Search Results for: label/watering

How Do YOU Water the Garden?

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Please vote in our poll. As we try to develop new solutions, it helps to understand how people are watering their gardens. We had almost an inch of rain last weekend, and this week I couldn’t get over how great the gardens looked. The soil was moist and the plants looked so HAPPY! Clearly they had been nourished by the rain in a way that no amount of hand watering could equal. Here in Vermont, we are usually blessed with enough summer r…

avoid drought damage with soaker hoses

Ten Ways to Help Plants Survive Drought

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Coneflowers, black-eyed susans and bee balm are all relatively drought tolerant, once they’re established. Gardens and landscapes nationwide are facing the one-two punch of record-breaking heat and drought. Although there’s nothing you can do to change the weather, there are a few things you can do to help your plants survive this challenge. Some of the effects of drought are obvious: brown lawns, crispy leaves, smaller flowers and…

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Don’t Just Water — Soak!

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With a soaker hose, such as  the Snip-n-Drip system, you can water thoroughly and efficiently. Whenever I plant a new flower garden for one of my clients, I give the “watering talk,” in which I underscore the importance of watering during the first year. I note that standing at the garden’s edge with a hose and a sprayer (one hand on the hip), is not watering. Sure, it might feel good, but it’s not watering. Watering is…

What’s Your Fertilizer of Choice?

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Over the years, I have become a firm believer in the importance of fertilizing plants. One of my favorite pots this season (see plant list below) with two of the three fertilizers that I’m applying and one of my trusty watering cans. Over the years, I have become a firm believer in the importance of fertilizing plants. Now, when there’s a pest problem in my garden, I run for a fertilizer rather than a pest control. In most cases, I…

New Organic Soil Blends

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With our new mixes, gardeners go from seed to harvest — 100 percent organic! Our Germinating Mix has been a longtime favorite among folks who start their own seeds. Online reviewers give it high marks because the finely textured blend makes an excellent “foundation” for seedlings and ensures fast growth, well-developed root systems and sturdy plants. And now, we’re pleased to offer Organic Seedstarting Mix, a com…

1 Million People Want to Know

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…nd what went into producing it. So how come I can’t have the right to know what’s in the food I buy in the store? That’s the goal of the Just Label It campaign, which last month submitted a record-breaking 1.1 million signatures to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in favor of labeling genetically engineered (GE) foods. And in polls by ABC, MSNBC, NPR, the Washington Post, Consumer Reports and others, consistently…

Why Plants Die

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…first season because they usually have more leafy growth than their developing root systems can easily support. Even a small shrub may need a gallon of water a day to keep the soil moist around its roots. Larger trees can use 10 gallons or more daily. To make watering easier, consider using watering rings or soaker hoses, which ensure the kind of slow, even watering that new trees and shrubs need. Environmental stress. Road salt, poorly drained s…

Gardening in Hawaii

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…e. I have also been legally blind since birth. But as my parents taught me, when things happen, you need to pick up the pieces and keep going. So after my stroke I did that. I couldn’t lift, so by having raised beds at 18.5″ high, I could reach my plants from my wheelchair. Gardening is therapy for me. It is something I can do in spite of my disabilities. “My favorite things to grow are the things I can eat, such as tomatoes,…

This Year, Avoid Late Blight

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Like many who lost tomato plants to late blight last year, I’m wondering: How can I make sure it doesn’t happen again this year? Plant a diversity of tomato varieties to reduce the possibility of disease. Like many gardeners who lost their tomato crop to late blight last year, I’m wondering: How can I make sure it doesn’t happen again this year? Unfortunately, there’s no silver bullet. The most important thin…

A Good Hose

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A top-quality hose is a worthwhile investment. It ensures that you can get the job done efficiently and with ease. These sturdy hoses are made of rubber and have metal fittings. The hot weather this summer has meant lots of watering. I recently spent most of a day going to my landscape clients to make sure their gardens and new plantings were well-watered. Using timers, sprinklers, soakers and hundreds of feet of hose, I had four new garden…