Plant Gardens 101

Companion planting is all about planting things together in your garden that get along and benefit each other. One important benefit of companion planting is pest control. One plant can hide another plant from pests or produce odors that keep pests away. Some plants can be used to attract pests away from other plants. Another benefit is pollination where one plant attracts insects, like bees, which help pollinate the other plant. Some plants add needed nutrients to the soil that benefit their companion plants.

Companion planting has been done since the days of the Romans. Native Americans are known for their technique called the Three Sisters technique in which they planted corn, pole beans and squash together. The beans would climb up the cornstalks and the beans would provide nitrogen for the corn. The squash spreads along the ground preventing weeds and add mulch which retains moisture in the soil. Companion planting became popular in the seventies when the organic farming movement began. There is still limited science to support its benefits in large scale farming but home gardeners espouse its benefits.

Marigolds are a popular companion plant particularly for tomatoes. The smell of the marigolds keeps pests away because they don’t like it and French marigolds are known to keep nematodes away. Nematodes are microscopic worms that can harm plants. There are good and bad nematodes located in soil. The bad ones attack the roots. They are parasites and suck the nutrients out of the plant. It is hard to detect but if the leaves of your tomato plants are yellow you could have nematodes. Next year consider planting French marigolds near your tomatoes to protect them from nematodes. (more…)

Recycling is now a mainstream activity and hopefully the types and volume of items being recycled will continue to increase even during the current weak economic times. There have been a lot of old, dead cars recycled in the past year because of the value of the metal. It wasn’t uncommon to get $300 to $500 per car. Demand has slackened due to the global recession but it is a good example of the benefits of recycling.

Paper, cardboard, glass, cans and metals of all kinds are now recycled. Less and less waste is going to the landfill these days. Families who religiously recycle and compost their organic materials are reducing their trash collection by up to 75%.

The recycling of organic materials by making compost is the most exciting type of recycling for many people. That compost bin on the kitchen counter gets filled up fast by families who eat a lot of fruit and vegetables which most do today.
There are certain items in your kitchen that you shouldn’t put in the compost bin because they can create odor problems and attract rodents and flies. Don’t put meat or fish bones or scraps, any dairy products and any fats grease, lard or oil in your compost bin. (more…)

Gardening is the number one hobby in the United States. Americans want their lawns and gardens to look good and for them to look good they need to be watered regularly and properly. Vegetable gardens, lawns and landscape plantings all have different watering needs. Most gardeners would prefer to spend their time gardening instead of watering the garden. Installing an automatic irrigation system to water for you can free up your time to spend on other things.

A drip irrigation system is relatively easy to install yourself. With drip irrigation you are applying water directly to the soil slowly. Drip irrigation is much more efficient than sprinkler irrigation because you are applying the water directly to the soil. It isn’t evaporating on its way to the soil nor is it running off the soil and you are putting it only where you need it, on the roots. You need a backflow valve to make sure the water doesn’t flow back into the house, a pressure regulator, a filter, a tubing adapter and the drip tubing and that’s it. (more…)

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Most people don’t think of butterflies as insects but they are. Butterflies are loved for their beauty. It is hard to think of another insect that is loved for their beauty. Insects are most often thought of as pests. Mosquitoes, black flies and horse flies to name a few can drive you crazy at times. Butterflies don’t bite or sting and are beautiful to look at.

Moths are cousins to butterflies and have the same life cycle. They are considered advanced insects because of their lifecycle. They have what is called a complete lifecycle because there are four distinct stages and each one looks completely different and has its own purpose.

The transformation from one stage to another is one of the most experiential wonders of nature taught to school children. The first stage is the egg which is tiny. The female attaches the egg to leaves, stems, or other things on or near the food the eventual caterpillar will eat. (more…)

What could be more relaxing then sitting in you Adirondack chair next summer looking at all the beautiful flowers and butterflies in your butterfly garden. It isn’t hard to create a garden that will attract butterflies and if planned properly you can have butterflies all summer long. You want to have the right plants to attract your native butterflies and to keep them around. Butterflies need full sun, plants that provide nectar, plants to act as hosts for the larva and an environment free of pesticides.

The first step is planning your butterfly garden. Find out what type of native butterflies you want to attract. Then determine what type of nectar plants these butterflies prefer. Butterflies are attracted to bright colored flowers with strong scents and drink the sweet nectar for energy. They seem to prefer orange, red, yellow, purple and dark pink flowers. A multi-colored garden will be easy for them to find.

You must also plant host plants for the caterpillars to lay their eggs on. The caterpillars will eat all the leaves on the host plants which make them unattractive to look at. Plant the host plants behind or out of view of the nectar plants if you don’t want to look at them. This can be accomplished by planting the host plants behind taller nectar plants. Make sure you choose the type of host plants that the butterfly species likes to eat. If the caterpillars don’t like the leaves of the host plant they won’t eat them and they will die. Make sure the host plants are in fairly close proximity to the nectar plants to ensure the butterflies will lay their eggs on them. (more…)

Looking for a hardy perennial to use as a ground cover in a shady area of your yard? Hostas are one of the best plants for shade gardens or for under tall trees. Where grass and other ground covers struggle, hostas thrive adding lush greenery and becoming more beautiful every year. They love the afternoon shade and the moist soil these areas usually have. Hostas can transform brown and barren into green and abundant for you.

Offering an incredible array of sizes, colors including variegated, and shapes including crinkled edges, hostas come in numerous varieties. Most garden centers have a nice selection at reasonable prices to let the ordinary everyday gardener share in the diversity these shady plants offer. For the expert, there are varieties too that are more rare and more expensive. (more…)

Colorful perennial plants can be used for both shade gardens and backyard areas getting constant full-sun. It is important to select the right one for the specific area of your yard you want to dress-up.

By choosing the right perennials, you can combat three landscape problems—hot and dry locations, wet and swampy areas, and windy or exposed sites.

Most perennials that will work best in dry and sunny spots flower during the summer months. Some of these perennials that are both heat and drought-tolerant include: blanket flower, a daisy-like, yellow-and-red plant; coneflower with pink, rose, or white flowers;daylilies coming in numerous colors; evening primrose or sundrops in yellow, pink, or white flowers; fairy fan-flower that has blue or white flowers and blossoms from spring to fall; gazania rigens with yellow, orange, red, or pink flowers; globe thistle that has round blue flowers; lavender, an aromatic plant with purple, pink, or white flowers; red-hot poker with red, orange, or yellow flowers; Russian sage with light blue flowers flowering from summer into fall; yarrow that flowers in many colors; blazing star or gayfeather, a liatris having purple or white flowers during the summer; and butterfly weed named so because it attracts butterflies, flowering orange blossoms throughout the summer. (more…)

Moving plants around in your garden can be tricky. The most important thing to remember while in this process is to water. Always make sure to keep the plant and it roots moist.

Even though it is recommended not to transplant during the summer, most of the time it is in the summer that you want to do this. You are seeing how things have come up and perhaps it has become too crowded in an area for the plants to be healthy. Or one variety may have just taken over an area and needs to be trimmed back. If it is the summer, remember the sun can be very intense especially on exposed roots. The heat from the sun can be relentless so never leave plants above the ground for very long. Summer is never the best time to move or transplant garden plants. You can successfully transplant garden plants during the hot months if you are careful and follow the gardening tips here.

Make sure the whole plant you want to transplant is hydrated when it is time for you to transplant. Water this plant the day before thoroughly, leaves and all. It is best to dig or transplant on a cloudy, overcast day to avoid the heat from the sun. If you can plan this, all the better. Or perhaps you can schedule to do it in the cooler evening hours. Water the plant right before digging or removing from its pot. When you water, soak the root ball. This will make the soil adhere to the roots so that the roots are not bare. Never leave the roots exposed to sun, heat or wind. If you are transplanting several plants at once, do not remove all of them at once. Do it gradually. Guage the process so that each plant can quickly get into the new soil it will thrive. (more…)

Most gardeners know when their garden needs watering and are well aware of the effects of under watering their plants. Too few gardeners are aware of the dangers of over watering, however. Over watering is even worse and more damaging. The biggest reason for the death of a house plant is because it has been over watered.

Depending on the type of plant, the time of year, the temperature, your climate, the signs of an over watered plant are generally universal. The most common symptoms are defoliation where the lower leaves on the plant turn yellow and fall, wilting or drooping, spotted foliage, and gray fuzzy mould around the stem, leaves and flowers of the plant.

These symptoms can also be an indication of other problems rather than over watering. Sudden and fast defoliation could also be caused by rapid changes in temperature and possibly under watering. Gradual defoliation could be from insufficient light or fertilizer. Too much fertilizer or exposure to extreme cold could make the leaves fall. An easy way to determine whether you are over watering is by carefully observing how frequently you water your plants. Another way is to check the plant’s roots to see if they appear rotten. (more…)

A modern-day gardening movement is emerging in theUnited States as the concern for the environment grows along with the growing economic situation. To ease the pressure of public food supply, during both world wars, the American government encouraged citizens to grow their own vegetables, fruits and herbs to be more self-sufficient and less vulnerable to economic hardships. Today gardens focus on environmental and financial benefits. However, self-sufficiency, especially during a time of war, helps everyone.

The benefits of saving on your grocery bill today are most gratifying. Starting a vegetable, fruit and herb garden requires only a modest financial investment, mainly in the beginning. You will enjoy more tasty and nutritional food being that it will come right from the ground or tree to your plate or palate. Your garden will give you easy access to healthy, even organic, produce. Rest assured that your produce will not contain any harmful disinfectants or be pumped with nasty chemicals to make it look prettier and/or larger. (more…)

Learn how to water your garden the right way and reap the rewards. Here are some watering tips from the green thumb experts on how to best water your garden.

The first thing is very important and will sound simple, but it isn’t. Be aware of both under watering and over watering. Many novices in their willingness to take care of their plants tend to over water their garden. Too much water will drown your plants, and some plants actually don’t like much water at all. Read up about your plants to know how much water they need.

Make it a daily habit to check the soil in your garden for moisture. A good way to do this is by just sticking your index finger in the soil near where your plants are growing and feel if it is dry or wet. (more…)

Peonies give your garden bursts of color and wonderful fragrance. Being a perennial they come up every year and are easy to grow. Peonies are versatile, long-lived landscape plants. They can make excellent low hedges in the summer or used as a group or singularly to splash color as a focal point or accent in flowerbeds and borders.

To make the wisest selections for your particular garden, know the many forms: single, Japanese, bomb, double, and semi-double. Single peonies contain rows of five or more big petals encircling a fertile center of seed-bearing yellow stamens. Japanese, including anemone, have five or more petals with a showy cluster of small, sterile, petal-like segments in one or more areas. The bomb form has the blossom’s mounded center full of petals that are smaller than the outer petals, but have a similar color and texture. Double peonies have large outer petals surrounded by frilly overlapped petals of the same color. They form a big, classic, rose-like globe that has almost invisible stamens. Semi-double peonies have fewer inner petals than a double with the petals being fairly uniform. They are decorative, bear pollen, and the yellow stamens stand out against the petal color, unlike the double peony. (more…)

The first thing you must do when you want to start a garden from seeds is to make sure you can get all the necessary equipment or materials to do this properly. You will need pots—to start, use peat moss pots. Other pots and planters, tools, potting mix, plant markers, watering supplies, grow lights, fertilizers and sometimes heated seed germination equipment are just some examples of what you may need. You will also need some desire and patience.

You have selected the seeds of the plants you have chosen to grow. This requires a little careful research to know which ones will work where you plan to grow your garden. Be sure to read the instructions on the back of each seed packet for the zone in which you reside. And to achieve optimal results, follow the recommended timeline: for example, planting three weeks before the last frost. (more…)

An important first step in planning a lawn irrigation system is determining what type of soil you have. How often you should water your lawn will depend on the type of soil you have. The two major concerns with any irrigation system are the health of the plants and conserving water.

There are three basic types of soil. The three types are: clay soils, loamy soils and sandy soils. Sandy soils dry out quickly and require frequent watering. You have to be careful you don’t water too much at one time with sandy soils. Too much water will drain quickly down through the soil moving too fast for the roots to absorb it, plus the water is wasted. The best approach with sandy soils is to water for a short period of time several times.

Clay soils also benefit from watering over several short periods. Clay soils retain water but absorb it slowly so several short periods allow the water to slowly seep into the soil. (more…)

To begin, let’s explain a bit about the history of cottage gardens. The cottage garden has its roots in 18th centuryEngland. At that time it was very practical with folks relying on their gardens to supply them with their family’s needs. It included not only a variety of plants but animals too. The cottage garden’s purpose was to supply food, medicine, and dyes. The cottager’s small plot allowed for no wasted space. This ended up in packed abundant garden growth which was well maintained also preventing waste. An integral part of a cottage garden is a fence or compact hedge growth. The original purpose of this was to keep the livestock separate and away from eating the produce. Cottagers planted what they knew would work, often using plants passed along by their neighbors.

The modern interpretation of this old style is the contemporary cottage garden and it takes on many forms. There are no hard and fast rules, but a few general principles remain from the old purposes of the garden. There is a variety of different plants offering different resources. Many times the variety factor makes a pleasant display of many colors when in bloom. The plants might be used for decorating, eating, or medicinal. Whether or not the present day gardener uses the plants for all these purposes is questionable. There is also abundance evident and continual growth. The modern cottage gardener still is concerned about the look of packed yet healthy growth. And lastly, there is a delightful informality about the cottage garden present always. (more…)

Sedums, sedums, and more sedums will start to propagate and continue on and on. Also known as stonecrop, they are extremely versatile plants. They grow well in perennial borders, containers, and in rock gardens and maybe that is why they are also called stonecrop. Their thick, fleshy succulent leaves and colorful blossoms make them stand out and look so very attractive in most any garden.

Sedums come in a wide range of shapes and sizes, from tiny to tall. A great ground cover in dry, sunny locations is a low-growing type called golden stonecrop and white stonecrop that form moss-like mats spreading quickly. Sedums in rock gardens fit nicely into a small niche or scramble over rocks and then hang as they grow on and on. The taller species (Sedum maximum with greenish flowers, Sedum telephium with red-purple flowers, and Sedum sieboldii with pink flowers and blue-green leaves) make perfect accents for borders with a lot of sun. (more…)

When Oriental poppy flowers are in full bloom, they definitely can be the focal point of your garden display in late spring to early summer. The Oriental poppy is the most striking of the perennial poppies. Their blooms are huge – some may reach up to six inches across and are on the top of stems as tall as four feet. These huge, cup-shaped flowers are delicate and paper-like in texture coming in a wonderful warm palette of color including red, salmon, orange, crimson, and white. Even though the plants’ pedals seem to indicate it to be fragile, the perennial is actually known for its hardiness and durability. It is a favorite subject for artists because of its special beauty and color.

After blooming the plant goes dormant. Their beauty does not last long, but if enough varieties are planted they will bloom at slightly different times. Oriental poppies perform poorly in regions with hot summers. If the flowers are big they tend to flop over so the plant might need staking. However, generally poppies are easy to care for and require little maintenance. A special feature: deer do not like them. (more…)

The brilliant autumn colors have exploded and now the leaves are falling. Pumpkins dressed with frost in the early morning tell you winter is around the corner and preparations should be made. Keeping some annuals and summer bulbs in colorful shape through the winter is possible, relatively easy and saves buying all new plants come spring. Coleus, dahlias, gladiolus, crocosmias, acidanthera, geraniums are all among the plants you can continue to grow or keep safe indoors. It is your choice. You could just leave all of them to die with the deep freeze and start with new plants next year. But the longer the potted plants are left to grow, the larger the plant, and the better the show for next spring when you will place them outdoors again. If you have any of the plants mentioned above and would like to keep them safe and sound through the winter, here are some guidelines to do just that. Some can share your living quarters and others have to be set aside in a cool, dry location. ? After the gladiolus, crocosmias, and acidanthera have finished flowering or when frost kills their leaves, carefully dig the corms of these plants and spread them out in a dry, well-ventilated area at room temperature for about two to three weeks. Remove and throw away the old corms, and in paper bags in a 35° to 40° location, store the new corms collected. (more…)

Chrysanthemums, better known as their nickname, “mums,” are popular perennials that display a wonderful array of color when the tree leaves are also turning on a show of similar colors. Not only do mums come in a wide variety of colors, but also come in numerous sizes from small dwarf to giant shrub. Mums are easy to grow and can provide years of enjoyment if care is taken to select an appropriate variety. Chrysanthemums like the sun, do best in well-drained soil, and need proper winter protection.

Plant chrysanthemums in the spring after all danger of frost. They grow best in a variety of soils but need excellent drainage. Growth is poor and winterkill is likely if they are planted in poorly drained wet soils. Sunny locations are the best sites for most varieties. Plants in semi-shady locations will be taller, have weaker stems, and bloom later in the fall. It is a good idea to incorporate peat moss, compost, or rich manure into the soil. (more…)