Garden Supplies News » Gardening News

The Irish Sky Garden And Rooftop Growing

hughe — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 10:48:27 +0000

Last week I wrote about the preparations for the Chelsea Flower Show and included some links to pictures of some of the more unusual show gardwns. One of these was the Irish Sky Garden designed by Diarmuid Gavin which won a Gold medal and The RHS People’s Choice Award. I found this video tour of the garden:

While a sky garden hoisted by a crane is just a novelty for the show, rooftop gardens are a practical way to grow crops when other space is not available. This article by Sean O’Driscoll examines the different ways that people are using their rooftops and how to overcome the weight problem. Lightweight containers and ultralight soil mixes using coconut core and perlite is how one group solves the problem. Others adopt a structural approach to strengthen the roof so that it can stand the extra weight. Read more..

A few weeks ago I planted a Japanese maple in my garden so I was naturally attracted to this article on “Tips and Hints for Pruning Japanese Maples”. “Caring for Japanese maples requires regular, light pruning. The trees have an attractive shape naturally but may require careful removal of the branches for the desired look, to prevent branches from rubbing together, and to maintain size.” Read more..

Chelsea Flower Show And Peonies

hughe — Mon, 23 May 2011 12:50:31 +0000

In my last post I mentioned the preparations for the Chelsea Flower Show and this is the week that the show opens its doors to the public. Each year sees more and more ambitious designs to the extent that there is some adverse press comment that the structures are taking over from the flowers. For example here is Louise Gray writing in the Telegraph “Chelsea extravagance reaches new heights” .

Her article has a picture of the Irish Sky Garden taken from above, but to get a real idea of what it looks like you need to see the picture in the Daily Mail which also shows the 30 foot high B&Q tower garden.

Some of the more conservative exhibitors were wearing “quiet smiles of satisfaction” as the weather stepped in and high winds meant that the sky garden had to stay on the ground and the tower garden took on a slight list as reported in The Independent.

After the earthquake and tsunami which devastated his country in March the Japanese designer decided that he would have to abandon his plans, but changed his mind last month and resolved to create a new garden to send a message to the world that Japan was fighting back. This story also comes from The Telegraph.

And I could’nt leave this topic without mentioning the South Korean garden which has as its main feature the smallest room.

A few days ago I visited a local garden and found this magnificent peony in full bloom. There were several specimens in the garden, but this one called Mischief was being featured as the Plant of the Week. My excuse for including this picture is this article by Jennifer Jewell in anewscafe.com which has information on both the history of the peony and tips on cultivation. And as I have discovered peonies require patience. It will be many years before those in my garden reach the size of Mischief. Read more..

Skyfarming High In The Sky And Bee Nest Boxes

hughe — Wed, 11 May 2011 09:29:24 +0000

“Why garden high in the sky?” asks Linnea Due writing in the East Bay Express. The obvious answer is to increase the growing area by making maximum use of the space. Mind you to describe it as “high in the sky” is somewhat of an exaggeration when what the article goes on to discuss is using a trellis or other form of support on a wall or fence. But the author has a good point when she suggests that your crops will be easier to inspect when they are at eye level. They will also be less likely to suffer from pests when growing up in the air and not lying on the ground.

For Linnea Due the reasons are not just practical: “But to me, the best excuse for going up is aesthetic. Trellises, arches, hanging baskets, and the like add texture, varying focal points, and hidden nooks to an otherwise flat-as-a-pancake landscape. Once you try vertical gardening in your yard (it’s a must on a balcony, where space is premium), I guarantee you’ll never go back to ground level”. Read more..

For a real “high in the sky” experience you will have to visit the Chelsea Flower Show later this month. Skyfarming is the description given to this nine meter tall tower growing system. One wall is covered with plants while the others support solar panels which provide electricity to power the water pumps that push water from a borehole round the hydroponic growing system. Inside the tower, along with the stairs are greenhouse areas for propagation, and a compost chute. There is even an insect hotel with ninety bedrooms. Read more..

Bee nest boxes are a waste of time according to a recent study carried out by the University of Stirling. In the UK bumblebee nest boxes have become the must-have accessory for gardeners keen to help wildlife. But over a four year study not a single commercial nest box “became occupied or showed any sign of inhabitation” according to the report. The study involved the placing of 736 nest boxes in gardens and farms in southern England and central Scotland. Over the period of the study an average of only 23 nest boxes were used by bees, just over 3 per cent of the total. Read more..

Growing Vegetables On A Balcony Or In A Jar

hughe — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:41:23 +0000

“No Excuses, Just Vegetables” is the title of an article by Mike Lieberman in which he shows how, with a little ingenuity, even apartment dwellers can grow their own veggies. “It’s worth the time and effort if you grow even one herb or vegetable. It will make a difference” he says. Of course he really means that you should cram your balcony with as many containers as you can and plant vertically as well. What I found particularly interesting in his piece was his use of self-watering containers. As he says you can buy these or make them yourself. There is a link in the article to another page where he gives full instructions on how to make these containers. Read more..

If you don’t fancy the idea of having lots of containers on your balcony, then sprouts or micro-greens might be the answer for you. All you need is a jar or a small seed tray and a windowsill. This article taken from the Nashua Telegraph claims that “Leafy greens picked at the “sprout” stage, or let go to the “microgreen” stage hold more nutrition than their adult counterparts, and they need no cooking–an energy and time saver!” If you think this sounds all too good to be true, then take a look at the comment at the bottom of the original article in the Nashua Telegraph. Read more..

For a complete no grow solution you could follow Sam Thayer and try “Foraging The Weeds For Wild, Healthy Greens”. Delicacies such as shepherd’s purse, sow thistle and wild carrot can be found for free. But you need to know what you are doing since some wild plants such as poison hemlock are dangerous and can kill. Read more..

New Plants, DIY Gadgets And Queen Anne’s Lace

hughe — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:51:13 +0000

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I know it’s rather late but I have just noticed an article on new plants for 2011 and this has prompted me to check a few sites to see what new varieties are on offer this year.

Black and white seem to be common themes with the Black Velvet petunia and the Coconut Ice sunflower with its creamy white petals. Personally I’m not too keen on black flowers in the same way that blue roses do not seem to be quite right in my eyes. Here is a selection from Birds & Blooms.

High Country Gardens are featuring “the exclusive new Agastache “Blue Blazes” and a remarkable new ornamental grass called “Blonde Ambition” Blue Grama that has been chosen a Plant Select Winner for 2011″. Another of their newcomers that caught my eye was the Pink Cotton Lambs Ear (Stachys lavandulifolia).

Monrovia have come up with a number of exclusives with eye-catching names such as Blue Balloon Bluebeard, but the plant that I noticed was the Cathedral Gem Sausage Vine. Not that it is particularly impressive, but apparently it was found growing on the wall of Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire, U.K.

Tipnut is a website that I haven’t come across before. As its name suggests it’s full of tips on everything from household, health and beauty, DIY projects, crafts and gardening. The page I found was “Crafty Gadgets & Gear For The Garden” with a dozen crafty projects for the garden. These include DIY seedtape and a planter’s yardstick as well as various tool organisers. The Garden & Plants page has sections on Homemade Weedkiller Recipes, Raised Bed Plans and Do You Grow Dishcloths?

Queen Anne’s Lace is a wildflower which is common in North Georgia. Apart from its attractive white flowers it has many useful features. The plant is a wild carrot which can be eaten like a carrot when young, but that is the least of its virtues. The seeds can be used to make a tea which apparently “was used for centuries as a morning-after contraceptive”. A tea made from the leaves has many other uses as does the oil made by steam distillation of dried seed. The juice from the roots can treat skin conditions including wrinkles. When mixed with honey and oatmeal you have a homemade facial. Read more..

And finally some practical advice. When you see a title like “Should You Take the Burlap Off the Root Ball Before Planting?” you would expect to be given either a yes or a no, but it seems that you have to make up your own mind. Read more..

Invasive Plant Control And The Crabapple Branch

hughe — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:09:00 +0000

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As someone who tries to stick to organic principles and avoids the use of pesticides wherever possible, I am always interested to hear of ways to encourage natural predators. We all know that ladybugs eat aphids and so I always try to give them a helping hand to find their prey. And there are now several biological control products that you can purchase from the garden center to deal with different pests.

Fortunately most native plants have their own natural predators to keep them under control, but problems arise when plants are imported from abroad. In this case there is no natural predator and the plant can run wild and crowd out native plants.

I found an interesting article by Michael Behar which highlights the problems caused by invasive plants such as spotted knapweed which originates in Europe. He describes how Noah Poritz a 52-year-old entomologist earns his living selling beneficial bugs. In the case of the spotted knapweed the predator is the knapweed root weevil. Read more..

If you were asked to define your personality type I imagine you would describe yourself as extrovert or introvert or maybe somewhere in between. But have you heard of “The Crabapple Branch Gardener’s Personality Test”? Click the link and give it a try.

Fence Top Gardening And The Gas Plant

Vertical Gardening, Garden Designers And Giant Veggies

hughe — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 11:51:00 +0000

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Vertical gardening is not a new idea. Garden writers have for many years suggested that people with small courtyard gardens should make the most of the space by growing climbing plants up the walls and fences bounding their property. But new forms of vertical gardening are emerging. Some like the “green wall” covered with ferns are dramatic, but not really practical for the average home garden. Others can be both creative and highly practical serving both as a feature and useful to cover items that you wish to hide like unsightly sheds, air-conditioning units, utility poles, and fences. In her piece in the Philadephia Enquirer, Virginia A. Smith describes how “Vertical plants and props also earn their keep as architectural statements and problem-solvers. They offer what designers call “exclamation points” in otherwise flat landscapes”. Read more..

If you have suffered from the brown marmorated stink bug, help may be at hand. Research at at a laboratory in Newark is developing a possible biological control. A tiny parasitic wasp may be able to nip the stink bug explosion in the bud by preying on stink bug eggs. Read more..

I always enjoy reading about garden designers and I found these two articles about two very different characters. Lancelot Capability Brown the sixteenth century landscape designer revolutionised the landscapes of the great English estates. He removed flowerbeds surrounded by box hedging and what he considered fussy objects that restricted the view. He invented the ha-ha as a replacement for the wall so that you could have an uninterrupted view of the landscape. Read more..

Diarmuid Gavin, a 46 year old from Dublin hates neatly clipped lawns, clusters of pretty roses and a few bumpy rockeries thrown in for good measure. He has built a reputation on his experimental gardening style – and the forceful personality that’s seen him clash with colleagues in the gardening world. “To be honest, a lot of people in the business tend to get along better with their plants and flowers than they do with other people” he says. Read more..

And finally two giant veg stories. First 9-year-old Austin Davis from Charleston, W Virginia and his twenty-one pound cabbage and Panhandle man Sam Pittman with his 8-pound turnip. No picture for this one and it was too tough to eat!

Organic Loses Out On Vitamins And Antioxidants

hughe — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 12:21:16 +0000

I’ve just come across a recent study that claims that vegetables grown using chemical fertilizers contain more vitamins and so may be better for you than organic produce. This is a report by the British consumer magazine Which? and has caused some consternation among organic gardeners. The claims follow a two year study growing potatoes, broccoli and tomatoes. The three vegetables were grown side by side, one using chemical based fertilizer and pesticides, the other organic feed. It seems that the non-organic potatoes contained more vitamin C than their organic counterparts. Similarly the non-organic broccoli contained more antioxidants and, probably most controversially, the non-organic tomatoes were rated higher by a panel of tasters. Read more..

I’m sure that from time to time most of us have tried planting unusual seeds just to see if they would germinate and produce an interesting plant. Writing in the New York Times Michael Tortorello has taken this to the extreme. Emptying out his kitchen cupboards and his fridge he has assembled a huge array of seeds large and small to carry out his botanical experiment. Needless to say most had little chance from the start, but it makes a good story. Read more..

Aquaponics, Ground Cover And Crape Myrtle Murder

hughe — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 14:18:10 +0000

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Maybe you think it’s still too cold, but “There are actually many tasks that need to be done in February to kick off a great growing season” according to Susan Owens a Celina resident and a Collin County Master Gardener. She recommends you should start with a soil test and then complete your pruning before plants start to come out of dormancy. But avoid Crape Myrtle murder if you want a profusion of blooms. Read more..

“Season extending” is the subject of Margaret Lauterbach’s piece in the Idaho Statesman. There’s no point in planting seeds in cold soil so she describes the various ways you can speed up the warming process in the spring and also how to protect your young plants from late frosts. One product she mentions is Walls o’ Water (WOWs) and I found this post at Gardenweb describing how to make your own from 2 liter bottles. Read more..

“Ground cover is a low-maintenance alternative to lawns” is the title of this article by Dan Gill. In fact this is far more than just suggesting you dig up your lawn and replant with low growing groundcover plants. He talks about those shady areas under trees and bushes where the addition of groundcover plants can make all the difference. Instructions on preparation and planting are followed by a comprehensive list suitable plants for these conditions. Read more..

Another way to beat the cold is to grow indoors. Recently I wrote about Windowfarms which are a variation on the hydroponic method. Now there is Aquaponics which combines fish with hydroponics. Where before farmers needed to grow vegetables and fish separately, an aquaponics system allows you to do both at the same time and in the same location. The concept is premised on the interdependence of fish and plants; plants create the perfect environment for fish to grow by cleaning the water and the fish produce the bio-nutrients that plants need for their growth. If you are curious as to how you can benefit from an aquaponics system, Read more..

Raised Beds, Seed Catalogues And Waiting Out Winter

Moles, Slugs And Compost

hughe — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 12:11:00 +0000

Did you know that pound-for-pound the common garden mole is more efficient than the 642-ton Emerald Mole tunneling machine? While the Emerald Mole achieves 5 feet per hour on a good day, the little critter can dig 15 feet per hour in good soils. What most gardeners will be interested in is not how quickly moles can dig, but how to prevent the appearance of molehills in their lawns.

“When moles are most active, about 20 percent of the calls agent Dave Pehling takes at the Washington State University extension office in Everett, Wash., are from people exasperated by moles.

“There’s not really a lot we can tell them,” Pehling said. That’s because nothing really works for long to get rid of a mole, and if it does, another will just move in”.

But if you can contain your irritation, there is a plus side.
“People should be grateful for moles, agrees Linda Chalker-Scott, associate professor and extension urban horticulturist at Puyallup for Washington State University.

“They are definitely your friends. They are nature’s little rototillers; they aerate the soil and do a wonderful job of bringing a lot of organic material into the soil. They are doing all this great work for us, we don’t have to pay them anything, and most of us are out there trying to kill them.” Read more..

And the soil from those molehills can be converted into excellent potting compost. Read more..

Slugs are another common problem for many of us. The way that they nibble at our emerging plants I find particularly annoying. Suggested remedies are many and varied. My bookshelf contains a slim volume entitled “50 Ways To Kill A Slug” which lists all the conventional forms of control plus several weired ideas. Kym Pokorny writing in The Oregonian has her own suggestions. Read more..

The fact that there are so many different ways to make compost tends to make the process seem more complicated than it really is. Here’s a suggestion for making compost indoors using some rather unusual ingredients:

Pruning Roses, Sprouts And Nightmare Weeds

hughe — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 16:15:48 +0000

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If you want some indoor gardening activities while waiting for spring and a window farm does not appeal, why not grow some sprouts? Brussels sprouts are one of those vegetables that you either love or hate, but they are not what I am talking about. “How to grow sprouts” is the title of an article I found in the Christian Science Monitor which is all about sprouting seeds. In their case mung beans which are ready to eat anywhere from three to five days after sowing. Read more..

Pruning roses is one of those tasks that often worries novice gardeners, so it’s useful to have a reminder of the correct way to tackle it. Dr. Michael Ishak is a retired physician and an accomplished rose consultant with the South Coast Rose Society. Although his advice is aimed at California residents who have to take a couple of extra steps to induce a resting period, the general principles apply wherever you live. I was pleased to be reminded that climbing roses should have their stems trained horizontally to encourage the plant to produce shoots and flowers at each bud rather than just at the tip. Read more..

Whenever I see a title like “Getting rid of nightmare weeds” I hope that I will discover the simple solution to removing the bindweed and couch grass from my garden. Needless to say there is no magic bullet, in fact one lady mentioned in the article took 20 years to eradicate horsetail from her yard. That is an extreme case but bindweed, it seems, does need three years to kill off all the roots. And then it might just creep back from next door unless you install “a weed barrier of at least three feet (one metre) deep (deeper if possible)”. In my case I just learn to live with them. Did I mention that this comes from the Delta Optimist? Read more..

Finally I could not resist including a link to this garden gadget despite the fact that it has nothing to do with gardening or tulips, but just vaguely looks like one. Read the article then watch the video.

Tulip Corkscrew

Mexican Windowfarm And Asian Greens

hughe — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 11:16:53 +0000

In my last post I mentioned an article “Waiting out winter: strategies for gardeners” which contained a list of things you can do indoors while waiting for spring. Top of the list was “Start something from seed. One seed tray on a windowsill can make a difference”. Taking this to the next level is the Windowfarm which allows you to grow up to 25 plants with an average size window. This is a hydroponic system which comes in kit form using recycled water bottles. I found this video which explains how it works.

In fact the Windowfarms.org has been around since 2009, but the reason I am writing about it today is because a Mexican Jose de la O has produced a new design. His system consists of modular units that fit together on the window allowing you to choose how many you require. For a not exactly complimentary review, Read more..

So what can you grow in your windowfarm? From the video you may have noticed various herbs and the harvest of two lettuce leaves and a tomato. If you are starting in the winter you want to choose fast growing crops so that you can see some early results. Terry Kramer writing for the Times-Standard recommends Asian greens. “These tasty, nutritious vegetables are the ultimate fast food when it comes to growing your own; they zoom. Most can be harvested within four weeks after setting out starts”. Read more..

Raised Beds, Seed Catalogues And Waiting Out Winter

hughe — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 11:50:30 +0000

January is the seed catalog month when winter prevents outside activities, but gives us plenty of time to plan for the coming season. All those new varieties are so tempting especially when the catalog pictures all show perfect specimens which never seem to be recreated in our own gardens. I found this article in the New York Times which has some wise advice on controlling your seed order.
Read more..

If you’ve never tried using a raised bed in your garden the beginning of a new year is a good time to start. Raised beds have several advantages over growing plants in open ground. It is easier to control the soil composition so that you know you are using the best soil mixture for your plants. The raised soil level makes it easier to tend the plants. Making a raised bed is a simple diy task, but if you want some detailed instructions, I found this site which shows several different designs. Read more..

And if you want some ideas on how to plan your raised bed, follow this link.

This talk of raised beds is all very well, but if you’re stuck inside looking out on snow and ice, what you need are some practical suggestions on how to occupy your time until gentler weather arrives. “Waiting out winter: strategies for gardeners” is a simple list of sixteen ideas with something for everyone. Top of the list is “Start something from seed. One seed tray on a windowsill can make a difference”. One that I always mean to try is “Force budding branches into bloom”. But I’m not so sure about their final tip “If all else fails, eat chocolate or head south”. Read more..

Holiday Plants, Mistletoe And Egypt

hughe — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 11:32:51 +0000

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As usual as the holiday season approaches there is no shortage of advice on suitable gifts for gardeners. Plants are popular presents, but some common varieties are a little tricky to care for indoors in the middle of winter. Poinsettias are a particular problem. In past years I have found articles advising you how to look after your poinsettia so that it will flower again next Christmas, but Bob Polomski who is an Extension Horticulturist at Clemson University has different ideas. In “What to do with holiday plants?” he tells how he deals with plant gifts once the holidays are over. Read more..

Writing in the Seattle Times, Ciscoe Morris has more advice on those holiday houseplants. Basically – do not eat them. While I can’t imagine anyone wanting to eat a poinsettia or an amaryllis bulb, it’s useful to be aware that they are poisonous and can cause serious harm both to humans and pets. And don’t hold your drink under the mistletoe in case one of its poisonous berries should fall into your glass. Read more..

Talking of mistletoe, if you plan to harvest some in the wild here’s some advice from one seasoned harvester, Bill Anderson from east Tennessee. Read more..

On a completely different note, if there are any reluctant gardeners among your friends and acquaintances, this story might encourage them to take another look at their backyard. A gardener from Derby in England was digging his garden when he discovered a stone bust shaped like a pharaoh. It turned out to be 4000 years old and worth an estimated $15,000. Mind you the chances of anyone else making a similar discovery are about as good as winning the lottery. Read more..

Christmas Tree Lights And A bargain Fountain

hughe — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 16:20:56 +0000

Decorating the Christmas tree is all part of the fun as we head towards the holidays, but hanging the lights on the tree can be quite a pain particularly if the wires are tangled. So would’nt it be handy if the tree came with its own lights built in? And I’m not talking about an artificial tree, but a regular pine or fir with light shining from its leaves.

Well you can’t buy one yet, but a Dr Yen-Hsun Su of the Research Center for Applied Science in Taiwan has just bioengineered a way to make a tree that glows. As an experiment he implanted nanoparticles of gold into a plant and the leaves began to glow. Read more..

December is not usually the month when you would be thinking about garden fountains, but I found this coupon which gives you a 10% discount. Just click the banner below and quote DecSAS10.

Sky Planters, Christmas Trees and a Hori Hori

Stomping Snails And Non-Toxic Dandelion Killers

hughe — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 11:28:31 +0000

A few weeks ago I wrote about an English gardener who was investigating the homing instinct of snails. By marking their shells with a little spot of nail varnish she was able to check whether snails she had moved a certain distance were able to find their way back. It turned out that thirty yards was the critical distance. If you remove the snails further than this you will not see them again.

Heather Hacking from Chico CA has a different approach. For her the most satisfying form of organic pest control is snail stomping. Having decimated the snail population in her own yard she now scours the sidewalks in her neighborhood after rain in search for more of these pests. Read more..

“Non-Toxic Dandelion Killer” sounds great – just what I need I thought. Dandelions in the spring are hard to get rid of, particularly in the lawn. Read on and you discover that “Your kitchen and bathroom are the first places you should look for non-toxic options for killing dandelions in your yard. You might be surprised to learn about what you already have in your home that can be used as a non-toxic weed killer”.

Several homemade recipes are suggested, but it is not too clear as to how effective they are. But then you can always use your shovel to dig them out making sure that you don’t leave any of the root behind. Finally the counsel of perfection – don’t allow any to go to seed! Read more..

Finally a suggestion for a homemade activity which is both creative and could solve your Christmas present headaches. These eco planters are made from cement and vermiculite using common household containers for the moulds.

“I started making these eco planters for gifts a year ago and haven’t stopped. They are simple, stylish and downright lovable. Each pot is unique and has an organic, handmade feel. It is not an instant gratification project and you will have to commit, but the results are well worth it. I like to make about six at a time.”

Autumn Leaves And The Sixth Secret

hughe — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:41:46 +0000

Fall colors have been exceptional this year. The weather conditions have been ideal to produce strong leaf colors that have not been matched for many years. But now the wind and rain are combining to strip the trees of their autumn tints and leave us with the task of raking up the leaves.

This used to be a job that I found more physically taxing than any other gardening task, even digging. After I had finished I felt completely wacked. But over the last few years I have found that it has required less effort, perhaps because I take it more slowly.

Last year I was seduced by one of those glossy catalogs to buy a leaf vacuum and shredder. The catalog showed a picture of a lightweight machine with wheels that you could push like a mower to collect all the leaves. I placed my order just as the first leaves were falling, but unfortunately everyone else had the same idea and a week later I received a letter telling me that they had sold out and had to reorder new stock. By the time the machine arrived I had already completed the annual task with my trusty rake. But this year it will be a different story and I am looking forward to using my machine for the first time.

Once you have collected the leaves the question remains as to what to do with them. Leaves are a valuable source of humous which will improve your soil so putting them out for collection with the garbage is such a waste. Collect the leaves into plastic bin bags and store them over the winter and you will have fine leafmold in time to dig in to the soil in the spring. Add a spadeful of soil and some grass cuttings to each bag to encourage the process. That last tip came from Marianne Binetti and you can read her article here.

Another way that you can use some of your leaves is suggested by Ronique Gibson in “10 Ways to Organically Decorate your Thanksgiving Home”. I’m not sure quite how practical is her suggestion of using tougher leaves like Magnolia and Oak leaves for coasters for your drink, but there are nine other ideas and the pictures are stunning.

As all marketers know the word “secret” always attracts attention and so I could not escape the headline “Achieving Happiness In Your Garden: The Sixth Secret”. It turns out that the secret is really just good old-fashioned advice, but worth reading all the same.

Garden Gadgets,Topsy Turveys And A Weed Whacker

Lizards, Lilies and Gardening For A Lifetime

hughe — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 10:44:20 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

What’s free, green and provides exercise in the fresh air? Well according to George Weigel it’s compost. Free because you are using grass clippings, fallen leaves and other plant matter from your own garden. Green because you are recycling matter that would otherwise have to be carted off to landfill and the outdoor exercise comes from building and turning the compost pile. In his article George dispels the common misconceptions about smelly piles that atttact rodents and then extols the benefits of compost in the garden. A useful reminder of why every yard should have at least one compost heap. Read more..

When I read the headline “Natural Selection and Macroevolution in your lifetime” I could not understand why this was included in a list of gardening articles. Furthermore the headline itself was hardly enticing, but I was curious and did read the article. At first glance it is about a particular species of lizard, but read on and you will discover how the lizard’s relationship with a variety of arum lily has changed the landscape of a Mediterranean island in just twenty years. Read more..

“As young gardeners, we put in youthful plants that proceed to grow in unexpected and often unintended ways. Suddenly, or so it seems, we become older gardeners and find ourselves trying to control the unwanted but perfectly natural behavior of mature plants.” This is a quote from “Gardening for a Lifetime — How to Garden Wiser as You Grow Older” by Sydney Eddison which is reviewed by Jim McLain in the Yakima Herald-Republic. Read his review and if you are interestd you can by the book at Amazon from the link below. Here’s the review.

Putting The Garden To Bed

hughe — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 11:40:26 +0000

I have been preoccupied with other things of late and so have neglected this blog, but I noticed a couple of articles with some useful tips for this time of year. October is the month for “Putting the garden to bed” and both authors use this in their title. The first is by Molly Nemec, a Chisago County Master Gardener, who reminds us of the importance of watering newly-planted trees. She follows this with some general tips on the fall cleanup including a reminder to clean your birdhouses. Read more..

The second contribution is from Tim Lamprey, the owner of Harbor Garden Center on Route 1 in Salisbury. His article deals with the problems that can arise from fungus diseases that can over-winter on debris in your garden if you do not do a proper cleanup before the winter. He also stresses the importance of disposing of diseased plant matter correctly. It’s not good enough just to toss it onto a cold compost heap. Read more..

Window Farms And A Clip-On Apartment Garden

Seed Bombs Achieve Respectability

hughe — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 13:01:16 +0000

Guerilla gardening or the practice of cultivating small pockets of land without the consent of the owner is now an established part of the urban scene. Because of the lack of cosent the planting usually takes place after dark when there are few people around to notice. However one technique than can be employed during the day is seed bombing. Seed bombs are made from a mixture of clay seeds and fertilizer which is rolled into small round balls which can be scattered on patches of bare soil. Once it rains the clay softens and with luck the seeds will germinate. Seed bombs are not new as is clear from this video on YouTube which is over four years old.

Seed bombs have now achieved an air of respectability. In Los Angeles you can find former gumball machines loaded with seed bombs. Pay your fifty cents and become a guerilla! Read more..

Smallest Hydroponic System And Giant Snails

hughe — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 09:34:14 +0000

Hailed as the world’s smallest automatic hydroponic system the LabBox from Pocket Grow is certainly small. Measuring just 6 ins wide by 5.5 ins tall the system includes drip feed watering and LED lighting. A micro controller automates the plant care, but for fine tuning you can regulate the system from your pc or cell phone. The makers state that their goal is “to create a collaborative agricultural containment experiment that promotes education, sustainable bio technologies and agriculture technologies”. The LabBox Grower is not currently available but is due to start shipping in January 2011. Read more..

Returning to the subject of slugs and snails that I mentioned in a recent post, I found two stories concerning these problem pests. The first concerns the apparent homing instinct of snails. An enterprising lady living in Devon, England noticed that when she removed snails from her plants and deposited them at the end of her garden they were soon back on her plants. Since one snail looks much like another it was hard to tell whether the snails she removed were returning or newcomers were taking their place. So she put a dab of nail varnish on the shells and was able to prove that this homing instinct was indeed true. Taking matters one step further she then tried to discover how far away you have to move the snails before they lose their ability to find their way back. It seems that the critical distance is thirty meters. More than this and you are safe.

Source: BBC

The other snail story is a problem waiting to be solved. In Kerala, India Giant African Snails have eaten fruit, flower buds, mulberry shoots, cotton plants and the leaves of maize. The village people call them ‘Rakshasa Hula’ or demon caterpillar. Read more..

Garden Gadgets,Topsy Turveys And A Weed Whacker

hughe — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 10:23:35 +0000

Garden gadgets always remind me of fishermens’ lures which often seem to be designed to catch the angler rather than the fish. But whenever I see a list of the latest garden gadgets I have to take a look to see if there is anything new and of practical use. Today I have found a short list containing five products. Lawn aerator shoes, soil test kits and a push lawn mower have all been around for ever, but the Wearable Gardening Stool is one that I have not seen before. The one product that did sound rather geeky was the High Tech Plant Examining Glasses which allow you to detect whether your grass or greenery is struggling long before it can be seen with the naked eye. Read more..

One gadget that has been around for several years is the upside-down tomato planter or Topsy Turvy which is the name that Linden Staciokas uses to describe them. The idea was that diseases and insects don’t attack upside down crops as often as right side up crops, but there are some downsides to this technique as this article explains. Read more..

September brings falling leaves which have to be raked up, bagged and sent to the municipal compost piles. Rather than disposing of your leaves, why not convert them into a fine mulch to use around your plants? I found this tip for a novel way to use your weed wacker. Read more..

How To Turn Your Weeds Into Salad

hughe — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 11:30:49 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

I found this article by Margaret Lauterbach with the intriguing title “When life gives you weeds, make a salad” and it reminded me of a book I bought many years ago called “How to enjoy your weeds”. For most gardeners weeds are a nuisance that require constant attention if we are to keep our beds and borders free of them. Of course you can keep most weeds at bay with a generous layer of mulch, but even this will not suppress bindweed which is my pet hate. But this is straying from the theme of her article which is in effect “if you can’t beat them, learn to make use of them”.

The article lists five common weeds that you can include in a salad. Dandelion is top of her list, a plant that is rich in vitamins and minerals, but is too bitter for my taste.

Purslane is one that I have not eaten myself, but is apparently nutritionally rich, containing more omega-3 fatty acids than some fish oils. Purslane is also a very good source of Vitamins A, C, some B complex vitamins, and dietary minerals such as iron, calcium, potassium, and others. It’s usually added to salads.

The article describes how Sonchus (sowthistle) is eaten in New Zealand, but history records that it was used as a salad herb by the Romans. More recently the herbalist Culpeper suggested its use as a cosmetic that “is wonderful good for women to wash their faces with, to clear the skin and give it lustre”.

One common weed that is not included in the article is the stinging-nettle. As a source of iron it beats spinach and also contains vitamin C. While nettle eating contests prove that you can eat it raw, most recipes involve cooking in some way. The book I mentioned earlier on “How to enjoy your weeds” has recipes for nettle soup, creamed nettles and nettle porridge and also instructions for making nettle wine and nettle beer. Read more..

Window Farms And A Clip-On Apartment Garden

hughe — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:51:06 +0000

No yard space to grow your veggies? No problem, just build your own Vertical Hydroponic Window Farm. Now anyone can grow crops. All you need is a window and the hydroponic kit. If you follow the link in the article to the WindowFarms Project website you will see that the latest version can grow 16 plants provided your window is large enough. It is possible to modify the system to double the plant capacity to 32. And the more plants you grow the more efficient in terms of the amount of nutritional calories per fossil fuel calorie the system becomes. And if you’re not quite sure what that means, you will just have to read the article on their site. Read more..

If you’re feeling slightly more ambitious and want to increase the growing space in your apartment a group of New Zealand students have come up with a novel solution. Their clip-on garden in a box Plant Room is designed to be bolted on to the front of your apartment. This extra space will provide room for a vegetable garden, clothes line, rainwater collection and solar hot water production. The basic idea is to, “combine sustainability with cheaper energy and a desire to improve the landscape from inside, and out.” Read more..

Coming back down to earth Annie Spiegelman, the author of,“Talking Dirt: The Dirt Diva’s Down to Earth Guide to Organic Gardening”, has seven tips to save you money in your garden. Compost, compost, mulch and succulents are just four of her tips. All good solid advice from a Master Gardener. Read more..

Poisonous Weeds And Liquid Fertilizer

hughe — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:21:23 +0000

Gardening is generally regarded as a gentle pastime which involves a mixture of light work interspersed by periods of calm when we can stop and enjoy the beauty around us. But as I mentioned in my last post there are hidden dangers in some of that beauty such as the gas plant that can cause a nasty rash. Summer salads can often be made more appetising by the addition of some herbs, but even here there are dangers for the unwary. Recently I saw a press release from the Weed Science Society of America which told of a woman in Washington State who died from suspected hemlock poisoning after gathering the leafy green weed and using it on a salad. They have produced a list of their top ten rogue’s gallery. Read more..

FLICKR/JOHN.E.ROBERTSON

Using urine as a fertilizer for plants and trees has a centuries-old history. It is a renewable organic resource with the perfect combination of plant-growing nutrients that also saves water and chemicals when kept out of the sewage stream. Urine provides ideal amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium: the three nutrients required by all growing plants. Source www.ehow.com where you can read instructions on How to Use Urine as Fertilizer. While the idea is not immediately appealing there are apparently a number of organic gardeners who follow this practice.

Pradhan and Heinonen-Tanski, environmental scientists at the University of Kuopio in Finland carried out a trial growing four plots of beets and treated one with mineral fertilizer, one with urine and wood ash, one solely with urine, and one with no fertilizer, as a control. The beets grown in the plot with urine fertilizer wre larger than those treated with mineral fertilizer. Read more..

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen garden gnomes mentioned in the news, but today I came across this toe-curling headline “Gno end to gnome-lovers”. Despite the fact that these harmless creatures are alomst universally despised and rarely seen in gardens, it has been reported that more than 26,000 were sold on ebay in Canada last year. Read more..

And if you would like to see some more of these friendly chaps, take a look at my Gnome Gallery.

Fence Top Gardening And The Gas Plant

hughe — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 21:17:09 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

Everyone knows that they should avoid touching poison ivy and if they do the result is likely to be rather painful. While poison ivy declares its menace in its name, there are several other plants which can cause a nasty rash as Jane Milliman discovered to her cost. In her case the culprit was the gas plant, Dictamnus albus. Other plants that should be given a wide berth that Jane mentions in her article include wild parsnip and giant hogweed. Both of these are umbellifers and other members of that family can also cause rashes. These include dill, celery, parsnip and even the humble carrot. Read more..

Upside down tomato planters are very much old hat these days, but Tony Tangorra has given the idea a new twist with his Fence Top Gardening. He has produced a heavy-duty plastic bracket that attaches to the top of a fence and securely holds a pot. The patent pending container bracket fits all fence tops and allows you to grow from the bottom, side and top. Further details are available from his website and you can even buy the brackets from Amazon, although it was out of stock when I checked. Read more..

Major Clark Davis who lives in Dunlap decided that he would like to start growing vegetables, but did not want to dig up his lawn or have to erect rabbit proof fencing. I suppose he could have gone to Fence Top Gardening, but instead he took his inspiration from the Survival Blog.com. He has installed three 10-foot long, 6-inch diameter PVC pipes mounted horizontaly on wooden posts. The pipes are filled with Miracle Grow soil and seedlings are planted into holes drilled in the top of the pipes. The lowest pipe is 18 inches from the ground, too high for rabbits but high enough so he can still mow the grass underneath. Read more..

Vertical Gardening, Garden Designers And Giant Veggies

Cat Repellent and a Small Budget

hughe — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 22:14:39 +0000

A few years ago I wrote an article on How To Keep Cats Out Of Your Garden. As well as placing a copy on my website I submitted it to Ezine Articles where it has been viewed over 152,000 times. Clearly cats are a problem for many gardeners and although various solutions have been suggested, none appear to be particularly effective. I found this article which is concerned with keeping your cats in the garden and preventing them from escaping into the neighbourhood, but it seems that the remedy they suggest would be equally effective at keeping other cats out. The basic idea is that you erect a special type of netting on top of your garden fence. Because the netting is flimsy the cat cannot get a grip and vault itself over. The article includes a link to a page with detailed insructions for a Do-It-Yourself Cat Fence. Read more..

Raised Beds are so popular nowadays that some people believe that you cannot grow vegetables without one. To buy the timber kit and suitable soil to fill it from a garden center will set you back quite a few $$$, and this has led people to think that they cannot afford to start a garden. People turn to growing their own vegetables with a view to saving money, but often it turns out that it would be cheaper to buy from your local supermarket when you take account of all you have spent on plants and fertilizer as well as tools and equipment. But help is at hand in the form of Maureen Gilmer whose Small Budget Gardener: All the Dirt on Saving Money in Your Garden contains helpful tips and advice on how you can create beautiful, healthy sustainable landscapes with recycled materials and limited resources. Read more..

Organic Weedkillers And Chelsea Flower Show

hughe — Thu, 27 May 2010 09:50:26 +0000

Controlling broadleaf weeds in the lawn has always been a problem and particularly so for organic gardeners who do not use chemical weedkillers. In my garden I have several clumps of wild promroses that self seed naturally through the borders and provide a fine display in the spring. What is not so welcome is that they seed equally vigorously in the lawn. This is in addition to the usual crop of daisies, dandelions and the other common weeds that spoil the look of the grass.

But help may be at hand. Recently I came across a product which claims to be both organic and effective. Iron X is a selective weedkiller for lawns. It contains iron in a chelated form which you dilute in water and spray on the grass. The iron has no adverse effect on the grass, but kills most broadleaf weeds. And it is fast acting – within hours of application, broadleaf weeds turn black and begin to die.

At present Iron X is only available from Gardens Alive where you can find a list of the twenty weeds that it controls.

Maria Rodlale, CEO and Chairman of Rodale, Inc, has her own secret organic weed control method. This one is not for lawns, but rather those awkward places where weeds sprout among rocks and cracks in paving stones. Simple in the extreme – just boil a kettle and pour hot water on your weeds. Apparently it works best on smaller weeds. Read more..

It’s Chelsea Flower Show time again. In fact it’s nearly over. The show has been running all this week and there are some stunning exhibits. I’ve found this short video from YouTube which is an introduction to the show, but if you want to see more including tours of all the show gardens go to the BBC website.

Smallest Waterlily In The World

hughe — Wed, 19 May 2010 11:36:32 +0000

I heard about this on the radio this morning and then found this link to the story:

Smallest waterlily in the world brought back from the brink of …

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’s top propagation ‘code-breaker’, horticulturist Carlos Magdalena, has cracked the enigma of growing a rare species of African waterlily – believed to be the smallest waterlily in the world with pads than …

Publish Date: 05/19/2010 1:30

http://www.sciencecodex.com/smallest_waterlily_in_the_world_brought_back_from_the_brink_of_extinction_at_kew_gardens

You can see pictures of the waterlily here.

Smallest Hydroponic System And Giant Snails

Roses, Radishes and Squared Recipes

hughe — Tue, 04 May 2010 11:17:30 +0000

Following the revival of interest in his space saving “square foot gardening” technique Mel Brooks has recently published the natural sequel the “All New Square Foot Gardening Cookbook“. The book covers fruits and vegetables from A to T, Asparagus to Tomatoes with Melons and Berries for the fruit. Unlike the average cookbook this one starts with advice on when to harvest, how to know that it’s ready and even when it’s too late. Then there are tips on storage and even companion planting receives a mention. Finally we come to the recipes which include Roasted Asparagus With Cherry Tomatoes and Asparagus Wild Rice Salad.

Source(which includes recipes for Squash and Crab Soup and Cool Cucumber Ginger Limeade).

Krystle Vermes writes a regular Plant of the Week column in the Boston Green Community Examiner and her piece on radishes caught my eye. Radishes are ideal crops for kids because they are easy to grow and take only a few weeks from planting the seeds to harvest. With their bright pink skin and peppery taste radishes make a coloful addition to any salad. Read more..

A recent subject in the Plant of the Week series covered a flower that has been flourishing for over 35 million years. Certainly the rose has been prized throughout history and remains a firm favorite today. The article by Krystle Vermes includes advice on planting and varieties as well as the best time to pick them for use in flower arrangements. And it gives me an excuse to include some of photos of a few of my favorites. Read more..

The strongly scented GertrudeJekyl

St Swithun climbing rose

Rose border at RHS Wisley

Heucheras, Hostas And A Portable Garden

hughe — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:40:12 +0000

The technique known as “square foot gardening” has been around for many years. In fact it was way back in 1981 that Mel Bartolomew wrote about this method of growing plants in small 4 foot square boxes. The benefits are now well known – less work, fewer weeds and less water. It is also an ideal system for the beginner and, what I have not seen mentioned before, for someone whose job involves frequent house moves.

Bryn Bird’s husband is in the Navy and so each time they move to a new posting she packs up the soil and boards of her square foot garden and loads them into the removal van along with her other belongings. On arrival at the new station she can reassemble her garden and be ready to plant straightaway. Read more..

On a similar theme, if you want to grow grow climbing vegetables in a small space, here is a simple design for an A frame that is an easy DIY job. A neat feature of this design is the replaceable foot. Read more..

“Heuchera is a shady alternative to hosta” writes Sara Busse in the Charleston Gazette. I love hostas but so do slugs, and there is nothing worse in my eyes than a hosta that has been decimated by these slimy pests. Mind you I do not find heucheras as attractive as hostas, but they are useful plants and I do have several in my garden. Read more..

Basil, Berries and De-Lawning Plus Gadgets

hughe — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 10:49:13 +0000

Just over a month ago I featured a report calling for us to scrap the lawn and today there is another. This comes from an article quoting Susan McCoy from the Garden Media Group who tells us what is trendy this year. “The rewards of growing your own—basil, berries or flowers—are boundless” she says “and people are looking increasingly to their plots of green, little or large, to recharge, and reap the benefits both aesthetic and, often, edible”.

Losing the lawn or de-lawning is the current trend “to reduce or eliminate a green pit of wasted time, money and space”. Recycle rainwater, think vertically, go native with plants are other directions in which we should be moving. Read more..

I love reading about garden gadgets, and enjoy pouring scorn on some of the complicated and expensive products that are produced to perform functions that are far easier if done in the traditional way. But today I have found a useful gadget, a folding wheelbarrow which is ideal if you have limited storage space. On the same page you will find some other interesting ideas including a wheelbarrow chair. Read more..

Then here’s the Gadget of the Week – “By sharpening the normally dull sides of a pruning sheer, the Fiskars Garden Multi-Tool ($20) brings Leatherman-like convergence to your prized plants. One side is serrated for tough wood, while the other is a plenty-sharp knife. While we love the added functionality, be warned: You may be used to grabbing regular sheers by the blade, but one squeeze of these could be enough to keep your hands out of the garden until harvest. fiskars.com.”

Source

And finally here is what I would describe as the ultimate geeky gadget – the Blossoming Garden Solar Light. “This motorized flower blooms every single morning and closes up at night”. Read more..

Camellias And Unusual Visitors

hughe — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 13:09:44 +0000

When I moved to my present house some six years ago there were two camellia bushes in the garden. I don’t know what varieties they are, but one has white flowers and the other white. They are the first flowers to appear each spring although the pink variety which blooms first is often damaged by the frost.

Both bushes are over ten feet tall and the pink one leans over the adjoining path. I did prune it gently last autumn so that there was room to walk underneath, but the weight of the flowers pulls the branches down.

The reason I mention this is that last week I watched a gardening program on TV where they demonstrated that you can prune a camellia right down to within two feet of the ground and within a year it will produce new shoots and flower the following year. I don’t think I will be that drastic, but am encouraged to know that I am unlikely to kill the bush.

We had some unusual visitors to our 3×5 foot garden pond the other day. A pair of ducks arrived and she rooted around the weeds while he stood guard on the bank. There is a large pond about half a mile away in a local park and I assume this is where they came from, but why they should leave that large area of water for my small pond is a mystery.

Two days later I saw three ducks in the pond, but before I could get my camera they waddled off down to the bottom of my garden where there is a small stream. I assumed they had flown in, but perhaps they had used the stream. Anyway there is no harm to the pond although I cannot see the frogspawn any longer..

No related posts.

A Tale Of Two Poplars

hughe — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 12:08:19 +0000

Last November I wrote about what I described as “the loss of an old friend”. There used to be two magnificent poplar trees in a garden near to the back of my house, but last November one was blown down in a storm. It was the smaller of the two that fell and I hoped that we would be able to keep the second tree. Unfortunately an inspection revealed that the remaining poplar was no longer safe and so had to come down too. Because of the proximity of several houses it was not possible to fell the tree in one go. Instead one man and a chainsaw nibbled away until it had been reduced to half its original height before the remaining trunk was brought down. It was a fascinating operation to watch, but a great pity that two such fine trees have been lost.

Yesterday I Lost An Old Friend

The $64 Tomato Grown From Seed

hughe — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:19:26 +0000

This article by Jeff Lowenfels “How to grow tomatoes — starting now” is a useful reminder of the basics of growing tomatoes from seed. He takes you through all the steps from seed to plant with a reminder that tomato roots must never touch the walls of the container until they get into their final resting place. And for anyone who thinks this sounds like too much trouble, you can always buy your plants from the nursery. Read more..

Growing your own vegetables has become ever more popular in these recessionary times. The main reasons given are that crops from your own garden are fresher and tastier than those bought from the store and to save money. But some are questioning exactly how much you really save. I found this article by Reid Kanaley which contains links to several reports that have calculated that the savings in money terms are quite small. And beware the $64 tomato! Read more..

Garden Ramblings – March Issue Now Online

hughe — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:02:26 +0000

The March issue of Garden Ramblings is now online. This will be the last issue of the newsletter which has been published every month since 2004. Unfortunately the number of subscribers has reduced recently and this has been mainly the result of several changes in my autoresponder service.

As regular readers will know the newsletter has relied on guest authors for much of the content over the last year or so and I have tried to bring you useful articles on various gardening topics. Although this newsletter will no longer be published, I plan to increase posts to this blog to include guest authors whenever I find interesting articles. I have added a subscription form to the blog so you can sign up and receive an email each time there is a new post.

On to this month’s issue where I have included articles by four guest authors. First comes a warning from Abel Jones about the dangers of toxic mulch. This is clearly a significant problem and something you need to be aware of when buying chipped bark for mulch.

Our second guest is Jeffry Bullock who writes about “The Different Colours In Your Garden”. His article looks at the way that color can be used to create a mood in the landscape. He discusses the effect created by different colors and suggests plants that can be used for each.

Next Geoff Wolfenden gives us his ideas on “How To Keep Cats From Wrecking Your Garden”. This is a constant problem for many of us and Geoff has some useful tips.

Finally Mike Podlesny writes about “The Least Favorite Vegetables To Grow In The Garden”. This is the result of a poll he carried out with his subscribers and you may find the results surprising.

As usual we start with a video which is looking forward “Primavera – Spring is Coming”.

Here is the link to Garden Ramblings.

Spring Clean the Roses and Scrap the Lawn

hughe — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:15:33 +0000

“Staring at enticing photos of roses in magazines, books, and catalogs during winter makes it easy to conjure up images of warm days, fragrant blooms, and lush green foliage. But one look outside quickly snaps you back to reality: The garden’s a mess” is how Lynn Hunt introduces her piece on Spring Cleaning in the Rose Garden. Here you will find lots of practical advice, in particular the importance of removing all diseased leaves and her suggestions on feeding your plants. Read more..

If you live in a part of the country with an arid climate and want an alternative to the usual advice that you should just grow native plants, Susan Reimer has a suggestion. Give up your lawn and grow succulents instead. Although they like water and they look more lush and lovely when they get it, they will survive through dry weather. Grow them in containers and you will be able to move them around during the season. You will also be able to store them indoors during the winter. Read more..

It’s that time of year again when we should be starting on the veggies. And there’s no shortage of advice on how to set about it. Lee Reich has “10 steps to a successful first vegetable garden” with basic advice for beginners. If you prefer video Bob Webster has his “Vegetable Gardening 2010 Edition” which is a recording of his seminar. Take your pick.

Forest Gardens And Talking Weeds

hughe — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 10:52:13 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

Willie Chance who is now retired from UGA Extension in Houston County says that he knows of no reason not to talk to your plants, but suggests you stop if they begin to talk back. In fact he is making a serious point that although you will not hear what they are saying, if you use your eyes you will see that your weeds are giving you a clear message. For instance the appearance of certain weeds in your lawn can show you what you need to do to remedy the situation. Read more..

Many people are talking about a second Great Depression and Terry Johnson writes a somewhat gloomy article outlining the problems that may lie ahead. Although you can grow your own fruit and vegetables, he suggests that this may not be so easy as the cost of fuel and fertilizer rises to make this uneconomic. But he has the answer – a sustainable, self-renewing, low input food forest garden. Read more..

On a lighter note here is someone who is really into garden gadgets: “Gardening and lawn care is so much more fun when you have all the latest gadgets and tools. You know you are truly prepared when you step outside in your lawn aerator shoes and wearable garden stool, rolling your pecan picker upper, with your trusty power drill auger at your hip! If you are the type of person who loves gadgets and gizmos as much as you love gardening, then you are in the right place. Make sure you are not missing out on any new gardening equipment that you did not know you could not live without!” Read more..

Welcome To The New Look

hughe — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:30:03 +0000

Welcome to the new look Garden Supplies News. I was never entirely happy with the previous design although it was the best I could find at the time. Recently I came across this design by Chris Pearson which is plain and simple and so easier to read. But it is far more flexible allowing me to add extra sections on the right hand side. So now there is a list of recent entries and a full list of the archives as well. I hope you agree that this is a definite improvement over the previous design.

Welcome to the New Look Garden Supplies News

How To Grow New Vegetables In 2010

hughe — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:57:01 +0000

Yet another report confirms that growing your own vegetables is becoming ever more popular. “According to November’s Edible Gardening Trends Research Report sponsored by the Garden Writers Association, food gardening will continue to be big, with 37 percent of the households surveyed planning to expand their food garden this year. Many seed companies are paying attention to how this translates to sales of new offerings for 2010.”

After considering the technical difficulties of producing new crop varieties the article lists “Trendy seeds for 2010″. It’s an A to Z from ‘Agnes’ cucumber to ‘Zesty Blend’ microgreens. Read more..

If the above list has fired up your enthusiasm to have a go, but you’re not quite sure where to start, this article will point you in the right direction. Sarah Henning leads you through the process starting with how to pick your site, whether to use a raised bed or containers, what to grow and how to prepare your soil. Her 7 point check list ends with the final instruction: “Eat. Harvest your garden’s bounty and enjoy every last bit!” And there’s a handy planting timetable as well. Read more..

Finally the February issue of Garden Ramblings is now online. Do take a look.

Gray Water And A Travelling Garden

hughe — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:40:48 +0000

When you see a headline “Giant Man-Shaped Travelling Garden” and below it a picture of a plot measring 60 meters square planted with herbs in the shape of a man, there is clearly a problem. How can a large herb garden firmly rooted in the earth travel even a few meters, let alone from town to town as this giant claims to do? Obviously it cannot, but what this story is about is a crew of Japanese landscape designers that travel around during the summer creating their giant in different locations. Like a travelling circus, but using shipping containers rather than tents, they arrive at a site and plant their giant. The containers are then used to teach visitors about the medical uses of the herbs. The reason for the giant is that the herbs are planted in the areas of the body for which they are beneficial. As well as the education of their visitors there is an added benefit in that they use funds raised to go towards building playgrounds in developing countries. Read more..

In times of water shortages and hosepipe bans we are often encouraged to reuse “gray water” from our baths and sinks for the garden rather than just let it drain away into the sewers. But now it seems that this may not be such a good idea after all. Here’s a warning from the Health Mininstry in Israel that studies of gray water showed that it had often had very high levels of e.Coli bacteria. “The Ministry said that the public could be in danger from infection if it uses gray water for private vegetable and fruit gardens, or even if it is used on lawns where children and pets play”. Read more..

Garden Statues And A Grass Lamp

Uphill Waterfalls, Talking Plants and 5 Myths

hughe — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:21:21 +0000

Scanning the headlines for topics to write about I have found three unusual items for today’s post. Water that flows uphill, plants that talk and five gardening myths.

Starting with the water this is a waterfall, or rather a water feature consisting of four waterfalls in which the liquid appears to travel uphill. Inspired by the drawings by M C Escher the water travels round the rectangle cascading down and then up the slope to the next cascade. To see how it works, read more..

Under the headline “Science confirms book’s tale: Plants talk” Jeff Ball talks about a book he read some forty years ago about the Findhorn Community. This was a group living in a remote part of Scotland who started a vegetable garden and were able to communicate with the garden plants through spirits they called devas. Crazy as this may sound it turns out that scientists have discovered that certain plants can communicate with each other. Read more..

The gardening myths are the second five of a series by Denny McKeown. Common mistakes that beginners often make include over watering, pruning and deer proof plants are just three of the topics he covers. Read more..

And finally the January issue of Garden Ramblings is now online so take a look and let me know what you think.

Forest Gardens And Talking Weeds

Last Few Days of the Year

hughe — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:59:09 +0000

Another Christmas has come and gone and we head towards the end of the year. As usual the children, or in my case, grandchildren had the greatest fun this Christmas. The adults exchanged gifts of the usual kind, chocolates and other fattening goodies to add to all the weight added by loads of turkey and mince pies. But my daughter gave me a little book called “50 Ways To Kill a Slug”. Most of the book describes the conventional methods of slug control, but there is a section at the end called “Simply Silly” with suggestions such as holding a slug race to making slug suey or sending them into orbit! All very silly, but quite amusing when you’re in front of the fire on a cold winter’s day.

As you see from the banner Gardener’s Supply Company still have their Winter Sale, but if you visit their site and look down the left hand menu you will find their After Holiday Sale where there are savings of up to 81% and prices start at just $2.77.

No related posts.

Sky Planters, Christmas Trees and a Hori Hori

hughe — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:51:54 +0000

In general December is a quiet month for gardeners since most people are now concentrating on preparing for Christmas. There’s plenty of advice in the local papers on what to buy your gardening friends, but it’s mostly the same suggestions that we get every year. One headline that did catch my eye was “Nothing says ‘Merry Christmas’ like a hori hori” by Mary Fran McClure. I had not heard of a hori hori before, but it certainly sounds like a useful tool that would make a most acceptable present. Read more..
photo credit: russelljsmith

When I first came across this site I had to check the date in case it was 1 April. While the practice of growing tomatoes in upside-down containers has been around for a couple of years, the idea that you should do the same with a collection of houseplants seems faintly ridiculous. While I can see that it is a way of saving space, the rsulting display is decidedly peculiar to me at least. See what you think. Read more..

Finally some practical advice on choosing a Christmas tree. Master Gardener Marsha Overton lists the different kinds of evergreen trees that are available and discusses the pros and cons of each. Read more..

Christmas Tree Lights And A bargain Fountain

Yesterday I Lost An Old Friend

hughe — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:37:15 +0000

The Original Two Poplars

The one remaining poplar

As long as we have lived in this house my wife and I have always admired two tall poplar trees in a neighboring garden. Watching the leaves appear each spring – my wife insists that April 20 is the date when they are fully in leaf, and then gradually losing them in the fall so now the branches are bare again. But alas stormy weather has caused more than the leaves to fall. Yesterday the weather was particularly wet and windy, and when I looked out of the window at lunchtime I noticed that one of the trees had disappeared. Here are before and after pictures. Now we are just hoping the the remaining poplar will survive as it has been such a feature of our landscape.

A Tale Of Two Poplars

The End Is Near and the Blue Rose

hughe — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:31:54 +0000

“The End Is Near!” screams the headline, but all that it portends is the passing of the seasons as we come to the end of another gardening year. The article itself is a chatty interview with three gardening experts from the Twin Cities, “Don Engebretson, author of five garden books, who also runs the Renegade Gardener website; longtime garden writer Lynn Steiner, whose most recent book is “Landscaping With Native Plants of Minnesota” and Mike Heger, garden author, lecturer and owner of Ambergate Gardens in Chaska”. For three different views on bulbs, cutting back, mulching and compost, read more..

Of the many ways of propagating plants division is one of the simplest. There’s no fiddling with seeds or complicated grafts, just dig up the plant, divide it into smaller pieces and then replant small sections where you want them to grow. Of course this is not suitable for all plants, but works well for many perennials as Tony Tomeo explains. Read more..

“THE quest for gardening’s holy grail is over. It’s a blue rose – and it will be gracing flower arrangements near you thanks to an Australian company”. The article continues in similar vein and then almost breathlessly confides: “The blue rose has almost mystical connotations. Associated with royalty and ‘love at first sight’, they are also symbols of the ‘impossible dream’ – most likely because of the difficulty associated in developing them”. I’m not sure what all the fuss is about since we have had the rose “Blue Moon” for years although that is not regarded as a true blue, but rather more lilac or mauve. Then again this new Applause rose is being described by some as a “wishy washy mauve”. See what you think. Read more..

And finally I couldn’t resist this quote from Mel Gibson:
“Some of the best advice I was given, a long time ago, was from a guy who said, ‘You want to make yourself better, go and dig a ditch.’ So, a lot of that’s been going on, ditch-digging, vegetable-growing”.

Source

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Landscaping Pavements and November Cleanup

hughe — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:33:33 +0000

Landscaping a pavement sounds like a contradiction in terms until you realise that what Tony Tomeo, writing in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, is talking about is growing plants in pots. Not that he is particularly fond of container gardening, but he found it was the answer when he had large areas of paving that he wished to landscape. What is really interesting about his article is the list of shrubs and small trees that he suggests are suitable for this kind of treatment. Read more..

“November gardening tasks” by Katherine Grace Endicott is a handy reminder of the tasks that need to accomplished this month. “November cold signals that it’s time to put the garden to bed for the winter. Clear debris that would harbor insect pests over the winter. Plant young, winter-weather-hardy, spring-blooming plants now so that they will grow sturdy roots over the winter. Spring-blooming plants planted in fall significantly outperform spring-blooming plants planted in spring” is the introduction to her checklist that follows. Read more..

And now for a book review from Nancy Szerlag. In fact she is talking about two books both by Tracy DiSabato-Aust – “The Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting & Pruning Techniques” and “The Well-Designed Mixed Garden: Building Beds and Borders with Trees, Shrubs, Perennials, Annuals and Bulbs”. If after reading her review you think that either book might be of interest, I have discovered that making your purchase from Amazon will result in a considerable saving. Read more..

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Exploring the Compost – Garlic Connection

hughe — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:53:32 +0000

I was intrigued by the above headline that was on an email I received from Kitchen Gardeners International whose newsletter drops into my inbox every month. The article talks of three ways that compost and garlic are connected. The first two are fairly obvious that using compost to amend the soil helps to produce a great crop of garlic and that November is the time to build your compost pile and to plant garlic. The third link is that the two most popular videos on KGI’s YouTube channel cover these topics. Completely by chance I included the “Planting Garlic” video in the October issue of Garden Ramblings, so to complete the link here is their advice on “How To Make Compost”.

If you haven’t completed your bulb planting yet, I’ve just heard that Dutch Gardens are having a Fall Clearance Sale where you can save up to 40% – worth a look.

Seeds Saved and Roasted plus White House Veggies

hughe — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:11:18 +0000

In these times of financial crisis and ultra low interest rates here’s a reminder of a form of saving that really pays dividends. Or as Donna Campbell puts it “saving seeds is a savings account that can’t evaporate into thin air”. She is particularly keen on saving seeds of unusual or heritage vegetables and explains both the wet and the dry methods. Follow her tips and you will never need to buy another packet of seeds again. Read more..

I always keep my eyes open for Q&A articles. Although the same questions seem to come up time and time again, there’s usually at least one helpful piece of information that you can glean from them. This is by Richard Nunnally writing in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. How to get rid of English Ivy, dealing with crabgrass in junipers and how to store banana trees and hibiscus plants over the winter are just three of the subjects he covers. Read more..

Michelle Obama and the White House vegetable garden are in the news again. On this occasion she has invited some elementary school students to help her harvest the crops, but the interest seems to be more on the fashion than the veggies. Read more..

Tomorrow is Halloween and Terry Wolfley gives us a potted history of pumpkin carving and the origins of Jack-O’-Lantern. He also makes some suggestions about varieties suitable for the garden and includes his recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds. Read more..

Lawns, Veggies and Gadgets

Koi, Mosquitoes and No-Dig Gardening

hughe — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:37:30 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

If you have spent time and money installing a garden pond and stocking it with koi, the last thing you want is preditors stealing your precious fish. Luckily there are a number of ways that you can protect your koi and this artcle suggests several different methods. From the obvious one of making the pond too deep to allow a heron the stand to providing areas where the fish can hide in the depths are just two of the ideas you can find here. Read more..

It is a well known fact that back problems are one of the commonest reasons why people take time off work and digging in the garden can be a prime cause of the problem. For this reason people may be put off starting a new project in their backyard which involves digging, but there is another way as Cindy McNatt explains. “You can start a new bed anywhere in your landscape without lifting a shovel. No-dig gardening is easy and it works.” Read more..

So many of the gadgets that I review here turn out to be complicated pieces of machinery which are designed to carry out functions that traditional gardening methods achieve with far less cost and greater efficiency. I am thinking in particular of those fancy indoor plant growing systems where an old fashioned flower pot would serve just as well. For a change I have come across an electronic gadget that performs a useful function. The Electronic Bug Zapper kills mosquitoes and other flying insects both inside and outdoors as Owen Jones explains. Read more..

And finally here is a belated reminder that the October issue of Garden Ramblings is now online.

Conservation Gardening and Gadget Reviews

Koolatron, Naked Ladies and the USB Greenhouse

hughe — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:33:31 +0000

Bulb planting time is here again and all the papers are full of articles reminding us that now is the time to complete this task. Pop them in the ground and then wait for spring is the general tenor of their advice, but it’s not always that simple as Mike Lascelle has discovered. Raccoons and squirrels are always on the lookout for a free meal and your bulbs, except perhaps for daffodils, are an easy target. Mike tried scattering peanuts to distract the squirrels, but the wily creatures stored the nuts and then ate their fill of his bulbs. He describes various ways that you can try to protect your bulbs some of which are more effective than others. Read more..

“Take time to watch ‘naked ladies’” is the title of this article in the Sun Herald. Lycoris radiata is the official name of these flowers whose common names include surprise lilies or spider lilies, even hurricane lilies as well as naked ladies. In fact naked is an apt description for the plant which has no leaves but just “gloriously red frilly flowers” on a bare stalk. Jack in the pulpit and Black-eyed Susans are two other common names discussed in this piece. Read more..

And now for the gadget spot. I was intrigued by the name of the “Koolatron Dog and Cat Repeller” hoping that someone had finally come up with an effective way of keeping these animals away from our gardens, but was disappointed to find that it is just a battery powered ultrasonic device of which there are already plenty on the market.

As gardeners we enjoy planting seeds and tending the plants as they grow, but all that you need is a container, compost and seeds. The people who make gadgets just seem to make life so complicated, or is it just the “fishing lure” trick to hook the angler rather than the fish. The “Self Sustaining Indoor Garden Gadget is perfect if you don’t have a garden, but you want to grow your own herbs, flowers or vegetables indoors”. I suppose it’s just a minature hydroponic setup, but I am not sure how many vegetables you can grow in a small pot.

On the same page you can find a link to the ultimate geeky gadget – the USB greenhouse. It reminds me of an easter egg in which you can plant three marigolds. You can watch them growing on your desk and you can monitor progress on your screen – Wow! Read more..

Conservation Gardening and Gadget Reviews

hughe — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:20:01 +0000

“Mowing your lawn for an hour produces as much pollution as driving a car 650 miles” is just one of the facts quoted by the Virginia Living Museum in its campaign for the creation of conservation gardens. While it’s a well known fact that gas mowers cause pollution, I have not seen it spelt out quite as starkly as this before.

But a conservation garden is not just about grass. “The new 7,000-square-foot Conservation Garden features environmentally friendly gardening with an emphasis on native plants and mulching and composting techniques to reduce the use of commercial fertilizers and pesticides that are potentially harmful to people and nature”. The article contains some helpful hints as to how you can adopt these priciples in your own backyard. Read more..

A few months ago I wrote about various garden gadgets that were new on the market. Now I’ve found a couple of articles by people who have bought some of these products and tell of their experiences. First is Larry McDermott writing in The Republican who is not too happy with his $12 watering wand. Read more..

“One of my favorite parts of writing this column is that it provides the perfect excuse for buying and trying gardening toys. Usually, I have three or four new tools or gadgets to play with, but the second one I purchased this year was such a whopper of an expense that I quit after two” says Linden Staciokas writing in the Daily News-Miner. The “whopper of an expense” he refers to is an indoor composter costing $400. When I read about this product earlier in the year I thought it sounded too good to be true and so it turns out. Read more..

And finally the September of my Garden Ramblings newsletter is now online with articles on spring bulbs and organic lawncare among others.

Cuttings, Gadgets and Escargots

hughe — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:51:00 +0000

Why is it that whenever you take a particular fancy to a plant or shrub that you have read about or seen in a neighbor’s garden, you find that your local garden center does not sell that variety? In “Growing new plants from old” Maureen FitzPatrick suggests a way round this problem by reminding us of the gentle art of taking cuttings. This is a useful article full of practical tips. Read more..

Slugs and snails are one of the more annoying garden pests because of the damage they cause to flowers and vegetables. I listen to a weekly radio program where a panel of gardening experts answer questions sent in by listeners. Last week the panel were surprised to be asked how to encourage snails into the garden. It turned out that the questioner enjoyed eating escargots and wanted to be able to “grow his own”. In case you are interested here is the recipe for a snail farm. Take an old laundry basket and place inside some plant pots for cover and soil for the eggs. Provide water and feed your stock lettuce and paper. Bon apetit!

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk

I’ve found a couple more garden gadgets, both solar powered so with green credentials. Depending on your point of view the first one is either exceptionally cool or the height of tackiness. “The Amazing Solar Powered Whirling Sunflower” – when the sun shines it spins! Wow!
The second gadget is more practical. If these “Garden Solar Insect Zappers” work as claimed, then they sound like a worthwhile investment.

And finally the August issue of my monthly newsletter Garden Ramblings is now online.

Lawns, Veggies and Gadgets

hughe — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:39:27 +0000

Combine the current enthusiasum for growing your own veggies with the concerns about the use of pesticides and you will see how Tressa Eaton can make such a persuasive case for turning your lawn into an edible garden. “When we put pesticides onto our lawns they run off into sewers, rivers, lakes, and oceans. Consequently, we end up drinking pesticides in our water, breathing them in our air…” and “more water is used on household lawns every year in the US than on corn or wheat crops”. So dig up your lawn and plant potatoes and cabbages instead. And don’t miss the comments below the article including details of some natural pesticide recipes using ingredients from your own garden. Read more..

If you are not too keen on seeing vegetables in front of your house, then why not grow them on the roof? For restaurant owners Mike and Helen Cameron the desire to use produce grown locally in their business was a major concern. A rooftop garden above their restaurant means that their food miles can be measured in feet. Read more..

Like fishing lures which are more often designed to catch the fisherman rather than his quarry, some garden gadgets turn out not to be such a good idea as they first seemed. I’ve found these two selections containing products of varying usefulness. The first list includes the Easy Bloom plant sensor. Plug it into the ground for 24 hours, then plug it into your computer and you will be given plant recommendations. The portable composter sounds interesting, if a little pricey, but Prepara Power Plant Mini seems to be an unecessarily complicated way of growing a few seedlings. Read more..

The second group comes from Shiny Shiny which just about sums up this collection. From fairy lights to a laser fountain by way of Darth Vader speakers and ending with a hot tub, what more could you want in your backyard? Read more..

And finally the July issue of my monthly newsletter Garden Ramblings is now online.