I was talking with my father for a while on what to do with a highly shaded area in his backyard. His idea was to turn it into a small Japanese style garden. My thought was to add some color to offset all of the green.

His major concern was that he didn’t know much about shade plants. I then did a quick search online for some. I came up with a site that has a great list of plants. Take a look at this list from The Backyard Gardener if you are in for shade plants, this list could come quite handy.

05 Jul 2007 The Organic Gardener

An understanding of physiological and genetic factors limiting yield and quality under high temperature, is particularly important to continued successes in your garden.

Exposure of most cultivars to 30/20°C day/night temperature prevents fruit set, as little as 3 hr exposure to 40°C can cause blossom-drop in most cultivars. The essential processes for fruit set that are degraded by high temperatures are:

production of viable pollen
pollen dehiscence
style elongation in response to temperature
Ovule viability
Carbon fixation (sugars)
Photosynthesis and translocation
Osmotic potential
Necrosis
Fruit split with temperature swings (hot day cool night)
A plant is able to cool itself by the uptake and translocation of water through its stomata. This is contingent upon moisture in the soil. It is also influenced by the amount of minerals (salts) in the soil solution. Where one usually gets into trouble is that the plant must take in higher and higher amounts of salts to cause a sufficient osmotic differential to allow more and more water into the plant. Excess salt accumulation, in plant tissue, is evident by WILTING first and then cell necrosis (dead leaf tips) later.

What can you do:

Select varieties suited to high heat
Shade plants
Apply a foliar shade film
Mist plants to provide cooling
Mulch around base of plant
Adequate irrigation at all times
Amend soil salts
Apply Great Big Plants
Great Big Plants assists plants under high temperatures by the following means:

Salt tolerance by increase root area and Rhizospherial soil conditioning
Root hormone modifications
Increase chlorophyll content
Balanced nutrition
Increased nutrient uptake
Increase sugar content
Increase growth and vigor
Reduced insect and disease stresses
12 Jul 2007 The Organic Gardener

Ever wanted to grow plants in a container garden? In this post, I will help you do just that. To start, lets go over some basic containers for plants:

Plastic – You may want to steer clear from using plastic pots. They tend to deteriorate in a lot of sun light.
Wood – Be aware of your wood choices as wood is prone to rotting. You may find cedar to be rot resistant, though.
Clay – Clay pots should be monitored closely for watering due to its porous nature.
Whatever you choose to use as a container, make sure it is not too small, and has plenty of breathing room for the plant, and its roots, to grow. Also, make sure there is good drainage, with holes about a half inch apart across the bottom.

Make sure your plants get some sun! Do some research on the type of plants you are growing to find out what their tolerance is to shade and light. As a general rule, your plants should have at least five hours of sunlight a day.

That’s good, but what do I put my plants in? Many people use soilless mixtures purchased at stores. They drain well, and are free of diseases found in some soils. As an alternative, you can use compost and add a little lime, if needed for the acidic levels.

Water your plants often, making sure the soil or mixture is moist. To add more nutrients to your mixture and to improve plant growth, you can use Great Big Plants mixed with water.

I hope this helps some of you with your container gardening. Until next time!
19 Jul 2007 The Organic Gardener

Following up on container gardens, here are a few ideas for window boxes.

Not everyone has a large garden area in which to plant a myriad of floral treats. That’s why window boxes are such fun. They allow you to experiment with different plant combinations in a small, easily assessable area. And they are affordable!

In the March/April 2007 edition of Garden Gate magazine, they featured window boxes in their Weekend Garden column.

One key from their article was keeping the plants in their original containers which allows for flexibility and versatility. Their window box measured 10×10×36 inches and had three rows:

1.Three 1-gallon plants as the main focal point
2.Four 4-inch pots in front
3.Four small vases with flowers and greenery in water at the back.
My favorite used Boxwood as the anchor plants with spotted deadnettle in front. Calla lilies wrapped in Hosta leaves added height, color and elegance in the vases at the back of the window box.

Michelle Gebert offers suggestions on winterizing your window boxes in her article entitled “What to do with your window box with winter on its way.”

No matter what plants you select, when it comes to fertilizing your plants make sure you add four ounces of Great Big Plants to every gallon of water.
04 Sep 2007 GBP

Hearty, colorful and perennial are mums. They are available just about everywhere; garden shops, grocery stores and discount department stores. Plant them one year and they double the next. Mums are a great way to add color to your front door step, patio or to introduce color around your bushes.?
I found a great article on mums at Better Homes and Gardens. Here are a few interesting facts from the article:

When purchasing mums, be aware that there are two types available: the hardy garden mums, which will last through winter, and the florist’s mums, which are just for one fall’s show and will not last the winter. Hardy mums are good additions to flower beds and borders, while florist’s mums are ideal for temporary displays in containers and windowboxes or indoors.
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Care
Hardy garden mums do best in fertile, humus-rich soil that is moist and well-drained. Excellent drainage is critical or these shallow-rooted plants are likely to die out over the winter. Keep well-watered and fertilize with a slow-release fertilizer. When plant is 4 inches tall, pinch off tips of stems to encourage bushiness and more flowers, and to delay bloom until fall. Continue pinching every two weeks until mid-July to encourage compact, vigorous growth and a greater abundance of flowers. Mulch in summer to conserve moisture and cover lightly with a light, fluffy mulch after ground freezes to improve the plant’s chances of lasting through winter. Florist’s mums need little care, other than a steady supply of water.

Did you know that mums come in every color except blue? And remember, a steady diet of Great Big Plants will help your mums florish even as colder nights and dryer air approach.
07 Sep 2007 GBP

Labor Day has come and gone. The white shoes are in the closet until next Spring and it’s time to think about getting our flower and tree beds ready for winter.
Here is a complete checklist for Fall, but if you want to know what to begin doing now, here is an excerpt:
· Clear away debris from the base of rosebushes. Fallen leaves can hold diseases that might over winter.
· Water, water, water. Give all of your plants a good drink, especially your trees. Their roots need plenty of moisture to make it through the coming months.
· Amend your soil. Get the ground ready for next year’s beds and your fall bulbs by tilling the soil and adding fertilizer.
· Shop for bulbs. Order from catalogs or visit garden stores early for best selection.
· Plant shrubs and evergreens. Early fall planting gives new plants enough time to get their roots established before winter.
· Plant fall annuals. As your summer blooms fade, add color to your garden with fall annuals such as mums, pansies, and ornamental kale.
10 Sep 2007 GBP

I’ve never been much of a bird watcher; can’t tell you one from another except by their color, but I love watching the birds at our birdfeeders. Birds bring a beautiful garden to life. I enjoy the fact that a wide variety of birds can peacefully co-mingle on the edges of my birdfeeder eating their fill until the next meal. With the exception of the occasional squirrel or crow – all seems to be peaceful, like a scene out of the Secret Garden.

I recently stumbled upon a new recipe that attracts woodpeckers, northern flickers, black-capped chickaddes and nuthatches from Birds and Blooms magazine.

2 cups lard

1 cup crunchy peanut butter

2 cups quick cooking oats

2 cups cornmeal

1 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup raisins

1 cup wild bird food

Melt lard and peanut butter together over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into plastic molds or containers. cover and store in the freezer until ready to use.

Actually, until you add the bird food it almost sounded pretty tasty! Hope the birds think so.
13 Sep 2007 GBP

Do you have an herb garden? There’s nothing more delightful than to walk into your yard and select fresh herbs for your evening meal.

As the fall approaches I will begin the process of making holiday gifts from the garden and I wanted to share a few recipes from Jim Long that I found at Herb Quarterly you might consider trying this season.

Garden Seasoning Blend

Use this mixture for soups, stews, roasts, chicken, and vegetarian dishes. Add about 2 tsp of the blend per small cooking pot during the last 15 minute of cooking.

1 cup parsley

1/4 cup basil

2 T marjoram

1 T dried onion flakes

1/4 t garlic granules

Mix ingredients together and store in a cool, dry place.

Classic Bread Mix

Add this flavor to the bread mix in your bread machine. Add 3/4 T of the mixture per loaf for herb bread.

1 cup parsley

1/2 c onion flakes

1/2 c celery leaf flakes

2 t garlic powder

2 t marjoram

Blend together and store until ready to use.

Can’t you just smell that herb bread baking? Yum.

Need help drying your herbs? Here is a great article on air drying herbs.
16 Sep 2007 GBP

There’s nothing like that moist, odiferous smell of fresh manure on a garden bed. The nutrients alone are well worth enduring the smell. But most neighborhoods frown on having a cow in your backyard so here is an alternative solution to manure for your yard from Herb Quarterly:

Take your grass clippings, pulled up weeds and raked leaves and stuff in large black plastic garbage bages adding about two quarts of water for moisture. Loosing tie the bag allowing space for gases to escape. Leave the bags in the sun to bake. Kind of like sun tea.

Over the course of the next month, check the bags occasionally to ensure they are still moist and turn the bags over at that same time. They will feel hot to the touch. After several weeks you’ll have bags filled with “faux fertilizer” fit for your flower beds. The perfect cover for your bulbs this fall/winter.

Of course, the neat, clean and easy way to fertilize your gardens and trees is with regular doses of Great Big Plants!

Now available in gallon containers for your convenience!
19 Sep 2007 GBP

Every fall we marvel at the colors and textures of the changing leaves. If you haven’t been to New England, I would suggest taking a trip through Vermont or northern New Hampshire to see the fall colors at their best.

This month’s edition of Yankee Magazine offers two different back road trips through the Green Mountains of Vermont to experience the fall colors and a little bit of country living.

For the best of New England’s driving tours visit Yankee Foliage.

However, you don’t have to travel to New England to enjoy the fall leaves. Looking for ways to craft with the leaves in your own back yard, visit Kids Turn Central for instructions on pressing and preserving fall leaves.
24 Sep 2007 GBP