Beautiful Easy Gardens Journal

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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Larry Sombke" journal:

April 6th, 2006
09:31 am [Link]	Things to do in the Garden It is early spring here in the Northeast and in my garden at least I can see tulips, and daffodils peeping through (in fact, the daffodils are beginning to bloom) More importantly for me, my hose in hose primrose are coming back. They have become my favorite spring flower. The forsythia is in bloom and a great many of my perennials are beginning to show signs of life. In the herb garden, good old reliable chives are up at least four inches and the parsley is gaining ground. Here is a list of things you might want to do in your garden over the next couple of weeks: Perennial bed: Clean out the beds of any stalks you didn't get last year. Apply organic fertilizer. Plant shrubs and perennials as soon as the frost has left the ground. Dig and divide perennials, place the min post for an upcoming plant sale or replant them in a new place. Herb and Vegetable garden: Add organic fertilizer and compost and till the soil when it is no longer damp. Plant peas, onions, lettuce, arugula, mache, radishes as well as thyme, chives, tarragon, lavender,winter savory, oregano and other hardy perennial herbs. It is not too late to start tomatoes, peppers and eggplant seeds indoors to plant in the garden after Mother's Day. Shrubs: Prune rose bushes and hardy hydrangea such as H. arborescens 'Annabelle' which can be cut flat to the ground if necessary and will still produce blooms this summer. Prune fall blooming clematis and butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii) Cut forsythia branches and bring them indoors as a bouquet. Trim the remaining branches for better shape. Enjoy your garden!
April 5th, 2006
03:09 pm [Link]	Boozing Paperwhites All of us who grow forced paperwhites in winter are looking for ways ot keep them from getting too tall. Now Cornell has come up with the new research that may help. Pickling your Paperwhites Ginning Up Paperwhites That Don’t Flop Over Using Alcohol to Reduce Growth of Paperwhite Narcissus William B. Miller Professor of Horticulture Director of the Flowerbulb Research Program Cornell University The paperwhite narcissus is a popular bulb for indoor forcing in the winter months. Unlike most other daffodils, paperwhites (Narcissus tazetta) do not require a cold period. They are simply planted in pots with soil, or even more commonly, in dishes or bowls with gravel, marbles or other decorative material. With a little water, they rapidly form roots, grow leaves and shoots. The white, fragrant flowers usually open up within 2-3 weeks of planting. A common problem with paperwhites, however, is that they often grow too tall and flop over. Recent research conducted by the Flowerbulb Research Program at Cornell University has found a simple and effective way to reduce stem and leaf growth of paperwhites. The “secret” is using dilute solutions of alcohol. Properly used, the result is paperwhites that are 1/3 to ½ shorter, with equal sized flowers that last as long as normal. What to do We suggest planting your paperwhite bulbs in stones, gravel, marbles, glass beads, etc. as usual. Add water as you normally would, then wait about 1 week until roots are growing, and the shoot is green and growing about 1-2” above the top of the bulb. At this point, pour off the water and replace it with a solution of 4 to 6% alcohol, made from just about any “hard” liquor. You can do the calculations to figure the dilution, but, as an example, to get a 5% solution from a 40% distilled spirit (e.g., gin, vodka, whiskey, rum, tequila), you add 1 part of the booze to 7 parts of water. This is an 8-fold dilution yielding 5% alcohol. Then, simply use this solution, instead of water, for further irrigation (watering) of your bulbs. It’s as simple as that. The result will be a plant that is 1/3 shorter, but with flowers just as large, fragrant, and long-lasting as usual. But, the plant will be nicely proportioned and won’t need support stakes, wires, or other gizmos to keep it upright. You will see results within just a few days. You can have some fun by doing a simple experiment having one bowl of bulbs given normal water and the other given the alcohol. You will see a dramatic difference, as shown in the picture. This could be a neat activity to occupy kids during the upcoming holiday season! A few other thoughts • Do not use beer or wine, as the sugars in them will cause major problems with the plants • As with humans, paperwhites can also suffer alcohol overdoses! We suggest 4-6% alcohol as a normal and safe range. If plants are given much more than 10% alcohol, growth problems will start, and 25% alcohol is dramatically toxic. So, moderation is the key! • It is not strictly necessary pour off the water after the plants are rooted (as we suggest above). You can just as well add your 5% alcohol without pouring the water off. The result, though, will be a lower than optimal alcohol concentration around the roots, and, ultimately, growth will not be reduced as much as you expect. The reason to pour off the water is to simply maximize the alcohol level around the roots. • Basically, the higher the alcohol concentration (within reason), the shorter the plants. So it is not critical whether you use 4, 5, or 6% alcohol. Just stay well below 10%, where growth problems become noticeable. • If you do not have alcohol for consumption in your household, rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) works just as well. Since this is usually 70% alcohol when purchased, a dilution of 1 part rubbing alcohol to 10 or 11 parts water is appropriate. • Why does this happen? We are currently working on this, but we feel it is simply “water stress”, where the alcohol makes it more difficult for the plant to absorb water. The plant suffers a slight lack of water, enough to reduce leaf and stem growth, but not enough to affect flower size or flower longevity. • I thank Erin Finan (Cornell ’05, horticulture undergrad) who worked on this as a senior project, and to Leslie Land of the New York Times who first posed the question “Does gin affect paperwhites?” to me in early 2005. Jan Doornbosch of International Bulb Co. in New Jersey graciously supplied bulbs, and Group 1 of the Royal Dutch Wholesalers’ Association for Flowerbulbs and Nursery Stock, Hillegom, The Netherlands, provided financial support for this work. The effect of alcohol on growth of ‘Ziva’ paperwhite narcissus. Left: Untreated plant, growing in pebbles with water. Right: Plant in pebbles, grown with 5% alcohol instead of water.
March 3rd, 2006
11:45 am [Link]	Pruning Fruit Trees and Grape Vines Now is a very good time to prune your apple and pear trees and your grape vines so that these woody plants produce a good supply of fruit this summer. The trees are dormant and just getting ready to break out of that and start producing buds for the coming year. Cherry and plum trees don't usually require annual hard pruning, just enough to make sure sun is penetrating into the heart of the tree. It is also a good time to prune some of your ornamental trees. Proper pruning and the use of the right tools is often confusing to people. I've come a cross a Web site from the U.S. Forest Service that gives detailed pruning advice and techniques that are appropriate for gardeners in the Northeast. http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/howtos/ht_prune/prun001.htm
March 2nd, 2006
03:11 pm [Link]	New Garden Trends and Products Garden Cuttings March, 2006 QUOTE OF THE MONTH “I’ve noticed something about gardening. You set out to do one thing and pretty soon you’re doing something else, which leads to some other thing, and so on. By the end of the day, you look at the shovel stuck in the half-dug rose bed and wonder what on earth you’ve been doing.” -- Anne Raver, Deep in the Green, 1995 SURVEY SAYS… According to the 2006 Early Spring Gardening Trends survey released by the Garden Writers Association Foundation, 52% of American households plan to purchase most of their spring plants at mass merchants and D-I-Y stores, while garden centers and local retail stores are favored by 39% of households. Consumers say they prefer quality over price by a margin of 50% to 30% in the selection of plant materials. When selecting spring plants, 46% of garden buyers look for ease of care, while 44% are influenced primarily by color preferences. KEEP CAR TRUNK CLEAN WITH A BOX TIDY Gardeners are always visiting plant nurseries and bringing home more plants than they need. Unfortunately, plant containers can be wet and dirty, and they can really make a mess when they tip over in the trunk or in the back of the SUV. The ingenious Box Tidy is the solution. The Box Tidy is a waterproof plant holder that stores flat but expands and adjusts to fit car trunks of any size. When unfolded, the Box Tidy has four 11.5-inch square compartments, which are each 7 inches tall, that are perfect for nestling plants for the ride home. Rigid liners between the compartments maintain the overall stability, enabling the Box Tidy to keep plants upright. It works great for grocery bags, too. The Box Tidy sells for $14.95 from Kinsman Company, 1-800-733-4146, www.kinsmangarden.com. A CONTAINER GARDEN “TO DIE FOR” Container gardening is more popular than ever, and container plant selection is getting more and more sophisticated. Three stunning plant varieties make the Guardian Gate Collection a dramatic container showpiece. The centerpiece of the collection is Cyperus papyrus (commonly known as the Paper Plant or the Egyptian Water Plant), which features multiple four-foot-tall stalks topped by globe-like compound umbels of thread-like rays each tipped with a tiny light-green flower. Three Begonia ‘Christmas Candy’ plants add a splash of red blossoms. To complete the look, three Scaevola aemula drape over the pot’s rim, adding trailing blue flowers. The seven plants in the collection will fill a 20-inch or 24-inch pot with lush vegetation and color. This collection is a perfect entryway planting or a dramatic focal point in a patio garden. The Guardian Gate Collection sells for $39.95 from Logee’s, 1-888-330-8038. KILL PESTS WITHOUT USING HARSH CHEMICALS Year-Round® Spray Oil is new lightweight horticultural oil that effectively controls pests on even the most sensitive plants such as roses, impatiens, philodendrons and ferns. It can be used any time during the year because it won’t harm plant buds, shoots and leaves. Year-Round Spray Oil is an odorless, environmentally responsible insecticide that kills a wide variety of insect pests including aphids, whiteflies, spider mites, mealybugs, scale, thrips, fungus gnats, certain caterpillars, leaf beetle larvae, lace bugs and others. Because of its low toxicity, Year-Round Spray Oil can be used on garden plants and fruit trees right up to the day of harvest. Year-Round Spray Oil concentrate is available in four different sizes, including a handy one quart bottle with a built-in hose-end sprayer that sells for about $11.99 at Ace Hardware, True Value Hardware and other fine home centers and hardware stores. www.summitchemical.com. DELIGHTFUL DELPHINIUM If you love delphiniums you’re going to love Delphinium ‘New Zealand Doubles Mixed.’ New for 2006, ‘New Zealand Doubles Mixed’ is the first double-flowered mixture ever offered from seed. The stems of these prolific bloomers are covered with blooms in white, pink, blue and lavender, each sporting layer upon layer of petals. The beautiful flower spikes will reach 4-5 feet tall. Start the seeds indoors for late summer blooms, or sow the seeds directly into garden soil for blooms in early to mid-summer next year. A packet of seeds sells for $7.95 from Thompson & Morgan, 1-800-274-7333, www.thompson-morgan.com. MANTIS LAUNCHES NEW HOME & GARDEN PRODUCTS WEBSITE Mantis, known best for its original mini-tiller, has added a wide variety of products to its offerings over the years. In addition to the gas-powered Mantis Tiller/Cultivator, Mantis now sells an electric tiller, a new extended reach landscape tool set called the Mantis E-System, a dual-chamber composter called the ComposT-Twin, a log splitter called the SwiftSplit, a new-generation wheelbarrow called the Loadumper 6 cart, OXO Good Grips garden tools, and a variety of handy products and gardening accessories. To introduce its complete line of consumer products, Mantis has launched a new website at www.mantisgardenproducts.com where you can place an order or request a copy of the new Mantis Home & Garden Products catalog. Happy Gardening!
February 28th, 2006
01:44 pm [Link]	Amaryllis Love and Care I had the most fabulous amaryllis in bloom in the house during January and half of February. It was a pale pink specimen named 'Sweet Surrender' that I bought online from John Sheepers.com. It bloomed and bloomed and bloomed. The bulb must have produced nearly a dozen flowers on two mighty stems. A week or so ago the flowering stopped and I cut off the stems, not the leaves, just the stems. Now I will just keep it around and water it occasionally and treat it like a house plant. When warm weather arrives, I will place it outdoors in full sun to part shade and let nature water it for the summer. After Labor Day, the foliage will die back and I will cut it off, stop watering the plant and ignore it for a few weeks. Before the first frost, I will bring it back indoors and start watering it again. Hopefully, it will bloom again next winter.
February 27th, 2006
02:44 pm [Link]	Replacing Grass with Ground Cover Judith from New York City writes: hi larry. i listen all the time. my gardening question is about the Berkshires...west stockbridge. I would like to replace grass i just pay to mow and mow with some kind of low, quick spreading, pretty ground cover, and put a few paths in it. There are a couple acres involved. I am no spring chicken, so low maintenance is my goal, as well as not spending hundreds of dollars on mowing every year. I have vinca on a couple of hillsides. any suggestions? NO pacasandra...ick. Judith: Because we are talking about two acres, you need something that is tough, aggressive and cheap. This may sound a little unusual, but, mint makes a great ground cover. It is very invasive and very tolerant of any condition. It blooms attracting butterflies and harmless bees. Oregano also makes a great ground cover. Carex pensylvanica (sedge), which is a type of low growing grass, up to six inches, might also be a good alternative for you. It looks like there is a place in Western Mass, Tripple Brook Farms, that sells it. http://www.tripplebrookfarm.com/index.html. Why not grow all three? Larry
02:37 pm [Link]	Welcome to My Web blog 2006 Hello, everyone. Susan Arbetter and I are gearing up for another wonderful garden radio talk season on Vox POp on WAMC/Northeast Public Radio. If you are not from this listening area, you can always tune in at www.wamc.org. I am writing to tell you that this year I am going to post something to my garden blog every day. Sometimes it will be answers to your questions that you submitted to me at www.beautifuleasygardens.com, sometimes it will be interesting garden tips or articles I cut and paste from other publications and sometimes it will be tips of the day that are appropriate for the season. Bookmark my blog and keep checking in! See you on the radio and in cyberspace. Larry
February 21st, 2006
01:13 pm [Link]	California Gardens THE CALIFORNIA GARDEN So beautifully, naturally spare Irving Gill cherished the interplay of building and plants, creating a distinctively regional style. By Ariel Swartley Special to The Times 1:10 AM PST, February 16, 2006 A palm frond's blue shadow rippling on a white stucco wall; a burst of fiery red geraniums turning an arched window into a summer hearth. These building-and-plant combinations are such a familiar part of the Los Angeles scenery that they seem to have sprung straight from the chaparral, as native to the region as dooryard-blooming lilacs are to the Midwest. That's exactly what their inventor, architect Irving Gill, had in mind. Gill, who was active in Southern California from 1893 until his death in 1936, is remembered as one of the region's Modernist visionaries. A pioneer of such technical advances as tilt-slab construction (where exterior walls are poured flat as a single piece of reinforced concrete, then raised — or tilted — into position) and painted and waxed concrete floors, Gill also established, in the decades before World War I, a home-grown Southern California style. Drawing on the sinuous arch of Mission porticos, the smooth, white-washed walls of adobe cottages, the interior courtyards of rancho haciendas, his buildings — mansions in Hollywood and San Diego, apartment blocks in Sierra Madre, workmen's cottages and a railway station in Torrance — offered a geometry so spare and elegant that they seemed to float beside the burly wood and stone bungalows of the era. That they didn't actually drift off might have been largely due to the plantings, supervised by Gill himself. That ropy, yellow cat's claw vine (Macfadyena unguis-cati) winding its way up to the second story, or the net of creeping fig (Ficus pumila) spreading across a façade, assured admirers that Gill's airy abstractions were safely anchored to the earth. Architects and gardeners don't always share a vision. The same clean lines that give a building distinction turn a ficus tree into a stubby caricature of graceful growth. But garden lovers owe a special debt to Gill. Unlike those architects who regard greenery as a necessary evil, or at best, a subservient design detail — something that if kept strictly pruned may conceal a dryer vent without distracting from the building's shape — Gill welcomed plants into and onto his buildings. Whether he was designing a screen-roofed "green room" for a Pasadena home, or a vine-shaded promenade for the La Jolla Woman's Club, he treated the natural world not as an adversary, to be worked around, but as a valued collaborator. "We should build our house simple, plain and substantial as a boulder," Gill wrote in the Craftsman Magazine in 1916. "Then leave the ornamentation of it to Nature, who will tone it with lichen, chisel it with storms, make it gracious and friendly with vines and flower shadows as she does the stone in the meadow." It was of course a romantic notion, and once on the ground, Gill was as quick as the next garden neatnik to square up a hedge, or plant palms in sentinel rows to frame a Hollywood Hills view. But his love for the exuberant California landscape was genuine and his appreciation of the way buildings and grounds can enhance each other over time remains a long-term vision worth contemplating in a quick-fix world. When Gill first landed in San Diego in 1893, Southern California architecture was still eminently Victorian. In other words: no different than the rest of the country's. Every surface was an excuse for some kind of elaboration: Houses were cloaked in patterned shingles or Tudor style-half-timbering; windows were circles or casements, stained glass or mullioned; garden beds were carpeted with close packed annuals; lawns boasted plumed clumps of pampas grass; and pergolas were swathed in climbing roses — small-blossomed noisettes and once-blooming ramblers. Gill, born in 1870 in upstate New York, had had plenty of experience with this style as the son of a building contractor. At 20, however, his ambitions had led him to Chicago and the drafting room of Louis Sullivan, an architect whose innovative use of new building materials such as steel, and preference for simple surfaces was inspiring a new generation. Arriving in Southern California, where he moved for health reasons, Gill found an inspiringly blank slate: a landscape at once dramatic and uncluttered. Within a decade, he had begun to pare down his buildings to essential shapes — cubes, rectangles, semi-circles — and to peel away unnecessary frills like interior moldings and roof overhangs. "Don't try to imitate Nature with machine-made stuff," he advised in Sunset Magazine in 1913. "The result is depressingly monotonous in its rigidly regular irregularity. Dare to be simple [and] rely upon Nature to supply the irregular contrast." He had a huge regard for the health-giving properties of the California air. Every home, he noted, should have a tree in the back garden — not just for beauty, but from which to hang a baby's basket. He even put an open roof on a jail he designed in Oceanside. (It was later covered.) Besides private houses, his commissions in the decade before World War I included a school, a hotel, a laboratory and a barracks for immigrant cement-plant laborers. The last, like his 1910 Lewis Court apartments, which were designed as low-cost housing for Sierra Madre, included a vine-covered central pergola and communal garden. Ingenuity was a hallmark of Gill's designs. He made the buttresses of a garden wall of San Diego's Timkin House hollow. Filled with earth, these gave vines planted within them a leg up. Gill's contemporaries such as journalist Eloise Roorbach were particularly struck by his cleverness with paint. Indoors, his ubiquitous pearly whites were mixed with small quantities of red, blue and yellow. The proportion would be adjusted to pick up the dominant colors of the garden outside. Meanwhile their somewhat shiny finish caught the changing light from morning to evening. Outdoors, too, he gave the white finish of his garden walls strong colors to reflect — a mass of red geraniums, a rose-tinted concrete patio — often arranged so the colors would also warm the interior of any room that overlooked it. Hugh Davies, who was involved in reconstructing the façade of Gill's Ellen Browning Scripps house for San Diego's Museum of Contemporary Art, noted that the architect's choice of trim color was also keyed to his plantings. "Often, he used a beautiful green color, a rich, dark green. Not as dark as British racing green, but not really a Kelly green; right in between those colors, a very well-considered decision." Magical as they appear now, Gill's designs failed to find a wide audience in his lifetime. He was slated to become the chief architect for San Diego's Panama-California Exposition, but insider lobbying replaced him with Bertram Goodhue. Thanks to Goodhue's curlicue-laden, turret-studded exhibition halls in Balboa Park, a flurry of ornate Spanish Colonial design swept the Southland in place of Gill's simple shapes. Two San Diego connections, however, had a lasting influence on Gill's career. Kate Sessions, a UC Berkeley graduate and professional horticulturist decades before either was regarded as a feminine activity, was an early collaborator. A collector and breeder of drought-tolerant species, she popularized the use of dramatic plants like bougainvillea. In her design for Gill for a hillside garden in 1912, she used banana trees and Italian cypress, small trees with bold shapes that the architect continued to favor. The Olmsted Brothers, sons of Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of New York's Central Park and UC Berkeley's campus, were early Gill friends and admirers. Having failed to secure his position with the San Diego exposition — and withdrawn from the project themselves — the landscape-architect brothers invited Gill in 1913 to collaborate on a visionary scheme: the designing of an entirely new city in which workers, factories and shopkeepers would exist in healthful harmony. The name of this progressive dream was Torrance. Today a visitor trying to locate downtown Torrance can find herself driving in circles. The rectangular grid usually followed by Los Angeles streets turns cockeyed here. A road peeling off at an angle and aptly named Sartori eventually leads to the town center and enlightenment. When the Olmsteds laid out their new city in the fields, they wanted to take advantage of the dramatic vista provided by the San Gabriel Mountains on the horizon. Torrance's street grid is therefore angled to face the highest peaks, with avenues running not north-south but northeast to southwest. A long allée of palms and eucalyptus still runs down the central residential core to form a T with the modest white-washed business district. On a clear day, seen from the grassy median strip between the palms, Mt. Baldy seems to crown the town. Almost none of Gill's garden-surrounded concrete cottages are visible. That's because only 10 of hundreds planned were built. According to architectural historian Esther McCoy, the aesthetic and practical economy of Gill's designs were unpopular with both the labor unions involved in their construction and the Pacific Electric workers destined to live in them. But the flat shapes of Gill's Pacific Electric Rail Depot — now a restaurant — with its dark- shadowed portico and simple, white columns, continues to set the serene village tone, and the city is home to one enduring example of Gill's power to "decorate" with nature. Angling across Torrance Boulevard, and marked with a plaque from the National Register of Historic Places, is a towering concrete railroad bridge. The first of Gill's structures for the city, it's a literal entrance for freight and a visual gateway as well. The series of vaulting concrete arches turn the road into a canyon, forcing it to pass through islands of greenery: long-needled pines on the shaded west side, fat palms and ivy-smothered eucalyptus along the sunnier eastern approach. The high arches are patterned with vines. Evergreen, English-style ivy grows on the southern arches, and deciduous, occasionally red-leaved, Virginia creeper on the northern ones. Going or coming, the approach is intriguingly varied, yet Gill's clean lines and harmonious proportions are always in sight. Nearly a century after its construction, Gill's bridge is a glorious reminder that the man-made and the natural need not be at odds.
November 22nd, 2005
03:12 pm [Link]	How to Control Chipmunks Regina of Clifton Park, NY writes: Dear Larry, Can you give any ideas of how to control chipmunks in our garden? They appear to be tunnelling under our whole lawn and in the flower beds. We are overrun. Help! Regina, according to state and federal wildlife experts, Trapping is the most practical method of eliminating chipmunks in most home situations. Trapping with wire mesh traps or common rat snap traps can be used to catch chipmunks. Common box trap models include the Tomahawk (Nos. 102, 201) and Havahart (Nos. 0745, 1020, 1025) traps. A variety of baits can be used to lure chipmunks into box traps, including peanut butter, nut meats, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, raisins, prune slices, or common breakfast cereal grains. Place the trap along the pathways where chipmunks have been seen. The trap should be securely placed so there is no premature movement of the trap when the animal enters. Trap movement may prematurely set off the trap and scare the chipmunk away. A helpful tip is to prebait the trap for two to three days by wiring the trap doors open. This will condition the chipmunk to associate the new metal object in its territory with the new free food source. Set the trap after the chipmunk is actively feeding on the bait in and around the trap. Live traps can be purchased from local hardware stores, department stores, pest control companies, or rented from local animal shelters. Check traps frequently to remove captured chipmunks and release any nontarget animals caught in them. Avoid direct contact with trapped chipmunks since there is a risk of disease transmission or being bitten. How you dispose of the captured chipmunks is up to you. I do not think it is legal for you to simply release them into the wild.
02:51 pm [Link]	Pruning Indoor Lemon Trees Nancy from Sparta, NJ writes: Hi Larry - I listen to your radio show whenever I can and really enjoy all the tips and good info! I have a question: When is the right time to prune a lemon tree? A neighbor brought me a sapling from FL two years ago, and it's grown like crazy - needs to be re-potted and pruned. I've just brought it in for its 2nd winter indoors. Should I do it now, or wait til spring, or re-pot and prune at different times? I don't want to injure the tree by doing it wrong! Thank you - Nancy Nancy, I have never grown a lemon tree indoors before but I do remember them growing in my yard in Spain. What a wonderful plant. I did find some info for you from, the Missouri Botanical Garden in St.f Louis. They said: In indoor cultivation, place your plant in a well-lit, but not too warm location. A low temperature in winter will encourage flowering. Place outdoors in late May to encourage natural pollination. Bring inside in September. Pinch to control shape and improve bloom. The fragrant flowers develop into fruit, but it may take a year before they attain the correct color(maturity) for harvesting. I take this to mean that you should prune the plant after you bring it in in the fall. If anyone else has any better experience please write me here at beautifuleasygardens.com. Larry
02:34 pm [Link]	Pin Oak Trees Near Driveway Jamie from Red Hook, NY writes: Please help me end an argument. My husband has planted several Green Pillar Pin Oak trees just 7 feet from the edge of our driveway. I say this is toooooo close. There are already well established trees on the other side as well. We are trying to create a "tunnel" effect on a long drive. He listens to your show and quotes you often. What do you feel is the appropriate distance to plant these trees from our driveway edge??? Can these 6 foot trees be moved without damage?? They were only just planted. Jamie, as much as I usually like to take the wife's side in these matters, it appears your husband may have planted the right tree in the right place this time. The Green Pillar Pin Oak won the 2006 Gold Medal from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. Here's what they said about this tree: Quercus palustris ‘Pringreen’ (Green Pillar® Pin Oak) This is a narrow, columnar (fastigiate) cultivar of our native pin oak. Glossy green leaves in spring and summer give way to a nice maroon and red fall display. Green Pillar® is a popular choice for areas requiring a narrow, well-mannered shade tree. Use as a park or specimen tree, in small gardens, or as a street tree. Prefers full sun; grows 50'H x 15'W. Hardy in zones 4 to 8. (2006) Check out the Penn Hort Web site at: http://www.pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.org/garden/goldwinners.html
02:27 pm [Link]	Transplanting Perennials for Winter Care Kim from Saratoga Springs writes: I am restoring an old house in schuylerville, n.y. and am in the process of transferring a lot of my plants before the weather prevents it. I feel rushed and am worried about my new soil chock full of shale. Can I just plant a few inches of top soil (which I have a load of) and start planting? Is it too late to transfer perennials? HELP before I run out of time!!! Answer: Kim, I would winter the perennials over in pots and prepare the soil before planting them. It is not too late to prepare the soil this fall. If not, wait until spring. The least you can do is spread a load of compost in the garden area and dig that in. By spring it might be ready to plant. To winter your perennials over, dig them up, plant them in pots and place the pots in an area that gets rainfall or snow fall (snow would be the very best) and they should survive the winter just fine. Perennials can be transplanted anytime you can get a shovel in the ground. I did that when I moved from Columbia to Albany county a few years ago and it worked.
02:24 pm [Link]	Seed Catalogue Suggestions Nolan from Johnstown, NY writes: May I suggest two catalogues that don't appear on your lists but seem to reflect your gardening philosophy? Fedco Seeds (etc.) in Waterville, Maine, and Seed Savers in Decorah, Iowa. Both have websites. Both have been instrumental in expanding and deepening my gardening experience. Thanks, Nolan.
02:18 pm [Link]	Weeds in Raised Beds Dorothy from Manchester, CT writes: Hi Larry, I have some raised beds on the front lawn (to reduce lawn space) and I plant tomatoes and potatoes. Today digging out potatoes, I ran into lots of roots/thatch?. Very thick and tough and not from potatoes. I think it might be the grass from underneath. This has happen three years in a row! What is it and can I do? do you think removing the soil, laying down weed stopping barrier (what is this anyway) and then put the soil back will work? How much soil do I need to grow tomatoes and plants? or to keep the grass at bay? Answer: It is likely that you have weeds and turf trying to reclaim their territory. Dig out the soil, remove the weeds that are in it, place a one inch thick layer of newspaper at the base of the bed, mix the soil with compost and return it to the beds. This should eliminate the weeds.
02:11 pm [Link]	Wintering Bulbs in Pots Barbara from Roseboom writes: I have 100 tulip bulbs. I want to put them in pots and store them outside over the winter to bloom at the normal time in Spring. The two reasons are that they will look great in big pots and I can protect them from moles. How do I have to protect the pots over the winter? Answer: First of all, I hope you put them in plastic pots. Ceramic pots will probably crack because of the freezing and thawing of soil moisture over the winter. In any event, the best answer is to bury them so that the pot edge is a few inches above soil line and then cover everything with mulch or shredded leaves. You could also place the pots in cardboard boxes and fill the boxes with shredded leaves to provide some insulation. If you have an unheated garage, just place them out there covered with a tarp. That should do it.
November 3rd, 2005
11:12 am [Link]	Holiday-Perfect Home & Garden Gifts for Splurge Or Deal Prices Philadelphia, PA - Searching for the perfect gift for the garden aficionado in your life? "Great gifts for gardeners won't be in short supply this season," says Susan McCoy, of the Garden Media Group, a media firm specializing in the gardening industry. McCoy says that whether you are looking for splurge-worthy garden accessories or modest-type stocking-stuffers, home and garden retailers have something for most any budget. "Retail research groups are predicting that holiday spending will increase this season," says McCoy, who expects to see more gifts given to make outdoor living spaces more beautiful, like a luxurious container for a new deck or patio. The NPD Group, a retail information company, reports that shoppers plan to spend an average of $681 this holiday season compared with $655 last year. With the endless realm of gift ideas for the home and garden, shoppers will be hard-pressed not to find a gift that is the "perfect fit" for their budgets and the loved ones on their holiday shopping list. Splurge Worthy Garden Accessories from Campania International - Budgets from $50- $250 If your sweetie would prefer jewelry for her garden, Campania offers a stunning array of investment piece ornaments for the patio and garden. From classic planters and birdbaths to benches and statuary, Campania items are designed to dazzle and built to last. Pieces are available in classic cast stone, stylish glazed terra cotta, polyethylene or terra cotta. Among the statuary are cherubs and a variety of animals, including squirrels, frogs, pigs, cats and dogs. Just wrap them with a big red ribbon and put them under the tree. Campania planters work well inside the home when incorporated into the overall holiday decorating theme using colored candles or decorative pinecones. Visit http://www.campaniainternational.com. The Gateway to Great Gardening via Burpee.com - Budgets from $2.49- $150.00 For shoppers with more than one gardener on their list, Burpee.com is an excellent place to find something for everyone. Burpee gift offerings now include gadgets for the kitchen like aprons and vintage-serving trays to gizmos for the garden like miniature electric greenhouses, seed starting kits, and stylish yet functional vegetable hods. And for gardeners that have been extra good this year, Burpee's new Multi-Bench, which converts from a bench into a desk and table, offers uber-convenience for transitioning an outdoor room from office space to entertaining area. Burpee's vegetable and flower seed packets make wonderful stocking stuffers. Visit http://www.burpee.com. Great Gift for Gardeners that Love to Cook - Budgets at or near $30.00 Gardeners that enjoy cooking will love Ellen Ecker Ogden's From The Cook's Garden cookbook. Ogden is a well-known writer, lecturer and cooking instructor on a variety of food and garden topics. Her From The Cook's Garden cookbook includes150 of the best recipes she's developed over her twenty years in test kitchens. The recipes in the book were created especially for cooks who appreciate the flavor of fruits and vegetables harvested at their peak. Recipes for breads, soups, side dishes, desserts and more can all be found inside along with Ogden's tips and tricks for creating culinary masterpieces within the context of a busy modern life. Visit http://www.cooksgarden.com. A Gift that Keeps on Giving All Season Long - Budgets Under $30.00 Give the gift of garden inspiration to that someone who is passionate about gardening. A gift subscription to Garden Design magazine will keep your loved one on top of what's hot in design, new plant introductions and growing techniques. The magazine's online product and retailer locator makes finding plants and supplies easier than ever before. Visit www.gardendesignmag.com. Stocking-up On Good Plant Health - Budgets Under $20.00 Messenger® is a great one-of-a-kind stocking stuffer for every gardener. This revolutionary new plant care product is like a vaccination for plants, increasing plant vigor while protecting its health. Environmentally safe, this breakthrough product increases plant growth and enhances disease resistance. Spray it on throughout the growing season, and Messenger® will improve the overall performance of plants both indoors and outdoors. Spray it on poinsettias, paper whites and other holiday plants to extend their life into the New Year. (http://www.messenger.info) Forget the Fruitcake - Roses Under $12 Unlike traditional fruitcake and even poinsettias, a gift of Sunblaze® Roses lives forever - either in a container inside or outside on a deck or patio, and planted permanently in the garden. A blazing ball of color in traditional holiday red, white or pink, Sunblaze roses grow only 18-24" round, about the size of a mum, and look great clustered together or standing alone in a decorative pot. Their compact size makes them the perfect alternative as a container plant for the home or office. Check out all the festive holiday colors at www.starroses.com. Garden Gift Certificates - One-size-Fits-All Budgets Spring 2006 promises to be one of the most exciting seasons for plant introductions yet. With breakthroughs in breeding, gardeners can now enjoy designer plants like the compact cultivars in the Raymond Evison Patio Clematisä collection which are the first clematis bred to be grown in a container or small spaces, and Star Rosesâ White Eden, the first-ever disease resistant and fragrant climbing rose. Skimp or splurge on a garden center gift certificate that your loved one can use in their favorite neighborhood garden center next spring. To locate garden centers visit www.lgyp.com. Here you can search for plants, products and retailers using a zip code and key word search. 2005 Holiday Shopping Forecasts from the NPD Group * 67 percent of Shoppers say they will shop at discount stores such as Target and Wal-Mart. * 37 percent expect to shop online. * 51 percent said they comparison-shop before they buy. * 32 percent plan to buy holiday gifts on sale. * 27 percent say they will pay more for the perfect gift.
11:10 am [Link]	Gifts for Gardeners HOLIDAY GIFTS FOR GARDENERS With Halloween behind us, it's now time to get serious about Holiday Season shopping. If you've got avid gardeners on your shopping list this holiday season, here are some gifts that are guaranteed to make them want to get their hands dirty: THE SMART WAY TO HOE, HOE, HOE - If your favorite gardener has been especially good this year, surprise him or her with a Mantis Tiller/Cultivator. At just 20 pounds, the Mantis Tiller is easy to handle and use. Despite its small size, it packs plenty of power for tilling under old growth, preparing soil for cultivation, weeding between garden rows and cultivating around tender plants. The tines remove in seconds so the tiller can be used with optional attachments including a crevice cleaner, planter/furrower, and lawn dethatcher. The Mantis Tiller costs $299 directly from Mantis, and all holiday season tillers will include a free border edger attachment. To order call 1-800-366-6268 or visit the website at www.mantis.com which also has other great gifts for gardeners. THE GIFT OF A GARDEN - Here's a great gift idea from High Country Gardens, the folks known for plants that thrive in challenging growing conditions. They've packaged three pre-planned gardens as gift certificates to make them easy to give and receive. Choose either the Fragrant Lavender Collection, Jumbo Waterwise Gift Collection or Big Easy Gift Collection. A special Garden Gift Certificate for each garden ordered will arrive in an attractive card with a full color photo and complete description of your thoughtful gift. When it's time to plant, the recipient simply arranges for the plants to be shipped from High Country Gardens. To order call 1-800-925-9387 or visit the website at www.highcountrygardens.com. GIFTS FOR PEOPLE WHO LOVE POTATOES - The nice folks at the family-run Wood Prairie Farm in Maine have the perfect gifts for anyone who likes to eat-or grow-organic potatoes. The Maine Potato Sampler of the Month is a great way to enjoy exotic varieties of organic potatoes that you won't see at the local supermarket. A 10-pound gift box arrives packed with three different varieties of organic potatoes each month with colorful potato postcards that describe each variety and its best uses. A great gift for friends, family and even yourself. A three-month Potato Sampler Club sells for $119.95 postpaid. Gardeners will love the Red, White and All-Blue Seed Potato Collection of three 2.5-pound bags of organic seed potatoes (Cranberry Red, Onaway and All-Blue) for $28.95. Recipes and Organic Growing Guide are included. To order: 1-800-829-9765; www.woodprairie.com. BIONIC GARDEN GLOVES - Gardening is a hands-on activity, so every gardener can use a great new pair of gloves. Designed by a hand surgeon, Bionic Garden Gloves provide the best of both worlds: comfort and control. Patented features improve comfort without interfering with hand motion. Plus, the unique design enhances grip and control of your garden tools. The extra padding for thumb, fingers and palm provides comfort and helps lessen fatigue, vibration and calluses. Plus, the form-fitting wrist closure system provides wrist support and keeps debris from getting inside the gloves. Bionic Garden Gloves sell for $39.99 a pair from Gardens Alive!® (which also offers great environmentally responsible products for the garden and home). For more information contact Gardens Alive! (phone (513) 354-1482, www.GardensAlive.com).
October 28th, 2005
02:56 pm [Link]	Safety of Town Compost Kristine from Schenectady writes: I am an organic gardener, and I have a question about compost from the county composting facility in Schenectady. I have always used it copiously for my flower gardens, but this year I created a vegetable garden and used half county compost, half my own for soil. I was under the impression that any pesticide or herbicide residues would have broken down or drained out from rain and the decomposition process, but now I'm wondering if this is actually the case. We have lots of delicious produce, and I'm wondering if it's safe to eat. In other words, is county compost safe for vegetable gardens, in your opinion? While using your own homemade compost is the very best alternative, I have been spreading compost from the Town of Bethlehem facility for years and I consider it perfectly safe. While I don't have any scientific proof to back this up, I also believe that the microbial activity of the compost will have destroyed any pesticide or herbicide residue that may have accumulated from grass clippings used in the making of town compost. Besides, I don't see that much grass clippings going to the compost facility. It is mostly leaves and brush.
02:37 pm [Link]	Vole Control Michael of Lenox, MA writes: Voles are destroying my perenial garden. How can I get rid of them? Voles, not to be confused with moles, are simply members of the mouse family that live outdoors. Control them the same way you would control mice if they were in your home attic or rooting around in the pantry. A cat or two is a very successful curative for voles. They are a natural predator. After that, you can try using mouse traps baited and set right near where the voles tunnel underground. If you do this, please wear rubber gloves upon disposal because voles can carry disease. Finally, mouse bait can also be used. Please be careful when using any bait product and follow manufacturer's instructions.
01:15 pm [Link]	Yellow Tomato Leaves Barb from Pittsfield, MA asks: In my new small garden plot this year I grew seven heirloom tomato plants and three regular, plus basil, parsley and dill. The tomatoes were great but nearing the end of season lower leaves turned spotted brown. A friend told me this was a disease and that I wouldn't be able to use that plot next year. Is this true? What do I have to do to the plot and when can I use it again? Heirloom tomatoes don't have the disease resistant qualities of modern hybrids. The best way to avoid tomato disease is to grow varieties that are disease resistant. Breeders are building them in to heirlooms so watch for that when you choose your varieties next year. It is always best to rotate your crops because diseases tend to overwinter in the soil. In other words, plant the tomatoes in a different part of the garden next year. You can also help yourself by adding a good quantity of compost to the soil. Compost helps eliminate diseases in the soil.

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