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Your Garden Guy: Tips for creating a garden walkway

As cooler weather arrives, consider “hardscape” projects such as installing a garden path. Here are some tips:

• The path should go to something — preferably something attractive.

• Make the path at least 3 feet wide.

• Materials for the path can include pavers (my favorite), poured cement, stone, loose pebbles or mulch. Just be sure that the surface is easy to walk on and stable.

• When using loose stone or pebbles, be sure to use materials that are angular verses round. Round stones keep moving around, and this is uncomfortable to walk on — like walking on a million marbles!

• For paths with loose materials as a surface, line the path with a metal edge or stone to keep it neat and attractive.

• Landscape lighting along the path is an invitation for an evening stroll.

Here are some more tips for the landscape this week:

• Continue to remove leaves from the lawn with a rake or mulching mower. When raking, put the leaves in a compost pile.

• Use ornamental kale, mustards and cabbage in containers for added color and interest.

• Stack firewood on a wood pallet to prevent wood decay. When stacking, use a criss-cross pattern. All fire wood should be at least 20 feet from the house to discourage termites.

• Spring bulbs are on sale now for as much as 50 percent off. Bulbs can still be planted in beds, so buy a bunch.

Todd Goulding provides residential landscape design and consultations. Contact him at GouldingDesignGroup.com or 345-0719.

Twinkle’s Garden | Winter bulb storage tips

Winter is on its way and now is the time to harvest those bulbs that might not withstand colder temps in the coming months.

Not every bulb needs to be plucked from the earth, and most likely, unless you are a meticulously organized gardener, you might not remember exactly where every bulb was planted this year.

Still, to keep your bulbs from freezing so you can replant in the spring, dig them up and store them until the conditions are right to head back out in the yard.

Basically most flowering bulbs should be dug up and stored, especially if you are in zones 7-8 or above. If it’s warm enough in the more southerly climes to produce flowers all year, leaving them in the ground is OK. But if you want better blooms, storing them will help a great deal.

What bulbs should I store?

  • Canna
  • Lilies
  • Caladiums
  • Jonquils
  • Elephant Ear
  • Begonias
  • Dahlia
  • Freesia
  • Gladiolas

Twinkle's Garden

Where do I start?

Dig out your bulbs, or if you haven’t planted them, remove from dirt and let the bulbs, rhizomes or corms dry out.

Twinkle's Garden

Dust off any dirt with a dry cloth, and avoid rinsing so there is no added moisture.

Place in dry containers with holes punched in, layered with cotton cloth or newspapers.

Do not store in air-tight containers. This could cause moisture to collect and aid in fungal growth, rotting your bulbs.

Where is the best place to store them?

You can store them in a dry, unheated basement, if you are certain it is free from moisture.
Sometimes, depending on your location, the garage is a perfect place, tucked out of the way and out of direct sunlight.

If you have room, placing them in the dry storage drawer of your refrigerator is a great place to trick your bulbs into dormancy.

Don’t forget!

Label, label, label! Make sure you label your bulbs so you’ll know what they are come springtime.

Make sure you check on your bulbs several times during the winter. A calendar reminder would be the perfect way to remember.

Throw away any shriveled bulbs you find, and remove any packing material that is rotten or moldy. If there are bad spots or rotting, carefully remove with a paring knife.
If your bulbs begin to wrinkle or look shrunken, mist the packing material lightly with a little bit of water.

What happens after winter?

Make sure to get ready to plant as soon as the ground thaws to get the best results from these moody bulbs. As long as you take good care, these bulbs will multiply and you’ll be able to dig them up, store and reuse every spring.

George Weigel’s Garden Tip of the Week: Four favorite fall shrubs for your …


GEORGE WEIGEL

By

GEORGE WEIGEL

The Patriot-News

on November 08, 2012 at 10:42 AM, updated November 08, 2012 at 10:45 AM

Brought to you by



George Weigel's Garden Tip of the Week Video: Four favorite fall shrubs for your backyard

George Weigel’s Garden Tip of the Week Video: Four favorite fall shrubs for your backyard
 No need to drive hours to see great fall foliage when you can grow some magnificent fall-interest beauties right in your own yard. Garden writer George Weigel shows you four of his favorite shrubs for fall interest in this Garden Tip of the Week video. All four are native species, too. Video By: Christine Baker, The Patriot-News
Watch video

You can get wonderful fall foliage right in your own backyard: All you need are the right fall shrubs.

There’s no need to drive hours to see great fall foliage when you can grow some magnificent fall-interest beauties right at home.

Garden writer George Weigel shows you four of his favorite shrubs for fall interest in this Garden Tip of the Week video. All four are native species, too.

For more garden tips, check out the links below.

george-weigel.jpg

Look for George Weigel’s Garden Tip of the Week each Thursday. George Weigel is the garden writer for the Patriot-News and also owner of a garden-consulting business for do-it-yourselfers, garden-tour host, frequent garden speaker, Pennsylvania Certified Horticulturist and certified gardening nut.

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What we learned from the 2012 growing season

Tips for protecting garden during cold weather

“If winter comes, can spring be far behind?” I have heard Ma say that so many, many times. You could certainly understand Ma being a little sad at the coming of fall and then, winter. She had so many chores to do outside in the cold and though Ma and Pa often shared chores, she still had so much to do to care for the chickens and the old cow.

In the most severe cold days, when snow covered the stable lot and it was hard just to walk to the stable to milk, Pa would do all the milking and feeding. My dear Ma had migraine headaches, though not very often, and when Ma had a headache, I learned early to rinse her cloth, which she had spread over her face, in cold water and tip-toe in to change cloths so I kept the coldest one over her face. That is the time that Pa took over all her chores, even straining the milk and washing the milk bucket with scalding water. I learned a healthy respect for headaches at a young age.

Looking back, I realize that Ma was philosophical about the cold weather, and that it would be over eventually and spring would come again. Being her little shadow whenever possible, I gathered that fall and winter months were not to enjoy, just to get through. I still feel that way about winter.

Before the cold weather sets in, take a walk through your flower beds and you probably will notice some perennial or iris or some other plant that should have been moved and you just didn’t get around to it. You still have time if you will do it now. To move a plant at this late season, be sure to give it plenty of water as you plant and also after planting to keep the roots growing.

To get a compost pile started, rake up all the fallen leaves and run the lawn mower over them to cut them into small pieces and lay them on bare soil somewhere in your yard where you can hide a compost heap. Then you need to add some manure if possible and some soil and on top of that, start putting all your kitchen scraps on top. Now you have the beginning of a healthy compost pile.

Even if you don’t plan to have a compost pile, start saving your coffee grounds, filters and all, and when you have a can full, dig a hole in a flower bed and bury them. Next spring, when you dig into that spot, you will find black, rich soil with lots of earth worms. I always saved the grounds at work and at home and it really makes a flower bed much richer.

A reminder: don’t mulch your peonies this fall. They prosper and bloom better if allowed to freeze. You might want to very, very lightly put a thin layer of mulch on them just to discourage grass from growing up around them.

Before the ground freezes, you can grow your own garlic. Pick large healthy cloves and plant about l8 inches apart. Cover with straw and wait for spring then they will pop up through the straw. Home grown garlic is so much better.

Another reminder about your crape myrtles: you can trim off the flower heads, just the flowering part, now. However, don’t trim the branches of crape myrtles. If you desire the look of a tree, as they do in the deep South, cut to the ground some branches. It is desirable to have at least four or five of the branches. Then you can cut out the suckers that come up in spring. The advantage to such drastic trimming is that air can circulate among the branches and you have less mildew. Also, you may like the look.

As soon as we have a hard frost, trim your roses back to12 to 18 inches. Some growers prefer to cut back to 24 inches. Others prefer to cut back to 8 inches. About 18 inches worked well for me. About the middle of March, or on St. Patrick’s Day, as an old friend used to say, the roses will need pruning again to cut off some dead ends. The whole idea of trimming back in November is to keep the winter winds from whipping them back and forth, tearing up the tiny root feeders. I used to keep the thorny branches that I cut off to spread over my flower beds to discourage wandering dogs from digging in my flower beds. Then one day, my husband heard our German Shorthair, “Keeper”, yelping as he ran out of a flower bed. My husband went out to see what had scared him and saw the branches and thought I had just neglected to pick them up. He very carefully picked up all those thorny branches and threw them away. I never told him what had caused poor Keeper to yelp so. To be truthful at this late date, I still put a few of those branches in the rose bed to keep him out.

I must tell you, my readers, that I may miss a week or two. My computer is on its death bed and my new computer won’t be arriving until sometime around November 10. I still will try to get the column to you but if the computer crashes, don’t think I have quit writing the column. As the general said, “I will be back.”

Please feel free to call me at 270-522-3632 with questions or suggestions.

Tips to winterize your home

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) — On this Home and Garden Wednesday, you’ll get a season’s worth of savings and peace of mind by taking a few steps in the fall to get your home ready for cold weather.

Chuck Collins with United Pest Control is a home improvement expert. He stopped by “THV 11 News This Morning” with tips for you to winterize your home.

Gardening & More: Make your garden interesting in both the fall and the winter

SPRINGVILE — Many of us assume that, once summer is over, our gardens have to be boring. But, if you take these tips from Buffalo resident Jennifer Guercio, you can add some pizzazz to your garden, during the autumn and winter.

Guercio’s gardens have been shown in Better Homes Gardens and Garden Gate magazines and have been included in listings for the Garden Walk Buffalo and the National Garden Festival.

If you like flowers, plant perennials that bloom in autumn.

The Montauk daisy was at its peak when I visited Guercio’s garden, in mid-October. Montauk daisies generally bloom at the end of September, but they were late this year, because the weather has been so warm.

Montauk daisies have a lot going for them, other than their beautiful flowers. The leaves have a lovely, light scent. When I smelled the leaves, they reminded me of soap.

These flowers are easy to propagate. Cut off a woody stem, stick it in the ground and watch it grow.

Montauk daisies do get heavy, though, and you may have to support the plant, so it does not break.

Other great plant choices for autumn, that we have talked about before, include asters, turtlehead chelone, Joe-Pye weed, callicarpa (beauty berry), lespedeza (a pea shrub), heptacodium (seven sons tree) and ginko tree.

Dried flowers are another way to add interest to your autumn or winter garden. Guercio has many astilbes. Though the color of the flower has faded, the flower still adds texture to the garden.

Guercio also cuts the flowers and uses them in dried arrangements. These arrangements look welcoming at her front door, but you can use them anywhere in your landscape.

Other dried materials you might consider are canna lilies, which get very tall. Some people like to decorate with corn stalks, at this time of year. Guercio said that she has used canna lily stalks in the same way.

Don’t think only of flowers for your garden; think of color. “I try to do as many evergreens as possible,” Guercio said.

Move beyond pine trees and arborvitae. Ivy and rhododendron stay green, all year. We think of rhododendron as a spring plant, because it gets magnificent blossoms at that time of year, but its green leaves also look great in autumn and winter.

Ornamental grasses are another good choice, for adding color. One variety is a yellow grass called acorus gramineus ogon.

Other plants that keep leaf color into fall are huecheras. The National Garden Bureau has named 2012 the “Year of the Heuchera.” These plants come in many different colors and keep their hues into fall.

Guercio, a painter, said that she likes to arrange plants as if they were paints on a canvas. “Chartreuse is a nice, base color,” she said, pointing at her heucheras. “Pink and red and purple go well with it. It makes a ni ce arrangement.”

Some plants change color in the fall. Guercio has hostas that are now bright yellow and add impact to the landscape, perfect for the autumn.

Look for plants that add architectural interest to your garden. There will not be much color in the garden, when snow comes, so you want plants that will provide interest with their form. Look for plants that do not die back completely.

Ornamental grasses that add color to the garden in autumn will look lovely, sprinkled with snow in the winter.

Another suggestion is a trumpet vine. Guercio’s trumpet vine has large, woody stems that look as if they were braided together to form the trunk. When the leaves fall off, Guercio trims the branches, forming a large, beautiful umbrella shape.

Don’t let your garden stagnate. Take steps now, to give it autumn and winter interest.

Connie Oswald Stofko is publisher of Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com, the online gardening magazine for Western New York. Email Connie@BuffaloNiagaraGardening.com.

MassHort Events

By Carol Stocker
(on line live to answer gardening questions 1-2 p.m. Nov. 9)

Founded in 1829, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society is dedicated to encouraging the science and practice of horticulture and developing the public’s enjoyment, appreciation, and understanding of plants and the environment. Here are November classes and holiday events at their HQ at 900 Washington Street, Wellesley, Massachusetts:

Fairy Garden Workshop for Kids
Growing and Showing! A Fairy Garden Workshop for Kids
Saturday, November 10th
10 am-12 pm
There are still spaces available for this workshop where kids ages 8-12 can plant their own Fairy Garden, with help on how to exhibit that garden at the 2013 Boston Flower and Garden Show.

Thursday Night at the Hort: Forcing Hardy Bulbs
Featuring Kathi Gariepy – Massachusetts Master Gardener Association
Presentations will begin at 7pm and go until all questions are answered.The classes are priced at $12 for members and $15 for non-members unless otherwise indicated. There is no need to pre-register and you may pay at the class.
Location: The Parkman Room, Education Building, Gardens at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street, Wellesley

Upcoming “Thursday at the Hort” presentations include:

November 15: Creating a Container of Succulents.

November 6th 6-8pm – Reconstructing Thanksgiving
Whole Foods Market, Wellesley MA

Bored with the same old “traditional” Thanksgiving side dishes? Wondering if there is a way to make them both healthy and delicious? Come in and learn how to make a few simple and effortless adjustments to your Thanksgiving dinner.
Cost – $10.00 for members, $12.00 for non-members.
Reservations may be made by calling 617-933-4943

Upcoming classes

December 6th – Gifts from the Kitchen
January 8th – Eating to Begin a Healthy Lifestyle
February 5th – For the Love of Chocolate

Festival of Trees
November 23 through December 8The Overseers of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society will present its Fourth Annual
Festival of Trees at Elm Bank from Friday, November 23 through Saturday, December 8,
2012.

PREVIEW PARTY will be held on Saturday, November 17th
7-9:00 p.m.
Appetizers and wine will be served amongst the beautiful trees.
$25.00 per person.
For more information, email Joyce@masshortfestivaloftrees.org

GIFTS FROM THE GARDEN

Thursday, November 29th
local craft, artisan food and fine art vendors in a convivial community setting
next to the popular Festival of Trees event. Some of the vendors you will find are:

AUTHOR FEST

Also on Thursday, in conjunction with the vendor portion of Gifts from the Garden, Mass Hort will be highlighting a group of authors with horticulture-based books in our AurthorFest event. Selected authors will be discussing their books with an opportunity for purchase. Book lovers may choose to listen to just one author, or stay for them all. Light refreshments will be served during the proceedings. The schedule of speakers is listed below:

4:00 James L. Jones. Fall and Winter Bloom in the Solar Greenhouse – Detailed
information on operating a greenhouse that is heated by the sun alone and on choosing a satisfying array of off-season bloomers that do well under its conditions.

4:45 Ellen Sousa. The Green Garden – Guide to natural-style, earth-friendly gardening
in New England. Learn how to work with nature to create gardens brimming with health
and sheltering birds, pollinators and other declining wildlife.

5:30 Deborah A. Locke. Mr. Bull and the Amazing Grape – The beautifully illustrated
picture book is written for children ages 4 through 8 and tells the story of Ephraim Wales
Bull, a hard-working farmer who resided in Concord during the 19th century. He
was “The Father of the Concord Grape”, a hardy and delicious blue-black grape that won
a gold medal from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in 1853.

6:15 Suzie Hearl Canale. “The Beantown Tales” – A collection of children’s books
which educate readers about important issues concerning the three main elements of the earth; the environment, humanitarian kindness and endangered animal preservation. The award winning series is geared towards children from 3 to 9.

FESTIVAL OF TREES WREATH WORKSHOP

Create beautiful wreaths and swags to take home for the holiday season! The
Festival of Trees Wreath Workshop will be held on Saturday, December 1st at 10:30 a.m.
in the Putnam building at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street, Wellesley, MA.
Price: $45.00 for Mass Hort members, $55 for non-members.
Space is limited to 20 participants and pre-registration is required. Participants are
encouraged to bring clippers and/or strong scissors. All other supplies will be provided.

Please register online at http://www.masshort.org/Festival-of-Trees. You can also
register or find out more information by calling 617-933-4934 or email Joyce Bakshi at joyce@masshortfestivaloftrees.org.

Saturday November 17th
Succulent Container Workshop with Carrie Waterman
10 am-12 pm in the Putnam Classroom at Elm Bank

Make your very own succulent container. Learn from an expert how to plant an attractive container of these wonderful plants. All materials will be provided including a nice selection of succulent plants suitable for a mixed container, pots, special soil mix, plant labels and top dressing. Aftercare instructions will be included along with information about how to propagate succulents and how to exhibit your container at the 2013 Boston Flower Garden Show.

To register click here. Deadline for registration is Monday, November 12th.
Fee: Members $60 per container; Non-members $75.00 per container.

Garden-Variety Problems? Put Your Business Savvy to Work


Farmer D

Farmer D

It’s bad enough when you run into problems with a work project, but do you really need these kinds of challenges in your garden?

Let’s flip that outlook on its head. Garden challenges are great opportunities to both boost and apply your business skills. They force you to observe, gather data, use your resources, experiment, expand your patience and creativity, and persevere. What’s more, garden work lets you learn to live as part of a complex ecosystem, where distinct partnerships can be mutually beneficial. 

Are you starting to see how gardening makes business sense? Me too. In fact, I built my whole business around it. Let’s attack some common garden problems, and apply our business sense to solving them:

1. Wrong plant, wrong place. Doesn’t this sound like a human resources problem? Move that completely fish-out-of-water artist from the accounting department to the advertising group, and watch her blossom. Plants are no different. They all have favorite environments for flourishing. If you have a plant that’s not happy or productive, research its soil and sun needs and see if it may simply need an internal transfer to another “department” in your garden.

2. Getting eaten alive by the competition. Are all you sales and marketing folks nodding in recognition? You know how this feels—not good. If you have a weak product in some way, then your competitors are going to swoop in on you and knock you out. This sounds like what happens with a weak plant. The next thing you know, bugs are attacking it, it can’t fight off diseases, and it withers on the vine.

Your best defense: a strong offense. Build healthy soil that feeds plants the mix of nutrients they need to grow strong, enhance your plants regularly with compost and other soil-boosters, pick off predators and dead leaves frequently, choose companion plants that naturally deter pests and enhance growing conditions, and help keep your plants strong enough to ward off predators and diseases better.

3. Bit off more than you can chew. You know that project the boss wants done by the end of the month that has turned into a living, breathing beast that eats up every last minute of your time? Well, let’s not let your garden become a project management nightmare.

It can happen innocently enough. You put in one little garden bed, then add another bed for garlic, and how about one for onions, and while we’re at it, we might as well put in some long rows for carrots, a permanent bed for strawberries, and another for artichokes and asparagus. Oh sure, all this fresh produce is lovely, but did you forget that you travel two weeks out of the month and eat out for business half the time at home? Yes, I know you thought you’d donate the excess to the food pantry, and that’s a very noble objective, but if your beds are all overrun with weeds, you haven’t nourished your soil in months, and, frankly, you completely missed the planting dates for the latest season; well, this project is not being managed very well, is it?

Don’t feel bad—sometimes you have to exceed the limit to find out where the limit even is. But once you know, scale back, do a small bit well rather than a whole lot poorly, and ask for or hire help when you need it. There are companies that can help you with both services and supplies. Just like at the office, use your resources.

Shift your perspective to see garden problems as business challenges. You’ll use your business smarts to realize solutions for these “garden-variety” problems, and learn new skills in your garden that you can take with you to work. Who knows, you may even nab yourself a promotion from all the growing—literally and figuratively—you’re doing in the garden.

Tap in next week, and I’ll share with you some tips for getting rid of the weeds in our gardens, and in our lives.

Hungry for more? Write to eatandrun@usnews.com with your questions, concerns, and feedback.

Daron Joffe is a 30-something eco-entrepreneur who lives to make a difference in the world one homegrown organic fruit and vegetable at a time. Known as “Farmer D,” Joffe has grown food for celebrities, private communities, and elementary schools in his “town-by-town mission to re-energize the food culture.” His products are sold at select Whole Foods and Williams-Sonoma stores. Born in South Africa and based in Atlanta, Farmer D is online at www.farmerD.com.

10 tips on protecting wildlife

Ahead of tonight’s blazing bonfires and fireworks displays, here are some tips to protect the wildlife in your garden or local woodland:

• Hedgehogs are not the only garden lovers who need rehousing on Guy Fawkes night. Look out for toads, frogs and newts who will also require a little redirection. The Wildlife Trust encourages us to remember amphibians as they are valued predators in the garden world.

• Divert toads, frogs and newts away from the bonfire by creating small piles of leaves and logs as alternative shelter.

• Always try to make the bonfire on the day of lighting it. If you’ve already built yours, move it tonight to a debris-free area to allow wildlife that has moved in a chance to get out.

• Check, check and check again. Use a torch to make sure no hedgehogs, toads, frogs and newts have sneaked in just before you light the bonfire.

• Don’t burn it all! Leave some dead wood and old leaves as habitat piles for wildlife.

• Make sure the bonfire is out, or safe before leaving it – a large bonfire will produce a pile of ash that could be hot for days afterwards, potentially harming wildlife.

• Clear up once the display has finished. Don’t leave dead fireworks or litter as cans and bottles can trap small mammals or get stuck on their noses.

• If you do find any hibernating hedgehogs at the bottom and in the middle of your prepared bonfire, do pick them up (using gloves) and move them to underneath a tree or shrubs, somewhere that is sheltered and not exposed to wind, rain and frost if possible.

• Keep fireworks away from trees and hedgerows to minimise the disturbance of birds in nest boxes and animals.

• Do not pin Catherine wheels to trees and try to set them off in an open area, attach them to fence posts or stakes in the ground instead.

Tips for tucking in your garden for the cold months

Copyright ©2012 The Associated Press. Produced by NewsOK.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

OKC Beautiful’s Gardening Tip of the Month



By Carla Sharpe

|

Published: November 5, 2012



Oklahoman

  
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