While drought is part of the natural cycle of the climate and many native plants depend on drought to propagate, it is the bane of gardeners everywhere because of the increased need for water. I have previously written about the four types of drought. Today I thought I would focus on drought monitoring and a way that you, as a citizen scientist, can help report local conditions that the official drought monitor authors can use to fine-tune their depictions of drought.… Continue reading this article “Monitoring and reporting on drought conditions”
Month: May 2022
Maddening mulch myths
Long-time followers of this blog know that I’ve been researching, writing, and educating on the topic of landscape mulches for over 20 years. So whenever an article comes out in a newspaper or online that directly refutes our current understanding of mulch science, on-line and real-life colleagues quickly call it to my attention. Many times I choose to ignore the article, but when it’s from a highly regarded source with wide readership I feel the need to step in.… Continue reading this article “Maddening mulch myths”
Burlap, the fashion fabric of the gardening world.
Cheap, lightweight and easy to manipulate, burlap has become a popular way to protect transported B&B trees from the nursery to their planting site. To add justification for its use it’s also touted as biodegradable. “No need to remove it!” or “Leave it in place to protect the root ball.” and other such phrases are often tossed at the unknowing homeowner but are they laudable? Let’s investigate.
Hessian soldiers ca. American Revolutionary War – what do they have to do with burlap?… Continue reading this article “Burlap, the fashion fabric of the gardening world.”
Garden Diagnostics
I’ve had this funny feeling that something is just not right in my garden. Can’t put my finger on it, but something is amiss. OMG everything is dying! Help! Garden Death is rampant! Well, a bit of hyperbole perhaps, but over the years I have had many calls from gardeners with great concern for plants or their entire garden based on things they perceive to be going on.… Continue reading this article “Garden Diagnostics”