It's not a disease—just finely shredded leaves.
Almost any garden will benefit from a dose of leaf mold. |
Gardening could be an inexpensive hobby, but at my house it's not. One of my many springtime splurges is the purchase (at $8.50 per bag) of six to ten bags of cocoa mulch. I use it in my perennial beds, applying it by the handful and only in the front of the beds where it will be seen. The fine texture and dark brown color really sets off the plants, it doesn't rob nitrogen from the soil, and it packs tightly enough to stifle most weeds.
But after 20 years of buying cocoa mulch, I have found something even better: leaf mold. It has the same fine texture and dark brown color. It packs tightly when moist and improves the soil—probably even more so than the cocoa mulch. Best of all? It's free and locally produced. In fact, I make it in my backyard. How green is that?
I've never seen leaf mold for sale commercially. But with all the press it has been getting lately, that's probably just a matter of time. Until then, all you need to make your own is a good supply of leaves. Our how-to instructions will get you started. If you're already an experienced leaf mold producer, please leave a comment and let us in on your own secrets to success!
By the way, below is a picture of Leslie Ward from our customer contact center. She is one of our most avid gardeners and is a long time fan of shredded leaves and leaf mold. This photo shows Leslie (on the left) with her friend Jane who is a market gardener. Each fall, Leslie helps Jane at the Saturday farmer's market and in exchange, Jane uses her truck to pick up bags of leaves from curbsides and drop them off at Leslie's house. Leslie uses our electric leaf shredder to shred more than 100 bags of leaves. (The photo at the top of this post shows one of her shade gardens mulched with leaf mold.)
-Kathy LaLiberte
Director of Gardening, Gardener's Supply
Leslie and Jane with their haul. |
When it comes to tulips, get large, get loud. Plant generously!
This is a favorite combination that features emperor tulips. You can get this look with the Emperor Tulip Mixture. |
Here's the thing about tulips: You need to plant a lot of them to make a good display. You need to plant hundreds of bulbs—not dozens. Come spring, you'll be delighted. And if you live in a cold climate, you're gonna need it.
In my own tiny garden, I plant at least 500 tulips every fall. After they bloom, they're pulled up to make way for summer annuals. That's the other thing about tulips: They're best in the first year. After that, the show diminishes. It's no surprise. Tulip bulbs want cool, moist springs and baking summers, which is not what we offer here in New England—and most other parts of the country. Yes, there are perennial tulips and species tulips that return reliably for many years. Stick with those if you don't want to recreate your display every year.
But, if you're up for some fun, find some space in your garden and start browsing for tulips. Start with Dutch Gardens estate collections, which are large quantities of bulbs. It might sound like a lot of work, but mass plantings are easy and fast. Here's how you do it:
- Figure that you're going to plant about 15-25 bulbs per square foot. They're going to be really close—3-4" on center.
- Dig out the planting trench, which should be 6-8" deep. Keep in mind that a curved trench will be more natural looking. To make it easier, shovel the excavated soil into wheelbarrow(s) and/or buckets; it's so much easier to backfill the trench.
- Pour the bulbs into the trench. Arrange them randomly, pointy end up, 3-4" on center. To create a natural looking drift, avoid positioning the bulbs in precise rows.
- Pour the excavated soil back into the trench; rake it smooth and pack it down by walking on the planting area.
That's it. The point is to do it big. Make bold color choices. Go ahead, plant a mixture of hot pink and orange tulips. That's what spring is all about.
The steps of trench-style bulb planting, clockwise from top left:
1. Dig a trench, saving the soil in wheelbarrows and or tubs (for easy backfilling).
2. If using more than one color, mix the bulbs in a tub to ensure random distribution of color.
3. Position the bulbs 3-4" apart, pointy side up.
4. Backfill with soil, rake smooth and pack lightly by walking on the surface. |
-David Grist
Online Content Coordinator, Gardener's Supply
Soil and shade conditions that weaken turfgrasses are ideal for moss growth.
Soil and shade conditions that weaken turfgrasses are ideal for moss growth. |
How to get rid of moss in the lawn is one of the frequently asked questions on our Ask An Expert question-and-answer service.
In the same way that fever is a symptom and not the disease itself, moss is an indicator of underlying problems.
Lawn grasses need moist, fertile, well-drained and aerated soil, and at least a half day of sun to thrive. Most grasses grow best in soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.5. When growing conditions fall outside of these boundaries, grass becomes weak and easily overtaken by competing plants, including moss.
Ridding a lawn of moss starts with an assessment of the growing conditions.
- Check the sun and shade pattern. If trees and shrubs have grown large enough to cast daylong shade, they may need thinning to allow more light to reach the lawn. If the sun is blocked by buildings or trees that can’t be thinned, consider a shade-loving groundcover alternate.
- Conduct a soil test. Collect soil samples from the lawn and send to a testing laboratory for nutrient and pH analysis. The test results will include recommendations for nutrients and pH correcting additives to apply. To find a testing lab, consult the Extension Service in your area.
- Check the drainage. If water puddles and stands after rainfall, add a drainage outlet, if possible. If water drains too quickly and doesn’t retain moisture, gradually add organic matter, such as compost. Broadcast a half-inch of screened compost over the lawn in spring and fall each year to improve the soil texture.
- Consider soil compaction. Heavy foot and machine traffic compresses the soil and drives out the tiny air pockets that roots need to grow. Poor drainage can be a symptom of soil compaction. Rent a core aerator once a year to loosen up the soil.
- Select the correct grass seed. Use a high-quality mixture that matches your growing conditions and planned use. Look for named seed varieties on the label.
For more on lawn care:
-Ann Whitman
Horticulturist, Gardener's Supply
Growing potatoes is like reading a good mystery; you have to wait until the very end.
Carola and Reddale potatoes freshly dug from my raised bed. |
Growing potatoes is like reading a good mystery; you have to wait to the very end until what lies beneath the surface is finally revealed. Unlike the end of a book, however, the end of the growing season is sometimes less clear. When’s the right time to dig potatoes?
Potato varieties are divided into groups based on the number of days required from planting date to harvest. Early potatoes, such as Yukon Gold and Red Norland, are ready to dig in 65-80 days. Mid-season potatoes, including popular Kennebec, take 80-90 days, and the late-season varieties mature more than 90 days after planting. Late-harvested potatoes are especially good for longterm storage and, not surprisingly include most russet varieties.
Marking the days-to-maturity date on your calendar at planting time is one way to decide when to dig your early season potatoes. These varieties are great for fresh eating and short-term storage. Starting about a month after my early Reddale plants bloomed, I dug carefully around their roots and stole a few tender young spuds. The creamy, earthy flavor of boiled new potatoes is reason enough to grow my own!
The tried-and-true method for determining when to dig mid and late-season varieties is to wait until the vines turn yellow. After the vines die, I give the spuds another week or two in the ground to let their skins mature. The tougher skins don’t bruise as easily, which is important for a long storage life. I usually grow Carola, a delicious yellow-fleshed variety with yellow skin and a nice oblong shape. With good storage, these will keep until spring.
Cool, dry, overcast days are ideal for digging, and not just for my comfort! To avoid piercing the buried tubers, I push a garden fork into the soil about 18-24” from the center of the plant, angling it under the roots to gently lift the tubers to the surface. Once I’ve revealed a few potatoes, I dig the rest out with my gloved hands. When they were little, my kids loved this ritual and we were a good team: me with the fork and the kids on their hands and knees teasing tubers from the soil and loading them into a cart.
After digging, I brush the soil off, but avoid washing them because it often leads to decay. For the longest storage life, it’s important to let the potatoes mature at 55-60º for a few weeks in a completely dark place. Cull the bruised and damaged tubers for immediate use, then store the rest in a dark, humid place at 40º. Inspect regularly and remove soft and decaying tubers.
A few of my favorite sources for organic seed potatoes are Fedco Seeds Moose Tubers, Wood Prairie Farm, and Seeds of Change.
For more on growing potatoes, read Harvest Bushels of Potatoes from a Raised Bed.
-Ann Whitman
Horticulturist, Gardener's Supply
Every garden needs a little whimsy, such as a 900-pound concrete pig.
Every garden needs a little whimsy, such as a 900-pound concrete pig. |
Although I don't really have any of my own, I love lawn ornaments. They make such a big statement about the gardener. One of our popular categories here at Gardener's Supply is Yard and Garden Decor, which includes plenty of garden whimsy. Our Funky Chickens have proved to be a huge hit. When the Party Pigs came out this year, I thought of my friend Joy, who ornaments her Colorado garden with a concrete pig named Iowna, as in "I own a pig."
At 900 pounds, this pig makes a big statement. Joy picked her out of a lineup of angels, toadstools, "horrid deer and other critters" at a concrete place in Denver. The pig arrived with her son in a Chevy Luv pickup, but unloading the beast proved difficult. A forklift couldn't handle it, so Joy asked for help from her neighbors, who run a mortuary. Using a device designed to move vaults and monuments, they put Iowna in her new home.
Iowna's companion is a piglet, which is much easier to move. "Unfortunately," Joy says, "you don't want to have a little pig like that in your very front yard. It used to be kidnapped all the time. Among the ransom notes left: 'Bring a six-pack of Bud to such-and-such-a-place if you ever want to see your darling again.' One time we came home, the little guy was lying on his back with his feet up in the air and a rope tied as a noose around his neck and looped over the branch overhead. This note said: 'I just can't take it anymore and decided to commit pigicide.'"
The pigs also drew unwanted attention when her son was in middle school. He says: "At the time, the old hotel across the street from us doubled as the Greyhound bus terminal, and it was not unusual for people to ring our doorbell and ask if they could pose with the pig for a picture."
Some people might say that lawn ornaments are tacky, but it's all subjective. There is no wrong. If you're going to add some garden whimsy, I say, do it like Joy and make it big. Whether it's Funky Chickens, Party Pigs, a pink flamingo or a 900-pound concrete pig. You're sure to meet some interesting people—just like you.
-David Grist
Online Content Coordinator, Gardener's Supply
Gardener tries growing onions from seed instead of sets; results are huge!
Leslie couldn't be more thrilled with the crop of huge onions she grew from seedlings. |
Leslie works with me at Gardener’s Supply and our conversations tend to run toward plants. She’s an enthusiastic gardener, too, with decades of vegetable and flower growing experience. When either of us discovers a nifty new plant or picks up a new gardening tip, we share.
So imagine my surprise last winter when Leslie said that she’d read my post on growing onions and was shocked to learn that onions are biennials. She has always grown onions from marble-sized onion bulbs, called sets, which grew vigorously, but didn’t produce large bulbs. After making the connection between the onion lifecycle and her garden experience, she decided to try growing them from seeds started early this year.
On the advice of another friend who runs a market garden, Leslie bought a collection of sweet, mild onion seedlings from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. Her assortment included three varieties: yellow-skinned Ailsa Craig Exhibition, Red Burgermaster, and white Super Star.
Red Burgermaster, yellow Ailsa Craig and white Super Star sweet onions fill a garden tub trug. |
The onion plants were about the size of drinking straws when they arrived, Leslie said. She tucked them into her compost-enriched garden in early May, setting them about 6” apart in wide rows. They got side dressed with North Country Organics' Pro-Gro 5-3-4 formula at the end of May and again a month later. June and July provided record rainfall, so she didn’t need to irrigate her crop.
Leslie finally announced in mid-August (with much gesticulation and fanfare), “I’ve got 300 HUGE onions!” She brought in an Ailsa Craig to prove it. That onion had a 14-inch circumference and weighed 2 pounds.
Our co-worker Kathy LaLiberte grew this Aisla Craig: 17" circumference, 3 lbs. |
I don’t think she’s going back to onion sets next spring. Or ever, for that matter. That's one of the things I like about gardening—there's always something new to learn!
-Ann Whitman
Horticulturist, Gardener's Supply
What's growing this year in our test gardens.
Bam-Bam contemplates a leafy oxheart carrot that's bigger than her head. |
Carrots that grew bigger than a bunny’s head were just one of the surprises in the Gardener’s Supply display and test garden this summer. An heirloom variety introduced in 1884, Oxheart carrot is short and thick, typically growing 3-4” wide, but only 5-6” long. Ready to harvest in 90 days, they easily reach a pound or more in weight, making them good candidates for long-term storage.
Lemon-yellow pea pods startled many garden visitors. Edible-podded Golden Sweet Peas from Seed Savers Exchange, were delicious eaten right in the garden or added to salads or stir fries, according to Sarah, one of our test gardeners. The catalog description of this unusual variety says that the seed was collected at a market in India and is the only yellow-podded pea in the Seed Savers inventory of 1,200 pea varieties. As an added bonus, the 6-foot-tall plants have ornamental, two-toned purple flowers.
The broccoli, chamomile, and onion combination bed turned out to be big winner in the pest control category. Sarah set the broccoli and chamomile transplants in a checkerboard pattern with rows of onions between each strip and around the edges of the raised bed. Remarkably, the broccoli was free of cabbage worms until the chamomile died back in late summer. In companion-planting lore, chamomile also improves the flavor of onions and cabbage crops, plus it attracts beneficial insects.
For more on companion planting and growing food in your landscape, visit the National Gardening Association’s article, “Growing Garden Companions” or the article at the North Dakota State University Extension Service.
-Ann Whitman
Horticulturist, Gardener's Supply
Golden peas, left, and companion planting with chamomile, broccoli and onions. |
Flowers appear when you least expect them, adding color and fragrance long after their spring-blooming counterparts have faded.
Sparkling white hydrangea blooms burst open like fireworks in mid- to late summer. |
Shrubs that burst into bloom as the summer begins its slide into autumn breathe new life into the garden. Their flowers appear when you least expect them, adding color and fragrance long after their spring-blooming counterparts have faded into the background.
Give some of these favorites a spot in your garden and you won’t be sorry.
Pee Gee hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata 'Grandiflora') |
Hardy hydrangeas are common on old homesteads and cemetery hedgerows. They set their flower buds in the spring and bloom the same summer, making them a good choice for cold-winter climates. Pee Gee hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata 'Grandiflora') is winter hardy to Zone 3 and isn’t too particular about soil conditions, as long as it gets regular watering. The puffy white flower heads mature to soft pink as they age. Excellent varieties include Limelight and Pinky Winky™.
Caryopteris, also known as bluebeard, brings a hard-to-find blue color to the garden just in time to balance the late-summer yellow and orange of black-eyed susans ( Rudbeckia) and perennial sunflowers ( Helianthus). Hardy in Zones 5 to 9, they thrive in full sun. Clusters of blue flowers delight visiting butterflies, too. Its compact stature makes it useful for low, informal hedges or mass planting.
Summersweet ( Clethra alnifolia) has intensely fragrant white or pink flower clusters that feed bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. This native shrub grows in nearly every hardiness zone, requiring only moist, acidic, humus-rich soil to thrive. Visit North Carolina State University Extension Service for summersweet photos, cultivars, and growing requirements.
Crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia) has long been a favorite in the hot, humid southern states. Tolerance for drought and urban conditions, disease- and pest-resistance, and year-round ornamental features make this one of the best for summer bloom in zones 6 and warmer. Cultivars range in mature height from compact 3-foot shrubs to 20-foot-tall trees. The University of Georgia and Clemson University Extension Services have handy cultivar lists, plus thorough cultural information.
\
-Ann Whitman
Horticulturist, Gardener's Supply
A great way for a company to share with the community: Collect fresh, wholesome, locally grown vegetables for the local food shelf.
Mark, a Gardener's Supply employee, holds freshly picked vegetables from his community garden plot that he delivers each week to the local food shelf. |
When Pat arrives at the community food shelf with a grocery bag of homegrown tomatoes, kale, lettuce, cucumbers and zucchini, she gets a hero’s welcome. “You would think I’d delivered a truckload of vegetables, instead of an armful,” she says.
Every Wednesday during the gardening season, employee-owners at Gardener’s Supply bring extra garden vegetables for donation. Giving back to our community is a longstanding corporate commitment. What better way to give back than to provide fresh, wholesome, locally grown vegetables to those in need.
It all started last fall with a month-long food drive organized by the Employee Stock Ownership (ESOP) committee. Fifteen teams of five or six people each competed for the honor of bringing in the most food each week. Stacks of nonperishable foods filled the plastic bins stacked just inside the front door every Wednesday morning throughout October. The program was so successful that the food shelf had to send over a truck every week to pick up the bins.
The collection point is right at the front door, so it's easy for employees to remember. |
At noon on drop off day, members of the ESOP committee weighed each team’s donation, recorded the weekly results on a chart, and announced the weekly winner in an all-company e-mail. We anticipated the weekly weigh-in as keenly as any major-league sporting event. At the end of the month, the winning team was treated to a gourmet breakfast cooked by ESOP committee members. The total weight of the donations from the 15 teams was 9,200 pounds, or nearly 1 ton of food per week!
This summer, the committee invited employees to plant extra vegetables, an initiative patterned after the Plant a Row for the Hungry program promoted by the Garden Writers Association. “The program went so well last fall that we decided to repeat it with a summer campaign,” Pat said. Since most of Gardener’s Supply’s employees have gardens at home, the response has been good. Garden space on the company campuses has also been pressed into service. Several members of the Customer Contact Center used 75 square feet in the display gardens to grow tomatoes, beans, peppers, eggplant, and greens for the weekly donation.
Mark, another experienced and avid gardener at our shipping facility, devoted his 100-square-foot employee/community garden plot to the cause, using donated seeds and seedlings. When three more neighboring plots became available throughout the summer, he added their vegetables to the weekly donation. Employee members of the Garden Club help weed and harvest the garden during breaks and lunch. By mid-August, Mark says, “I’ve delivered more than 150 pounds of squash, lettuce, Swiss chard, snap peas, string beans and tomatoes. We still have the main tomato and squash crops to come in.”
“Helping feels good,” says Pat. “Growing food and sharing the harvest is a win-win.” Patrons of the food shelf couldn’t agree more.
For more on this topic, read Gleaning Programs Help Feed Hungry Neighbors
-Ann Whitman
Horticulturist, Gardener's Supply
|
Posts
