This past week I gave a talk at our state wide nursery and landscape trade show. After my talk I stuck around and attended a couple of sessions, most of which were pretty good. One talk, however, set my teeth on edge. The presenter was a grounds manager for a local college that has embarked on a program of all-organic landscape care, including use of compost tea. Personally I don’t know much about compost tea aside from the fact that mention of the term causes Linda to go apoplectic. … Continue reading this article “How to give a better talk”
Category: Knock It Off
Won’t you help the poinsettias?
Those creative Utah Sate University Extension folks are at it again. Jerry Goodspeed’s hilarious Gnome Management video was a big hit among the gardening crowd a couple of years ago.
His current effort is a bit more…film noir.
"Mission accomplished" if you’ve been shamed into watering that poor poinsettia languishing in the dining room. A little fertilizer wouldn’t hurt, either.
An Interesting Video
Every once in a while someone sends us a news story or a video to look at critically. A couple of days ago Michael got in contact with us through Facebook and asked us to take a look at a video he saw recently and let him know what we thought of it. This video was posted on Russ Bianchi’s website (he goes by the name Uncle Russ). He includes a short note with the video which says “ALL Genetically Modified Organisms, Ingredients, Crops, Livestock, Food, Drugs, Cosmetics, Beverages, Packaging, Flavors, Fragrances, Colors!… Continue reading this article “An Interesting Video”
Buried alive – the roots version
Bert’s post yesterday inspired me to share one of my own timelines that I followed for 7 years. As many of you know, I am a proponent of bare-rooting container and B&B shrubs and trees. One of the benefits is that you can prune away malformed roots, but another is that you can ensure the roots come into contact with the native soil as soon as possible. It’s interesting to see what happens over time with the more typical “pop and drop” method.… Continue reading this article “Buried alive – the roots version”
Why oh why? (Buried alive version)
Sometimes when I’m stumped for ideas for blog posts, I get in my car and drive around my neighborhood. Usually within 10 or 15 minutes I’ll see something stupid enough to write about. Today was no exception. We live in a mostly rural area north of East Lansing but development is slowly but surely encroaching around us. Part of that development includes a couple of golf courses. One of the golf courses recently announced they were going to develop a high-end RV park adjacent to their course. … Continue reading this article “Why oh why? (Buried alive version)”
Important, must-read announcement regarding pesticide use
There’s a new report out from the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) which blasts a common piece of gardening advice: use least toxic pesticides only as a last resort. Popular as it may be, this advice is not scientifically grounded and can actually cause more harm than good. The WSSA is joined in this announcement by the American Phytopathological Society (APS) and the Plant-Insect Ecosystems Section of the Entomological Society of
America (P-IE ESA).
This is a must-read for anyone who is a responsible educator regarding pesticide use, which includes Master Gardeners and other horticulture paraprofessionals. … Continue reading this article “Important, must-read announcement regarding pesticide use”
Up in smoke
If you read my postings the last few weeks, you know that I’m doing a webinar on Wednesday on searching academic databases for information of interest and use to gardeners. While researching one of the suggested topics (should we mow leaves into the lawn or bag and dump them?) I found a 2012 article* entitled “Biomass yield from an urban landscape” in the journal Biomass and Bioenergy. My blood ran cold when I read this part of the abstract:
“It was estimated that the City of Woodward could generate about 3750 Mg of biomass dry matter in a normal rainfall year and about 6100 Mg in a high rainfall year if every homeowner collected their lawn thatch and clippings, and tree leaves, twigs, and limbs for bioenergy production.”… Continue reading this article “Up in smoke”
A followup on the WOW post of last week
There was considerable interest in my post last week, where I shared a photo from Canadian garden writer David Hobson. I wasn’t impressed with the production method and materials for the petunia that was illustrated, but readers wanted to know a little more about the plant (how did the top of it look?) and the mesh encasing the root ball. So I contacted David, and he graciously shared some more information and photos with me.
Here are David’s comments:
“Attached are three photos.… Continue reading this article “A followup on the WOW post of last week”
Another WOW (why oh why) – “biodegradable” mesh for plugs
David Hobson, a garden columnist, sent me this great photo of his petunia planted earlier this year. Take a look at the root growth (or lack thereof):
I’m not sure where this particular product came from, but it looks a lot like a FERTISS propagation plug. Here’s a description from their website of this product.”FERTISS is a ready-to-use, pre-filled propagation tray system. Cuttings are placed in a mixture of peat and perlite wrapped in a non-woven fabric.
… Continue reading this article “Another WOW (why oh why) – “biodegradable” mesh for plugs” Plant sentience – a slippery slope
I maintain a “Garden Professors blog” group on Facebook, where people can pose questions and make suggestions. Ellyn Shea asked about the trend towards calling plants sentient, especially given the new book by Daniel Chamovitz – What a Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses
Dr. Chamovitz is a respected scientist, and there is no doubt that plants sense and respond to their environment in ways we are still learning to understand. But couching plant responses in language associated with human sentience is a slippery slope. … Continue reading this article “Plant sentience – a slippery slope”