Must Protect The Pond!

We are having some work done on our house.  Right by my precious pond. So, time to protect it!  In the past, after work was done, I found things in it that likely did not blow or fall in (e.g. cigarette butts), so this time I want, at least, the visual signal of "no trespass" or "leave it alone!"  It will look ugly for a couple of weeks, but, it will hopefully protect the plants, water and stone walls.

Happy gardening!

Pond Update

This is the prettiest part of my yard (despite the ugly shed door).  My pond has really matured. Installed 4 years ago, the plants are thriving, and frogs and birds have made it their home.  I planted the pond shelves and beds around it to have changing color schemes: pink, purple and white in spring: white and red in late spring: yellow, red and orange in summer and fall.
Happy gardening!

Container gardening

I have written about container gardening before, and my use of containers in vegetable and flower gardening has only increased since.  The photo above is an example of one area, on my driveway, where I have containers (I likely have 50 outside right now).  Here is what I grow in containers:
1. Tropical plants, like bananas, that I want to overwinter and grow again next year.  These plants are either brought into unheated shelter, like my garage (for example, plants that grow from bulbs and die back) or live out the winter in my heated, but cool, attic under florescent lights (citrus, bananas, coffee, mangoes, hibiscus, Indian curry leaf tree).
2. Plants I have not yet planted that need a temporary home.
3. Plants that I will use in my botanical drawings (in the photo above I have white milkweed, mullein, and cotton plants for this purpose).
4. Peppers:  for some reason, bell and hot peppers do better for me in pots than in the ground.
5. Plants that look lovely in pretty pots: dwarf Japanese maples, voodoo lilies, and "Snow on the Mountain" dwarf pine.

Some containers I use are are more utilitarian (for annual veggies), other more ornamental (for permanent plantings).  A few tips with containers:
-Unglazed terracotta pots dry out fast, they wick away moisture.  Plus, they may crack if left outdoors over winter.
-Annual veggies, like tomatoes and peppers, need all the growing space they can get: do not fill the bottom of the pot with styrofoam peanuts, gravel or broken pottery.  If your soil is good, they don't need extra drainage.
-Saucers under pots can cause root rot.  One sign of over-watering is guttation:  this is when water drips from the leaves: it is the plant's attempt to get rid of excess water in the soil.
-Plants that winter outdoors in cold climates need protection, as do ceramic pots. Perennials need a generous-sized pot, lined with bubble wrap on the sides (not the bottom) to protect the roots from freezing. Draping or wrapping the pot with burlap also helps protect the pot and provides further insulation for the roots.
-When you bring pots in for the winter, check for bugs. I douse the soil with a BT solution (it's organic: a naturally-occurring bacteria that kills insects) to kill fungus gnats and I spray the plants with commercial insecticidal soap spray.
Search this blog for other postings on containers!
Happy gardening!

An Experiment with Surround (tm)

I am sick of cucumber beetles decimating my cucumber crop just as they really get going.  I had some difficulty finding an organic method to prevent or discourage them (after all, most organic methods reduce or control pests, don't fully kill them).  This year, after two years of no cucumbers, I first covered then with floating row covers, a barrier method that allows the plants a good head start before the cuke beetles arrive. Even though these are "greenhouse" cucumbers (they set fruit without pollination) eventually they grow too big for the cover, plus the covers should be removed during scorching temperatures (as we are having now). So, to further control cuke beetles (which spread cucumber wilt that kills the plants), I sprayed with plants with Surround, a trademarked barrier spray made of finely milled kaolin clay (think kaopectate- same stuff!) that discourages the critters from feeding.  However, it does turn the plants sort of white. One concern I have is that this may reduce photosynthesis too much, but it is an experiment, so we will see.  I will have to reapply after a heavy rain.

Cukes with Surround

I am also experimenting with my eggplants: first row covers, then Surround as they get too large for the covers.  Note I sprayed half of each plant, to see if the Surround really reduces flea beetle damage (they eat tons of tiny holes in the leaves).

Keep posted for the results!
Happy gardening!

Barriers

A female vole can have 100 offspring per season and, boy, do we have voles.  I have tried trapping (and releasing) them and vole repellents, both with minimal success (though circling vulnerable plants with gravel in a ring a few feet down surrounded by daffodils seems to work).  I have written about voles before.  These "meadow mice" live underground and tunnel through your yard and garden.  Unlike moles, which create obvious mounds in your yard and do not eat your plants, voles leave no obvious tunnels, just round holes, and do eat your plants. Voles have dined on my root crops, destroyed my snap peas, eaten a tomato plant (I found only the above-ground part of the plant, all the roots were chewed off) and gorged on hostas.  So, here is one solution: I build vole barriers from 1/4 inch garden cloth/wire fencing.  I plant the vulnerable plants right into these baskets into the ground, back fill with soil.  This gives the plants a chance to grow and really seems to deter the voles.  At the end of the season, when I pull out the plants, I find that the roots grew very well right through this mesh.  And I save them to use next year.  If you are making new garden beds, you can line the entire length of the bed with garden cloth to stop the voles!

Above: Vole cage in the making

Another creature to deter?  The bunnies who love nothing better than to eat emerging bean plants!

Beans under garden cloth/fence 

For what other creatures do I use the "barrier method??  Why, cucumber and flea beetles, of course:

Floating row covers over hoops to deter chewing insects.

When the plants are large, I remove the covers to allow pollination.  I will spray members of the squash family with Kaolin clay (sold under the registered trademarked name Surround)(this acts as a sort of barrier too- insects do not like the gritty surface)  which keeps these beetles from chewing the leaves and spreading viral wilts.  I might try it on my eggplants too, though they grew so huge last year, the flea beetles hardly bothered them!  These row covers often last two seasons, sometimes more, but might need a little patching (duct tape to the rescue!). I have heard that old, white sheer curtains can be used as well!

Happy barrier-method gardening!

Sedums

Judy here, again channeling my "Inner Bunny," the nickname of a college friend who could not hear a song without shouting "that's my favorite song!"  So, here's my new "favorite plant!"  from the family of sedums...

  Sedum rupestre

 Sedum grisebachii

"Sedum passalong":  passed from my childhood neighbors to my mom to me!

Sedums are very forgiving of hot, dry conditions and are thriving tucked into the rock wall around my pond.  They are also the easiest of plants to transplant and divide, just pluck off part of the plant, stick it into the soil and water.  They provide color, flowers and some, like the one in the top photo, Sedum rupestre turn orange in the fall and winter!  Sedums, however, do not respond well to foot traffic, so put them out of the way.  If you want to figure out what sedums you have, there are sedum identification guides online [for example: http://www.sedumphotos.net/main.php], but it is a big task.  

Happy gardening!

Oops! Be careful out there!

OK, maybe this is a "do as I say, not as I do" kind of post,  but a moment's inattention can have harmful consequences!  I read somewhere that most accidents happen in the home, and I am guessing that more than half of these happen in the yard and garden.  So far, I have been pretty lucky.  Just a few injuries to date:  I fell out of my apple tree while pruning it (luckily, I did not have the pruning saw in my hand at the time); I've banged my head numerous times on low tree limbs, mostly just getting small bruise, once a small cut; I "pruned" off the tip of a finger while deadheading some daffodils...and so forth.  This last one was a doozy:  I tripped and fell...onto a rock wall, breaking my fall with my chin and left hand.  Here are some of the factors in my fall:

Exhibit #1:  Tunnel-Digging BobTheDog

Exhibit #2: Tunnel-Digging Fluff (with the evidence on her paws and chin!)

Exhibit #3: Ill-Fitting Faux Crocs

Exhibit #4: Rock wall with Some SHARP rocks

And lastly, exhibit #5:  a beautiful, warm day after a dreary, cold, long winter, and the pent-up desire to garden!

Luckily, no broken bones, just bruises, a swollen left hand and 7 stitches on my chin. (Thanks to the PA who stitched me up- she did an excellent job!)

Be careful out there!