Soil Testing
Apr 30 | Garden Soil
Lime or sulfur can be safely applied to the soil at any time. Work them into the soil before planting or side-dress existing plants. Since soil pH will slowly revert to its original level before treatment, it’s a good idea to test your soil every two years. You can have your soil’s pH measured by a university laboratory through your local cooperative-extension service or use a soil testing kit from garden stores or catalogs. The lab test report or kit instructions will give suggestions on how to raise or lower soil pH. Lab reports will list your soil’s resistance to pH changes based on the structure of your soil. This is referred to your soil’s buffer pH. If your soil is sandy and well drained you can raise the pH a full point in one season. Heavy clay soils will take more lime and a longer time for the same amount of change in the pH level.
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Controlling Rabbits In Your Garden
Mar 17 | How to Grow Plants
Rabbits have a large appetite and never fail to find your favorite garden plant the one that they consider the most delectable. The eastern cottontail is approximately 15 to 19 inches long weighing two to four pounds. Males and females are about the same size appearing gray or brownish with a short tail and big ears. Their life expectancy is only 12 to 15 months but they have an extremely high reproductive potential reaching up to four litters per year, with the first appearing in March. The gestation period is 29 days and there are usually six young per litter. Cottontails like to concentrate in brushy fence rows, brush or junk piles, upland thickets, and the edges of fields or nicely landscaped backyards where food and cover are desirable.
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Passion Flower
Feb 15 | Flowering Plants
Passiflora - passifloraceae is a genus of evergreen and semi-evergreen woody stemmed vines. Grown for their beautiful fragrant flowers, some species have egg shaped edible fruits that mature to an orange yellow in autumn. They are also widely used for their medicinal properties. First discovered by Jesuit priests in South America the passion flower has been historically used to relax motor nerves and reduce muscular spasms. It is beneficial in treating epilepsy, ophthalmia, restlessness, hemorrhoids and neuralgia.
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Understanding Soil pH
Jan 11 | Garden Soil
What do the p and H in pH stand for? And why is a proper pH level in your soil so crucial to plant growth? The “p” is a mathematical operator like “+” or “x”. In chemical mathematics, “p” means “the negative logarithm of something”. In the case of pH, it would be defined as “the negative logarithm of the concentration of hydrogen (H) ions in the soil.”
Soil pH simply measures how many hydrogen ions are affecting plant roots. The more hydrogen ions present in the soil, the more acidic the pH. The pH scale ranges from 1 (extremely acid) to 14 (extremely alkaline). At pH 7 (neutral), hydrogen ions have little effect on the plant’s root ability to absorb nutrients. Scientists have found that plants generally need a small amount of acidity in the soil for optimum growth. The roots seek out the major soil nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium absorbing them for healthy flower, leaf and root development. Some ions are dissolved in water making uptake by plant roots simple. Some cling tightly to particles of clay and humus so the plant roots have a harder time absorbing them. Calcium loosens nutrient ions from the soil particles, making fertilizer more available to plant roots.
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Rose Petal Beads
Dec 3 | Flowering Plants
The warmth of your skin releases the beads rich musky rose scent. In an enamel saucepan put one pound red rose petals, just covering with water. Heat gently for one hour but do not allow to boil. Cover and let stand over night, repeating the process three more times. On the fourth day the petals and water will be reduced to a smooth paste, take a small amount and roll it between your palms forming beads a inch in diameter. Pierce each one with a needle for stringing, let the beads dry on newspaper in a warm closet. Thread the beads onto silk thread for your necklace. These beads will last for years, retaining their fragrance and turning a polished red sienna color.
Fall Garden Cleanup
Oct 26 | How to Grow Plants
Soil Preparation and Planting Tips
In mild areas set out hardy annuals. Find a location with the correct amount of lifght and plant bare root, container grown, and ball and burlap plants after amending the soil. Plan and plant your large containers with trees and spring flowering bulbs. In early fall sow a last crop of salad greens and winter salad vegetables, put Oriental brassicas under cover. In mid fall add compost and nutrients to your empty vegetable and flowerbeds. The soil should be tossed and fluffed for better aeration and incorporation of the organic material. Rake your lawns clear of leaves, acorns and other debris. Falls is the perfect time to seed or sod new lawns and over seed and de-thatch established lawns. Pot up strawberry runners and baby plants in containers storing them in the green house or a deep cold frame for an early spring start.
Growing Zinnias
Oct 15 | How to Grow Plants
Growing zinnias is very rewarding with their vibrant colors, hardy character and quick bloom times. One ounce of seed yields about 1000 plants when direct sown. Seeds germinate in 35 days when temperatures are 80-85 degrees F. So keep this in mind when planning your indoor seeding schedule. Make sure the outdoor temperatures will be warm enough when the plants need to be moved outdoors. Zinnias like a soil pH between 6.0-6.5, they will produce larger and more frequent blooms if your soil is well aerated and has good organic content. You should fertilize with a balanced organic fertilizer three times during the growing season if using a granular product. Or every 2-3 weeks when foliar feeding.
Globe Artichoke
Oct 8 | How to Grow Plants
These plants are native to the eastern Mediterranean, and were widely grown by the Greeks and Romans who imported them from Northern Africa. They have been cultivated in England since the sixteenth century, where it has always been considered an aristocratic vegetable. A favorite of Henry VIII partly because it was considered an aphrodisiac. His head gardeners took great care cultivating the plants so there would be continuos harvest throughout the summer.
Globe artichokes are different than most vegetables because it is the immature flowers that are eaten. When they are older only the fleshy bases of the bracts (phyllaries) and the choke, the thickened receptable at the base that are soft enough to eat. The tender young flower stalks and leaves are also delicious.
Flowering Bulbs
Oct 6 | Flowering Plants
Flowering bulbs offer the gardener beauty, a wide range of color, flowering times, and height. They give you tremendous pleasure for very little effort, producing flowers with glorious color from early spring through fall.
Make a sketch of the different areas in your garden you would like to add bulbs to. Make sure to take into account the bulb’s height, bloom time, light and soil requirements, and color. As a general rule the bulbs you plant in the fall are hardy and can be left undisturbed to multiply in your garden for many years. Bulbs planted in the spring are usually tender and will need to be dug in the fall and stored before the first hard frost.
