Even Plants Need Friends

There’s lots to consider when planning a vegetable garden, any gardener who has one can tell you. But one important aspect that might not make the garden to do list is adding ‘friends’. Adding friends (or what’s sometimes called companion planting) isn’t something you do so the plants have someone to share a laugh with at 3:00 in the morning; it’s for protection. Think of these friends as tiny bodyguards, willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of your dinner. These friends are simply other plants that attract little critters away from your vegetables. Love cabbage, but hate the caterpillars that help themselves to the all you can eat cabbage buffet? Plant nasturtiums next to your cabbage, the nasturtiums draw will be too much for a caterpillar to resist, affectivity leaving the cabbage crop to its rightful owner. The same thing can be said about aphids attacking tomatoes, only instead of nasturtiums use French marigolds. With a little research you can reduce many pests from your garden without an ounce of labor or pesticide which seems to me to be the best way to garden!

The Depth of a Clematis

No luck with growing Clematis last year? Did your attempt at covering up the neighbors ugly fence result in something that looked more like a washed up, dried out lump of sea weed then an actual plant? The depth of the planting hole might have had something to do with it. The root ball of a Clematis vine (unlike other vines) should be planted 2.5 inches or 6 cm below the surface of the soil. Try it this spring, the reward will be worth it!

Gardening Quote

A seed hidden in the heart of an apple is an orchard invisible. ~Welsh Proverb

Lions and Tigers and Bears

I’m not so sure about the lions and tigers, but I know the bears love blueberries. And why not, blueberries are really good for you and they don’t call fruit nature’s candy for nothing you know. What better way to enjoy blueberries, or blueberry pie, or blueberry crisp, or blueberry…. – sorry I got distracted there – then to have your very own supply of fresh blueberries in your own back yard? Now blueberry bushes aren’t the easiest plants to grow if you don’t know what they need, so let me help you out.

- Blueberries need to grow in acidic soil. If you don’t have acidic soil, you can try treating the soil with pine needles, or acidic peat, but this will take time!

- Blueberries like many fruiting plants need to be crossed pollinated, so make sure to plant 2 different varieties close to each other.

- Water blueberry bushes with collected rain water.

- Protect your fruit from bugs, and birds (and bears too), buy draping a net over the bush when the fruit is developing.

Lables and Branches

You’re walking through a sea of beautiful plants at the garden center, and out of the corner of your eye you gaze upon the perfect plant. You have no idea what it is, but it has a trusted label attached to the branch, so you really don’t need to ask. After a very slow drive home (so not to snap any branches) you plant your mystery plant and your garden is complete. You stand back and admirer your handy work, and then it hits you ‘How on earth will I ever remember the name of the mystery plant? Oh I know, I’ll just leave the label on.’
The idea of leaving the label wrapped around a branch seems rather innocent, but what happens when the branch starts to grow? A left on label over time can girdle a branch, and girdling can cause a branch to die. So if you have a hard time remembering the names of plants start a garden journal, or draw a little picture of the garden and label that. Your plants will thank you.

Gardening Quote

“A flower is an educated weed.”…Luther Burbank

Gardening Quote

If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down?
We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.
- Jack Handey

Rose Thorns or Children?

Roses – love them or hate them, there a pain in the butt to grow. They remind me of children I see in the grocery store wailing and stomping there feet for a candy bar, way to much work. But as difficult and irritating as roses are to grow, I still try. So if you’re like me and try every year to bloom the perfect rose you already know about pruning, mounding soil in the fall, sunlight, and black spot. But did you know that once a rose garden has died, you should wait before re-planting roses in that same area? Like many trees and plants, the roots of a rose bush secrete toxins into the soil to eliminate competition. By leaving the area empty of anything other then annuals for a couple of years, the toxins will eventually leach from the soil. Once the toxins are gone, you can once again start the joyful task of being a slave to your roses.

Ponds, Trees, and the Sun

When considering where to dig your new pond keep two things in mind, sunlight and trees. Sunlight is important for pond plants to generate food; sunlight will also reduce the amount of unwanted algae that can spread through out a pond very quickly. Digging a pond near a tree or a group of trees is fine unless you want to create a living habit for plants or fish. Falling leaves that end up in the water rot, creating methane gas. A build up of methane gas poison’s water, killing any plants or fish that call the pond its home.

American Gothic and Mulching

When you look at the famous painting American Gothic I bet you didn’t know that Grant Wood was letting you in on a little secret on how to mulch a garden bed. Using a shovel to move mulch around is much harder then it has to be, a pitchfork on the other hand is a better tool for the job. But then you would already know that by just looking at the painting.