My neighbor said she will give me a plant that had white flowers with four petals and a center that sticks up like a skinny green nose. Leaves are a pointy heart shape. It filled in a huge bare area for her, but she doesn’t know the name.

Sounds like houttuynia, a notoriously invasive plant. It’s often known as chameleon plant because a variety of it that is still sold sometimes as a “ground cover” is colorfully variegated. Your neighbor’s plant is the plain green species. Woe to the gardener who plants this. It will not stay where planted, even popping up on the other side of a driveway, and is resistant to herbicides.

I’m debating whether or not to leave a yellow jacket nest in a neglected area. Are they good pollinators?

It’s not that they are good pollinators, but that they are great predators of pest insects such as flies and mosquitoes. Yellow jackets and other wasps feed these to their offspring. So they keep pest insects out of your yard, but because they are not fuzzy, their occasional visit to flowers will not get much pollinating done. In late summer or fall, their diet switches to more sugary foods, so we wouldn’t recommend leaving a nest by a well-used picnic table.

Is it true that bird or deer netting catches snakes? Birds eat my berries and it seems like deer eat everything else!

Yes, snakes get caught in bird or deer netting, especially when it extends to ground level. They do not have the ability to back up, only go forward, and thus get more and more entangled. Extracting one is possible and a slow process requiring two people snipping off the mat of netting, but the snake may have hurt itself so much that it cannot survive. For the most part, the solution is to avoid netting or hang it a few inches above ground level. For a low-cost deer fencing alternative that would also solve this problem, see the July issue of the Home and Garden Information Center Newsletter at: http://extension.umd.edu/hgic/july-2013-hgic-newsletter.

University of Maryland Extension’s Home and Garden Information Center offers free gardening and pest information. Call 800-342-2507 or send a question to the website at extension.umd.edu/hgic.

Plant of the week

Elephant Ears

Colocasia

Elephant ears can be your garden’s backdrop or its bold center of attention. The plant adds texture and height with a tropical flair. It is in the genus Colocasia, which contains about 25 species of tropical plants grown in colder climates during the summer for their interesting foliage. Leaves range from emerald green and black to brown and chartreuse gold. Colored veins run through the leaves of some varieties. Plant elephant ears tubers 2 to 4 inches deep in well-drained soil after danger of frost has passed. Place in full to partial sun. They like moisture. Fertilize a few times during the growing season. After first frost, cut back foliage, carefully dig up tubers, gently remove the soil and air dry. Store in a container allowing air circulation in a frost-free, dry location. — Debbie Ricigliano

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Plot-holders are being encouraged to grow fruit as part of National Allotments Week (August 5-11). Hannah Stephenson discusses which types of fruit will flourish in these spaces

It’s not only the humble potato or common carrot which can thrive on allotments – you can also grow a cornucopia of delicious soft fruits like summer berries and blackcurrants.

What’s more, fruit bushes and trees are long-lived. Gooseberries and blackcurrants can do well for 20 years, trees can produce for decades and raspberry canes can last more than 10 years.

“Plot-holders are better off looking at soft fruit because it takes up less space than fruit trees and is easier to manage and pick,” says Mike Thurlow, horticultural adviser to the National Allotment Society, which is running this year’s National Allotments Week campaign with Kelly’s of Cornwall.

“The root run of soft fruit isn’t so expansive so it doesn’t interfere with other crops or with neighbours’ plots.”

Summer fruits are generally easier to care for than larger fruit trees. Many currants can be grown as bushes, while raspberries and blackberries need to be trained against a framework structure, usually a post and wire system.

“Soft fruit can’t be shoved away in a cold corner,” Thurlow explains. “Full sun is needed to ripen the wood rather than the fruit because it is ripe wood which gives you the bountiful harvest the following year.”

If you are growing bushes or training trees, plan them as part of the structure of your allotment, as they are likely to be permanent fixtures. Most fruit trees are pollinated by insects so you’ll need to avoid windy sites, and add plenty of organic matter to the soil, which needs to be well-drained.

Strawberries, one of the nation’s favourite summer fruits, should be placed in the sunniest border and should be moved around on a three-year cycle.

Few allotments allow trees to be grown because they shade other plots and sometimes can’t be moved when a new tenant arrives. So if you want to grow fruit trees, you may have to buy dwarf rootstocks to train, creating espaliers, cordons or fans in sunny.

“Redcurrants, white currants and gooseberries can be fan-trained and turned into espaliers and cordons. It’s a bit of fun. You could train them up the side of a shed or make make a support from stakes and training wires,” Thurlow explains.

“Fruit which is trained takes up less room and is easier to manage because the fruit has air and light around it so there are likely to be fewer disease problems.”

Be warned that blackcurrants are big plants which will need plenty of room, each taking up around 1.5 square metres of ground so don’t plant them too close together.

“You’ll often have fewer berries from two struggling plants than from one good one,” Thurlow points out.

Unless you live in a really mild area and your plot is sheltered, avoid trying to grow tender fruits such as figs, apricots and peaches on your allotment, as they will need so much protection.

All soft fruits should be planted in a sheltered spot away from frost pockets. Choose late varieties to help avoid frost damage and make sure you net the fruits from the birds. A fruit cage is essential and should be allowed on allotments as it is classed as a temporary structure.

Avoid planting soft fruit where it has been grown before as it can lead to replant disease, resulting in stunted growth. Buy stock which has been certified free of pests and disease to avoid the fatal viral disease.

As for placing your plants, Thurlow advises to keep all your fruit bushes together as a group in a south or west-facing spot where they will receive the maximum sun.

“Put your raspberries at the back because they grow tall, then plant blackcurrants, white currants and gooseberries in front and strawberries right at the front,” he advises.

For success with strawberries, grow them in well-drained, moisture-retentive, humus-rich soil, adding lots of well-rotted compost or manure and a sprinkling of phosphate, and make sure they’re in a sunny spot. Strawberries should be planted in late summer as they need a period of cold to flower and fruit the following year.

Plant the crown at soil level and keep the area well-weeded, or grow them through weed-suppressing horticultural plastic. Strawberries should not be watered from overhead, as moisture on the fruits can rot.

Growing fruit on your allotment may take a little patience as many types will not bear fruit the same year they are planted (summer raspberries, blackberries and gooseberries will fruit in the second year and redcurrants in the third), but once they are established, they will not let you down.

:: National Allotments Week runs from August 5 – 11. For more information visit www.nsalg.org.uk

Three ways to store your produce

1. Dry onions, shallots and garlic, then store them in a frost-free shed or garage, keeping them in net bags hung up so the air can circulate around them.

2. Only freeze top quality, fresh produce, so aim to pick and freeze the same day. Freeze leaf beet, carrots, French beans and broccoli.

3. You can leave some produce in the ground until you need it, including carrots, leeks, parsnips and beetroot, but when winter comes cover the vegetables with cloches or fleece to protect them from frost damage.

What to do this week:

Cut back: Prune larger-leaved evergreens including laurel

flowers: Pick flowers such as sweet peas and dahlias to encourage further flowering

geraniums: Give hardy geraniums a haircut with shears to help them stay compact

lavender: Cut lavender for drying, just before the buds open fully, and tie in loose bunches, hanging them upside down in a well-ventilated, warm spot

garlic: When the foliage of garlic starts to yellow, the bulbs should be ready for lifting

tomatoes: Regularly remove side shoots from tomatoes

grass: Keep recently laid lawns well watered at all times

salad: Continue to sow rocket, lamb’s lettuce and claytonia.

fruit: Prune summer-fruiting raspberries when they finish cropping.

Three ways to store your produce

1. Dry onions, shallots and garlic, then store them in a frost-free shed or garage, keeping them in net bags hung up so the air can circulate around them.

2. Only freeze top quality, fresh produce, so aim to pick and freeze the same day. Freeze leaf beet, carrots, French beans and broccoli.

3. You can leave some produce in the ground until you need it, including carrots, leeks, parsnips and beetroot, but when winter comes cover the vegetables with cloches or fleece to protect them from frost damage.

What to do this week:

Cut back: Prune larger-leaved evergreens including laurel

flowers: Pick flowers such as sweet peas and dahlias to encourage further flowering

geraniums: Give hardy geraniums a haircut with shears to help them stay compact

lavender: Cut lavender for drying, just before the buds open fully, and tie in loose bunches, hanging them upside down in a well-ventilated, warm spot

garlic: When the foliage of garlic starts to yellow, the bulbs should be ready for lifting

tomatoes: Regularly remove side shoots from tomatoes

grass: Keep recently laid lawns well watered at all times

salad: Continue to sow rocket, lamb’s lettuce and claytonia.

fruit: Prune summer-fruiting raspberries when they finish cropping.

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Posted: Friday, July 19, 2013 11:08 am

Gardening Tips: Buy or grow peaches locally

By Matthew Stevens

The Daily Herald, Roanoke Rapids, NC

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0 comments

Peach season is here in Halifax County, and it’s a great time to get them from local vendors.

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Posted: Friday, July 19, 2013 11:08 am

Gardening Tips: Buy or grow peaches locally

By Matthew Stevens

The Daily Herald, Roanoke Rapids, NC

|
0 comments

Peach season is here in Halifax County, and it’s a great time to get them from local vendors.

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© 2013 The Daily Herald. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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These gardening tips will help your plants survive the summer months, any time you’re facing a drought or a long spell of hot weather. They are simple, straightforward and easy to put into practice. 

1. Fertilize, but don’t overdo it.

Helping your plants thrive is often a case of proper planning, placement and soil fertility.  A strong plant can better withstand the stress of high heat and dry weather.  So fertilize the soil well before planting using organic compost and other sustainable stock-free fertilizers. You can also give your plants a boost with liquid fertilizers (like water soluble seaweed powder) a couple of weeks after planting, or in times of stress.

General tip: While liquid fertilizers are great, it is best not to overuse them. Liquid fertilizers (even organic) feed plants directly instead of supporting the soil food web. The soil food web (simply put) is the network that makes nutrients (already in the soil) available to your plants. It is important to protect and nourish this system with organic matter whenever possible, to ensure long-term soil fertility.

Articles of interest:

The Art of Composting
Nettles Health Tonic and Organic Fertilizer
Comfrey Grow Your Own Fertilizer

 

2. Choose perennials, heat resistant crops or plants with an extensive root system.

Many annuals have shallow root systems that dry out easily in the heat of summer. By choosing plants with a hardier root system (biennials that produce for two years, perennials, heat resistant crops, etc.) you’ll start your summer garden off on the right foot.

Pros of heat resistance crops: Less watering = less money spent on water and less work during the heat.

Pros of planting perennials or biennials: You will be investing in the future of your garden instead of planting for one growing season at a time.

Articles of interest:

10 Weeds Worth Growing
Grow Great Green Beans
Easy Beginners Guide to Growing Kale

Next: How to help retain water in the soil

CHICOPEE, Mass. (Mass Appeal) – The Western Mass Master Gardener Association shared some gardening tips and tricks as well as a delicious recipe for stuffed grape leaves.

To learn more give them a call at (413) 298-5355 or visit WMMGA.org .

Stuffed Grape Leaves

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch parsley, washed well, chop leaves finely, save all stems
• 1 cup long grain rice for recipe with meat, 2 cups for vegetarian
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned,
• 2 scallions, chopped finely
• Fresh herbs, oregano, basil, (optional: dill, or any you prefer)
• Salt/Pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 lb. ground beef, turkey or lamb, your option

    
Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients, set aside.   
2. Be Sure to use wild grape leaves, (tender) about 30,  about 50 for mixture with meat, about 5″ in width or larger, wash well, then par boil for 1 or 2 minutes, let cool.
3. Back side up and stem cut close to leaf, put about 1 very full tbsp. of mixture into center of grape leave, then wrap up burrito style, nice and tight!        
4. Prepare heavy bottom pan or casserole pan by layering parsley stems in bottom of pot with 2 additional tbsp. olive oil.
5. Tightly layer stuffed grape leaves in a row, fill in pot until there are no empty spaces, layer on top of each other until done.    
6. Cover with an inverted plate that fits inside pot (to hold down stuffed grape leaves so they don’t come apart while cooking). 
7. Add 3 cups water, beef broth, vegetable broth or any broth you desire.
8.  Bring to a very low boil, or bake in 350 oven for about 3 hours or until liquid is soaked up.
9. Let stuffed grape leaves rest for 30 min. or so, take out very gently and serve with lemon wedges, tzatziki sauce, sour cream, or whatever you prefer, hot or cold.

Tips for preparing grape leaves:

• Pick wild grape leaves only. (Grape leaves from grape bearing vines are tough)
• Wash grape leaves well, blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes, put into cold water to cool.
• When ready to stuff:
• Place leaves vein side up on your counter about an inch apart, place about 1 tsp. of mixture in center of grape leaves.
• Roll by having wide side down, fold over sides to touch, then start to roll from wider part of leaf up until firmly rolled.
• Leaves should be about 5 to 6 inches across, try to cut all leaves to be uniform in size.

About the Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association:

The Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the educational mission of promoting good and sustainable gardening practices. We are volunteers who have graduated from an academic training class and have completed service hours working with the public to advance our mission.

Individuals who complete this training and service are then certified as Master Gardeners.  Although members participate in activities throughout Western Massachusetts, the organization is divided into three sub-regions: Berkshire County, Upper Valley, and Lower Valley which organize activities and volunteer efforts in their respective regions.

Master Gardener programs exist throughout the nation and are typically associated with a state university. Our program originated at the Cooperative Extension Service of the University of Massachusetts.  In 1989 due to funding limitations, the program was discontinued at UMass. We have been operating independently since then thanks to a very dedicated group of program graduates.  Our ranks continue to grow.