Plant Gardens 101

The trunk of a tree below the lowest branch.

Why?
Organic gardening compost solves many problems. So much so that it’s tempting to wax philosophical on the merits of making compost. Compost isn’t just a gardening topic. It relates to conserving energy, reducing pollution, protecting the environment, feeding the hungry, reducing waste … and we could go on. See what I mean about philosophical?

Many times, maybe even most times, valuable organic gardening compost is made from household waste that would end up in a landfill. Now that’s a waste … burying valuable raw materials in expensive landfill space.

In many cases, there is little you as an individual can do to solve many of the social ills of our day. Making compost is a small step you can take to make a valuable product from waste. Now that’s a good deal! (more…)

An organization with 24 regional affiliates and 127 chapters. There are subsections devoted to different types of irises.

Your first line of defense when keeping cats out of your garden is to make sure that you have your boundaries secure. If there are any gaps in your fence, you should make sure that you block them to prevent any low access. Cats are very agile animals, and can jump very high. Normally they can jump a fence, which is why you should also invest in string or taut wire across the top.If a cat has made his way into your garden, it may be hard to get him out. Most people choose to use dogs, simply because dogs are known to dislike cats. There are several dog breeds out there that completely dislike cats, such as pit bulls and Dobermans. Cats are completely fearful of these breeds, and will flee if they see them around. (more…)

The botanical name for ornamental onions.

A collection or display of plants grown in the spaces between the rocks of a dry stone wall.

Not enough land for your dream garden? Don’t be too sure. Ever think about vertical planting? Or perhaps a little creative container gardening suits your style. It seems yards are getting smaller and smaller in many areas, yet gardening is becoming an ever more popular hobby. Even functional retaining walls can contain space thrifty gardens.

Luckily, plants care about proper soil, good nutrients, temperature, lighting and drainage. They really don’t care exactly what they are planted in, or the methods used to meet their needs. You can create a really striking one-of-a-kind landscape without much money by thinking outside the box when garden planning. (more…)

A strip of light-colored, porous plastic wrapped around the trunk of a young tree to protect it from sunburn, sudden temperature changes, and gnawing rodents.

Pulling out or cutting off some seedlings in a row, plot, or flat, for the benefit of those that remain.

Several trowelfuls of soil, mixed together, to represent the soil typical throughout a garden, plot, or field.

As a species name, means “stout or strong.” For example, the Mexican fan palm, Washingtonia robusta, has a trunk that looks even thicker than it is because it is surrounded with a layer of fronds that have died and turned brown, but not fallen off.

There are some practical considerations when deciding how many planters, pots and container to have on your deck or patio. There is first of all, some very practical considerations such as available space, sun exposure and traffic flow. We always seem to have more containers than we had intended, however, do not clutter up the deck or balcony area. Do a little purging each Spring and decide which ones can be relocated or given away. You do want to have enough room to sit and enjoy the flowers. Here are some basic thoughts about location.The planters, urns and containers should be placed in groups or pairs with similar combinations to mark the location of doors, stairways and transition areas on the deck. This is a formal way to define or call attend to the entrance to the patio, and also creates the “doorway” between the house and deck. Now we have a definite space and a sense or order.Be sure that you do not crowd doorways. Leave sufficient room for them to open properly and not hit the pots on your way in and out. The same is true for sliding doors, leave enough room for people to enter and exist without tripping over your groupings. (more…)

The botanical name for Stoke’s aster.

General Hydroponics – Learning the Basics

The word hydroponics is being used for a great variety of growing methods that do not use soil as a growing medium. When a general hydroponics method is used, the main concept is that nutrients and water are fed directly to the roots of the plants by different means. This can be accomplished by a drip, spray, flood, wick and immersion in a nutrient solution which provides the necessary nutrients for the plants to grow. An air stone may be used to pump oxygen into the water.

Smaller Roots reduces the Growing Space

Since the roots do not have to grow in search of more nutrients to support its nutrional requirements, the roots tend to stay a very manageable size. The plant’s energy for growing its roots instead is redirected to growing other partssuch as its upper parts for flower, fruit and vegetable production. With less space required for roots, this means that there is the ability to grow more plants in a much smaller area or an increased crop harvest in the cases of commercial growing. (more…)

As part of a species name, means “small.” For example, bottlebrush buckeye, Aesculus parviflora, has spikes of small white flowers.

Having a blunt or rounded tip.

As a species name, means “native to Japan.” Many daisies, for example, are native to Eurasia, but the Nippon or Montauk daisy, Chrysanthemum nipponicum (now renamed Nipponanthemum nipponicum), came from Japan.

If you live in an area with a short growing season, then you will likely want to get a jump start on the gardening year by starting seeds indoors, then growing the seedlings on under lights. All plants need three items to thrive: water, nutrition, and light. Of these three, inadequate indoor light is often the one that lays waste the best laid gardener’s plans for strong and sturdy seedlings. Grow lights impact plant growth depending on the amount of light they give and the quality of the light they emit. Using one of the many digital ballasts available, you can set the exact light conditions your garden needs.

Indoors, under artificial conditions, you are trying to emulate the useful parts of natural sunlight as much as possible for optimal plant growth, all other necessary ingredients being present. Since sunlight is much brighter than light from a grow lamp, you will need to leave the lights on for 12-18 hours per day to compensate for the lesser brilliance of the light from artificial sources. (more…)

Each area that you choose for your garden planters will affect the growth and needs of every plant – just like us, they need to be in a place where they can be Happy! If your deck or patio is in a south facing position, you will need to routinely rotate the pots and garden planters so that the foliage and of course the flowers don’t face away from the sitting area where they can be seen. If you place your containers and pots right against the south facing wall, then you will not need to turn them frequently, however there are other considerations for keeping your plants happy and healthy.If you are not at home during the day, it would be best to find a spot for your plants where they can receive some afternoon shade. Plants in afternoon shade won’t suffer from the heat as much and will be less likely to need watering in the afternoon. Deck and Patio areas that are exposed to the morning sun do better than those exposed to sun all day. The ultimate is to have morning sun and afternoon shade. You will want to seek out a site that has some afternoon sun to give the annuals the heat they crave if you live in an area where summers are cool and wet. We can take other certain measures to ensure Happy Plant Containers no matter what the conditions. (more…)

A “language” devised by illiterate women in the Ottoman seraglios to take the place of written language, which was forbidden them. It was described with scorn by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu in her letters from Turkey but was later all the rage among European women.