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Smart gardening tips from the experts, so you can ‘Landscape Your Life’

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As summer winds down and Autumn looms ahead, gardeners and landscape lovers want smart gardening tips for how to make the most of their home environments. And Michigan State University wants to give those tips to them–for free.

MSU says that smart gardening starts with the use of native plants in the landscape, and the August 27 report from the Lansing State Journal also states that native plant use has two obvious benefits: it’s wallet and earth-friendly.

Licensed Landscape Architect and author Mary Palmer Dargan says in Lifelong Landscape Design that creating environments that connect with nature in an earth-friendly way is essential when making plans for the home landscape. That’s why she uses native plants throughout her landscape designs for homeowner clients in the South.

Smart gardening tips include more than just choosing native plants, of course, which is why MSU has created a website titled migarden.msu.edu, so consumers looking for more information can find it for free.

Another smart gardening tip on the site involves mulching leaves and grass clippings to put on your lawn rather than buying and using fertilizer to provide the nutrients needed to help it grow and stay healthy. But smart watering practices is important too, which Dargan says should include the use of a rain barrel, to catch natural waterfall rather than using water from your faucet to hydrate plants.

But not everyone is comfortable creating their own landscape design or willing to do the research required to know which plants are native to their area–and which ones will benefit most from their property’s sunlight or rainfall levels. So those individuals will not care that MSU has created their helpful smart gardening website, as these folks will prefer hiring the Mary Palmer Dargans of the world, who can guide them through this process more easily and seamlessly.

Fortunately, those individuals can have a botany expert and a licensed home landscape designer all in one with Dargan, who has co-authored two books on the topic of gardening and landscape design with her husband Hugh, also a licensed landscape design architect. And the landscape expert couple offers their own free online advice and tools at Landscape Your Life.com, too, because “healing the earth one garden at a time,” is their mission in life.

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September Gardening Tips

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September marks the transition from summer to fall in the garden. The long hot days of summer give way to cooler temperatures and the opportunity to prepare your landscape for Fall. Here are some important tips for residents of the Cedar Creek Lake area..

Fertilizing and preparing your lawn for Fall is critical. Grasses undergo heat stress during the hot summers and need extra care and attention. Use a slow-release fertilizer with a 16-4-12 formulation that is recommended for the turf and soil types in our area. Contact your local nursery to purchase the correct fertilizer for fall. For best results, remember to water deeply after applying.

If you want a weed-free lawn during Winter and Spring use a pre-emergent in September. Pre-emergents work by stopping weed seeds from germinating, so applying at the right time is important. If you are interested in organically treating your lawn, Corn Gluten can be used as an effective organic pre-emergent.

If your St. Augustine grass has dead patches due to lack of watering, chinch bugs or fungus, now is the time to replace with new sod. If you have Bermuda grass, it’s best to lay down new seed before mid-September.

Fall is the best time of year to plant, especially larger trees and shrubs. Planting now allows the root systems to get established during the winter months. When Spring arrives the plant is acclimatized to its new environment and is ready to put out strong leaves, new top growth and lots of flowers. Trees and shrubs planted during the fall have a higher chance of surviving our hot summers.

At the Lake, mid to late September is the best time to start planting fall color. As cooler type plants become available, look to plant snapdragons, kale, cabbage, chrysanthemums, hardy asters, dianthus, pansies, violas and dusty miller into your yard. Chrysanthemums are perennials and can add wonderful color to the garden, patio or porch blooming up to three times in a year.

Remember, vegetables are not just for spring and summer. Beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, mustard, collards, brussel sprouts, winter squash, peas, Swiss chard, lettuce, turnips, onions, and carrots are all crops that do well this time of year. Vegetables can be planted from seed or transplanted.


Happy Gardening.

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Forcing bulbs for the festive season

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Hyacinths

It’s hard to think about Christmas now, but if you want some indoor bulbs to bloom for the festive season, you should take action now

Barely have you started to plant your spring-flowering bulbs, and it’s already time to think about the winter and how to replicate these blooms indoors, without spending a fortune.

The answer is to ‘force’ bulbs into flower, that is give them assistance to bloom far earlier indoors than they would normally outside.

Garden centres should now be stocking up on bulbs which are sold specifically for forcing, which may include fragrant hyacinths, large-flowered crocus, hippeastrums, miniature daffodils and a few tulips, which should be marked ‘prepared’ in the shop.

By growing bulbs indoors, in a warmer atmosphere than they are accustomed to in the garden, for all or part of their growing season, they’ll grow more quickly and flower earlier than they would otherwise. However, if you bring them on too quickly, they may fail.

You can use any type of pot because indoor bulbs can manage without drainage as they are being grown for such a short time, provided the container holds enough compost to accommodate the bulbs. It’s worth spreading a layer of gravel at the bottom of the pot to help drainage.

For best results go for bulb fibre when growing bulbs in containers with no drainage, as it has plenty of air space and often contains added charcoal which keeps the compost fresh, even if it becomes too moist. Alternatively, you can use multi-purpose compost.

Prepared hyacinths are the most popular bulbs for forcing and generally go on sale at the beginning of September, after being given a couple of weeks of cold treatment to make them think they’ve gone through winter.

Whatever you do, don’t leave ‘prepared’ bulbs for a few weeks in a warm environment before planting, or they will lose the cold effect they were given initially. Instead, store them in a cool, dark place and plant them by the middle of September if you want them to flower by Christmas.

For the best effect, plant bulbs of the same colour together. They should be planted close together on top of a depth of at least 6cm of compost, so they are not quite touching one another. Then fill the bowl to just below the rim with compost, so their growing tips are just sticking out above the surface. Don’t firm the bulb fibre down or it may hinder the root system establishing quickly. Make sure you don’t overwater them, just water the compost lightly.

Place the container in a cool, dark place such as the shed or a closed cupboard in a cold room for 10-14 weeks, to encourage the flowering stems to develop before the leaves. It also enables the root system to become well-established. If the bulb fibre becomes dry at any time, water carefully between the bulbs.

Don’t hurry them because insufficient time in the dark will result in stunted flowers or failure. When the leaf shoots are around 1-2in (4-5cm) high, move the container into a cool, light room. The flower buds which you can see between the tips of the leaves should just be starting to show signs of colour. If you remove the bulbs too early the leaves will grow too quickly and will obscure the flowers

If you want to delay flowering, put the bulbs outside in a sheltered position so the flowers develop more slowly, then move them inside, but not near a radiator.

Paperwhite narcissi and other dwarf narcissi may be given a cold preparation prior to sale and should be stored in a cold, dark place and then planted every couple of weeks from mid-September onwards to give you a succession of blooms from November to January. All other narcissi apart from paperwhites should have around 17 weeks of cold before being brought indoors to flower, planting them as you would hyacinths.

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Tips for heirloom gardening in Tucson

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Interested in trying your green thumb at heirloom herbs and produce, but not sure how to beat Tucson’s heat and succeed with your seedlings? It can be done—heirloom gardeners in your neighborhood are enjoying the fruits of their labors (literally) year-round. For starters, you can plant your winter vegetables—heirloom or others—in September to reap a good harvest. Our summer gardening season starts in March.


What is an “Heirloom”?

What makes an herb, fruit or vegetable an heirloom? To start with, it will be an older variety, dating back at least to 1945—some argue it should be at least 100 years old. All heirloom produce (and flowers) are “open-pollinated”; that is, future generations of the plant will retain most of the characteristics of the original, unlike hybrids.

Because they are not hybrids, many of which are raised for longer shelf life or large-scale production, heirloom vegetables come in a marvelous variety of flavors and shapes. They are typically more flavorful than what you’ll find in the supermarket, which is their main appeal to many heirloom fans.

And there are many devoted heirloom fans, making it relatively easy for interested gardeners to find and purchase heirloom seeds online or from specialty catalogs, as well as to find specific growing advice online.

Heirlooms and Hot Climates

Yes, it is possible to successfully raise heirloom produce here in Tucson. Heirloom strains are not necessarily less hardy than hybrids, and the advice here applies to any type of vegetable or herb gardening you want to try:

1. Use containers. Planting a container garden is the way to go; it allows you to move your pots into the shade when necessary—and it will be necessary. Plastic containers hold moisture better than clay, so you may prefer that. Use light-colored pots to help keep them (and the plants’ roots) cool. You can paint or cover dark containers if necessary. Also, make sure that your containers have drainage holes in the bottom. And if your pots are large, put it on wheels to make it easy to move.

2. Find or make some shade. Place your pots where they will be in the shade during the hottest hours of the day. If necessary, you can rig up “shade cloth” to cover your containers. Plants that require a lot of shade may stay under a shade cloth all day.

3. Be wise about watering. Your containers will dry out more quickly than an in-ground garden, so make sure you keep your plants’ roots cool with at least once-a-day watering. Not sure whether to water? Check the soil by poking your finger in; it if is dry from the top to about an inch down, it’s time to water. (Note that if a container does get too dry, the soil will shrink away from the pot’s edges, requiring more water than usual to soak it well.) If you use a mix of potting soil that drains well, you won’t need to worry about overwatering.

You should be able to grow just about any type of heirloom vegetable or herb in a container, as long as the container is large enough for the plant’s roots.

Savoring Splendido’s Heirloom Herbs

At Splendido, an all-inclusive community for adults 55 years and better in Tucson, the chef uses organic, heirloom produce from a local farm—which also supplies “starter plants” of heirloom herbs for Splendido’s year-round potted herb garden. The herbs, rotated seasonally, are planted in large pots with an irrigation system, and placed in an area where they get shade part of the day.

“We change them seasonally with what works best in our climate,” says Jeremy Imes, executive chef at Splendido. “But all are organic, heirloom strains of herbs, with a diversity of flavors. You can really distinguish the flavor of these from what you buy in the store.” Imes and his staff use the herbs—including varieties of basil and parsley, marjoram, thyme, chives, cilantro, and various mints—in their daily cooking, mostly adding them to sauces and sprinkling them on chicken and fish. “Splendido residents enjoy the more flavorful herbs that we grow ourselves.”

Try your hand at heirloom gardening, and you should find the results rewarding and delicious.

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How To Plant An Onion Garden

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One of the vegetables which needs to be grown in your garden is onions. This beautiful pinkish purple vegetable is so essential for us today because of its raging prices. Today, we share with you easy onion gardening tips. These onion gardening tips are essential for you to follow, in order to get a good and healthy crop. As we know that onions are edible bulbs and members of the allium family.

These onion bulbs is composed of concentric layers which is very unique in nature too. They have either a pungent smell, taste and sometimes this vegetable can also be quite sweet. It depends on the variety of onion you are growing.

How To Plant An Onion Garden

The onion bulb size is related to the size and number of the leaves. Each leaf translates to a ring of onion. The larger leaves make larger rings. With the rising price of onions, it is time we start to plant our own little onions gardens. Here are some tips on onion gardening.

Location – One of the most important gardening tip you should keep in mind is finding a perfect location. Onions should be planted in a partially shade spot wherein which its gets only a little wind. Onions should not be planted in heavy soils.

Soil – The soil has to be perfect for planting onions. The bulb needs to be placed in soil which is lose in nature. If the soil is not lose, you need to loosen the soil with a fork and remove the weeds.

Surface – If you are planting onion plants in your garden, you first need to create a leveled surface. With the help of a rake create a level surface for your onion garden soil.

Firm the soil – A gardener needs to use his feet to firm down the soil. Experts say that this vegetable grows well in medium soil (not too hard nor too soft)

Onion bulbs – To grow an onion plant, one of the main gardening tips you should keep in mind is to choose onion sets which are firm and plump. Do not use soft or too small onions when you plant.

Holes in soil – You need to make rows of small holes in the soil. You can lay a piece of string on the soil as a guide to make sure you dig the row in a correct straight line.

Planting the bulb – When you are about to plant the onion bulb in the soil, make sure that your soil is first set. The onion sets should be planted with the tips pointing upwards and positioned about 10 centimeters apart from each other.

Post planting – Soon after you plant the bulb in the soil, water the soil with only a little water. Keep a track on the soil and water it only when necessary.

If you follow these steps you are bound to have a healthy onion garden.

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Passive Homes Gaining Ground in the US – Chillicothe Times

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GOOD TO GROW: August Gardening Tips

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  Denise Norma talk about what we should be doing in our landscapes now that the worst of the summer temperatures are behind us.  Deadhead your flowering plants to keep them in bloom, water your fruit trees to ensure a good crop next spring, plan for the spring by reviewing your current landscape, and pull those pesky weeds!  Aired Aug. 24, 2013.

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Gardening Tips: The ins and outs of growing your own grapevine

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Posted: Friday, August 23, 2013 10:55 am


Gardening Tips: The ins and outs of growing your own grapevine

By Matthew Stevens

The Daily Herald, Roanoke Rapids, NC

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Compared to most tree fruits and small fruits, grapes are relatively easy to grow.

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Friday, August 23, 2013 10:55 am.

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Teague: Gardening tips to save the bees

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Last week (Aug. 14, 2013) The Fresno Bee ran a story by Erika Bolstad of the Bee’s Washington Bureau with the rather alarming headline “Is your garden killing the bees?” The article discussed research by the Pesticide Research Institute and the Friends of the Earth environmental organization that found traces of neonicitinoid pesticides (neonics) in plants purchased at major retail garden centers in several areas in the U.S.

Neonics like imidacloprid, clothianinidin and thiametoxam are used to coat seeds of many commercially grown crops, including nursery plants. When the seeds germinate, the pesticide becomes incorporated into all plant tissues, including the pollen and nectar. When applied as sprays, neonics are highly toxic to bees. The cumulative effect on bees and other pollinators that collect pollen and nectar from plants grown from treated seed is yet unknown, but this use of neonics is now being considered as a possible factor in colony collapse or bee die-off.

So how does a home gardener avoid bringing neonic-treated plants into a bee-safe garden? First, ask garden center or nursery staff if their growers use neonic-treated seed. Reputable nurseries and growers should be receptive to consumers’ concerns. Second, consider growing your own bedding plants and vegetables, especially those that attract bees and other pollinators, from seed. Several seed companies (Territorial Seed Company, www.TerritorialSeed.com, John Scheepers, www.kitchengardenseeds.com, and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, www.rareseeds.com) state in their catalogs that they sell only untreated seeds. When buying seed from catalogs that do not specifically mention selling untreated seed, ask before ordering. Certified organic plants are pesticide-free and certified organic seeds are never treated with pesticides.

Third, begin saving your own seeds. Seed saving is a growing movement to preserve older or rare heirloom and native plants. But you don’t need to grow rare plants to benefit from seed savings; you can easily preserve a lifetime supply of the seeds of your favorite plants. The only restriction to seed saving is that the seeds must come from open-pollinated (OP) plants. Unlike hybrid seeds (F1), OP seeds will reproduce true to the parent plant.

Several websites, including www.seedsave.org, provide information and instructions on seed saving. The Fresno County Master Gardeners grow many of the plants in our demonstration garden (the Garden of the Sun, 1944 N. Winery in Fresno) from saved seed, and docents at the garden will happily answer your questions about seed- saving techniques. Call 456-4151 for the Garden of the Sun hours and info.

 

Elinor Teague is a Fresno County master gardener. Send her plant questions at etgrow@comcast.net or features@fresnobee.com (“plants” in the subject line).

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Fall maintenance: end-of-summer gardening tips

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Provided by Networx.com

It’s easy to get the gardening bug in springtime, when humans themselves feel like new sprouts finally getting out into the sun (or, for some of us, like vampires emerging from dusky lairs). But as the summer growing season comes to a close and the crowds at the garden centers and farmer’s markets dwindle, we feel resigned to letting it all die and shifting our attention to the fall lineup. This year, don’t let the changing seasons become an excuse to turn back into a vampire (or to watch them on TV). Fall brings plenty of reasons to stay active in the garden, including buying and planting new stuff and gearing up to extend your dirty pursuits into the cold seasons.

Killer Deals on Remainder Plants

Those poor specimens left on the racks at garden centers at the end of summera little droopy, a little dry, and surely a little sad, feeling like the forgotten gifts on the Island of Misfit Toys. But just like the square-wheeled train and the spotted elephant, those “aged” plants just need a good home, and they can be rescued for a fraction of what you’d pay for this year’s hottest toys (or healthiest plants).

Late summer is THE time to watch for sales at garden centers. Annuals are fire-saled, not surprisingly, but the real deals are the perennials that will thrive when planted in fall. Expect savings of 50% or more on many plants. And if something looks especially tired, try to negotiate the price down further; retailers know these plants have one last chance at yielding any revenue. Many sales also include garden tools, as the stores have to clear shelf space for winter merchandise.

Good Time for Planting

Flower children know that fall is when you plant many bulbs for spring emergence. It’s also a good time to transplant trees, divide and replant perennials and lay sod or re-seed the lawn. For many plants, late summer and fall are preferable to spring because the ground is warm (good for digging and encouraging root growth) and the sun’s heat is less intense (good for foliage and your water bill). You can even plant a late summer garden for one last crop yield.

When you’re emptying the shelves at your garden center, ask about planting and maintenance for this time of year and through the winter. Most perennials and trees will survive their first winter if their roots take hold before hard freezes set in, while some plantings should be watered periodically through winter, particularly if it’s a dry one. (Keep in mind that new trees do best in the long run if they’re watered regularly for three years, not for just the first season or year like most people commit to.)

Cold Frames and Hot Beds

A cold frame, for those who aren’t familiar, essentially is a mini greenhouse that lets you grow cool crops, such as lettuce, well into fall. Most cold frames are simple DIY affairs constructed with four short walls (or you can dig a hole instead) topped with an old storm window. As such, they’re perhaps one of the original examples of upcycling, back when it was referred to as “using up some of that old crap in the shed.” If you build a cold frame now you’ll get to use it twice before next summer because they’re also handy for starting and hardening plants a little early in spring. Nervous about making your own, or think now would be a nice time to build a garden shed? Call a handyman!

A hot bed is a nice, warm pile of poop. Horse poop, to be precise. You can turn a cold frame into a hot bed by digging down about 2 feet, adding 18 inches of manure — that is, fresh manure — and tamping it well. Top the poop with about 6 inches of sand to fill the hole. As the manure decomposes it creates heat, making the sand a toasty place to set pots and flats for growing plants in fall and even winter. If you’re not the kind of person who relishes a Saturday outing to gather manure, or you’re stuck in a one-horse town, you can create a hot bed with electric soil-heating cable (available online and through garden supply stores).

Homegrown Help

For fall and every other season, the best sources of gardening information are local gardening and landscape professionals, as well as state and local extension services. These folks know what works best in your climate and can steer you toward local stores and other resources for getting what you need. The most comprehensive extension programs typically are run by state agricultural (“ag”) universities and offer online content and call-in help lines manned by certified Master Gardeners. Many cities have small extension offices and can be great sources for finding cheap mulch and other garden materials, and don’t be afraid to call for help from a landscaper. Whether you’re a resident of Podunk, Illinois or Baltimore, Maryland, landscapers are there for you.

Philip Schmidt writes for Networx.com.

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