Keeping Things Cool In the Garden While the list of gardening tasks for August is shorter than in many months, there are still ongoing tasks to perform in the garden. The hot temperatures of mid-summer make it tough to spend much time working in your garden, so take advantage of any cooler days to take care of grooming and weeding. Right now, your primary concern will be assuring an ample supply of water for your plants. Weed control is also very important, because with the warmer weather and increased watering, weed seeds will germinate and grow faster, and mature to the point of producing more seeds. Take advantage of your spare time to keep the weeds cultivated out of all parts of the garden. Here are a few August gardening tasks and projects that you can do to help keep your garden looking it’s best for the rest of this season: Watering Watering can be the biggest task this month particularity if the weather gets really hot. Vegetable gardens, most flowering plants, and the lawn all need about one inch of water every week to keep them green and looking nice. Be sure to water thoroughly, and deeply each time you water. When possible, do your watering in the morning or early afternoon so the soil has a chance to warm up before the cooler evening hours set in. Of course, if you planted drought resistant plants in your garden, you won’t have to water as often, but the principal of deep watering still applies. Be sure to check the hanging baskets and container grown plants every day during hot weather and about every second day on moderate summer days. Don’t just check the surface, push your finger an inch or two into the soil…
The Slug… Your Adversary Slugs may be a very serious problem to you if you live in moisture-laden areas of the country. A single “lawn prawn” can successfully remove an entire row of seedlings from your garden in no time at all. He can turn a perfect plant into Swiss cheese over night and return to the safety of his hideaway, leaving you to wonder what happened. As slugs wander about, doing their evil little slug deeds, they leave behind them a trail of slime that amounts to nothing less than a road sign for themselves and every other slug to follow to the grand feast. To make the situation even worse, slugs are hermaphrodites, they all have male and female reproductive systems. Yes, they can mate with themselves, and in the privacy of their own abode, each slug will produce two to three dozen eggs several times a year. The egg clusters look like little piles of whitish jelly BB sized balls. They will hatch in anywhere from 10 days to three weeks or longer, and these “sluglings” can mature to adulthood in as little as six weeks. Destroy the eggs… wherever you find them. Slugs may live for several years, getting larger with proportionately larger appetites each year. Now, do you really want to go out to your garden some morning and find an 18-inch Banana Slug waiting for you? The Battles and the War Although you may never win the war against snails and slugs entirely, you owe it to your plants to fight them with every weapon at your disposal. You can control slug populations with several different methods. With each battle that you win, you have prevented hundreds of new slugs from hatching. The Battlefield As with any battle plan, it is to your advantage…
By Backyard Gardener This Month In the Garden BackyardGardener.com is proud to be affiliated with the Old Town Crier and look forward to providing you readers with valuable gardening information. Since 1996, Backyard Gardener has been providing gardening tips, season-by-season, and how-to-grow information for almost every type of gardening you can imagine. Whether you are interested in flowers, plants, trees, organic gardening, vegetable gardening, garden fountains, rocks… we have it all, and more. We have everything you need to learn, explore, and improve your gardening. We also provide every product imaginable to assist you in creating your beautiful home garden surroundings. June Garden Tips: Replace mulch and aerate soil in permanent potted gardens. Remove spent flowers from spring annuals to stretch the blooming season. Plant fall-blooming perennials now. Prune once-blooming roses after they’ve flowered this month. Trim back vines (spring-blooming clematis and wisteria) after they bloom. Begin feeding vegetable plants as they start to flower. Continue to spray peach and apple trees to control fungal diseases. Plant balled-and-burlapped and container shrubs and trees. Lightly prune tips of blackberries and pinch flowers off young grapevines to form and train growth of new canes. Set out seedlings of warm-weather vegetables and annuals. Sow seeds of heat-loving vegetables (squash, pumpkins, melons) directly into the ground. Continue to fertilize roses and treat with fungicide as needed. Pinch off flower buds to promote leafier basil plants. Fertilize vegetable plants as they begin to bloom. Take cuttings from your favorite shrubs when the branch wood hardens slightly. Set out seedlings of late-summer flowering annuals. Add a layer of mulch (2-3 inches) around newly planted trees and shrubs. Cut back and thin out diseased or spindly branches of spring-flowering shrubs. Fill flower garden gaps with larger sizes of summer-blooming annuals. Log on to backyardgardener.com and tell them…
by Rita Jacinto The Memorial Day Poppy The inspiration for this column began at the local shopping mall. Yeah, I know it is a pretty bizarre place to get any kind of inspiration let alone gardening inspiration but sometimes you just have to go with the flow. You see sitting out front of one of the mega stores was a WWII veteran and what looked like his grandson. On the shaky card table were a bunch of red silk poppies and a can for donations. I always put some money in the can and get a poppy to wear. It’s a habit I picked up from my Dad when I was a little kid. He always bought a poppy and kept it in the visor of his truck. I didn’t know why he did this exactly except that it had something to do with the war. He was a veteran of WWII and since he is no longer around to buy his poppy I do it for him. That old vet sitting at his table a few weeks before Memorial Day got me wondering about the story of the red poppy. There are many kinds of poppies but the poppy mentioned in John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields”, was found growing in the fields of Flanders and often referred to as Flanders Poppy is actually Papaver rhoeas more commonly called Corn Poppy. This Mediterranean native is found growing in cultivated fields all over southern Europe. Its legend reaches back thousands of years. They have been found in Egyptian tombs dating back 3,000 years. There is a drawing of a poppy that was found in the Codex Vindobonensis which was put together for the Byzantine princess Anicia Juliana. The Codex is dated at over a thousand years. Homer mentions poppies in…
April Showers….. At long last, spring has arrived! (or has it?) As you look out upon your garden, does the nagging question of “where do I even begin” sound familiar? There is so much to do in every corner of the yard this month that it is difficult to know where to start. In our opinion, the first and foremost thing to do is to stand back for a moment, and simply enjoy the beauty that Mother Nature has given us…. listen to the birds as they sing you a spring melody… dream a little, and then put on the gardening gloves and head out to make your dream garden a reality! Here are a few April garden projects that you can do to help keep your garden looking its best the rest of this season. *Perennials, Annuals, and Bulbs April is the month for planting summer flowering bulbs like dahlias, gladiolas and lilies. Mix bulb fertilizer, processed manure and peat moss into the planting soil. Tuberous Begonias and Canna should not be set outdoors until all danger of frost has passed, so wait until next month. *Plant annual seeds of asters, cosmos, marigolds, and zinnias in the garden. *When all frost danger has passed you can move your stored fuchsias and geraniums outdoors. Trim them back, feed and repot if necessary. Water them well. When they have finished blooming, you should deadhead your spring flowering bulbs. Do not cut off the green foliage yet! These green leaves continue to grow for a few weeks, and provide the bulb with food for flowering next year. *Divide perennials like Daylilies, Delphiniums,Iris, Chrysanthemums, Daisies,and Phlox. The additional plants you create can be traded or given to friends, or moved to a new area of the garden. *Hybrid Tea Roses should be fertilized…
By Lani Gering ‘My love is like a red, red rose, that’s newly sprung in June…Scottish bard, Robbie Burns While we realize that this column is normally dedicated to what we all should be doing during the month of February to ensure a beautiful garden during the rest of the year, we are stepping outside the box with a piece about the meaning of many of the flowers that you have growing or plan to grow this season. In the spirit of the season, we all recognize the red rose as the ultimate flower symbol of love. A red rose is the traditional romantic gift given to your love on Valentine’s Day, however, different rose colors can send other messages. Red – True love White – I love you not Yellow – Jealousy Pink – Innocent love and happiness Orange – I love you vigorously Purple – I will love you forever Wild rose – Uncontrollable desire Moss rose – I admire you from afar The information in this column was garnered from several sources that may be a bit subjective since not all of the “experts” tend to agree on some of the meanings; however, we hope you find the information entertaining and enlightening in some fashion. For hundreds of years flowers have held hidden meanings, derived from mythology, folklore, religious and historical symbolism. The floral bouquet you send or receive also brings a special coded message, depending on the flowers you choose. The study of the meaning of flowers is an actual science known as floriography, and it reveals an extra underlying meaning to sending or receiving flowers – subtle and secret messages can be passed through the different blooms. During the 18th century sending flower messages based on a Turkish secret language of flowers…
Urban Garden By Jacqueline Murphy The best laid plans…need not be original January is an excellent month in several ways. The days are noticeably longer, most houseguests have vacated your premises, many orchids are in bloom, plus this month marks the beginning of a brand new decade. This is a great time to take a break from contemplating the (possibly fleeting) wisdom of your New Year’s resolutions and focus instead on some serious armchair gardening and horticultural enlightenment. It’s also the time of year that I can almost appreciate the chilly temperatures that persuade me to slow down, curl up and read. I usually like to start with the latest crop of glossy and seductive gardening catalogs to see what hybrids are hot and absorb advice on culture, growth habits and clever designs that combine familiar plants in unusual ways. You might prefer to view these same catalogs online. Although colder temperatures tend to limit outdoor gardening activities, they do provide the perfect excuse to stay inside and scheme, plan and rearrange your garden; whether it’s all in your head, sketched out on paper napkins or digitally enhanced on your laptop. Whatever dreams you entertain for your very own great outdoors you can bet someone else has already created your perfect dreamscape (or pretty darn close to it) and has been lovingly tending it for decades. Rather than feeling discouraged by some famous gardener’s fait accompli, focus on the aspects that you like and adapt them to your own conditions. Or borrow directly and shamelessly. Nothing says you have to reinvent the wheel or come up with an entirely original garden plan. Besides, whatever you’re going to install in the coming season won’t be recognizable as a transplanted copycat Versailles or Sissinghurst; even by next year. And even if it…
Taking Care of Tannenbaum!! Christmas is coming! The presents have been purchased – most of them anyway – and now is the time to start thinking about that tree. Christmas trees come in all shapes and sizes, from the huge natural tree that towers above the White House lawn every season to little artificial ones with shiny aluminum needles. For many families, the holiday wouldn’t be complete without a cut natural tree gracing the living room. There are a wide variety of Christmas tree types available on the market, each with a distinctive shape and color. Scots pine, white pine and white spruce are among the most popular and widely available. And, in certain areas, local species are offered for sale as well. Every year beginning in late fall, Christmas tree lots spring up in shopping mall parking lots, at home and garden centers and near local convenience stores. Gas stations also get into the act. Christmas trees are even available by mail order on the Internet. While trees bought at these locations can be perfectly acceptable, an alternative worth considering, depending upon your location, is a tree farm. Buying from a tree farm has a number of advantages. The first is freshness. When you see your tree being cut or you cut it yourself at a tree farm, you can be sure you are getting the freshest tree possible. The second advantage is selection. While most farms specialize in only one or two species of tree, the many different shapes and sizes available mean that trees are available to suit almost every taste. Finally, a visit to a tree farm can be a real outing both for you and your family. Many tree farms also have activities like wagon rides which turn buying a Christmas tree from a chore…
By Melinda Myers Lilies grow from bulbs and their large prominent flowers brighten up gardens and provide vertical appeal. Photo courtesy of Melinda Myers, LLC Plant Now for a Colorful Spring Display It’s time to think spring. Fall is the time to plant tulips, daffodils, crocus and other spring flowering bulbs. Use these early bloomers to welcome spring to your landscape. You’ll appreciate the color and cheery blooms after another long winter passes. Extend your enjoyment by including early blooming bulbs like snowdrops, squills, and winter aconites. Add early, mid, or late spring blooming tulips and early and mid-spring flowering daffodils for a continuous display of color. Check the package or catalog description for bloom times. Gardeners in milder climates should look for low chill varieties that need a minimal cold period to bloom or plant pre-chilled bulbs annually. In either case, wait until late fall or early winter to plant. Create some winning combinations by planting white tulips with grape hyacinths or yellow daffodils with the equally assertive blue squills. Plant a fragrant garden bouquet by combining tulips, daffodils and hyacinths. Select varieties that bloom at the same time in complementary colors or blends. Include summer flowering hardy lilies. Many are fragrant and these stately beauties provide vertical accents in the garden. Cut a few stems to display in a vase or mix with other flowers in summer bouquets. Don’t let hungry animals stop you from brightening your spring with these bulbs. Include animal resistant bulbs like hyacinths, grape hyacinths, daffodils, fritillarias, and alliums. You can plant tulips, crocus, and lilies, just be sure to use physical barriers like chicken wire or animal repellents. There are several that are organic and come in both liquid and granular formulations to protect bulbs animals prefer to eat. Check with your local…
by Melinda Myers As the seasons change, we adjust our gardening tasks and plantings to match. Animals also make changes this time of year, often changing their eating habits and dining locations. These adjustments can impact your gardens. Reduce the risk of damage by starting in fall to protect your landscape from hungry animals this winter. Take a walk around your landscape to evaluate plants and plantings for their susceptibility to animal damage. Look for pathways that animals use to access your landscape and areas of potential damage. Note new plantings, animal favorites and those special plantings you would hate to lose. Make sure these are protected. Check mulch around trees and shrubs. Deep layers of mulch and mulch piled around the trunk of trees and the base of shrubs provides shelter for mice and voles. These rodents like to gnaw on the bark of trees and shrubs in winter. Pull mulch off tree trunks and stems and spread out deep mulch so it is only two to four inches deep. Protect young trees and shrubs with a four-feet-tall fence of hardware cloth sunk several inches into the ground to prevent vole damage at ground level and most rabbit damage. Mature trees are usually only bothered during years where the vole and rabbit populations are high and food is scarce. Fencing around garden beds filled with animal favorites is another option. Make sure your fence is high enough, tight to the ground and gates are secure. You will need a four-feet-high fence for rabbits and at least five- to six-feet-high fence to keep deer out of small gardens. A fence of several strands of fishing line has proven to be successful for some gardeners. Repellents are another less obtrusive option. These use smell or taste to discourage animals from dining…
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