There’s a new1 blog on the social media block—The Big Blog of Gardening (BBoG). Already it’s a heavy hitter in the gardening social media world. The question is: How may foul balls are hit?
My wife came to me recently saying “Hey! Did you know that your friend Linda Chalker-Scott changed her institution?”
“What?” I said.
“Yeah, she moved to University of Washington. It says right here on this MSNBC article.”
“It’s from the Big Blog of Gardening?
If you live in a place where water falls from the sky during summer this blog is perhaps not so helpful. However, gardeners in much of the western United States will suffer this summer from hot days (sometimes record breaking) and will need to irrigate their gardens and trees in order for them to survive impending drought conditions. The ongoing drought has drained reservoirs and flows of rivers are down or, in some cases, dry entirely.… Continue reading this article “Water Woes”
Yikes!
Drought of epic proportion is imperiling many western states this year. For the first time some water districts have proposed curtailment of all exterior irrigation, no applied water will be allowed outside of residences. There are public forums are scheduled with experts and officials giving advice. Of great concern is the certain loss of turfgrass swards but far more concern is being expressed for the loss of trees.
Don’t assume your trees will die of drought!… Continue reading this article “Saving Your Trees From Drought!”
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”
You may have heard about these fungi or perhaps not. But if you look carefully on bags of potting mix and on some fertilizers you will see that they are marketed as “essential” to your garden plants. Claims on mycorrhizal products suggest dramatic growth increases. These claims like many “snake oil” products can be extreme and are based on science that supposedly bolsters their efficacy. Mycorrhize are responsible for tremendous growth increased when compared to plants denied access to the fungi. … Continue reading this article “Mycorrhizae! Myco what??”
Ukraine is all in the news these days as Russian troops are amassed along its borders in Belarus and neighboring Russia. I have some knowledge of Ukraine having visited the Chernobyl nuclear exclusion zone (the “Zone”) four times in 2012, -15, -16 and 2018. I had planned more visits but the global COVID-19 pandemic prevented my return to Ukraine and the Zone. The accident at Chernobyl was the worst nuclear accident in the history of mankind releasing more radio isotopes than the event at Fukashima and had long ranging impact on Ukraine and the then Soviet Union.… Continue reading this article “The Gardens of Chernobyl 30 years after the disaster”
I love plants! I love gardens! I love nature! So why not bring it all inside the house? Who can resist those beautiful Calatheas (Prayer Plants) they sell at Home Depot? House plants afford us the opportunity to garden indoors when it’s hostile outside and they beautify a room like nothing else. There is an incredible selection of tropical, subtropical and succulent plants that we can cultivate indoors. Unfortunately house plants fade…waaa (sad). They lose leaves, they endure pests, they wilt, eventually they die.… Continue reading this article “House Plant Basics”
Very large and old trees don’t often attain size and splendor free of defect and disease. A mature tree may have accumulated some damage, injury or disease along its path to grandeur.… Continue reading this article “Pruning Mature Shade Trees”
This month I continue the series on pruning with a look at pruning established landscape trees. These are trees in the prime of life, growing well, starting to shade the garden beneath them and expanding their canopies. Various reasons can prompt the call for tree care professionals.
What reasons would we have to prune a healthy vigorous mid-aged tree? For those we have to examine what may have happened in the past. The fact that a tree is growing well does not always mean it was “selected” well.… Continue reading this article “Pruning established trees”
As the climate warms the value of trees for cooling the environment around buildings, especially in cities, drives tree planting programs. Planting trees is just the first step in growing a tree in a sustainable landscape. Successful plantings require evaluation and guidance of the new tree’s current and future branch architecture. In almost every case, nursery grown trees will require some structural pruning so that a shade tree can develop strong and effective branch attachments that will support the canopy for the coming decades without failure.… Continue reading this article “Pruning newly planted trees”