THE CULTIVATION OF VEGETABLES.

Before taking up the garden vegetables individually, I shall outline the general practice of cultivation, which applies to all.

The purposes of cultivation are three to get rid of weeds, and to stimulate growth by (1) letting air into the soil and freeing unavailable plant food, and (2) by conserving moisture.

As to weeds, the gardener of any experience need not be told the importance of keeping his crops clean. He has learned from bitter and costly experience the price of letting them get anything resembling a start. He knows that one or two days' growth, after they are well up, followed perhaps by a day or so of rain, may easily double or treble the work of cleaning a patch of onions or carrots, and that where weeds have attained any size they cannot be taken out of sowed crops without doing a great deal of injury. He also realizes, or should, that every day's growth means just so much available plant food stolen from under the very roots of his legitimate crops.

Instead of letting the weeds get away with any plant food, he should be furnishing more, for clean and frequent cultivation will not only break the soil up mechanically, but let in air, moisture and heat all essential in effecting those chemical changes necessary to convert non- available into available plant food. Long before the science in the case was discovered, the soil cultivators had learned by observation the necessity of keeping the soil nicely loosened about their growing crops. Even the lanky and untutored aborigine saw to it that his squaw not only put a bad fish under the hill of maize but plied her shell hoe over it. Plants need to breathe. Their roots need air. You might as well expect to find the rosy glow of happiness on the wan cheeks of a cotton-mill child slave as to expect to see the luxuriant dark green of healthy plant life in a suffocated garden.

Important as the question of air is, that of water ranks beside it. You may not see at first what the matter of frequent cultivation has to do with water. But let us stop a moment and look into it. Take a strip of blotting paper, dip one end in water, and watch the moisture run up hill, soak up through the blotter. The scientists have labeled that "capillary attraction" the water crawls up little invisible tubes formed by the texture of the blotter. Now take a similar piece, cut it across, hold the two cut edges firmly together, and try it again. The moisture refuses to cross the line: the connection has been severed.

In the same way the water stored in the soil after a rain begins at once to escape again into the atmosphere. That on the surface evaporates first, and that which has soaked in begins to soak in through the soil to the surface. It is leaving your garden, through the millions of soil tubes, just as surely as if you had a two-inch pipe and a gasoline engine, pumping it into the gutter night and day! Save your garden by stopping the waste. It is the easiest thing in the world to do cut the pipe in two. By frequent cultivation of the surface soil not more than one or two inches deep for most small vegetables the soil tubes are kept broken, and a mulch of dust is maintained. Try to get over every part of your garden, especially where it is not shaded, once in every ten days or two weeks. Does that seem like too much work? You can push your wheel hoe through, and thus keep the dust mulch as a constant protection, as fast as you can walk. If you wait for the weeds, you will nearly have to crawl through, doing more or less harm by disturbing your growing plants, losing all the plant food (and they will take the cream) which they have consumed, and actually putting in more hours of infinitely more disagreeable work. If the beginner at gardening has not been convinced by the facts given, there is only one thing left to convince him experience.

Having given so much space to the reason for constant care in this matter, the question of methods naturally follows. Get a wheel hoe. The simplest sorts will not only save you an infinite amount of time and work, but do the work better, very much better than it can be done by hand. You can grow good vegetables, especially if your garden is a very small one, without one of these labor-savers, but I can assure you that you will never regret the small investment necessary to procure it.

With a wheel hoe, the work of preserving the soil mulch becomes very simple. If one has not a wheel hoe, for small areas very rapid work can be done with the scuffle hoe.

The matter of keeping weeds cleaned out of the rows and between the plants in the rows is not so quickly accomplished. Where hand-work is necessary, let it be done at once. Here are a few practical suggestions that will reduce this work to a minimum, (1) Get at this work while the ground is soft; as soon as the soil begins to dry out after a rain is the best time. Under such conditions the weeds will pull out by the roots, without breaking off. (2) Immediately before weeding, go over the rows with a wheel hoe, cutting shallow, but just as close as possible, leaving a narrow, plainly visible strip which must be hand- weeded. The best tool for this purpose is the double wheel hoe with disc attachment, or hoes for large plants. (3) See to it that not only the weeds are pulled but that every inch of soil surface is broken up. It is fully as important that the weeds just sprouting be destroyed, as that the larger ones be pulled up. One stroke of the weeder or the fingers will destroy a hundred weed seedlings in less time than one weed can be pulled out after it gets a good start. (4) Use one of the small hand-weeders until you become skilled with it. Not only may more work be done but the fingers will be saved unnecessary wear.

The skilful use of the wheel hoe can be acquired through practice only. The first thing to learn is that it is necessary to watch the wheels only: the blades, disc or rakes will take care of themselves.

The operation of "hilling" consists in drawing up the soil about the stems of growing plants, usually at the time of second or third hoeing. It used to be the practice to hill everything that could be hilled "up to the eyebrows," but it has gradually been discarded for what is termed "level culture"; and you will readily see the reason, from what has been said about the escape of moisture from the surface of the soil; for of course the two upper sides of the hill, which may be represented by an equilateral triangle with one side horizontal, give more exposed surface than the level surface represented by the base. In wet soils or seasons hilling may be advisable, but very seldom otherwise. It has the additional disadvantage of making it difficult to maintain the soil mulch which is so desirable.

Rotation of crops.

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There is another thing to be considered in making each vegetable do its best, and that is crop rotation, or the following of any vegetable with a different sort at the next planting.

With some vegetables, such as cabbage, this is almost imperative, and practically all are helped by it. Even onions, which are popularly supposed to be the proving exception to the rule, are healthier, and do as well after some other crop, provided the soil is as finely pulverized and rich as a previous crop of onions would leave it.

Here are the fundamental rules of crop rotation:

(1) Crops of the same vegetable, or vegetables of the same family (such as turnips and cabbage) should not follow each other.

(2) Vegetables that feed near the surface, like corn, should follow deep-rooting crops.

(3) Vines or leaf crops should follow root crops.

(4) Quick-growing crops should follow those occupying the land all season.

These are the principles which should determine the rotations to be followed in individual cases. The proper way to attend to this matter is when making the planting plan. You will then have time to do it properly, and will need to give it no further thought for a year.

With the above suggestions in mind, and put to use , it will not be difficult to give the crops those special attentions which are needed to make them do their very best.

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The Psychology Behind Gardening

I don’t know what it is about a garden that has always drawn humans to

them. But they’ve always been very popular, and an integral part of

peoples’ lifestyles. Most religions feature gardens as the settings for

some of the biggest events According to Christianity, humanity was started

in a garden and the son of God was resurrected in a garden. The Buddhist

build gardens to allow nature to permeate their surroundings. Almost every

major palace and government building has a garden. But what’s so great

about them? They’re just a bunch of plants, after all.

Of course, the reasoning is fairly obvious behind why people grow food in

gardens. It’s to eat! If you live off the fat of the land and actually

survive on stuff from your garden, it’s easy to understand the reasoning.

But I’m thinking about those people who plant flower gardens just for the

sake of looking nice. There’s no immediate benefit that I can see; you

just have a bunch of flowers in your yard! However, after thinking

extensively about the motivation behind planting decorative gardens, I’ve

conceived several possible theories.

I think one of the reasons people love gardens so much is that while we

have a natural desire to progress and industrialize, deep within all of us

is a primal love for nature. While this desire might not be as strong as

the desire for modernism, it is still strong enough to compel us to create

gardens, small outlets of nature, in the midst of all our hustle and

bustle. Since being in nature is like regressing to an earlier stage of

humanity, we too can regress to a time of comfort and utter happiness.

This is why gardens are so relaxing and calming to be in. This is why

gardens are a good place to meditate and do tai chi exercises. A garden is

a way to quickly escape from the busy world.

I’ve thought at times that perhaps we as humans feel a sort of guilt

driving us to restore nature and care for it. This guilt could stem from

the knowledge that we, not personally but as a race, have destroyed so

much of nature to get where we are today. It’s the least we can do to

build a small garden in remembrance of all the trees we kill every day.

It’s my theory that this is the underlying reason for most people to take

up gardening as a hobby.

Gardening is definitely a healthy habit though, don’t get me wrong. Any

hobby that provides physical exercise, helps the environment, and improves

your diet can’t be a negative thing. So no matter what the underlying

psychological cause for gardening is, I think that everyone should

continue to do so. In the USA especially, which is dealing with obesity

and pollution as its two major problems, I think gardening can only serve

to improve the state of the world.

Of course I’m no psychologist; I’m just a curious gardener. I often stay

up for hours wondering what makes me garden. What is it that makes me go

outside for a few hours every day with my gardening tools, and facilitate

the small-time growth of plants that would grow naturally on their own? I

may never know, but in this case ignorance truly is bliss.

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Preparing Healthy Soil

If you’re getting ready to go on a new garden venture, you need to prepare

your soil to ideally house your plants. The best thing you can do in the

soil preparation process is to reach the perfect mixture of sand, silt,

and clay. Preferably there would be 40 percent sand, 40 percent silt, and

20 percent clay. There are several tests used by experienced gardeners to

tell whether the soil has a good composition. First you can compress it in

your hand. If it doesn’t hold its shape and crumbles without any outside

force, your sand ratio is probably a little high. If you poke the

compressed ball with your finger and it doesn’t fall apart easily, your

soil contains too much clay.

If you’re still not sure about the content of your soil, you can separate

each ingredient by using this simple method. Put a cup or two of dirt into

a jar of water. Shake the water up until the soil is suspended, then let

it set until you see it separate into 3 separate layers. The top layer is

clay, the next is silt, and on the bottom is sand. You should be able to

judge the presence of each component within your dirt, and act accordingly.

After you’ve analyzed the content of your soil, if you decide that it is

low on a certain ingredient then you should definitely do something to fix

it. If dealing with too much silt or sand, it’s best to add some peat moss

or compost. If you’ve got too much clay, add a mixture of peat moss and

sand. The peat moss, when moistens, helps for the new ingredient to

infiltrate the mixture better. If you can’t seem to manage to attain a

proper mixture, just head down to your local gardening store. You should

be able to find some kind of product to aid you.

The water content of the soil is another important thing to consider when

preparing for your garden. If your garden is at the bottom of an incline,

it is most likely going to absorb too much water and drown out the plants.

If this is the case, you should probably elevate your garden a few inches

(4 or 5) over the rest of the ground. This will allow for more drainage

and less saturation.

Adding nutrients to your soil is also a vital part of the process, as most

urban soils have little to no nutrients already in them naturally. One to

two weeks prior to planting, you should add a good amount of fertilizer to

your garden. Mix it in really well and let it sit for a while. Once you

have done this, your soil will be completely ready for whatever seeds you

may plant in it.

Once your seeds are planted, you still want to pay attention to the soil.

The first few weeks, the seeds are desperately using up all the nutrients

around them to sprout into a real plant. If they run out of food, how are

they supposed to grow? About a week after planting, you should add the

same amount of fertilizer that you added before. After this you should

continue to use fertilizer, but not as often. If you add a tiny bit every

couple of weeks, that should be plenty to keep your garden thriving.

Basically, the entire process of soil care can be compressed into just

several steps… ensure the makeup of the soil is satisfactory, make sure

you have proper drainage in your garden, add fertilizer before and after

planting, then add fertilizer regularly after that. Follow these simple

steps, and you’ll have a plethora of healthy plants in no time. And if you

need any more details on an individual step, just go to your local nursery

and enquire there. Most of the employees will be more than happy to give

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REQUISITES OF THE HOME VEGETABLE GARDEN.

In deciding upon the site for the home vegetable garden it is well to dispose once and for all of the old idea that the garden "patch" must be an ugly spot in the home surroundings. If thoughtfully planned, carefully planted and thoroughly cared for, it may be made a beautiful and harmonious feature of the general scheme, lending a touch of comfortable homeliness that no shrubs, borders, or beds can ever produce.

With this fact in mind we will not feel restricted to any part of the premises merely because it is out of sight behind the barn or garage. In the average moderate-sized place there will not be much choice as to land. It will be necessary to take what is to be had and then do the very best that can be done with it. But there will probably be a good deal of choice as to, first, exposure, and second, convenience. Other things being equal, select a spot near at hand, easy of access. It may seem that a difference of only a few hundred yards will mean nothing, but if one is depending largely upon spare moments for working in and for watching the garden and in the growing of many vegetables the latter is almost as important as the former this matter of convenient access will be of much greater importance than is likely to be at first recognized. Not until you have had to make a dozen time-wasting trips for forgotten seeds or tools, or gotten your feet soaking wet by going out through the dew-drenched grass, will you realize fully what this may mean.

Exposure.

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But the thing of first importance to consider in picking out the spot that is to yield you happiness and delicious vegetables all summer, or even for many years, is the exposure. Pick out the "earliest" spot you can find a plot sloping a little to the south or east, that seems to catch sunshine early and hold it late, and that seems to be out of the direct path of the chilling north and northeast winds. If a building, or even an old fence, protects it from this direction, your garden will be helped along wonderfully, for an early start is a great big factor toward success. If it is not already protected, a board fence, or a hedge of some low-growing shrubs or young evergreens, will add very greatly to its usefulness. The importance of having such a protection or shelter is altogether underestimated by the amateur.

The soil.

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The chances are that you will not find a spot of ideal garden soil ready for use anywhere upon your place. But all except the very worst of soils can be brought up to a very high degree of productiveness especially such small areas as home vegetable gardens require. Large tracts of soil that are almost pure sand, and others so heavy and mucky that for centuries they lay uncultivated, have frequently been brought, in the course of only a few years, to where they yield annually tremendous crops on a commercial basis. So do not be discouraged about your soil. Proper treatment of it is much more important, and a garden- patch of average run-down, or "never-brought-up" soil will produce much more for the energetic and careful gardener than the richest spot will grow under average methods of cultivation.

The ideal garden soil is a "rich, sandy loam." And the fact cannot be overemphasized that such soils usually are made, not found. Let us analyze that description a bit, for right here we come to the first of the four all-important factors of gardening food. The others are cultivation, moisture and temperature. "Rich" in the gardener's vocabulary means full of plant food; more than that and this is a point of vital importance it means full of plant food ready to be used at once, all prepared and spread out on the garden table, or rather in it, where growing things can at once make use of it; or what we term, in one word, "available" plant food. Practically no soils in long- inhabited communities remain naturally rich enough to produce big crops. They are made rich, or kept rich, in two ways; first, by cultivation, which helps to change the raw plant food stored in the soil into available forms; and second, by manuring or adding plant food to the soil from outside sources.

"Sandy" in the sense here used, means a soil containing enough particles of sand so that water will pass through it without leaving it pasty and sticky a few days after a rain; "light" enough, as it is called, so that a handful, under ordinary conditions, will crumble and fall apart readily after being pressed in the hand. It is not necessary that the soil be sandy in appearance, but it should be friable.

"Loam: a rich, friable soil," says Webster. That hardly covers it, but it does describe it. It is soil in which the sand and clay are in proper proportions, so that neither greatly predominate, and usually dark in color, from cultivation and enrichment. Such a soil, even to the untrained eye, just naturally looks as if it would grow things. It is remarkable how quickly the whole physical appearance of a piece of well cultivated ground will change. An instance came under my notice last fall in one of my fields, where a strip containing an acre had been two years in onions, and a little piece jutting off from the middle of this had been prepared for them just one season. The rest had not received any extra manuring or cultivation. When the field was plowed up in the fall, all three sections were as distinctly noticeable as though separated by a fence. And I know that next spring's crop of rye, before it is plowed under, will show the lines of demarcation just as plainly.

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Garden Designers Roundtable: Restoration & Renovation: The Tale of an Unfolding Project

How about a true tale of garden discovery and restoration and renovation to contribute to this day of Garden Designers Round-table postings.   This story is still unfolding.

It started one day when a Yoga teacher friend called a Garden Designer friend; come with me and see a labyrinth that a mutual Artist friend made at a museum.  It might need some work – “I’d like to start using it for my students”.

A twist in the conversation… “do you have an hour you can spare?”…”supposedly, the woman who started this place used to have a meditation garden”…There was a statue of a goddess in it…Guan Yin… no one knows where it was or is now, but we have a picture….lets go for a hike and see if we can find something….

Vistas discovered, garden plants (lilacs, daylilies, clematis, irises, peonies, and other remnants), oddly in the middle of the woods.  And then there are the byzantine columns buried deep in the overgrown shrubbery.

Who is this woman and why did she do all of this?  What are the links that connect?  Transcendentalism, Shakers, Native Americans, Early Yogi’s in America, The Eye of Isis, Black Magic and White Magic, Occultism, Rosicrucians, a garden, a healing place, and a Boston Brahman woman in the early 20th century.

And then there is the modern day research…Love tunnels and affairs, flowers named for mistresses, witches in the garden, a curse, deception and lies, and the serendipitous and purposeful unfolding of clues to the story that seems orchestrated by an incommunicable source.

Where is this going and how is the story going to end?  I can’t wait to find out, each day is a new adventure….

I have been looking forward to this post for a while…

The search for the goddess continues. Sometimes life is stranger than fiction.  And all in the name of garden restoration….does this sound like a trailer for a movie or a best selling novel?….well, actually, maybe it might be….

Other posts from the Roundtable can be read through the links below.

Andrew Keys : Garden Smackdown : Boston, MA

Carolyn Gail Choi : Sweet Home and Garden Chicago : Chicago, IL

Genevieve Schmidt : North Coast Gardening : Arcata, CA

Jocelyn Chilvers : The Art Garden : Denver, CO

Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK

Susan Cohan : Miss Rumphius’ Rules : Chatham, NJ

Susan Morrison : Blue Planet Garden Blog : East Bay, CA

View the original article here

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Getting Started in Container Gardening

Sometimes, the urge to garden might be stomped out by other circumstances,

such as living arrangements or space constrictions. If you live in an

apartment, you can’t really operate a full garden, just because you don’t

really have a yard! I think that one of the best solutions for this

problem is to grow plants in containers. You can hang these, or just

arrange them on your patio, window sill or balcony. Just a few baskets or

pots, and your whole living area will look much classier and nicer.

A benefit of growing in small containers is the fact that you can move

them around to suit your needs. If you rearrange your furniture and you

think that it would look nicer if it was in the other area, it’s no

trouble at all to scoot it over. As long as the lighting is about the

same, your plant shouldn’t mind the transition at all. Another benefit of

the containers’ versatility is the fact that you can adapt it to simulate

any environment depending on the type of soil you fill it with and where

you place it.

If you are trying to make an aesthetically pleasing arrangement of

containers and plants, you can adjust the containers to be at different

heights by hanging them from the ceiling or placing them on supports.

Hanging them will allow you to make the most of the space you have. This

is called “vertical gardening”. If you pull it off right, you can make a

very pleasing arrangement of plants while conserving your valuable space.

If you live in an apartment, you know how important it is to conserve

space! One method of vertical gardening is the use of a wooden step

ladder. If painted correctly, you can arrange all the plants on it in a

beautiful, stylish cascade of color.

The maintenance of container plants takes slightly more time, since you

have to water more often and go around to each individual container.

However, the square footage for container plants is much less than that of

an actual garden, so the time spent on maintenance and watering is more

balanced. It is important that you don’t over-water your container plants,

as this can be just as fatal to their health as under-watering.

When choosing containers for your plants, you’ll want to buy them all at

once along with some extras in case they break or you add more plants

later. You don’t want them to be all the same shape and size, but

definitely the same style so that the compliment each other. Plastic

containers are the best and require the least amount of watering, but if

you want to stick with clay or earthen pots then you should line the

inside with plastic. This helps it retain water more, as the clay will

soak up water.

Another thing to remember when buying pots is the fact that the size of

the pot will ultimately constrict the size of the plant. Make a careful

choice of pots according to what you wish to grow in each one. If you

search for the plant you chose on the internet, you should be able to find

specifications as to how much root space it should be given. This can even

be an advantage for you if you choose a plant that can grow very large. If

you only have a limited amount of space for it, you can constrict it by

choosing a pot that isn’t large enough to support huge amounts of growth.

If the benefits of container gardening sound appealing to you, then you

should start planning out your container garden today. If you write a list

of all the plants you desire to have, you can do the necessary research to

find out what size and shape of pots you should get. After that, it’s just

a matter of arranging them in a way that makes your home look the nicest.

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Growing Your Own Herbs

If you’re not the type of person that wants to spend their time managing

an elaborate fruit or vegetable garden, you might consider planting and

maintaining an herb garden. While the product might not seem as

significant, you’ll still enjoy the constant availability of fresh,

delicious herbs to flavor your meals with.

First you’ll want to choose the herbs that you’ll plant. You might have a

hard time doing this because of the huge scope of herbs available. But the

best way to choose is to do what I did; just look at what you have in your

kitchen. By planting your own collection of these herbs, you can save

money on buying them from the grocery store while having the added benefit

of freshness. Some of the herbs you might start with include rosemary,

sage, basil, dill, mint, chives, and parsley among others.

When choosing an area to put your herb garden, you should remember that

the soil should have extremely good drainage. If the dirt gets watered and

stays completely saturated, you have no chance of ever growing a healthy

plant. One of the best ways to fix the drainage problem is to dig a foot

deep in the soil, and put a layer of crushed rocks down before replacing

all the soil. This will allow all that water to escape, thus saving your

plants.

When you are ready to begin planting herbs, you might be tempted to buy

the more expensive plants from the store. However, with herbs it is much

easier to grow them from seed than it is with other plants. Therefore you

can save a bundle of money by sticking with seed packets. Some herbs grow

at a dangerously fast rate. For example, if you plant a mint plant in an

open space then it will take over your entire garden in a matter of days.

The best way to prevent this problem is to plant the more aggressive

plants in pots (with holes in the bottom to allow drainage, of course).

When it comes time to harvest the herbs you have labored so hard over, it

can be fatal to your plant to take off too much. If your plant isn’t well

established, it isn’t healthy to take any leaves at all, even if it looks

like its not using them. You should wait until your plant has been well

established for at least several months before taking off any leaves. This

wait will definitely be worth it, because by growing unabated your plant

will produce healthily for years to come.

Once you’ve harvested your delicious home grown herbs, you’ll want to use

them in cooking. Why else would you have grown them? Well first the

process begins with drying them out. This is easily achieved by placing

them on a cookie sheet and baking them 170 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 to 4

hours. After they’re sufficiently dried to be used in cooking, you can

consult the nearest cookbook for instructions on using them to effectively

flavor a dish.

If you want to store your herbs for later usage, you should keep them in a

plastic or glass container. Paper or cardboard will not work, because it

will absorb the taste of the herbs. During the first few days of storage,

you should regularly check the container and see if any moisture has

accumulated. If it has, you must remove all the herbs and re-dry them. If

moisture is left from the first drying process, it will encourage mildew

while you store your herbs. Nobody likes mildew.

So if you enjoy herbs or gardening, or both, then you should probably

consider setting up an herb garden. It might require a little bit of work

at first to set it up for optimal drainage, and pick what herbs you want

to grow. But after the initial hassle, it’s just a matter of harvesting

and drying all your favorite herbs.

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Optimizing Your Garden for Drought or Water Conservation

Living in Colorado and being a gardener has been rather stressful in the

past few years, as this state has been undergoing a rather severe drought.

The city is imposing watering restrictions which are not giving enough

water to lawns and plants. I’ve had to renovate my garden to make it more

water efficient. Now, because of the techniques I’ve employed, I’m the

only one in my neighborhood with a garden that isn’t completely brown. So

if you live in an area that is going through a drought or if you just want

to save water, I suggest you use some of these techniques as well.

First, I took out all my plants. The soil I was using didn’t retain water

very well, so I had to water about twice as much as necessary in order to

get it to actually absorb into the roots. If you have this same problem,

you can fix it by loading the soil up with lots of compost. This not only

prevents water from escaping, but encourages the plant’s roots to be

healthy and able to survive more.

Once I was done optimizing the soil for my new low water consumption plan,

I was ready to replace all my plants. I decided that the placement of all

my plants would reflect the amount of water necessary to keep them alive.

All the plants that don’t require much water I placed in on one side of my

garden, and then just progressed in the amount of required water to the

other side of the garden. As a result of my new arrangement, I don’t have

to waste water on plants that don’t need it as much.

The installation of a drip irrigation system was another move on my part

that reduced the amount of water I needed to fully water my garden. The

great thing about these systems is that they constantly drip into your

plants, so that every single drop is absorbed. With traditional watering

systems, usually the roots get too overwhelmed with the sheer amount of

water in the soil. Thus, lots just seeps right past. This is all taken

care of with the drip system.

If you still seem to need more water than you can supply to your garden,

you might consider which plants you could replace with less water

dependent plants. If you want a good shrub that doesn’t use up more than

its share of water, look for Heavenly Bamboo. It is not only tolerant of

droughts, but looks rather decorative in any garden. Herbs such as

rosemary are useful in preparing meals, and are rarely thirsty.

If you’re trying to find flowers that will still be lush and beautiful

despite the lower amounts of water, look for penstemon varieties like

Garnet, Apple Blossom, Moonbeam, and Midnight. You can attract

hummingbirds and butterflies with varieties like Cosmos and Yarrow. The

best part about all these plants is that they don’t look rugged and

withstanding, but they sure are. Your neighbors wont be saying “Look at

them, they downgraded their plants just to withstand the drought. What

chumps!” Instead they will be marveling over how you keep your flowers so

beautiful in the midst of the watering regulations.

One of my favorite drought resistant plants is the Lavender plant. I could

go on for pages about it. A large group of Lavender plants looks

unbelievably gorgeous in your garden, and hardly requires any water to

flourish. Pineapple sage is another personal favorite. It is a 2+ foot

shrub that smells strangely of pineapple. It’s another major attracter of

hummingbirds, and the leaves are also useful to add taste to drinks.

So if you are in the position I was, and you’re dealing with a drought and

perhaps watering regulations, I suggest you try some of the things I’ve

mentioned. Even if you’re just trying to conserve water or be generally

more efficient with it, I think you’ll still be able to benefit.

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FIGHTING PLANT ENEMIES.

The devices and implements used for fighting plant enemies are of two sorts:

(1) those used to afford mechanical protection to the plants;

(2) those used to apply insecticides and fungicides.

Of the first the most useful is the covered frame. It consists usually of a wooden box, some eighteen inches to two feet square and about eight high, covered with glass, protecting cloth, mosquito netting or mosquito wire. The first two coverings have, of course, the additional advantage of retaining heat and protecting from cold, making it possible by their use to plant earlier than is otherwise safe. They are used extensively in getting an extra early and safe start with cucumbers, melons and the other vine vegetables.

Simpler devices for protecting newly-set plants, such as tomatoes or cabbage, from the cut-worm, are stiff, tin, cardboard or tar paper collars, which are made several inches high and large enough to be put around the stem and penetrate an inch or so into the soil.

For applying poison powders, the home gardener should supply himself with a powder gun. If one must be restricted to a single implement, however, it will be best to get one of the hand-power, compressed-air sprayers. These are used for applying wet sprays, and should be supplied with one of the several forms of mist-making nozzles, the non-cloggable automatic type being the best. For more extensive work a barrel pump, mounted on wheels, will be desirable, but one of the above will do a great deal of work in little time. Extension rods for use in spraying trees and vines may be obtained for either. For operations on a very small scale a good hand-syringe may be used, but as a general thing it will be best to invest a few dollars more and get a small tank sprayer, as this throws a continuous stream or spray and holds a much larger amount of the spraying solution. Whatever type is procured, get a brass machine it will out-wear three or four of those made of cheaper metal, which succumbs very quickly to the, corroding action of the strong poisons and chemicals used in them.

Of implements for harvesting, beside the spade, prong-hoe and spading- fork, very few are used in the small garden, as most of them need not only long rows to be economically used, but horse- power also. The onion harvester attachment for the double wheel hoe, may be used with advantage in loosening onions, beets, turnips, etc., from the soil or for cutting spinach. Running the hand- plow close on either side of carrots, parsnips and other deep-growing vegetables will aid materially in getting them out. For fruit picking, with tall trees, the wire-fingered fruit-picker, secured to the end of a long handle, will be of great assistance, but with the modern method of using low-headed trees it will not be needed.

Another class of garden implements are those used in pruning but where this is attended to properly from the start, a good sharp jack-knife and a pair of pruning shears will easily handle all the work of the kind necessary.

Still another sort of garden device is that used for supporting the plants; such as stakes, trellises, wires, etc. Altogether too little attention usually is given these, as with proper care in storing over winter they will not only last for years, but add greatly to the convenience of cultivation and to the neat appearance of the garden.

As a final word to the intending purchaser of garden tools, I would say: first thoroughly investigate the different sorts available, and when buying, do not forget that a good tool or a well-made machine will be giving you satisfactory use long, long after the price is forgotten, while a poor one is a constant source of discomfort. Get good tools, and take good care of them. And let me repeat that a few dollars a year, judiciously spent, for tools afterward well cared for, will soon give you a very complete set, and add to your garden profit and pleasure.

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Dealing with Garden Pests

While tending to my own garden, I have found that one of the most

frustrating things that can happen to a gardener is to walk outside to

check on your plants. It’s just a routine walk to make sure that your

garden is thriving, but you end up finding holes in all of your plants

that looked fine only hours before. The explanations for some of these

plant-destroying holes are garden pests. Some of the main garden pests are

slugs, worms, caterpillars, birds, snails, and the occasional gopher.

Although you can never wipe out these pests entirely, after all your hard

work in the garden you have to do something.

Insects are one of the worst things to have in your garden; they can live

under the soil, in old weeds or piles of leaves, or in a number of other

places. In order to help keep insects away, always try and eliminate

places in your garden and near your garden that these insects and other

plant diseases could be living. Remove old leaves, weeds, or any other

decaying matter that insects and diseases could be living in from your

yard. Also, regularly turn over your garden soil and break apart any

clumps of dirt so that you can eliminate the living spaces any insects

that might be hiding underground.

Another way to rid your garden of the pests is to use dormant spray, which

is used to keep destructive insects and diseases under control. It is best

that you use dormant spray when your plants are dormant, usually around

February or early March. I have used dormant spray many times on my garden

and it has worked wonders on keeping insects out. But as I learned from

experience, dormant spray is only effective if you follow the correct

instructions. When I first decided to use some on my garden, I just dumped

it everywhere in hopes of killing everything harmful. Unfortunately I

ended up killing my entire garden along with my neighbors. Some insects

can be beneficial to your garden though, so be sure to find out which

insects help your garden.

Another pest problem I've had besides insects has been birds. Whenever I

see birds in my garden I run outside a chase them away, but as soon as I

step inside they come right back. The solution that I've come up with to

keep the birds away from my garden is to put a bird feeder in my yard.

Instead of costing me time and money by eating my garden, the birds eat at

the bird feeder. In the long run it’ll save you money. Not only can a bird

feeder help keep birds away from your garden, but they can also be a new

part of your yard decoration. Although not completely eliminating my bird

problem, my bird feeder has made the problem smaller. Getting a dog has

also helped.

If you start seeing mounds of dirt around your yard, and your plants keep

unexplainably dieing, you can assume that you have a gopher problem.

Thankfully, this is one of the few garden pasts that I haven't had.

However my friend has struggled with a tremendous gopher infestation, so I

decided to research it. Gophers are rodents that are five to fourteen

inches long. Their fur can be black, light brown, or white, and they have

small tails. One method of getting rid of these root-eating pests is to

set traps. The key to successfully capturing a gopher using a trap is to

successfully locate the gopher's tunnels and set the trap correctly.

Another way to get rid of them is to use smoke bombs, which you place into

the tunnel and the smoke spreads through out it and hopefully reaches the

gopher.

If you suspect that your gardens are being pillaged by any of the pests I

mentioned, I encourage you to try your hardest to eliminate the problem as

soon as possible. The longer you let the species stay, the more

established it will become.

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Mulching for Free

I’m sure that if you are reading this, you have used some form of mulch during your gardening career. However, you probably didn’t know that there are many other options for organic mulching that you can explore. These days, many gardeners are discovering new sources of free mulch that has been there all along; an untapped resource. These include clippings from a lawn, or woody prunings from other plants in your yard. You will be surprised by how beneficial all these things can be, and how often the opportunity arises to use them.

Many gardeners have taken to spreading out their excess grass clippings across the rest of their yard. You may think this will look tacky, with big piles of grass just sitting in your yard as if you were too lazy to rake them up. However, if you spread them out enough then you won’t even be able to tell that there is an excess amount. Leaving the extra grass on the yard acts as a sort of mulch by preventing evaporation and weed growth. With this extra water, you won’t have to water nearly as much to keep your grass green. When I started leaving my grass clippings, I had to adjust the frequency of my sprinkler system because I was worried my yard was getting too much water!

If your garden is in more need of mulching than your yard, it is not unheard of to rake up all the grass and transport it to your garden. By making a small layer around the vicinity of the plant, you’ll apply all the same benefits from leaving it in your yard. My yard is rather green on its own, but I often have trouble with my plants staying green and healthy. So, rather than leave the grass clipping in my yard, I move them all around my plants. It is just a matter of choosing what your highest mulching priority is.

Sometimes, our pruning activities will lead us to have an amazing amount of branches and twigs. If this is the case, you should consider renting a wood chipper to put all of those branches to use. After one day of intense pruning, you would be surprised at just how many branches you end up with. Rather than throw these away, you can turn them into a huge amount of mulch for your plants. However, if your pruning has not left you with that big of an amount, you should bundle it all up and save it to add onto the next batch. This is because the chipping machines can be slightly expensive to rent, and you want it to be absolutely worth it!

Over time, all organic mulches need to be replenished. This is because they will naturally decompose in the conditions of your yard. Usually you can tell for yourself just by looking at it, but sometimes it can look perfectly regular but still have problems. If you start to notice any poor plant growth whatsoever, you should replace your mulch. Always keep in mind that during the process of decomposition, your mulch will use up the valuable nitrogen in the soil. Without this, the plants will be missing a key nutrient. There are several types of fertilizers available on the market that are specifically designed to deal with this problem.

The use of mulches in the yard and garden is something everyone should try. Not only can it save lots of time by reducing the amount of garbage you have to transport out, but it increases the healthiness and integrity of your plants by putting that so called garbage to good use. So if you think you would be able to save a good amount of branches and twigs for chipping, or if you think that you are ready to stop raking up all your grass clippings, then I think that mulching is for you.

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My First Gardening Experience

Ah, to this day I still remember my first gardening experience. It was

such a disaster that I didn’t think I would ever want to garden again. I

almost decided to turn my casual hobby into the most rage-inducing topic

you could possibly bring up to me.

It all started a few weeks after I moved in to my first house. I was

excited just to have my own grass to mow, since I had been in apartments

and condos for quite a while. In between plans to paint walls and renovate

the inside to exactly how I like, I thought it would be a good idea to

start a fruit garden so that I could have some fresh produce and put my

yard to use. At that point I didn’t really know anything at all about

gardening. But still in my spunky youthful years, I decided I didn’t need

help. How hard could it be to start a garden and grow stuff? After all, it

happens in nature all the time and nobody even has to do anything.

I already had a grassless patch in my yard where it looked like the

previous owner had attempted a garden. But any attempt they had made

turned out to be an utter travesty. The area was full of rocks and weeds,

with no signs of any agreeable plants. I spent several hours of work

spread over several days to clear out the entire area, leaving nothing but

dirt. At that point, however, I didn’t realize the difference between

“dirt” and “soil”. I was dealing with barren, hard, nutritionless, and

unforgiving land.

I made some attempt at making my garden look nice; although I think even

Martha Stewart would have had difficulties. I took some stained boards

that were sitting in my basement (quite convenient, no?) and used them as

a border for my garden, to keep out all the pests that couldn’t jump more

than a foot (I figured I would be safe from lawn gnomes). I used the pile

of rocks I had collected from the garden to make a creepy shrine looking

thing in front of it. I don’t know what I was thinking when I did that.

I went to the store that very day, and picked out whatever looked tasty.

Strawberries? Sure! Watermelon? Yeah! I hacked away a hole in the

rock-hard ground and poked the seed in. After that, I think I watered it

faithfully every day for several weeks before realizing that it was not

going to grow anything. But even after I had that realization, I continued

to water in hopes that my seeds would pull a last minute sprout on me. But

I knew there was no hope, and I was heartbroken. After all those hours of

pulling up weeds and tossing rocks into a pile, I had no fruit to show for

my labor.

So, feeling dejected and betrayed, I logged onto the internet and searched

for a guide to gardening. I quickly ran across a site that led me to

realize the true skill required for gardening. It was then I learned about

soil consistency, nutrients, ideal watering conditions, seasons, and all

those things. After I read up on my area and how to grow fruits, I learned

exactly what to do. I learned how to get the ideal soil, when to plant the

seeds, how much to water, etc. Just a night of browsing the internet and

printing off sources, and I was totally ready for the next planting season.

If you’re in the position I was, and you’re just itching to start a new

garden… I urge you to learn from my mistake. Make sure you do plenty of

proper research on the types of plants you’re trying to grow, along with

the climate. Spend money on good soil, good fertilizer, and good garden

tools. Hopefully you don’t have to go through the emotional disaster that

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Creating a Raised Bed

If your current planting goals involve plants that require good water drainage, I am sure you know how frustrating it is to have a yard that just won’t cooperate. Some plants can handle the excess water that comes about from being in an area that doesn’t drain properly. In fact, it might just cause them to bloom more lushly. However, other plants don’t cope as well, and it will cause them to die a gruesome, bloated death. You should always find out about the drainage required for every plant you buy, and make sure that it won’t conflict with any of the areas you are considering planting it in.

In order to test how much water your designated patch of soil will retain, dig a hole approximately ten inches deep. Fill it with water, and come back in a day when all the water had disappeared. Fill it back up again. If the 2nd hole full of water isn’t gone in 10 hours, your soil has a low saturation point. This means that when water soaks into it, it will stick around for a long time before dissipating. This is unacceptable for almost any plant, and you are going to have to do something to remedy it if you want your plants to survive.

The usual method for improving drainage in your garden is to create a raised bed. This involves creating a border for a small bed, and adding enough soil and compost to it to raise it above the rest of the yard by at least 5 inches. You’ll be amazed at how much your water drainage will be improved by this small modification. If you’re planning to build a raised bed, your prospective area is either on grass or on dirt. For each of these situations, you should build it slightly differently.

If you want to start a raised garden in a non grassy area, you won’t have much trouble. Just find some sort of border to retain the dirt you will be adding. I’ve found that there is nothing that works quite as well as a few two by fours. After you’ve created the wall, you must put in the proper amount soil and steer manure. Depending on how long you plan to wait before planting, you will want to adjust the ratio to allow for any deteriorating that may occur.

If you’re trying to install a raised bed where sod already exists, you will have a slightly more difficult time. You will need to cut the sod around the perimeter of the garden, and flip it over. This may sound simple, but you will need something with a very sharp edge to slice the edges of the sod and get under it. Once you have turned it all upside down, it is best to add a layer of straw to discourage the grass from growing back up. After the layer of straw, simply add all the soil and steer manure that a normal garden would need.

Planting your plants in your new area shouldn’t pose much difficulty. It is essentially the same process as your usual planting session. Just be sure that the roots don’t extent too far into the original ground level. The whole point of creating the raised bed is to keep the roots out of the soil which saturates easily. Having long roots that extend that far completely destroys the point.

Once you have plants in your new bed, you’ll notice an almost immediate improvement. The added soil facilitates better root development. At the same time, evaporation is prevented and decomposition is discouraged. All of these things added together makes for an ideal environment for almost any plant to grow in. So don’t be intimidated by the thought of adjusting the very topography of your yard. It is a simple process as I’m sure you’ve realized, and the long term results are worth every bit of work.

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Choosing and Planting Perennials

If you’ve been growing a vegetable garden for a while, you might be feeling slightly disgruntled at how plain it is to look at. I too began my gardening career with a vegetable garden, but I decided that it wasn’t quite as pleasing to look at as I would have liked. I heard from a friend that the use of perennial flowers could be a great way to liven up my garden without adding any extra work for me.

Perennial flowers are strong, local flowers that come back every year without having to replant or do any extra work. During their off seasons, the flowers and stems die back and you can hardly even tell the plant is there (rather than just dying and looking like hideous brown clumps in your garden). When it’s time to bloom, entirely new flowers shoot up where the old ones were.

Before deciding whether to put in perennials or not, you need to make sure that your soil has proper drainage. If the water stays saturated for long periods of time, you should build a raised bed. To test, dig a hole and fill it with water. Wait a day, and then fill it with water again. All traces of water should be gone within 10 hours. If the hole isn’t completely dry, you will need to build a raised bed.

Picking your perennials can be a complicated process. The goal should be to have them flowering as much as possible during the year, so you should create an outline of the year. Research the different types of flower you want, and create a timeline of flowering. If you plan it right, you can have a different type of flower blooming at any point in the year. Getting just the right mixture of seeds can give your yard a constantly changing array of colors.

When you go to buy the seeds from your local florist or nursery, you might be able to find a custom seed mixture for your area. This takes the really tough research part out of the job. Usually these blends are optimized for the local climate, and do great jobs of having flowers always grow in your yard. If one of these isn’t available, you can ask the employees what they think would be a good mixture. They should be happy to help you put something together which will be optimal for whatever you desire.

You should definitely use mulch when planting perennials. This will reduce the overall amount of work you have to do, by reducing the amount of weeds and increasing the water retention. Bark or pine needles work great, I have found, and depending on the rest of your yard you might have them on hand at no charge. As for fertilizer, you should use it sparingly once your plants start to come to life.

When you actually go to plant the seeds, you should put them in small, separate clumps according to the directions. This is because they tend to spread out, and if you have too many too close together then they will end up doing nothing but choking each other out. As you plant them, throw in a little bit of extremely weak fertilizer. In no time at all you should start to see flowers blooming up.

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2010 Tomato Harvest – Round 1

This year I haven’t been nearly as active with my harvesting (and freezing) efforts as I was last year. I’ve certainly picked a fair number of beans and tomatoes (and the odd zucchini), but mostly just for a given meal here and there. As a result, many of my beans have toughened up and/or been munched by critters, making them fit for worm consumption only. I thought I might be heading in the same direction with the majority of my tomatoes, but ended up taking some action this weekend.

I’m sure that a lot of my inaction on the harvesting (specially, harvesting then freezing) front stems from the fact that I ended up quite disappointed with the produce I froze last year. As some of you may recall, I ran into some serious issues with a tomato disease last year and ended up having to harvest most of them while they were still green (see “The Great Green Tomato Rescue“). I’m a serious fried green tomato fan, don’t get me wrong, but I had FAR more tomatoes than could be put to use in a reasonable amount of time. I figured that frozen green tomatoes could be put to good use in soups, stir fries, sauces etc. As it turns out, they just were not appealing at all – so, the vast majority of them ended of as worm food (as did most of the frozen zucchini, chard and beans).

As you can see in the picture above, I have been forced to harvest a fair number of beefsteak tomatoes while they are still green (since these plants are among the hardest hit by the disease this year) – but I also had LOADS of beautiful, ripe grape, cherry and tomatoberry fruit (and expect to harvest many more before I need to chop the plants down). I am much more confident that these can be used for soups, sauces etc during the fall and winter – they should offer much more flavor – not to mention lycopene!

I have been particularly impressed with the tomatoberries this year. Sure, they didn’t go gangbusters in the bucket systems (although I still managed to harvest a fair number of ripe fruit from them) – but it was another story altogether with the plants that border (or are growing directly in) my worm composting trench beds! Even with my failed support efforts, and some really lousy weather (and lack of care from me) as of late, the plants have done great! Although you might generally think of these as a type of cherry tomato, I’ve found them much more versatile than that – and as you can see, some of them have certainly grown a fair bit bigger than most cherry tomatoes as well.

The flavor is definitely sweet enough to enjoy them right off the vine, yet meaty enough to also make them a great addition to a sandwich. I’m optimistic that they will do just fine as a mini “plum tomato” (for sauces etc) as well.

I spent a LONG time preparing my tomatoes for freezing last year – which naturally seems like “wasted time” in hindsight – SO, this year it’s going to be a K.I.S.S. approach all the way. I tossed them in the sink for a soak (to wash off dust/debris etc), rinsed them quickly, patted them off in some tea towels (to avoid excess water in the freezer bags) then bagged them up.

When all was said and done, I ended up with four large freezer bags full (perhaps ~ 20 lb worth) with a small quantity in a fifth bag as well.

I didn’t do anything with the larger tomatoes. The plum tomatoes I picked are pink so I’m sure they will ripen fairly quickly, as will some of the pinkish beefsteak tomatoes. Any of the green tomatoes that don’t end up ripening on their own, or consumed / given away, will likely head right back to where they came from. I’m not the only one who enjoys munching on tomatoes (although I do prefer mine not to be rotten)!

Written by Bentley on August 23rd, 2010 with 8 comments.
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Garden Gate Details: Getting Creative

My son is still asleep and my husband and daughter have gone outside to work on the the new chicken coop — I should be making Birthday cake and cleaning house in preparation for the party later tonight….but….seriously I have to share this great idea from  Karen over at The Art of Doing Stuff.

Gates that close with magnets — and a full set of DIY instructions for putting it together yourself…..and thus allowing for all sorts of creativity when it comes to handles for your fences….

A quick brainstorming session on ideas is getting me in the mood for creative cake making…..How about using vintage car parts for a gate handles?

image from make club

…or perhaps old toys and charmingly aged found bits….

image from old holden

Tinker toys seem to provide endless options for a modern but colorful and thoughtful detail. Handles fashioned from these would need a bit of shellac for protection.

Of course silverware is made to be comfortable on the hand…so why not re-purpose to another hand friendly device…

image by mazzorello media.

or maybe forgo the whole creative handle and magnet thing entirely and do a kick to open and auto close cannon ball variety….hmmm…any other ideas for interesting gate handles?

Have a great Sunday….see you back here (hopefully) tomorrow…

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Laura Spector’s Garden

September 7, 2010 at 3:39 pm · Filed under Art, Furniture, Materials

Laura Spector’s art falls into the category of Modern Master — I don’t put too many things or people in the category, but she certainly qualifies.  Her pieces are beautiful celebrations of woody vines and branches that create some of the most beautiful garden furniture and arbors I have ever seen.  Make sure to click through to her website to see other pieces of her work that are for the interior of the home too.

Thanks Louise for sending me the link!

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The Real Gardener's Book

Get a beautiful garden - easy, inexpensive, and rewarding - simple steps to follow! Only product with Book And Audio Mp3 Book !

Check it out!

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Tree Cathedral in Italy

I am planning a family trip to Italy later this fall.  Unfortunately, I think we will miss being able to see gardens and general greenery as it will be too late in the season.

This morning, my good friend emailed me about this tree cathedral that is being inaugurated tomorrow (September 4th 2010).  I think even without greenery — this may be end up being a stop on our tour.

image from wired.co.uk

The Tree Cathedral is located outside of Bergamo, Italy, on the slopes of the Arera mountain, and is the creation of famed Italian contemporary artist, Giuliano Mauri.

Giuliano Mauri, is a ‘natural architect’ who died in May 2009. The structure was his last work, to signify the International Year of Biodiversity. It stands 21 metres tall, with five aisles and 42 columns. It’s 28.5 metres long and 24 metres wide, and has been built from 1800 firs, 600 chestnut branches and 6000 metres of hazel branch that’s been weaved into the design. 42 beeches have been planted inside, which will grow over time to provide the roof to the structure, which remains open to the rain for the time being.   Here are some interesting images of the making of the cathedrale, but with all good gardens, I am excited to keep an eye on this one and see how it matures with time.

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Choosing a Garden that is Perfect for You

If you're thinking about starting a garden, the first thing you need to

consider is what type of garden you will have. There are many different

choices and often it can be hard to pick just one, but hopefully you can

narrow it down. But by narrowing it down, you'll make the gardening

experience easier on yourself and the plants. If all your plants are

similar, then it shouldn't be very hard to care for them all. So here are

some of the main garden ideas for you to choose from.

If you're just looking for something to look nice in your yard, you'll

want a flower garden. These are usually filled with perennial flower.

Perennial flowers are flowers which stay healthy year-round. They're

basically weeds because of their hardiness, only nice looking. Different

areas and climates have different flowers which are considered perennials.

If you do a quick internet search for your area, you can probably find a

list of flowers that will bring your flower garden to life. These usually

only require work in the planting stage - after that, the flower take care

of themselves. The only downside to this is that you don't have any

product to show for it.

Another choice for your garden is to have a vegetable garden. These

usually require a little more work and research than a flower garden, but

can be much more rewarding. No matter what time of the year it is, you can

usually find one vegetable that is still prospering. That way you can have

your garden be giving you produce almost every day of the year! When

starting a vegetable garden, you should build it with the thought in mind

that you will be adding more types of veggies in later. This will help

your expandability. Once all your current crops are out of season, you

won't be stuck with almost nowhere to put the new crops. A vegetable

garden is ideal for someone who wants some produce, but doesn't want to

devote every waking hour to perfecting their garden (see below.)

One of the more difficult types of gardens to manage is a fruit garden.

It's definitely the most high-maintenance. When growing fruits, many more

pests will be attracted due to the sweetness. You not only have to deal

with having just the right dirt and fertilizer, you have to deal with

choosing a pesticide that won't kill whoever eats the fruits. Your fruit

garden will probably not produce year-round. The soil needs to be just

right for the plants to grow, and putting in another crop during its

off-season could be disastrous to its growth process. If you're willing to

put lots of work into maintaining a garden, then a fruit garden could be a

good choice for you.

So now that I've outlined some of the main garden types that people

choose, I hope you can make a good decision. Basically, the garden type

comes down to what kind of product you want, and how much work you want to

put into it. If you're looking for no product with no work, go with a

flower garden. If you want lots of delicious product, but you are willing

to spend hours in your garden each day, then go for a fruit garden. Just

make sure you don't get into something you can't handle!

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Daily Garden: Rooftop Thrift Garden

August 31, 2010 at 6:58 am · Filed under DIY Projects, Daily Garden, Materials

Urban Rooftop gardening is is quite vogue but while the reality of actually creating such a garden can be daunting (think hauling all that dirt to the roof) – this garden is quite inspiring because it literally looks like someone went through the apartment building and picked up all the stuff that would have gone down to the curb and instead took it up to the roof to create this quirky but appealing mix.
Found over at urban garden casual.

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Weekend Gardener Magazine issue #299

You are receiving this newsletter from Weekend Gardener magazine. Planting and Sowing Summer crops like tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, squash and melons that need a long growing season should all be started in a warm place under cover Sow flower seedlings promptly for good Christmas and New Year displays. Many bedding and basket plants take three months to produce their flowers (some take longer) Three-month ones include cosmos, marigolds, busy lizzies, Mexican sunflowers, nasturtiums, petunias, salvias, cleome, sunflowers, viscaria and zinnias Caring and Feeding Feed gardenias, daphne, rhododendrons, azaleas and pieris with poultry manure or sheep pellets as needed. If older leaves show signs of motley yellowing between the veins of leaves, dissolve a level tablespoon of Epsom salts in a bucket of water and water plants well with it. For more garden notes from Susie Longdell, see Issue #299 of Weekend Gardener, out on September 23, 2010. This Issue Contents GROWING HIPPEASTRUMS Susie Longdell suggests growing these big, bold blooms in pots or warm gardens and gives tips that make it easy. PICK AND GROW YOUR PEPPERS Andrew Steens shares his love of chillies and capsicums and gives the lowdown on growing great crops. CULTIVATE CAPE GOOSEBERRIES Jacqueline Sparrow says growing these obliging close relatives of tomatoes is child’s play and their tangy crop good to eat. DOUBLING YOUR DAHLIAS Andrew Maloy and dahlia expert Keith Hammett show two ways to propagate dahlias from tubers in spring. FOLIAGE FOR FRONTLINES Sue Linn suggests using low and leafy perennials instead of small hedges to edge your garden beds. INVITING BIRDS TO STAY Mark Rayner has practical suggestions that will make garden-friendly birds want to move in and set up home. DIY: HOME TWEET HOME Mark Rayner, with his step-by-step instructions, makes it easy to build a birdhouse for your garden. HIGH TIMES IN HAWERA Mark Rayner visits a Taranaki country garden that will be open during this spring’s Fringe Festival. A MUST TRY: MISTUBA Marilyn Wightman gives tips on growing and using this perennial herb, a favourite of the Japanese. In the Edible garden Our team of veggie gardeners from around the country report on their gardens, give tips and list tasks. PERFECT FOR PICKING Susie Longdell suggests growing waratahs for their bold garden display and long-lasting cut flowers. Win An Experience This Issue Win Win & experience the Taranaki Rhododendron & Garden Festival, a luxury trip for two For the letter writers: win a pair of Fiskars PowerGear® pruners Win with Yates for fantastic prizes For photographers: Win one three Olympus digital cameras and mystery monthly prize Win a trip for two to wonderful Hunters Garden Marlborough Win a fantastic MacMat macrocarpa wood mat worth $140 Subscribe to Weekend Gardener and go into the draw to win a pair of Fiskars PowerGear Pruners® Crack our Garden Quiz and win a $50 Garden NZ Gift Card Win one of two Black & Decker 550W 55cm hedge trimmers (GT515-XE) worth $129.95 Solve our Mystery Garden Word and win a $50 Garden New Zealand gift card UPCOMING MAGAZINE ISSUE DEADLINES: Organize your advertising and promotion around Ellerslie International Flower Show with Weekend Gardener. Issue #300 out October 7, material deadline September 24 Issue #301 out October 21, material deadline October 8 Issue #302 out November 4, material deadline October 22 Reserve your advertising space now. Display advertising - Chris Danzey, ph 09 377 2348, adswg@xtra.co.nz Gardeners Market advertising - Barbara Smith, ph 09 377 2340, adminwg@xtra.co.nz More 2010 PUBLISHING DATES ON WEBSITE. Pick up your fortnightly issue of Weekend Gardener at leading supermarkets, bookshops, newsagents and garden centres or Freephone 0800 999 886. National Readership Survey Thank you readers. Weekend Gardener has a record 139,000 readers. That's a gain 12,000 new readers in a year. Readership jumped 9.44%% for the year ended June 30, 2010, up from 127,000 for the same period last year, according to Neilsen Media National Readership Survey. Weekend Gardener's readership represents 3.7% of population 10+. Last Chance to Beat the Price Increase Subscribe or renew before October 1 and save. Weekend Gardener subscription prices are increasing because of paper price and GST increases from October 1. Subscibe before October 1, 2010, and you will pay the current lower price.   Issue #299 Out in the shops 23rd September 2010. Pick up your copy at leading supermarkets, bookshops, newsagents and garden centres or Freephone 0800 999 886. Important Links Visit Our Website Subscribe Gardeners Market Visit Weekend Gardener's on-line Gardener's Market now for your garden needs, website links, Gardens to Visit, Shows and Garden Events. Contact Barbara Smith, ph 09 377 2340 or email adminwg@xtra.co.nz for your listing. Pullout Programme Waikato Home & Garden Show Subscribe at Just Gardening at Kumeu or THE WAIKATO HOME & GARDEN SHOW AND RECEIVE A BOTTLE OF ANCHORAGE CLASSIC REISLING. Noticeboard • I would like a piece of Viola ‘Black Bowles’ (a non-seeding variety). I lost my plant while in hospital. I’d also love a Campanula ‘Bernice’. Rosalie, email peter.rosalie@clear.net.nz or ph 03 385 3989.September 25 More Plant Notices... Garden Events Just Gardening at Kumeu Growers, gardening product retailers, landscapers, sculptors, garden artists, garden clubs and societies, 9am-4pm, Kumeu Showgrounds, Access Rd. Ph 09 412 9322, www.kumeushowgrounds.co.nz More Garden Events... New Quarterly OUT NOW WEEKEND GARDENER'S Quarterly Special Edition, Edible Gardening is out now. Full of tips and know-how from the Weekend Gardener team of experts with Inspirational examples of sustainable vegetable, fruit and herb gardens. Order your copy now. On sale for $6.95. Order your copy now... Tip of the Week Mark Rayner says, "Attract birds to your garden by planting their favourite foods." Some native plants that feed birds: Kaka beak, puka, pseudopanax, flaxes, clianthus, coprosmas, wineberries, titoki, and kowhai. See Weekend Gardener for entry details Show us your favourite pictures: shots of gardens, flowers, shrubs and trees, closeups, people or pets. The Three top shots win Olympus cameras plus there are monthly prizes for readers with published photos. HAVE A GARDEN AND A WEEKEND Know someone who might be interested in the email? Forward this email to a friend. If you no longer wish to receive this email please unsubscribe.