Shift to organic gardening is easy with bounty of new products
Article from STLtoday.com:
Q • I’ve been hearing more and more about this trend in organic gardening. Is this an easy transition to make?
Perfect timing — Earth Day is around the corner, and the “Go Green” initiative is getting more followers every year. Now is a great time to look at some organic options that are available for you to use around your home.
Organic lawn care is one of the latest trends to see growth in the United States over the past several years. More customers are seeking out natural products that are good for the environment. You will see more of these products in home improvement stores as it becomes more of the norm and less of a novelty.
Over the past five years, we have doubled the number of types of organic soils in our stores. Vigoro organic garden soil and Vigoro organic potting mix are just two examples of new organic products to St. Louis-area Home Depots this year. We now carry six times as many types of organic lawn and garden chemicals than we did five years ago. These items include a wide variety of regional and national organic plant foods such as Mater Magic, Dynamite, Scotts, Jobe, Espoma, Kellogg and Pree…………………continues on STLtoday.com
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Enchanted Gardening: It’s a small world
Article from Wicked Local:
According to the Perennial Plant Association, hostas are the No. 1 selling perennial in America. Gardeners appreciate their versatility, beauty and unique contribution to the home landscape. Hostas are shade tolerant and extremely hardy, and offer lush foliage with colors that include green, gold, blue and blue-grey.
Their leaves may be edged with white and cream, or variegated with splashed or streaked contrasting colors that brighten shady corners.
Hostas are native to eastern Asia and were introduced to the U.S. in the 19th century. They range in size from very large, such as H. ‘Sum and Substance’ (20-inch-by-15-inch leaves), to miniature, such as H. ‘Shining Tot’ (3-inch-by-2-inch leaves). Recently, there has been an explosion of interest in miniature and small hostas. They offer the same colors and forms as their larger brethren, packaged in a smaller size.
Miniature and small hostas can be used in the landscape as ground covers, such as the all-green H. venusta, and as edgers along garden paths, such H. ‘Stiletto,’ with its green leaves edged in white.
Miniature hostas are widely used in troughs, pots and rock gardens. When pla…………………continues on Wicked Local
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A tradition of gardening runs in the family
Article from Christian Science Monitor:
Being a locavore isn’t new. This writer’s family has been gardening and eating local for generations. Plus, enjoy a recipe for pickled beets.
Today the hot topics in food and gardening are CSAs (community-supported agriculture), farmers’ markets, slow food, the locavore movement, and organic anything.
Skip to next paragraph
I have to laugh because long before all of these things were your basic home gardeners. I come from a line of gardeners on both sides of the family — my Italian grandparents who immigrated to this country and my German-Hungarian grandparents who made it here as well.
Gardens were necessities
My Italian grandfather, Rosario Scalise, planted a large garden in a lot next to the house where they lived with their eight children, one son-in-law, one grandchild, and Rosa…………………continues on Christian Science Monitor
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Pansy pots and spring gardening tips
Article from 9NEWS.com:
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April 7
Extend the gardening seasonExtend the gardening season
Article from The Seattle Times:
Harvesting that first salad of the year, or enjoying one long after other gardens have succumbed to the cold, is always satisfying. By using some simple techniques you can get the drop on Old Man Winter and extend your gardening season in both fall and spring.
Grow the right produce. Go with greens that stand up to cool weather such as kale, corn salad, spinach and parsley. There are varieties of lettuce bred for cold weather, and they’re easy to identify by name: butter heads like Arctic King and North Pole, loose-leaf Winter Marve, loose-headed Rouge d’Hiver, Continuity Red, a red crisp head, and a butter head/romaine cross called Blushed Butter Cos.
One of the hardiest winter greens is kale, especially the top performer Winterbor. Give the unusual but delicious miner’s lettuce and corn salad a try, too, along with arugula, mizuna, French sorrel, Denali smooth-leaf spinach and both flat- and curly-leaf Italian parsley. Carrots, beets, Brussels sprouts, endive and turnips round out the list.
Warm the soil. Most seeds won’t germinate in cold spring soil. Clay soil holds a lot of water, slowing spring warming even more………………….continues on The Seattle Times
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Gardening for California’s dry climate
Article from San Jose Mercury News:
When Ruth Bancroft began planning her now-famous succulent garden in 1972, Northern California was in the grips of yet another dry spell, and Bancroft wanted to create a landscape that wasn’t as dependent on the one thing no one had much of — water.
Forty years later, California struggles still with periodic droughts, and Bancroft’s garden in Walnut Creek is thriving.
That’s a lesson the Bay Area and the world could learn something from, says Stewart Winchester, a horticulture instructor at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill. In measurements taken Monday, the Sierra snowpack is holding about 55 percent the normal level of water for this time of year, despite a late March flurry of winter weather. Last year’s particularly wet season is saving us from water rationing and higher rates this year because reservoirs remain full, but water officials warn that it might not be the case in 2013.
“The bottom line is that we’re always in a water-limited area,” says Chris Carmichael, associate director of Collections and Horticulture for the University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley. “When it comes down to it, hav…………………continues on San Jose Mercury News
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Fiskars 9424 Garden Bucket CaddyOur Garden Bucket Caddy makes it easy to carry all of your essentials when you’re out in the garden. It fits snugly on a five-ga…
Gardening Basics For Dummies®, Mini EditionYour green-thumb guide to planning, planting, and cultivating a gardenWith some basic knowledge, the right tools, and a little wor…
April 4
Gardening by the AppGardening by the App
Article from New York Times:
MANY gardeners may prefer digging in the dirt to fiddling with a mobile device. But an increasing number of gardening apps now available might change that attitude, by helping with tasks like designing plots and choosing crops, and perhaps improving yields. The apps range in price from free to about $ 10 — although a higher price doesn’t guarantee a better or more sophisticated program. Here are 10 of the freshest picks for iOS and Android devices.
GARDEN TRACKER FOR IPAD ($ 3.99) AND IPHONE (99 CENTS)
This app allows you to design rectangular gardens of up to 2,500 square feet: enter the desired number of rows and columns to create a grid with a series of boxes, each one representing a square foot. Click i…………………continues on New York Times
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Gardening ideas: Tips for having a sweet-smelling garden
Article from Washington Post:
If someone gave you a spindly shrub named wintersweet to plant now, you might have second thoughts about going to the effort. It is twiggy, spindly and too big. But on mild days in midwinter it produces clusters of yellow-white blossoms whose fragrance travels many feet. The sweet scent is unexpected and hard to locate, but it fills the heart with the joyful anticipation of spring.
Of all the pleasures that plants bestow, none is more intangible or as powerful as fragrance. And yet, as the wintersweet tells us, it is fleeting.
Adrian Higgins
Adrian Higgins has been writing about the intersection of gardening and life for more than 25 years, and joined the Post in 1994. He is the author of several books, including the Washington Post Garden Book and Chanticleer, a Pleasure Garden.
Archive
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Gardening festival held in Tulare
Article from Visalia Times-Delta:
Some of us have green thumbs, and some of us don’t.
But over the weekend, some people with thumbs of a particularly bright shade of green gathered in Zumwalt Park to share their gardening expertise.
Former Tulare Joint High School District Superintendent Gerald Benton couldn’t have been happier about it. He came to speak with the Tulare & Kings Master Gardeners, which put on the event, to ask about the grass that was invading his St. Augustine lawn.
“I was just trying to find out what kind of grass it is, so I can eradicate it,” said Benton, noting that the other grass has been taking over more and more of his lawn.
He’s so frustrated that he pulled out a fistful of the invading grass and brought it here to see if the experts could tell him what to do.
But even master gardeners can be stumped, as they speculated that the offending lawn might be a rye. They told Benton to let it grow high enough to generate flowers so they can determine what type it is and help the man come up with a plan to save his lawn.
And even then, “It’s really hard to selectively remove grass from grass,” warned Michelle Le Strange of Visalia, one of the…………………continues on Visalia Times-Delta
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Ankeny Event Planner: Landscaping Workshop, Easter Services, DMACC Veterans …
Article from Patch.com:
http://ankeny.patch.com/articles/ankeny-event-planner-landscaping-workshop-easter-services-dmacc-veterans-retreat-and-more/media_attachments/edit?upload_started=1333365752
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Article
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Home Vegetable Gardening -a Complete and Practical Guide to the Planting and Care of All Vegetables, Fruits and Berries Worth Growing for Home Use
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
List Price: $ 0.00
Price:
March 30
April gardening essentialsApril gardening essentials
Article from San Francisco Chronicle:
When planning the vegetable garden, don’t forget to include herbs. Purple and green basil varieties are a striking combination.
Now that spring is here, the garden will start getting out of hand. Weeds will flourish, snails will come out of hibernation, and throughout the Bay Area, wisteria will bud out in great profusion. The Chinese varieties (Wisteria sinensis) burst into pendulous clusters like fragrant, delicate clumps of grapes hanging from leafless stems. Japanese varieties (Wisteria floribunda) bloom later when their leaves unfurl, opening cluster by cluster in elongated, 18-inch-long drifts of blossoms. To have a wisteria that doesn’t bloom is like sitting down to watch a play that never begins. And while you can’t teach a young vine old tricks, you can encourage an older non-blooming wisteria. Now in early spring, feed it heavily wi…………………continues on San Francisco Chronicle
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Pasco gardening events
Article from Tampabay.com:
Plants and markets
• Longleaf Farmers Market, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday in downtown Longleaf, off Starkey Boulevard and State Road 54, New Port Richey.
• Fresh Market at Wiregrass, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 7 and the first Saturday of each month at the Shops at Wiregrass, 28211 Paseo Drive, Wesley Chapel. Features produce, Florida-grown plants and locally made jams, salsas, seasonings and sauces, plus the works of local artists. For information, visit tampabaymarkets.com.
• The Market, featuring plants and other gardening goods, runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 7 and every other Saturday at West Pasco Habitat for Humanity, 4131 Madison St., New Port Richey. For information, call (727) 859-9038 or visit West Pasco Habitat for Humanity on Facebook.
• Native Plant Sale, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at the Land O’Lakes Community Center, 5401 Land O’Lakes Blvd. This sale, hosted by the Nature Coast Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society, will include a variety of native trees, shrubs, wildflowers, vines, grasses and groundcovers, plus free literature, books and plant profiles to help buyers put the plants in the right place. Fo…………………continues on Tampabay.com
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Gardening News: U of I Extension offers four spring gardening programs
Article from The Rock River Times:
Staff Report
University of Illinois Extension is starting off the gardening season by offering four programs to help you get your garden ready.
The spring gardening series offers “Sustainable Lawn Care,” “Vegetable Garden Planning,” “Bug Invaders of the Foreign Kind” and “A Gardening Calendar.”
Each program will be offered twice, and each session will be $ 5 per person, or $ 12 for the series.
Following are details about each of the four programs:
• Sustainable Lawn Care — 1 p.m., Tuesday, April 10, or 7 p.m., Thursday, April 12: Homeowners can manage their lawns in a more sustainable way by modifying many of the tasks we normally do throughout the year. Learn how to work with the natural cycles your lawn goes through and better understand the best times to fertilize, top-dress, sod, reseed and irrigate to give you the results you expect.
• Vegetable Garden Planning — 1 p.m., Tuesday, April 24, or 7 p.m., Thursday, Apr…………………continues on The Rock River Times
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CVS Engineer Discusses Lighting and Landscaping Plans
Article from Patch.com:
Engineer David Caruso testified about lighting and landscaping planned for a proposed CVS and an attorney hired by the Northgate Condominium Association began to cross-examine him during a special meeting of the Washington Township Zoning Board Wednesday.
The plan calls for a 14,769-square-foot pharmacy with a drive-through to be built on the corner of Pascack Road and Washington Avenue. The site is in a residential zone and there are currently three houses on the property.
According to Caruso, the plan includes 13 pole-mounted lights, seven bollard lights and two wall-mounted lights around the site. Signs on the site would also have internal illumination, but none of the light should reach beyond the center of Pascack Road, Caruso said. The level of lighting proposed for the site, which is in a residential zone, is similar to what would be found in a business zone.
“This is generally what you’d see in a commercial or business district,” Caruso said.
Attorney Tendai Richards, filling in for Christopher Minks, cross-examined Caruso about his testimony. Richards said the intersection of Pascack and Washington is an unusual case because three of th…………………continues on Patch.com
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Gardening trends will show up on many home and garden tours in and around …
Article from San Jose Mercury News:
(photo courtesy Nick Yee) Water feature from Green Design in San Jose.
If you love gardening, you’re not alone. Gardening has consistently been in the top five favorite hobbies of Americans ever since the Harris Poll began keeping track of U.S. pastimes, but it seems that lately there’s been an increasing passion for all things green.
As the world grows ever more complex and maddening, some people are turning to their gardens for a peaceful refuge from life’s travails; others view their back yard as an ideal place to grow their own fruits and vegetables. Still other gardeners are experimenting with exotic and tropical plants, or with wa…………………continues on San Jose Mercury News
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Gardening scares me
Article from Rochester Democrat and Chronicle:
I don’t know about you, but even though spring has apparently sprung, I’m still cold, partly because it seems everywhere I go is 39 degrees and rainy. New York, Chicago, Buffalo, even Florida.
In February, we traveled to visit my father-in-law in Florida only to arrive to temperatures in the 30s. They laughed at us as we donned our shorts in spite of the cold and walked outside. I consoled myself that at least it wasn’t icy.
A few weeks later we took a risk and booked a ski trip to Holiday Valley near Buffalo. We were lucky: two fairly good days of cold. The trip ended in a torrential rain with the temperature hovering at … 39 degrees.
Then a few weeks ago, I was traveling to Boston. It was an improvement at 41 degrees. My husband sent me a picture of the family eating in the backyard with temperatures hovering at 70. I returned home as the weather was warming up in Boston and high winds and freezing rain had moved into Rochester. Temperature: 38.
I feel like Pig-Pen, the character in Peanuts who had a cloud of dust following him. But for me, it’s a cloud of cold, raw, rain.
I actually missed the massive snow storms…………………continues on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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Local gardening events with good advice
Article from Lincoln Journal Star:
Sometimes, getting good garden advice is as easy as attending a local event. Garden centers and garden groups often jumpstart the season with sessions that may include out-of-town speakers or summaries of this year’s gardening trends. The great thing about local sources is that they are familiar with what’s happening here — rain amounts, temperature changes — and can lead you in the right direction.
Here is just a brief list of upcoming learning events in the area.
* UNL Garden Friends lecture — Kelly D. Norris, from Bedford Iowa, will give a presentation titled “Life on the Edge: Tough Plants for Tough Places,” 2 p.m. April 1 at the Nebraska Union, 1400 R St.
* Finke Gardens, 500 N. 66th St. Celebrate the beauty of wildflowers from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday. The event features artwork, writings and landscape projects that have been inspired by our native plants and commemorates the publishing of “Field Guide to Wildflowers of Nebraska and the Great Plains” by Jon Farrar, Nebraska Game & Parks Commission writer and photographer.
The event will include a short presentation at 5:30 p.m. by Benjamin Vogt, Lincoln native plant…………………continues on Lincoln Journal Star
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Raised bed a grand gardening option
Article from Pueblo Chieftain:
Raised beds are a good gardening option for homeowners with poor soil or who want more defined spaces in the garden. But while raised beds are excellent gardening spaces, there is potential for some soil-related problems.
Think of a raised bed as a large container and design beds with container gardening techniques in mind. The structure needs to be stout enough to stand up to use (and wind), contain enough soil for adequate root growth and drain well.
There is no perfect material for constructing raised beds. Wood, bricks or concrete blocks work well. Avoid wood that has been treated with creosote or other chemicals, especially in beds where you intend to grow food.
There is no perfect size or shape of raised bed, but here are few things to consider:
Raised beds should be only as wide as the gardener can reach when standing or kneeling outside the bed. Four feet wide is recommended, but specialty beds, such as for a single row of tomatoes, might be only 2 feet wide. The goal is to avoid walking on the soil in the bed to prevent soil compaction.
Length of the bed is up to you. Aesthetically, several short beds are mor…………………continues on Pueblo Chieftain
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March 15
Gardening Calendar, Updated March 15Gardening Calendar, Updated March 15
Article from TCPalm:
NEW LISTINGS
Evening With Carol Cloud Bailey: Master gardner, Keeping your pets safe in the landscape. Blake Library, 2351 SE Monterey Road, Stuart. 6 p.m., April 2. 772-288-5654; martin.ifas.ufl.edu.Yard Lecture Series: BackYard Composting and Vermiculture. Cummings Library, 2551 SW Matheson Ave., Palm City, 2:30-4:30 p.m., March 21. 772-288-5654; martin.ifas.ufl.edu.
DATED EVENTS
Seminar: Wae Nelson, Flordia Gardening Magazine, Terrific Tropicals tour. Tropical Ranch Botanical Gardens, 1905 SW Ranch Trail, Stuart, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. gardens open, 1 p.m., March 18. 772-283-5565; trbg.us.
Vernal Bliss: Enhance your environment with plants. Pinder’s Nursery, 5500 SW Martin Hwy, Palm City, 5 p.m., March 20. Register: 772-781-8085; pindersnursery.com.
St. Lucie West Garden Club: Luncheon & fashion show. PGA Country Club, Port St. Lucie, Country Club Drive, St. Lucie West, noon, March 22. 772-343-7229.
Fashion Show, Luncheon: St. Lucie West Garden Club. PGA Country Club, 951 SW Country Club Dr., St. Lucie West, noon, March 22. $ 35. Register: 772-871-0830; utagolf3@att.net.
2012 Secret Gardens…………………continues on TCPalm
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Landscaping risks lurk despite warm weather
Article from The Tennessean:
With an unseasonably warm winter, folks may be itching to run the calendar ahead and begin spring landscape plantings.
Professionals advise to rein in the exuberance a bit, at least for some things.
“It has been so incredibly unseasonably warm this winter that even we in the business hardly know what to think. But those tender plants, like annuals and vegetables, are a better bet if you wait until April 15,” said Jerry Trageser of Nursery Lawn & Landscape in Nolensville.
He says this is, however, one of the two best times of the year to plant trees of any size.
“They’re being dug now, so you get the freshest trees — same is true of shrubs,” he says.
Evergreens aren’t a problem
Bill Hewitt of Hewitt Garden & Design Center in Franklin agrees that trees and shrubs and most evergreens should be fine if planted right away.
“Tender plants though, should wait,” he says. “Things like azaleas if planted now can be a game of roulette. I, too, well remember that Easter freeze five years ago when temperatures dropped into the 20s for several days. You could lose tender plants easily if that happens again.”
Whole cool we…………………continues on The Tennessean
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Gardening
Ren̩ Vincent Gardening РGiclee Print
List Price: 34.99
Price: 34.99
