Category: Knock It Off

Creative Uses For Old Water Breakers

Why, oh why, can’t someone engineer a sturdy, long-lasting, horticulturally-correct water breaker.

We have, at last count, six hoses in use at our very spread-out garden & farm.  I go through a lot of breakers, and am down to two, which I rotate around.  In dire need of some new ones (as well as a huge bale of TP), I perused the garden aisle at our local big box (rhymes with “Target”).  Pistol grip schnozzles abound – these things that propel the water
like a 95 mph fastball. … Continue reading this article “Creative Uses For Old Water Breakers”

Here’s the plant food everyone is talking about!

Apparently I don’t talk to the right people; I’d never heard of this product until newbie gardener and longtime skeptic John emailed me about Eleanor’s VF-11 plant food.

Upon visiting the website, this is what I learned about VF-11 and roses (the rose aficionado market is apparently a lucrative one for snake oil salesmen):

Point: “VF-11 Plant Food is not a ‘push’ like other fertilizers…think of it as a strength and health builder.”

Counterpoint: It certainly is not a fertilizer.… Continue reading this article “Here’s the plant food everyone is talking about!”

Dirty Dozen?

Nobody in their right mind considers pesticides safe.  They are, after all, poisons which we have created to kill things, be those things plants, insects, fungi, rats, or whatever.  The idea that we could have foods with no pesticides on them is attractive.  Now I’ve got to admit that, as a general rule, I don’t think that the levels at which most pesticides are found on foods is concerning.  Our methods of detecting poisons are just too sensitive today and so we end up saying that a poison is “present” on a tomato or whatever even if it’s there at a harmless parts-per-trillion level. … Continue reading this article “Dirty Dozen?”

Duty Calls

As retirements have decimated our Horticulture Department’s faculty ranks, I find myself in the interesting position of teaching a course in small fruit production next fall semester. I’m working on the syllabus as was speak (hence this post).  If you’ve read my bio (“About Us”), you’ll see that this is not my bag.  But our students are clamoring for fruit and vegetable production courses, so someone’s got to do it. We are also  currently without on-campus vegetable faculty, if you can believe it.… Continue reading this article “Duty Calls”

Is Black The New Brown?

Mulch is always an interesting point of discussion as well as the topic of several past GP posts. But I honestly can’t recall if we’ve covered dyed mulch, and can’t search the site, so here goes.

I recently received a request for information from Debbie Dillon, a fine Urban Horticulturist with Virginia Cooperative Extension.  She noted the increased use of dyed mulch in the Northern Virginia area, and has been fielding questions from both landscape designers and homeowners regarding the safety of said mulch and the potential for harmful effects on plants.… Continue reading this article “Is Black The New Brown?”

Yet another fine product

As a member of the GWA (Garden Writers Association), I routinely get emails about new garden products. Here’s one I received this week:

“I thought your readers or listeners might be interested in learning of a new way to protect their plants without using pesticides.  Moisturin, which contains no toxic ingredients, is sprayed on plants to form a clear flexible barrier strong enough to lock out both insects and airborne plant disease.  Moisturin is inexpensive, easy to use and extremely effective. … Continue reading this article “Yet another fine product”

Last-Frost-Date Roulette

We all play the game – at least the more impetuous among us do. You sneak a few tender things out into the garden, or on to the patio.  When the temperature drops and there’s a frost warning, no problem…just cover them up or bring them in.

Unless you forget.

oh, the humanity...
This WAS a rare and neato Pereskia aculeata ‘Variegata’. Paul W., please send me another…

Before dawn on Monday morning, (May 9) the temperature on our little mountainside dropped below freezing for four hours, going as low as 29.5 F according to our weather station. … Continue reading this article “Last-Frost-Date Roulette”

Do These Come In Control Top?

For those color-conscious gardeners who can’t bear to have visible tomato ties (or panty lines):

Only $2.99 for eight pieces?  Whatta deal!

Do you know how many tomato ties you can get from a pair of hose? Especially if you are a “long”? About fifty. Of course they’ll be nude or black, unless you bought into that purple trend last season.

Yeesh.

ps:   I do like Lusterleaf’s (company responsible for the above) can o’ twine with the handy cutter-top, though.… Continue reading this article “Do These Come In Control Top?”

Thieves purr

Today I found a cool website – it’s an anagram generator (http://wordsmith.org/anagram/).  The title of today’s post is the first of the 553 anagrams generated from the word SUPERthrive.

I’ve been getting free samples of SUPERthrive for a long, long time.   For those of you living on a remote desert island, SUPERthrive is a product invented and sold by “Dr. John A. A. Thomson (in 27 different title Who’s Who Directories),” according to one of the promotional flyers. … Continue reading this article “Thieves purr”

Oh, Deer…

More from our Ornamental Plant Production class tour across the state.  One of our stops was James River Nurseries, Inc.  Owner Mike Hildebrand has a built a unique and diverse business – they not only grow but do landscape design-build-install, all in the huge market of central and northern Virginia and beyond.

Here’s some arborvitae that spent the past few weeks at one of their job sites north of Richmond, waiting to be planting.  They’re now back at the nursery. … Continue reading this article “Oh, Deer…”