly, here are a few notes to keep in mind:

Weeding

Weeding: it’s a necessary evil of gardening. Weeds are of course an invasive or unintentional plant that competes for nutrients and space with desirable plants. The number one key to easy weeding is to do it early and often. Just scratching the surface around a nice plant every once in a while will keep weeds that are germinating at bay. The growth of these pesky plants are hindered when starting with a clean bed, but many times enthusiasm gets the best of many gardeners to start digging and planting right away.

Besides simply pulling, digging and tugging, there are some alternative methods to dealing with weeds. First is smothering. Many weeds will succumb to a hefty layer of mulch or landscape fabric and leave just a few stragglers behind. The second choice is chemical treatments. Round Up and its many cousins work well to kill unsightly weeds, but there is still a dead weed to clean up eventually, and over time weeds can become immune to the effects of chemical agents.

Most importantly, try and remove the weed before it can sets seed for this prevents many more problems for even next year.

Tending the Garden

Now to the more fulfilling and gratifying outlook to gardening. The upside to keeping a flower garden fresh and growing is in tending to the actual plants. Most plants bought at a reputable garden center will have been watered and fed regularly and be at their strongest at transplant time.  For these plants, wait for them to get established in their new soil, usually visible by the onset of fresh green vegetative growth. At this point, it is better to fertilize with compost or store-bought fertilizer every few weeks. In the meantime, keep things evenly moist, allowing them to dry between watering, and be aware of long dry spells.

As flowers begin to fade on annuals and perennials around the yard, consider deadheading them to promote more blossoms. Many of today’s summer annuals are self-deadheading and may not need this attention, but many plants can have their flowering season greatly extended by simply a clean snip with good shears.

When choosing where to cut, there is of course the option to cut long and take the blooms into the house, but if the cutting is purely for garden performance, take a good look at the plant. Follow the stem below the fading blossom until the point where it joins the main stem. Clip it cleanly here, taking care not to damage the stem or surrounding leaves. Some plants like geraniums make this decision easy coming off with a snap. Others like marigolds are even easier, with the entire flower head popping off in hand.

If it is the first flower on the plant, perhaps a tall zinnia or salvia, follow the main stem down until there is a set of leaves coming off. Usually this is the start of fresh branches sticking out right above these leaves on either side of the stem. Always try and cut the main stem about an inch above this point so that no damage is done to the next set of flowers.

Of course some plants do not continue to bloom throughout the season and just give all their energy to one quick show. Over years of experience, gardeners learn to appreciate the special moments these plants offer and savor them that much more.

Once all of these gardening tasks are completed, be sure to grab a refreshing glass of lemonade, a comfortable chair and enjoy the landscape! The scenery is always sweeter and more beautiful when created personally.

Information for this column was contributed by Volante Farms, 292 Forest St., Needham.

Now that the threat of frost is over, it’s time to plant out all your tender bedding plants. Here’s Clive Edwards’ guide to how to do it right

Preparing the soil

Good soil will need only to be forked over lightly. Add a general purpose fertiliser such as Growmore turned in as you go, about 1-2oz (28-56g) (a handful) for each square yard (0.8sq m).

If your soil is heavy clay, remember next autumn to add in organic matter such as well-rotted compost, manure, peat or shredded bark. Smooth over and level the surface with a rake.

What to plant

Edging plants such as all these dwarf plants up to 8in (20cm) tall including ageratum, lobelia, alyssum, tagetes and verbena.

As dominant group plants up to 2ft (60cm) tall such as petunia, zinnia, begonia, bedding dahlia, salvia, geranium and antirrhinum.

And for dot plants choose tall and showy flowers or foliage to break up block planting such as standard fuchsia, kochia, abutilon and canna.

Planting out

Water the plants thoroughly before planting them out, but don’t water the bed.

Start planting from the back in a border and from the centre in an island bed. Lay a board across the ground to spread your weight and avoid compacting the soil.

Ease apart the roots of plants grown in trays. Slide the plants and root ball away from hard sided pots.

Plants in peat pots can be planted in their pots straight into the soil.

Check on the seed packet or plant label for the spacing between each plant. Use a trowel to make a planting hole no deeper than the soil mark on the plant stem.

Set the plant in the planting hole – making sure the roots are not bent back or cramped. Firm down the soil around the base of the plant with your hands.

Aftercare

As soon as planting is finished, hoe carefully to remove any prints from your feet or the planting board.

Spray the plants with water and water daily until the plants begin growing.

Hand weed and put down slug pellets to prevent damage to young plants. Water with a general fertiliser every two or three weeks, remove faded blossoms to encourage flowers.

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Walnut Creek’s Ruth Bancroft is a national authority on drought-resistant gardening. Twice a month, she and her staff share their knowledge with readers.

Among the many striking Agave plants native to Mexico, one group from the northern part of the country stands out due to the prominent white markings on the leaves, looking like they had been painted on.

The first of these to be officially described and named as a species was Agave victoriae-reginae, found near Monterrey in the state of Nuevo León. Similar plants farther west, in the state of Coahuila, were named Agave nickelsiae, or alternatively Agave ferdinandi-regis.

Agave expert Howard Scott Gentry considered these latter plants to be only variants of A. victoriae-reginae, but a group of Mexican botanists studying them has concluded that they differ sufficiently to be recognized as a separate species, restoring the name Agave nickelsiae.

Both Agave nickelsiae and Agave victoriae-reginae have ornamental white markings on their leaves, but the two differ in some respects.

Agave nickelsiae has fewer leaves in a rosette, and these are somewhat longer and with a more prominent sharp black tip. Sometimes the tip is three-pronged, very unusual for an Agave.

The leaf color of A. nickelsiae is also often a little more on the blue-green side, while A. victoriae-reginae is deep green. Both species are often single-headed, but may put out offsets.

Clumping

plants are more commonly seen in cultivation, favored by growers for their ready supply of propagating material.

Agave nickelsiae is a slow-growing plant, taking many years to reach its mature size of 20 to 30 inches across. Like other kinds of Agave, the rosette is monocarpic, meaning that it flowers only once.

When the plant reaches maturity, the center elongates into a flowering stalk that is surprisingly tall for the size of the plant — about 12 to 15 feet. This happens amazingly fast, topping 6 feet in only a couple of weeks. The stalk does not have side branches, as the familiar Agave americana does, but hundreds of flowers are packed along the upper half.

The flowers themselves are about 1½ to 1¾ inches long, tubular at the base and flaring out at the tips. They are off-white with a purplish tinge. The stamens are about 2½ inches long, extending well beyond the petal tips.

Agave nickelsiae has enough cold-tolerance to be grown outdoors in Bay Area gardens. We get more rain in winter than it would like, but with plenty of sun and good drainage, it makes a great garden plant.

If you have questions about Agaves or are interested in them, expert Greg Starr will be giving a talk at 6 p.m. June 20 at the Ruth Bancroft Garden. His book “Agaves: Living sculptures for landscapes and containers” has been published by Timber Press.

Register by calling the garden office at 925-944-9352 or find more information online at www.ruthbancroftgarden.org.

If you have a question for the Ruth Bancroft Garden, email info@ruthbancroftgarden.org.

Garden Tip

• Avoid blossom-end rot on tomatoes, peppers, squash and watermelons by maintaining uniform soil moisture. Plant veggies in well-drained soil and water deeply once or twice a week. Mulch will help the soil retain that moisture. Try not to disturb sensitive roots; avoid cultivating more than 1 inch deep within 1 foot of plants.

Home Tip

• One good thing about hot days: Most lawns stop growing when temperatures top 95 degrees. Keep your mower’s blades set on high.

– Debbie Arrington

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

It’s time once more to lift my head from the HouseWorks salt mines and turn this space over to you.

I call this twice-a-year column of reader and Internet wisdom the Followup Files.

Frozen glue

I don’t know whether this actually works, but I was trolling the Web one evening and came across a suggestion that you can keep SuperGlue flowing by storing the tube in the freezer.

Apparently, it never dries up and the cap comes off easily, and — if you keep it upright — the spout never gets clogged with dried glue.

Because I always seem to have to buy a fresh bottle on the infrequent occasions when I need SuperGlue, I’m going to give this a shot next time around.

Kitty damage

A column I wrote last winter that suggested ways a reader might eliminate claw scratches on a window pane prompted Sue to suggest: “You might try polishing compound. … It’s the type used for automobiles. Might help — won’t hurt.”

Not a bad idea at all.

Whither whetstone

After reading a nostalgic HouseWorks column about my grandfather’s garage — and the contents thereof — Bill, a retired geology professor, wrote to suggest the limestone sharpening stone I remembered from childhood actually might have been fine-grained sandstone.

“I’ll bet that it originated at the whetstone quarries near Hindustan, Ind. Limestone is soft — much too soft to sharpen steel tools — and sandstone grinding wheels were common on farms before World War II. I remember using the one at one of my grandparents’ tool sheds to sharpen hatchet blades in the 1930s.”

Likely so. The last time I saw that tool I must have been about 10 — so I think I can be forgiven the lapse in memory.

Elementary, my dear gardener

A copy of “Beginner’s Illustrated Guide to Gardening” by Katie Elzer-Peters (Cool Springs Press; $21.99; large-format paperback) kept me amused one evening last winter.

The term “elementary” doesn’t begin to describe how incredibly basic this manual is.

As is to be expected, there are chapters on tools and supplies, selecting and care of trees and shrubs, planting flowers and vegetables, and caring for a lawn and its mower.

But there also are directions for navigating the garden center (including how to read a plant tag or seed packet) and lessons on parts of a tree branch and parts of a seed. I vaguely recall such things from grade school science class.

There’s a whole page devoted to how to spread mulch. Frankly, I challenge you to find a 5-year-old who couldn’t be entrusted with such a chore.

It is very basic.

But …

But if you know someone born and bred in the concrete jungles of, say, Detroit or Chicago, it might not make a bad gift.

Walnut rubout

Some suggestions I made to a reader about repairing scratched paneling prompted Judy to drop a line from Oregon:

“Why not try walnut meat to cover real-wood scratches?” she asked. Not a bad idea, although it might be tough to match the color.

She also said, “I found on the laminate paneling, when it was icky … I just covered it again with Contact paper. That seems to be similar to what it’s covered with in the first place.”

Frankly, that probably would work, but it would take an awful lot of Contact paper to cover a wall — or an entire room.

The natural-er way

Larry, an old college buddy who lives in Aurora, Neb., sent me this suggestion for fruit growers who don’t want chemicals tainting their fresh produce:

“Take a gallon plastic container and fill it with about ¼ water and half a package of yeast. Drill a hole about an inch from the top but leave on the screw top, then hang it in the lower branches of a tree.

“Bugs check in because they are drawn to the yeast smell of rotting fruit, but they don’t check out.”

Hang the containers early in the season, he advised, before pests appear but after pollinators have done their job.

Larry also suggested that those with deer problems might be able to fend off the grazers by hanging bars of deodorant soap (Irish Spring, for example) in the branches of smaller trees. One or two per tree should do it, he said.

Epiphany moment

Now and then I get what I call an epiphany tip from readers.

Such was the case in February, when Rob wrote to suggest yet another use for a one of my favorite tools.

For light snow removal, he wrote, “use a leaf blower instead of a shovel or broom. It’s fairly quick and less laborious.”

Thanks to a record warm winter, we had pretty soggy stuff last year — and precious little of that — so I didn’t get a chance to try out Rob’s idea.

But the next time I wake to find that ice-cold powder covering the walks, I’ll give it a try.

Bleach or not

A column that suggested using bleach to kill mildew spores on outdoor wicker furniture brought a note from James in Corvallis, Ore.

James recommended peroxide as an environmentally safer alternative. His concern was that bleach might harm the water table or a septic system, and he even cited some Extension Service expertise.

Although I doubt a solution of a cup of bleach in a gallon of water would have much effect on water quality, all else being equal, I see no reason not to give it a try.

Send your questions to: HouseWorks, P.O. Box 81609, Lincoln, NE 68501, or email: houseworks@journalstar.com.

Crape myrtles can provide abundant summer color without requiring a lot of maintenance.

Once crape myrtles become established, they can withstand drought and are relatively free from disease and insects. Too much nitrogen fertilizer, however, can cause the plant to flower less and produce shoots and leaf growth.

Severe pruning of crape myrtles has become a common practice to maintain size. Pruning crape myrtles can ruin the natural shape and weaken their branches, making them more prone to damage from storms.

Crape myrtles do not require heavy pruning to promote blooms. Flowers are produced on new growth, so they will provide flowers without pruning.

Harvesting vegetables

Don’t let the summer heat keep you out of your vegetable garden.

If you work in the garden in the morning, wait until the dew is dry so you won’t spread disease as you walk through the garden.

If you need to apply insecticides, wait until late afternoon or evening, after vegetable flowers close. This will reduce damage to bees that pollinate many vegetables.

Remove plants from the garden when they finish production. This will stop the non-producing plants from using fertilizer and water. It will also help prevent the spread of diseases and insects.

Harvest vegetables early in the morning and do not let them get too large.

E-mail your questions to bleigh1@utk.edu. Include your name and where you live. For more gardening information, call the Tipton County Extension office at (901) 476- 0231 or the Shelby County Extension office at (901) 752-1207. Booker T. Leigh is the extension director for Tipton County.

Click photo to enlarge

Composting is one of those things that we all think we should do, but when we learn what’s involved, some of us give up before we even start.

It doesn’t have to be complicated or labor intensive, Contra Costa Master Gardeners Sharon Gibson and Lorraine Frey say. Setting up a routine and following it means you soon will be producing “black gold.”

In a world without human intervention, composting happens naturally, albeit slowly, Gibson says. Plants provide food, which Gibson calls “groceries” for microbial life, and the microbes return the favor by breaking down minerals for the plants’ consumption. Microbes also exude a sort of glue, she says, that contributes to good, crumbly soil — perfect for growing plants.

Processing compost in bins and piles accelerates the process, producing a rich fertilizer.

The basics for a compost pile, Frey says, are air, water, nitrogen and carbon. Give your compost air by stirring it once or twice a week. Give it enough water to keep it moist, but not soggy. Carbons are delivered through “brown” materials such as dried leaves or shredded newspapers, and nitrogen can come from lawn cuttings, garden clippings or kitchen waste.

Carbon and nitrogen should be added into the bin in equal amounts.

That’s all there is to it. When the compost has cooked, spread it on your garden and lawn and keep feeding the pile.

Here are some tips for some of the trickier aspects:

What if my compost smells? Check to see if your compost is too wet. If it is, add more carbon and turn it more frequently. Compost should be slightly wet, like a damp sponge.”

What if I have ants? Your compost bin or pile needs more air. Water it and turn it for three days, then go back to your regular schedule.

What if I have worms? Congratulations. You have a healthy compost bin.

What do I feed my compost? You don’t have to purchase any expensive compost starters or buy special ingredients for your bin. Feed it leaves, grass clippings, garden trimmings and kitchen waste (egg shells, potato skins, overripe bananas, watermelon rinds). The key is to keep it in balance, giving it equal parts carbon and nitrogen.

Do I just throw stuff in? Pretty much; however, you should chop or shred larger items to speed the decomposition.

What is brown and what is green? Although some things can be tricky (coffee grounds are brown but green in composting terms), as a general rule anything that is green counts as a nitrogen, and anything that is brown, such as dried oak leaves, is carbon. Don’t have enough brown? Substitute shredded newspapers for dry leaves. Need more green? Ask your neighbors for grass clippings.

What shouldn’t I feed it? Meat, dairy products or anything cooked in oil. Stick to raw vegetables, rather than cooked. Don’t compost weeds, roses or large woody objects. Weed seeds can survive composting and be spread through your garden; roses have diseases that also can survive the process; large pieces of wood take a long time to decompose.

Where do I get a compost bin? Check with your area garbage company or city government to see if they offer discounted bins; otherwise, buy them at gardening stores, online or make your own. Be sure to ask your garbage company about bill reductions for composters.

Next time

Learn about good bugs and bad bugs. Our Garden classes are at 10 a.m. Wednesdays at the Contra Costa Times, 2640 Shadelands Drive, Walnut Creek. Classes are free. Master Gardeners are on hand to answer questions, diagnose sick plants and identify pests. Vegetable and ornamental plants also are available for sale.

Master Gardeners will also be on hand at the Los Medanos Community Health District Garden, at Leland and Loveridge roads in Pittsburg, when Linda Mizes teaches a class on composting from 10 to 11 a.m. June 16.

— Joan Morris