One of the best organic methods of pest control is to encourage beneficial bugs in your garden. Lady beetles, Tachinid flies, lacewings, soldier bugs and other beneficial insects will help keep bad bugs like aphids, slugs and armyworms under control. You may not see your obliging friends unless you spend some time gazing into the flowers or digging in the dirt.

Lady beetles and their larvae feast on aphids, mealy bugs, soft scales and spider mites. The larvae of lady beetles are very distinct spiny creatures.
Tachinid flies or hover flies look like tiny bees or wasps. Although the adult is not predatory, feeding on pollen and nectar from flowers, its larvae are parasites to plant-chewing caterpillars.

Gardening Tips: Beneficial bugs in an organic garden

Although many children will scream and run from ground beetles, these allies that live under mulches and plantings are voracious villains for slugs, cutworms and other soft-bodied pests.

Spined soldier beetles are another predator of soft-bodied caterpillars and grubs. And lacewing larvae have an insatiable appetite for aphids, leafhopper eggs, thrips and more.

How do we encourage the good bugs to spend time in our gardens? With an easy and lovely addition: throw in some flowers among your vegetable plants.

Let me give you a little history about our farm. When we started our CSA business, I had dreams of adding flower subscriptions, along with the vegetable subscriptions. To easily harvest weekly bouquets of flowers, I planted most of the annual flowers in front of our pole shed, away from the main vegetable garden. I had visions of annual and perennial flowers flowing down the hill.

As we improved our vegetable production, I had less time to cut flowers even though I still planted dozens of zinnias, asters and celosias. Then came the year that we ran out of space in the main garden.

There was a little room on the flower hill so the beans moved in front of the pole shed. As we were planting, we noticed that this was the richest, crumbliest soil that we had. What a nice spot for carrots.

Needless to say, my vision of a hill of flowers has changed. Now we put them in among the vegetable gardens. A row is saved here and there, some for perennials and some for annuals. That way while working in the garden, we enjoy the beauty of the flowers and the vegetables enjoy the benefit of the bugs. The business world would call this a “win-win” situation. Once again, nature is way ahead of us.

Some good plant food sources for your allies are daisies, sunflowers, marigolds and yarrow. Be sure to let some of your herbs flower. Sage, thyme, lavender, fennel, mint, and dill not only treat your good bugs they also look nice in the garden or in a bouquet. Even better than that, most herb flowers are edible so you can create a masterpiece salad from your herbs.

Go ahead; bring on the beauty and the bugs by mixing up the flowers and the vegetables.

Twenty-five years ago, the Chattanooga Area Food Bank planted their flagship food garden in the downtown Gateway community on the Westside in an effort to give the residents an opportunity to grow their own food.

Since then, a heated greenhouse has been added to the raised beds to allow the residents to start their seeds early.

Tools, soil, seeds, hoses and other necessary garden supplies are all provided to the residents free of charge, courtesy of the food bank.

To increase access to fresh produce for individuals and other member agencies serving low-income families, a new teaching garden with 23 raised beds was built in 2010 on the site of the food bank’s headquarters on Curtain Pole Road. Garden coordinator Jane Mauldin said the teaching garden has already produced nearly 3,000 pounds of food for food bank clients receiving emergency food boxes.

“The whole emphasis of this program has always been self-help. We see ourselves as a facilitator for helping people grow more food,” Mauldin said.

The Chattanooga Area Food Bank provides for some of the most basic needs for 20,000 people around the Chattanooga area, according to their website. In 2011, the agency distributed 11.9 million pounds of food to those in need throughout 20 counties in Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia.

As a means to continue funding these community programs, the CAFB is once again presenting their spring garden tour for the 25th year in a row.

What: Chattanooga Area Food Bank’s 25th annual spring garden tour

When: Saturday, June 2, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sunday June 3, 1-6 p.m.

Where: Self-guided through Chattanooga, Signal Mountain, East Brainerd and East Ridge

How much: $15, free for children under 12. Tickets are available at all gardens on the tour.

For more information: Call 423-622-1800 or click here.

On June 2 and 3, six public and private gardens will welcome visitors during the self-guided tour that includes Signal Mountain, Chattanooga, East Brainerd and East Ridge. The Evelyn Davenport Navarre Teaching and Enabling Garden at the food bank is also on the tour this year.

Dona Smith calls herself a “trial-and-error gardener,” but over the past 20 years, she has created a series of beautiful and natural landscapes surrounding her stately French-style Signal Mountain home.

Smith said she is looking forward to welcoming visitors to her home, which includes a small fruit orchard, a courtyard garden, a lavender garden, several shade gardens and a sun-loving perennial garden, each carefully but subtly accented with lichen benches, hand-carved stone birdbaths and natural boulders.

“I’m also expecting to learn from [the visitors]. Maybe they can tell me some things. I hope that it looks like the plants belong where they are, that it all looks natural,” Smith said.

A second teaching garden on the tour is the Montessori School Sensory Garden. Created in 2009, the garden has become an outdoor classroom for the facility’s 245 children.

“The sensory garden is full of things to touch, taste, smell, see and hear,” according to the program brochure, which includes illustrated driving directions to each of the six locations.

Other gardens on the tour showcase unique outdoor rooms, water features, urban small space gardens, koi ponds and terraced sanctuaries, each representing “a work of art and love.”

This year, a special commemorative garden calendar featuring local gardens will be a gift to supporters who donate $20 or more to the garden program. The 18-month calendar features color photographs of local gardens featured on the tour over the past 25 years. Gardening tips and an events schedule are also featured. The calendar will be available at locations on this year’s tour.

Seeds of the Month Club retailer and “Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person” author, Michael C. Podlesny, recently released the 2nd edition of his book, adding in areas to emphasize how easy and more cost effective it is to start a vegetable garden from seed.

Burlington, NJ (PRWEB) May 14, 2012

Seeds of the Month Club retailer and Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person author, Michael C. Podlesny, recently released the 2nd edition of his book, adding in areas to emphasize how easy and more cost effective it is to start a vegetable garden from seed.

“Since I started the Seeds of the Month Club back in 2009, I have received many questions on my Facebook page as to how to increase a seed’s germination rate,” says Podlesny. “I updated my book to reflect easy steps gardeners of all skill levels can take.”

One of the basic tips Podlesny talks about in his book is putting some clear plastic wrap over top of seed starting pots, which helps create a greenhouse effect, thus speeding up the germination process.

“Growing fresh vegetables from seeds can be, at times, one of the most challenging things new gardeners will face,” Podlesny continues. “With the new tips and tricks I added to the book, a lot of the guess work many novices face, will disappear.”

Just in time for gardening season, Podlesny,’s book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the Rest of Us is available on Amazon.com in both print and for the Kindle.

Podlesny added, “I have been growing veggies for over 30 years, and it is so exciting to see a tiny seed grow into a large plant that yields fresh produce. In vegetable gardening, you truly do reap the fruits of your labor.”

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/5/prweb9499274.htm

While the Chelsea Flower Show will be the hub of horticultural excellence for just a week in May, one award-winning designer is aiming to inspire gardeners to create year-round interest

VISITORS to this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show will no doubt see spring flowers in bloom long after their natural flowering period, while late summer perennials and other flowering plants will be brought forward in artificial conditions to ensure they are flowering for the event.

But Arne Maynard, garden designer of the Laurent-Perrier Bicentenary Garden at this year’s show, says his aim is to create a usable ‘gardeners’ garden’ that works through all seasons.

It’s his second garden for Chelsea – the first won Best in Show in 2000 in collaboration with Piet Oudolf – and Maynard comments: “The garden is designed to be an inspirational yet achievable realisation of enduring elegance – something that can be grown and enjoyed in a real situation. It will bear fruit and provide flowers throughout the year, with each element having its time to shine.”

Low-level topiary and pleached copper beech trees provide structure and beautiful colour all year round, as the copper beech leaves turn a stunning golden colour over winter.

Topiary box act as ‘sentinels’ or markers in the garden, drawing the eye to particular points of interest, while a specimen pear tree creates grandeur and will bear fruit in autumn.

Rich, deep burgundy, soft pinks and pale lilacs make up the colour scheme and plants which add a romantic veil during the summer months include roses, poppies (Papaver somniferum ‘Double Black’ and P. ‘Double Lilac’ are particular gems), as well as salvias, geraniums and dianthus.

“Creating a garden with year-round interest, for most gardeners, is a gradual process,” he says.

“It takes time to gather plants that work well in the different aspects of a garden and to work out successful plant combinations.

“There are no rules governing how you create year-round effect, but there are a few things you can do to ensure your garden is constantly evolving.”

He offers the following tips to create a garden with year-round interest.

Understand your garden. Look at its aspect, soil type and consider the effect you are hoping to create. Your choice, whether it be a neat, clipped look, or a billowy, natural feel, will affect your choice of plants.

Visit a local nursery or garden centre every month for ideas. Look for colours that will suit a particular area of your garden and include flowers and foliage. Look for unusual textures and differing heights. Check the labels to see what height and breadth the plant is likely to reach in maturity as this will determine where you place it in the bed.

Look for plants that seem to thrive in neighbours’ gardens and for those that appear naturalised in hedgerows or fields. These are the building blocks for your planting scheme and are sure to do well in your soil.

Don’t be afraid of trees. Even in small gardens, a well-placed tree can set everything else off. “I think all gardens should have at least one fruit tree, which can be trained or pruned to keep the shape neat,” Maynard says. He loves using topiary in his designs and stresses that a well-chosen tree can add either a contemporary feel or bring a touch of tradition to a garden.

Try to keep your planting scheme tight. Either choose a colour scheme or a limited palette of plants, to ensure your garden feels like one whole space rather than a series of separate spaces. Repeat a few plants throughout the scheme to give the garden an elegant simplicity.

The 2012 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, The Royal Hospital, Chelsea, runs from May 22-26. For details, visit www.rhs.org.uk/chelsea. To buy tickets, call 0844 338 0338.

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by Karen Nazor Hill
view bio »

Doug Peoples is starting a community garden. He’s got the land. He’s got the equipment. He’s got the know-how. The only thing he doesn’t have is gardeners, he said.

“If anyone is interested in growing their own vegetables, I’ve got the space for them to do it,” Peoples said.

The garden space is in the Hixson area, but Peoples said he welcomes anyone from any nearby community who is interested in gardening.

Peoples got his green thumb from his late grandmother who, he said, “could stick something in the ground and it would grow.”

The more people involved in a community garden, the more productive it will be, he said.

“New gardeners can learn from the older and wiser people with green thumbs. Working together in harmony will result in a bountiful harvest of delicious healthy sources of nutrition. Gardening can also bolster our understanding of the human condition, sort of like therapy.”

For more information about the proposed community garden, call 320-3944.

FIVE TIPS

1. Acquaint yourself with other gardeners participating in the community garden. It’s important to have a harmonious atmosphere since you’ll be working alongside others.

2. Know the boundaries of your garden spot so you will know what vegetables to plant and how much you can plant. It could turn out to be disappointing if your crops invade another gardener’s space.

3. If you have individual spaces, consider fencing in your space. It keeps your crop within your space and helps keep out unwanted critters.

4. Have a viable plan to help shoulder the responsibility of the labor.

5. The website communitygarden.org suggests setting up a gardening organization, complete with bylaws. Such an organization would establish guidelines and rules and offer resources for gathering horticultural information.

By: Todd Milewski

Wouldnt it be great if all your neighbors were expert gardeners? With them around, youd never again be troubled by temperamental tomatoes, bothered by begonia-lovin bugs or confused about your compost./pp OK, so youre not surrounded by green thumbs. But a new book might help. Untangled: Straight Talk From Passionate Gardeners collects tips and stories from dozens of Johnson County Extension master gardeners. Proceeds will be plowed back into the community gardens, demonstration gardens and other good work the volunteer master gardeners do, project coordinator Sherry Humphrey says./pp As Untangleds introduction explains, the spiral-bound paperback is not a comprehensive how-to guide but rather a mixed bouquet of best practices, personal heritage and homespun folklore. /pp Heck, from page to page the master gardeners tips might even disagree. But thats the nature of gardening. What works for someone else might not work for you. /pp If youll be digging in the dirt its Mothers Day weekend, a busy time for gardeners you might welcome a little advice. Heres a sampler of sagacity from Untangled:/ppbull;nbsp; span class=”bold”Keep a garden journal./span You can enter bloom times, water needs, weather trends, photos, to-do lists, pleasing plant combinations and anything else you especially love or cant stand about your garden./ppbull;nbsp; span class=”bold”Dont buy plain topsoil./span Get the kind with compost in it. Itll save you time and money in the end./ppbull;nbsp; span class=”bold”Add organic matter to your beds every year./span Horse manure, if you can get it, makes everything grow better. /ppbull;nbsp; span class=”bold”Plant the right way/span span class=”bold”./span Dig your hole, fill it with water and let the water drain through. Then place your flower, vegetable, tree or shrub in the hole, and fill it with dirt./ppbull;nbsp; span class=”bold”Know when to water./span The best time is the morning. Afternoons, youll lose H2O to evaporation; watering after sundown might lead to fungus growth./ppbull;nbsp; span class=”bold”Know how to water./span Less frequent, thorough watering is better than frequent light sprinklings. A soaker hose or sprinkler covering an entire bed trumps hand-watering plants./ppbull;nbsp; span class=”bold”Keep your grass green./span The best defense against summer heat and drought stress is to mow high. A bluegrass and tall fescue lawn mowed at 3 inches will remain green longer into the stressful summer than a lawn mowed at 2 inches./ppbull;nbsp; span class=”bold”Fertilize your roses./span A great natural compost to sprinkle around your roses: chopped-up banana and potato peels. /ppbull;nbsp; span class=”bold”Dont forget where you planted spring-blooming bulbs./span Get some tongue depressors or craft sticks, paint the tips different colors to represent particular types or colors of bulbs, and place them in your garden before the leaves of the bulbs fade. /ppbull;nbsp; span class=”bold”Plan for flowers all season long./span Here are six easy-to-grow perennials: peonies and irises for spring blooms, tall phlox and daylilies for summer, chrysanthemums and asters for fall./ppbull;nbsp; span class=”bold”After planting annual flowers, pinch off any blooms, even those not yet open./span Its not easy, but these small plants need to put energy into root production, not flower production, to help strengthen them for the long, hot growing season ahead./ppbull;nbsp; span class=”bold”Grab tomatoes before the squirrels do./span Pick them once they begin to turn pink and let them ripen on the countertop. Its best not to refrigerate tomatoes./ppbull;nbsp; span class=”bold”Cage tomatoes the right way./span Collapsible four-sided wire cages offer more support than traditional round cages./pp Finally, some wisdom that should make a lot of us feel better: Although everyone plants tomatoes and peppers, the truth is theyre fussy and can be hard to grow, the masters say. Novices might consider underground vegetables such as potatoes, carrots and onions. Even if you end up ignoring your garden, youre likely to grow something. Just clear out the weeds and start digging./ppspan class=”factbox_head”THE BOOK/pp/spanGet a copy of Untangled for $14 at the Johnson County K-State Extension office at 11811 S. Sunset Drive, Suite 1500, Olathe. /ppTo order online or by mail ($19.50, which includes shipping), go to a href =”http://johnson.ksu.edu/” target=”_blank”johnson.ksu.edu/a. /ppOr get the book for $12 during the Extension Master Gardeners Public Garden Tour on May 18 and 19 (details on the website).

How does your garden grow?

Residents can get answers as well as fresh produce on Saturday, May 12, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the annual Rutgers Master Gardeners Day at Giamarese Farm in East Brunswick.

An advantage of connecting with the farm is learning about locally grown foods. Visitors can discover how food is grown and what season they are available by picking their own (strawberries, peas, peaches, apples, pumpkins and leafy greens) and by perusing the “fresh from the fields” produce in the Farm Market.

During the event, Rutgers Master Gardeners of Middlesex County will answer questions, and provide Rutgers fact sheets about flowers, vegetables and rain barrels.

11 a.m.: Rutgers Certified Master Gardener Shyamala Sharma will present      “Easy Growing Perennials and Annuals for Sun and Shade and Color Throughout the Season.”

Noon: Rutgers Certified Master Gardener Reno Jagasia will speak on “How to Start a Vegetable Garden.” (Ongoing videos will show gardening topics and highlight the EARTH Center.)

Giamarese Farm is located at 155 Fresh Ponds Road, East Brunswick.

Jim and Sue Giamarese enjoy contributing to the community and encourage local residents to stop by and learn about gardening from the Rutgers Master Gardeners of Middlesex County. These dedicated gardeners are community volunteers who receive extensive training in horticulture, pesticide reduction, water conservation, the appropriate use of fertilizers and Integrated Pest Management.

Jim Giamerese’s family has been farming for over seven decades. Jim and Sue Giamarese bought the farm in 1986 and expanded the retail market and pick-your-own crops. This year, they were honored as “Vegetable Growers of the Year.”

For more information and directions to Giamarese Farm, visit the website and Facebook page.

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(PRWEB) May 11, 2012

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