Terrariums are are contained environments that allow culture of plants. They take many sizes, shapes and dimensions and can be sealed or open. At the least terrariums are just plants in a bottle, in their highest form they are cultivated landscapes in miniature. Closed terraria create a unique environment and opportunity for plant growth. The … Continue reading Terrariums
While we can’t ever control or even predict the weather, in most places it is important to have a plan on how to deliver water to our home gardens during the hot, dry months of the summer. Aside from reducing water need through some good management practices, delivering water in an efficient and sustainable way … Continue reading Water Wise Gardening: Conserving and Irrigating Responsibly
Ever since humans started gardening and farming, the practice has had central importance in our lives. As we processed out of the agrarian age, some of us humans may have lost the connection to the importance of growing plants to our everyday lives. We rely on the growing of plants to feed us, to produce … Continue reading Flowers for Barbara: Cultivating Hope in a Pandemic
Roots are the unsung heroes of plants! But unfortunately your every day hard working root gets little respect from gardeners. “We are so taken for granted” whined Radix– “Its just so hard, we are all down here in the dark, nobody see’s us, we get no admiration, yet we work so hard!”. Radix is your … Continue reading A root’s life
Except for areas of the US that are more tropical like southern Florida or Hawai’i, most gardener’s planting schedules are set around winter weather and the possibility of frost or freeze. And even for gardeners in those more tropical areas, planting sometimes needs to be planned to schedule around the extreme heat of summer. Understanding … Continue reading Planting Prognostication: Understanding last frost and planting dates
Gardeners that read this blog understand that minerals are absorbed mostly by plant roots as ions, and are essential for plant growth and development. Some minerals are required in parts per hundred, and are macro-nutrients while others are only required in parts per million or parts per billion, and are considered micronutrients. As long as … Continue reading Fertilizer—Friend or Foe to disease causing organisms?
In the fall a gardener’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of pruning (with apologies to Alfred, Lord Tennyson). In particular, people worry that pruning too late in the summer or early fall will stimulate plants to send out new growth, which is then damaged by freezing temperatures. Let’s dissect what actually happens when woody plants … Continue reading Late summer pruning: what happens, what won’t, and why
Regular blog readers will remember that we moved to my childhood home a few years ago. With an acre or so of landscape I finally have enough room to put in a vegetable garden. My husband built a wonderful raised bed system, complete with critter fencing, and we’ve been enjoying the fresh greens and the … Continue reading Why soil tests matter: lessons from my vegetable garden
You see a bright shiny package at the garden center saying that it can help you have the most bountiful garden ever, the greenest lawn in the neighborhood, your plants will have miraculous growth, or it will supply every element on earth to make sure that your plants are living their best life. It’s got … Continue reading To Fertilize, or Not to Fertilize, that is the question
Understanding the mysteries of plant diseases: Prevention, Control and Cure (Part 3 of 3 in this blog series) What next? You’ve done your research and made a diagnosis—now what? Sometimes the plant has to be removed and never planted there again. Start over, do something else. Controlling plant pathogens or abiotic disorders can be daunting, … Continue reading Understanding the mysteries of plant diseases: Prevention, Control and Cure (Part 3 of 3 in this blog series)
