Welcome back to the Daily Weeder to our faithful friends and readers! We’ve taken a bit of a sabbatical, but just like you, we couldn’t stay away!

It’s been an incredible summer for gardening in my neck of the woods! We’ve enjoyed lots of sunshine and enough rain to make everything grow grow GROW! Right now my irises, columbines, and most of all, my roses are blooming in brilliant shades of pink, yellow, white, blue, red, and purple. It took a lot of hard work, but right now I’m enjoying the fruits of my labor! And I wanted to share it all with you, so join me if you will, for this year’s tour of my garden…

Stay tuned for more tips, tricks, ideas, and inspiration on the cold climate gardening from the Daily Weeder!

Happy Gardening,

Marie Suzanne

Hello Fellow Gardeners,

In this week’s article we’re going to continue our look at natural remedies for your garden. If you are just joining us, natural remedies are an alternative to those expensive chemicals offered at many garden centers. They are simple, homemade, inexpensive, and often made with ingredients already in your own kitchen! Following are a few recipes that have worked well in my own garden, however take a look at Natural Remedies for Your Garden Part 1 for more ideas on ridding your garden of diseases and pests—naturally!

Milk: Bye Bye Mildew!

You know milk does the body good, but did you know that it also works well on your roses!? Mix skim milk in a spray bottle with an equal amount of water, and simply spray on the leaves of your roses, phlox, or any plant that is vulnerable to mildew and blackspot.

Red Pepper and Garlic: All Around Insecticide!

Mix together three heaping tablespoons of crushed garlic, two heaping tablespoons of dried red pepper flakes, and two tablespoons of any type of cooking oil (Canola, olive, etc). Combine the mixture in a glass bowl, add enough water to cover, and cook on high for one minute in your microwave. Finally, add everything to a gallon of water and let sit in the sun for a few days. Spray or sprinkle around your garden to help deter deer, caterpillars, and other garden pests—naturally!

компютриAshes: Discourage Slugs and Snails!

Enjoyed a few romantic fires with your significant other during those cold winter nights? Besides bringing you closer together, that fire produced a great natural remedy for your garden– wood ash! Wood ash is a great deterrent to slugs and snails! Simply sprinkle a continuous line around your garden, leaving no spaces for those nasty pests to sneak through!

For a great nutrient boost add ashes to your soil!

Check out this article: “Using Fireplace Ashes in Your Garden” by Dawne Howard!

As will all things, use common sense and caution (especially if you have children and pets) with all natural remedies because just because they are “natural” doesn’t mean they are harmless! Avoid contact with eyes, protect yourself any fumes/vapors, and wear appropriate clothing!If you are interested in more natural remedies I have found a great site: Homemade Insecticides by Bill Richardson! Many of the recipes use flowers found in your own garden, such as Marigolds, Comfrey leaves, Feverfew, and more, to naturally repel insects!

Stay tuned for more great tips, tricks, ideas, and inspiration on cold climate gardening from the Daily Weeder!

Happy Gardening,

Marie Suzanne

This is the time of year that the shelves of our favorite garden centers fill up with chemicals that promise everything from increased growth to deterring the most pesky of garden pests! Well, many of these do in fact work very well, but if you’re like me, you are considering more natural alternatives for your garden. Many of these alternatives can give you the same benefits as the expensive products out there but at a fraction of the cost! Best of all, many of the ingredients can be found right in your own kitchen! Today we’ll take a look at a few natural remedies that have worked well in my own garden!

Chamomile Tea

We all know the health benefits of tea for our own bodies, but did you know that tea is also great for your garden! Roses especially can benefit from a good spray of cool chamomile tea on the leaves because it can help deter nasty mildew from taking over your precious plants. The recipe? Simply brew just like you would for yourself, let cool, and spray! Try to aim for at least four tea bags per gallon of water!

Banana Peels

You’ve heard about this one before from us, but it works so well that it bears repeating! Banana peels draped over branches and at the base of a rosebush will help get rid of aphids! Also, chopped banana peels mixed with the top layer of your soil gives a great vitamin boost to your plants, keeping them happy and healthy!

Garlic

Everyone’s favorite spice not only grows in the garden but is a garden life saver—literally! Deer may be nice to look at, but they are your garden’s enemy! A good barrier of garlic around your precious plants will help to keep those deer from using all your hard work as their own personal buffet! Papery peels from garlic bulbs that have been roasted in the oven, raw crushed garlic from a jar (available at your supermarket), or even a raw clove clothes pined to a plant will help! If you don’t want garlic spread all over your garden, another option is to simply place several garlic cloves in a sachet bag or an old stocking and hang it in your garden. The smell shouldn’t be overwhelming, but it should be enough to deter most of those dear deer!

Stay tuned for more natural remedies for your cold climate garden from the Daily Weeder!

Happy Gardening,

Marie Suzanne

Hello Fellow Gardeners,

I’ve been super busy working on checking off my own Spring chores checklist! Unfortunately there’s still a lot more to be done, but I’m happy to be gardening again and spending some time in the sunshine!

If you are checking off your own Spring garden chore list, you may have seen the “pruning roses” chore! Doing a bit of research on the internet, I came across the ultimate rose pruning guide! It contains everything you ever wanted to know about pruning roses! It’s easy to follow, jam packed with great tips, and perfect for old pros in need of a refresher course, or beginners looking for a detailed guide! Best of all, it’s offered in pdf format online for free!

Check out:
John Jons’ Rose Pruning Guide for the Texas Cooperative Extension

This rose pruning guide was designed for the Texas climate, but can be applied to our own cold climate gardens with only three exceptions! Read below…

1. Pruning dates for cold climate gardening is the first or second week of May, or when the Lilacs and Forsythia bloom (basically after the last frost date).

2. In a cold climate garden you rarely need to use fungus spray because the winter kills most of the bacteria!

3. Finally, the bud union for cold climate gardens is usually planted 4 to 6 inches below ground level to offer winter protection (the bud union is the swelling where the rose is grafted on) so you don’t usually have to worry about too many suckers to trim.

I really recommend this guide for its valuable information and detailed tips! As mentioned, the guide is very easy to understand and should take the mystery out of rose pruning for anyone!

Stay tuned for more tips, tricks, ideas, and inspiration on cold climate gardening from the Daily Weeder!

Happy Gardening,

Marie Suzanne

Hello Fellow Gardeners,

I don’t know about you, but I never feel it’s really Spring until I start seeing a few flowers! Well, great news! Spring has sprung finally! My irises and daffodils have started sprouting, my tulips are well on their way, and as you can see down below, the crocus around my hometown are in full bloom!

Happy Spring!

Marie Suzanne

Hello Fellow Gardeners,

Ah Spring! Warmer temperatures, sunshine, and no bugs (yet)! Well, as wonderful as Spring is, it brings with it a few gardening chores to be done! If you just can’t wait to get started, check out Spring Chores Checklist Part 1 for a list of items to do now, but read on for those basic things that need to be done once the last bit of snow finally melts…

□ Clean Up Those Beds!

After the last chance for frost has passed, remove all the old mulch from your garden beds, and replace with a brand new batch! Don’t just throw your old mulch out! Recycle it, by placing it into your compost pile!

□ Plant Away!

Spring is the time to plant blueberries, raspberries, grapes, rhubarb, asparagus, irises, peonies, hydrangeas, lilacs, and more!

□ Prepare Those Beds!

Add a bit of compost or organic fertilizer to your beds to help give your plants a great nutrient boost!

□ Pull Weeds!

Spring is the perfect time to pull any weeds that pop up because the ground is so wet that you can usually get the weed, root and all very easily!

□ Prune Prune Prune!

Roses, apple and plum trees need to be pruned in the Spring, but DON’T prune those lilacs, hydrangeas, Spring flowering clematis or old garden roses! For these the rule is simple! Prune after bloom!

□ Divide and Transplant!

Divide and transplant any perennials that need it, such as daylilies and hostas. You can also transplant roses if they need a new spot this year!

Stay tuned for more tips, tricks, ideas, and inspiration on cold climate gardening from the Daily Weeder!

Happy Gardening,

Marie Suzanne

Hello Fellow Gardeners,

As if you didn’t have enough to do with Spring cleaning indoors, now we’re adding a few more tasks to your list to do outdoors! While Spring may not be officially here quite yet, there are a few things you can do ahead of time that will help make your garden look its best!

□ Spring Training!

Right now is a great time to shed those winter pounds in anticipation for Spring gardening! You may not remember, but gardening typically requires significant bending, lifting, and lots and lots of energy! So start slow and build up, but get moving! ALWAYS check with your doctor before starting any type of exercise or diet routine!

□ Tune Up Equipment!

You’re going to want to check on any and all equipment you typically use for gardening and lawn maintenance. Check on your lawn mower, rototiller, leaf blower, weed eater, and more! You may not need them now, but when you do, it’ll be nice to have them in good working order!

□ Clean Bird Houses, Bird Baths, and Feeders!

Our feathered friends are going to be making a come back shortly! Welcome them by giving everything a good cleaning! Check on your bird houses, bird baths, butterfly houses, bird feeders, and bat houses. Don’t forget to replace that bird seed!

□ Touch Up!

Take out your benches, pots, fences, trellises, and other garden ornaments, give them a once over, and see if they need a bit of a touch up! A little paint can really dress up your garden decorations! Don’t be afraid to go ahead and get creative! This is the perfect project to do outside on one of those nice sunny and warm days we’ve been enjoying more of lately!

□ Sharpen Those Tools!

While you may not need your shovel, pruners, or edgers yet, you should check on them and see if they will need a bit of sharpening or even replacement. Don’t forget to check the handles for cracks, and weak or rough spots that could cause problems later on. These are the tools you will use most often in your garden, so it’s important to have them in perfect condition and ready and waiting for Spring gardening!

Today we featured a list of items you could start right now, but stay tuned for those important Spring chores to do once the snow is finally gone! It’s coming sooner than you think!

Happy Gardening,

Marie Suzanne

Hello Fellow Gardeners,

Spring is in the air folks! The snow is finally melting and you can actually see some bare spots! Temperatures are rising (albeit slowly) and, stores are simply brimming with colorful garden displays from pots to pansies and everything in between! Gardening season will start soon, so it’s time to start thinking about what you need for Spring!

Here’s a spring shopping list for you to print out and mark off!

□ Landscaping Fabric

□ Mulch

□ Soil

□ Fertilizer

□ Organic Pest Control Items (think nasty slugs, aphids, or even bigger pests such as deer and squirrels!)

□ Pavers and Stepping Stones

□ Fencing and Netting

□ Rake, Shovel, Spade or Rototiller

□ Rain Barrels

□ Plant Supports (cages, trellises, and arbors!)

□ String and Ties (these are extremely useful!!)

□ Gloves (good gloves to protect your hands from thorns!)

□ Wheelbarrow

□ Clippers

□ Pruners

□ Sun Block and Hat (keep those rays for the flowers!)

□ Kneeling Pad (an old pillow will do fine!)

□ Garden Decorations! (This one is fun! Think birdhouses, chimes, pots, statues, and more!)

□ Hose and Gasket

Phew! Shopping is going to be quite a chore! But wait there’s more! Stay tuned for a Spring Garden Checklist– what you need to do now for Spring!

Happy Gardening,

Marie Suzanne

Today we’re going to take a look at a few of my favorite climbing roses for zone 5. If you’re interested in climbing roses for zones 3 and 4, please check out previous posts Part 1 and Part 2. However, note that you can plant zone 5 roses in zones 3 and 4 as long as you provide them with winter protection. A little more work, but a lot more selection!

Albertine

An old fashioned pale pink beauty, Albertine is noted for it’s “delicious fragrance.” Now, this rose is listed as growing between 15 and 18 feet, but if you live in a colder climate it will likely not grow that high, but you should get at least a good 5 to 7 ft of growth! Albertine blooms once in late Spring/Early Summer.

American Beauty

This stunningly pink/purple rose, American Beauty is fragrant. It is listed to grow between 12 and 15 ft, but again, it is more likely to grow between 7 and 8 feet in colder climates! American Beauty blooms only once, but produces a spectacular display!

Constance Spry

This is one of my absolute favorites from my own garden! Constance Spry grows between 6 and 8 feet and is extremely fragrant! Again, Constance Spry blooms only once, but oh what a show it gives!

You may have noticed that these three roses each bloom only once. I just wanted to mention, that you cannot consider this a fault because the bloom time for “once bloomers” is typically 6 weeks or more! You really get a spectacular show, and you get to enjoy it for a long time!

Please stay tuned for more tips, tricks, ideas and inspiration on cold climate gardening from the Daily Weeder!

Happy Gardening,

Marie Suzanne

Hello Fellow Gardeners,

Mark your calendars! Because April is National Gardening month! Although, the Daily Weeder celebrates gardening all year long, we love April because that old adage really is true– April showers do bring May flowers! And after a loooong cold winter we can’t wait!

Stay tuned for more great cold climate gardening tips, tricks, ideas, and inspiration from the Daily Weeder! Coming soon is a Spring Gardening Checklist, and more beautiful cold climate climbers!

Happy Gardening,

Marie Suzanne