Ain’t these two cute little bugs on my garden! I have to say keep my surrounds as natural as possible. Help these cute bugs with a place called their hone. Read the rest of this entry »

Gardens, no matter how small, have become incredibly important havens for wildlife. This is because wild creatures have lost many of their feeding and breeding sites in the countryside — either as a result of intensive farming, which makes widespread use of pesticides, or changes in land use. Read the rest of this entry »

This tree grows on my neighbor’s wall. It is awesome. But it is amazing thing is the figs are very sweet and juicy. Read the rest of this entry »

The wormery is a bin (usually plastic) with a lid, and layers or chambers through which the worms move as they eat up the waste.

There is a collector tray at the bottom which holds the liquid that is produced, with a tap to run it off. The lowest chamber has a layer of bedding where the worms live to start with. Read the rest of this entry »

You don’t have to own acres of garden to grow your own apples. All you need is the right kind of apple tree, compost and a pot. Then, as long as you remember to water and feed it, Read the rest of this entry »

Where you put your compost pile will influence your attitude toward it. Think of it as an easy way to dispose of waste you have to get rid of anyhow. It should be near, or even in, your garden. The less hauling you have to do, the more convenient it will be to stockpile and use. Read the rest of this entry »

Azaleas love left-over tea and tea leaves. So do houseplants such as philodendron and rubber plants.

Spread a thick layer of manure on the asparagus patch after the ground freezes in fall. It does double duty as winter protection and an early source of nutrients in spring. Read the rest of this entry »

The queen of mulch was Ruth Stout, author of How to Have a Green Thumb Without an Aching Back. She maintained a year- round hay mulch at least eight inches deep in her Connecticut vegetable garden. In her fifty-by-fifty-foot plot, she used twenty-five bales a year. She never turned the soil, sowed a cover crop, hoed, weeded, watered, or built a compost pile. She just mulched, making compost on the spot, for as the bottom layer of mulch decomposed, it added rich organic matter to the soil — a continuing process. Ruth didn’t bother with manures, but used cottonseed meal or soy bean meal for added nitrogen. She sprinkled it on top of the mulch in winter, at a rate of five pounds to one hundred square feet, so that snow and rain carried it down through the hay by planting time. To plant, she pulled aside the mulch and sowed the seed. Read the rest of this entry »

“Please, please tell me how to keep weeds out of the asparagus patch,” pleaded one frustrated gardener.

“My Dad had the ideal solution for weeds in his asparagus patch,” a grower explains. “He built a fence around the bed, and after the harvest, when the spears had grown up tall and lacy, let his chickens loose inside the fence. They ate all the weeds, kept the asparagus beetle under control, and fertilized the soil with their droppings.” Read the rest of this entry »

A Line of Defense

“The woodchuck got to me. He ate EVERYTHING — an entire row of beans in one night. I couldn’t feed him and me, too.”

If you’re in a country place where the woodchuck and rabbit populations are high, you need a fence. Invest some time and effort to construct one that’s burrow-proof. Do it in fall, while the memory of crops unsavored (because the varmint got there first) still stings. Read the rest of this entry »

The family cat prowling the garden will control its population of chipmunks, mice, and young rabbits.

Cut plastic gallon milk jugs in half lengthwise. Punch a hole in the bottom to let out rain. Set ripening melons in these contraptions. They help prevent rot and keep mice and shrews from nibbling on the melons.

Are rodents feasting on your tulip bulbs? Plant daffodils instead. Their bulbs are bitter, so mice and chipmunks won’t eat them.

If you’re determined to have tulips, interplant with Frittilaria imperialis bulbs. The two- to three-foot tall plants have pendulous red, orange, or yellow blooms. They exude a skunk-like odor that repels rodents and moles. Read the rest of this entry »

Clever Tricks

A drop of mineral oil on corn silk will keep out worms. Apply to tip of each ear when silks begin to brown, with a medicine dropper, pump-type oil can with a long spout, or a plastic dishwashing detergent bottle. Do it a total of about three times, once every five or six days. What’s lazy about this, you wonder? When you harvest the corn, most of the silk will come off with the husk for worm-free and silk-free ears.

If you can prevent plant disease with good cultural practices, then you’ll never need to use extra time to fight them: Read the rest of this entry »

Lazy gardeners are willing to let a few bugs eat. “I simply plant too much,” says one gardener. “I give my crops rich soil and let them fend for themselves. There are all kinds of bugs, and I don’t have time to fool with them, so if they eat half my chard, I eat the other half.”

“Most gardeners panic when they see one bug eating,” says another gardener, who chides the “spray-happy people who rain destruction on a whole garden for one squash bug. I usually let them eat, and spray only when a crop is really threatened. ” Insect pests will eventually come into balance with their natural enemies, he suggests. Read the rest of this entry »

All about Seeds

Half-used packages of seed lie before you. Will you take a chance and plant them next year? What if few germinate? That would be a waste of time and energy. You can throw the old seeds away and start with fresh packets each spring, or you can test the leftovers to find out which batches are still viable.

Dampen a paper towel. Lay ten seeds of the same variety on it. Cover with another damp paper towel. To provide continuing moisture, either mist occasionally with water or roll the towel gently and place it in a plastic bag. Label it and put it in a warm place, next to rising yeast dough, perhaps. After the germination time has elapsed (find it on the package), count the number of seeds that have sprouted. Seven or eight is a good number. If fewer than 50 percent have germinated, order new seed. Read the rest of this entry »

You ask for trouble if you use garden soil for indoor planting. It’s likely to be loaded with pathogens. Use sterile, commercial potting mix, or make your own:

• two parts soil
• one part compost or leaf mold
• one part sand, perlite, or vermiculite
• one tablespoon bone meal per quart

Sterilize it in a 150° oven for one-half hour (which may drive everyone out of the house holding his nose). To stay in your family’s good graces, use a microwave oven for speedy sterilization. Put the soil in a plastic bag in which you’ve punched a few holes. Bake it in the microwave for four or five minutes. Read the rest of this entry »

Is it really worth the trouble to start seedlings indoors, or is it more practical to wait until spring and buy the few transplants and annuals you need? If you’re willing to put in the time to reap the fun of growing your own, don’t fool around with narrow windowsills and straggly plants. Grow them under lights for best results.

You can buy a plant stand for starting seedlings — or you can invest an hour on a stand that’s fine for starting tomatoes and all the rest. You need: Read the rest of this entry »

How you handle wining crops, such as peas, pole beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and melons depends on your attitude toward the garden as well as the space you have available. As you plan the layout of next year’s plot, choose a system that suits your gardening style. Read the rest of this entry »

“The best solution to tedious harvesting chores,” says a lazy gardener, “is to have lots of kids! Corral them to shell the peas, cut the beans, husk the corn, and skin the beets.” Family bees can be fun.

But, alas, the kids grow up. Lacking a crew of children, plan a social occasion to mesh with the height of raspberry, pea, or bean season. Bill it as a harvesting party, and have a gay time with picking, shelling, and freezing in the same way that folks had with husking bees in times past. It works best with friends who have no garden. Read the rest of this entry »

MORTAR

Mortar is used not only to ’stick’ bricks together, but also to keep bricks apart. There is a slight variation in size between bricks, which would make laying very difficult if there was no way to adjust for the different sizes.

Also, bricks are one of the few building materials that ‘grow’ slightly with age, and if there was no separating medium, the brickwork would fail. Read the rest of this entry »

RAMPS

Older people, or those with physical disabilities, are unable to cope well with stairs or changes in level unlessvery well- designed paths are made for them. The beauty of ramps is that they can be attractively landscaped to snake around the garden, incorporating considerable height changes —without a steep gradient.

When designing ramps for access to different levels of the garden, remember that people in wheelchairs need enough room to manoeuvre comfortably. Find out the recommended dimensions and other standards for wheelchair facilities from your local authority. Read the rest of this entry »