[Try to say post title three times fast. Heh.]
Here on the GP blogski, we’ve discussed both the merits and shortcomings of many non-traditional forms of mulch; rather, stuff that covers the ground that is referred to as mulch. Shredded rubber, marble chips, lava stone, dyed lava stone (ick), etc.
But this is a new one on me:
Naturally, I immediately shoved my hand in the biggest tub of glass (part of the Scientific Method).… Continue reading this article “Mulch much?”
We’re supposed to get an inch or two of snow tomorrow. It was 75 degrees last week. Typical schizophrenic spring weather. But spring was already in full bloom a few weeks ago in Dallas, Texas. Our group of Virginia Tech floriculture faculty and grad students visited for the National Floriculture Forum, a meeting of researchers and educators. It was organized by Texas A&M and hosted by the Dallas Arboretum, home of uber-horticulturist Jimmy Turner.
The Arb was right in the middle of their “Dallas Blooms” festival – they plant half a million spring bulbs each year for the most amazing show this side of Keukenhof. … Continue reading this article “It’s Spring-o’clock Somewhere…”
Doing this…
I must identify each and every Wave petunia!
leads to this…
and this…
Unfortunately, the second and third photo are from a college teaching and display garden. There are a lot of inexpensive yet more attractive ways to relate plant identification to your visitors.
We all do this, of course, to some extent in our home gardens. Walk around with weird plant in hand, dig hole, stick it in, say to self "I’ll come back and get that label to add to my (pick one) Excel garden database/bag of random tags/photographic memory."… Continue reading this article “Mouse Tombstones”
“Everyone’s taking stands, and unfortunately, some of those taking the strongest stands have the least information.”
– Dr. Jeff Gillman, on “How the government got in your backyard”, co-authored with Eric Heberlig
Fine Gardening did a fine job in a recent interview that was linked to their e-mail update. FG Editor Steve Aitken brings some humor as he quizzes Dr. Jeff. about his new book. Check it out here.
Steve opens with “Is the government really in my backyard?… Continue reading this article “Jeff Gillman a.k.a. Dr. Unbiased!”
While Jeff and Bert were swilling beers and eating burgers last weekend (dang, wish I was there to commiserate!) I was whacking back the last of the perennials and grasses in our home garden. Tarp after tarp were filled with winter’s debris for compost pile as we fought 25 mph gusts the entire time. Not ideal conditions. However, a neat trick I learned years ago came in handy with the grasses. I’m assuming many of you utilize this technique also – so forgive me if this is a “nothing new” post Here’s Paul and Dabney, our Hahn Horticulture Garden horticulturists, demonstrating said technique:
Just cut below the web strap or rope with your favorite implement of destruction, and toss the whole bundle on the tarp to get it to the pile.… Continue reading this article “Lasso those grasses!”
[Extremely] Preliminary research results from the University of Maryland indicate
chickens may be of interest in the fight against Halyomorpha halys, the brown
marmorated stink bug.
There are good stink bugs and bad stink bugs. The brown marmorated stink bug is a bad one. A relatively new introduced pest, it is piercing, sucking, and generally ruining vegetable and fruit crops (as well as some ornamentals) across a good part of the U.S. There are apparently few natural predators for this imported species and they reproduce like mad, thus the potential for this to become a very serious economic issue.… Continue reading this article “Off-label Use of a Chicken*”
(Hey, I think it’s Tree Week on the GP!)
Our land has a nice buffer of big, old oaks, hickories, and maples between us and the two-lane highway. Power and phone lines thread through the middle of them. Thus, I have nightmares about orange Asplundh trucks.
So with much concern, I noted that utility crews and
subcontractors have been out in full force in our rural area,
inexplicably leaving one tree and then “pruning” another.
I pulled over and snapped this latest atrocity last night.… Continue reading this article “Unspeakeable Acts of Pruning”
Vegetable transplants and herbs were a bright spot last year (and the one previous) for most retail growers and independent garden centers. Seed and transplant companies have taken note – saw lots of veg and herbs at the normally-ornamental trade shows. As always, some good ideas, some a bit far-fetched…
Pelleted lettuce seed (much easier to handle) mixes for the grower to create patio-size planters. Not bad! Snipping a few leaves will be fine, but if you eat salad more than once a month, you’re gonna need a bigger pot.… Continue reading this article “The Hottest Thing in…Veg!”
We make fun and call it “National Forced Affection Day” (NFAD) around
our house. But it’s big business.
The National Retail Federation did a survey of 8900+ consumers in their 2011 Valentine’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey They found that the
average person will shell out $116.21 on traditional Valentine’s Day merchandise this year, up 11 percent over last year’s $103.00. Men spend twice
as much as women. Total holiday spending is expected to reach $15.7 billion.… Continue reading this article “Valentine’s Day, yet again…”
Am just heading out the door for Fairfax, Virginia – part of the greater Northern Virginia metro area, with traffic that scares the pants off of us country mice. I’m doing the Master Gardener training for the Fairfax Master Gardener Association. Their attendance is so huge, they have to split into a morning session (150 people) and an evening session (100+). Two and a half hours of training on “herbaceous plants” twice in one day – that’s a lot of yakking even for yours truly. … Continue reading this article “More Master Gardener Fun!”