Gardening With Gabby

March Gardening Duties

2011-03-03T09:38:00.000-06:00

It is snowing at the moment here, on top of many feet of snow and a big snowstorm predicted for next week. Therefore, some gardening duties have been amended, specifically pruning. Walking through the deep snow is difficult enough, and with the snow covering a good portion of the shrubs and trees, I will hold off pruning until we have a significant melt. It is best to prune while plants are dormant, but practicality trumps in this case....whaddygunnado?

BUT don't think you can just continue to lay around watching Dr. Phil, it's time to expand the mind instead of the waistband! Here are some garden-related duties for you to wrap your head around...

Pruning tool maintenance. You many not be able to get out there yet, but you should make sure your pruners, loppers, shears, and saws, are all in tip top cutting shape. Clean off resin and other gunk, disinfect and sharpen or replace blades, tighten screws, and lubricate springs. It's important to make one clean cut for the plant, and oh so much easier on the tendons.

Start seeds. Set your seed starting calendar according to your last frost date. Here is my calendar for seeding:
Mid February: Onions, Parsley, Peppers, Violets
March 6: Broccoli, Cauliflower, Ageratum
March 15: Verbena bonariensis
March 21: Basil, Marigold, Zulu Prince Daisy
March 27: Beet, Allysum, Calendula, Heliopsis
April 3: Coreopsis, Dotted Mint, Tomato
April 11: Tithonia
April 17: Cosmos
May 1: Squash, Zucchini, Cucumber

Vegetable Garden Planning. Plan your veg and herb gardens, planting veggies near their favorite companions. Here is a table that may help with that.

Vegetable	Plant near	Avoid planting near
Asparagus	Basil, Tomato, Nasturtium, Parsley	Onion, garlic, potato
Beans	Carrot, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, marigold	Chives, leek garlic
Broad Beans	Brassicas, carrot, celery, corn, lettuce potato	Fennel
Beets	Brassicas, lettuce, onion, sage	Bean (pole)
Broccoli	Celery, chamomile, dill	Oregano, strawberry
Brussel Sprouts	Potato, thyme	Strawberry
Cabbage	Beetroot, potato, oregano, sage	Strawberry, tomato
Carrot	Bush beans, pole beans, lettuce, onion, pea, radish tomato	Chives, dill, parsnip
Cauliflower	Beans, celery, oregano	Nasturtiom, peas, potato, strawberry, tomato
Celery	Cabbage, leek. Onion, spinace, tomato	Parsnip, potato
Corn	Bean, cucumber, melon, pea, ,pumpkin potato radish	Tomato
Cucumber	Bean celery, lettuce, pea, radish	Cauliflower, potato, basil
Eggplant	Bean, capsicum potato spinach
Leek	Carrot, celery, strawberry
Lettuce	Carrots radishes strawberry	Beans, beetroot, parsley
Melon	Corn, radish	Potato
Onion	Bean sprout, broccoli, ,cabbage, lettuce, strawberry, tomato	Bean, pea
Pea	Beans, carrot, corn, cucumber, radish	Onion family
Potato	Bean, corn, cabbage, pea, eggplant	Cucmber, pumpkin, squash, sunflower
Pumpkin	Corn	Potato
Spinach	Celery cauliflower, eggplant
Tomato	Asparagus, celery, carrot, parsley, marigold	Corn, fennel, potato
Zucchini	nasturtium

Collect newspaper for garden mulching. I have been hoarding paper all winter, and will lay it down over weedy areas and top with compost and other mulch material.

Get your plant orders put together and submitted! This probably should have already been done, if you have not, you may have reduced availability.

Freshen up those outdoor containers. Get the tired old holiday stuff out, (I certainly hope you did not use spruce tops...see previous blog on how collection of spruce tops ruins peat bogs in Minnesota and elsewhere) and replace with some spring-like twigs of pussy willow.

Keep your chin up, we're almost there.

Changed Plans

2011-02-19T17:31:00.000-06:00

I wanted to be far away (or at least 80 miles) from home so I could continue to procrastinate. But, travel plans changed and although I still delayed completion and/or commencement of many projects, I did complete the following useful activities (pat on back):

I took coleus cuttings from now big and bountiful fall cuttings.

I seeded parsley, yellow, and red onion today.

How damn exciting. But I am going to the bar tonight.

Diggin Up Some Dirt in this Graveyard Town

2010-11-04T09:49:00.001-05:00

Long ago I saw The Outing Lodge for the first time. I was on skis and through the snow covered woods, there it stood, stately and silent. I had a feeling. Maybe it was because the movie "The Shining" had recently been released, or maybe because I knew bits and pieces of the history of the place, but I was sure there were secrets lurking behind the lone, isolated walls.

This is a place with history, not all of it happy, no doubt, but all of it interesting. In 1858, the county purchased over 200 acres 5 miles north of Stillwater, MN to build a 'poor farm'. Poor farms were popping up in the state during this time as a place to house not just the poor, but the sick, infirm, and those deemed mentally incompetent. The idea of the poor farm was to bring land under cultivation and make it self- sustaining. The Washington County poor farm was first overseen by Howard Packard, who listed his occupation as "lumberman". It must have taken a lumberman to carry out the 1859 county board authorization "to enlarge the Barn and build a suitable Lock up for the Safe Keeping of a Crazy man on the Poor Farm. " It seems as though the residents of the poor farm in the early 1860's were called 'inmates' and there were only 3 of them. By 1868, 28 persons lived there including 8 children. Off one of the current day walking trails through the park, there is a well-hidden and overgrown cemetery that holds the remains of 75 persons.

Rebuilt in1924, the building served as a rest home until the 1960's when it was bought by it's current owner.

Today the Lodge operates as an event center and inn. and is a most enchanting place with beautiful wood and stone and lots of nooks and crannies to explore. There are some interesting buildings being built adjacent to the Lodge.

Just last week, I was at the lodge for a Halloween Party. Greeted by various perky cheerleaders and gal pirates, it was not such a scary place. However, there WERE ghostly apparitions in the form of the Captain of the Titanic and his companion, a gruesome beheaded robed judge (and so close to the elections!). Not so grim was a Chiliean miner complete with exit shaft (or was he a hot water heater?). The atmosphere was further warmed by hosts Carmen and Carman Miranda.

The surrounding Pine Point Regional Park, is a diverse landscape with woodlands, restored prairies, lakes and ponds. A favorite place of mine to walk and ski. I think I'll go up there today!

Notes:

Thanks to The Heavy for the the title

An Unlamented Era: County Poor Farms in Minnesota by Ethel McClure

Washington County Historical Society

You Talkin' To Me??????

2010-10-26T16:47:00.000-05:00

Landscape Fabric? You talkin' to me? Don't EVEN go there!

Since you bring it up, here are some facts about Landscape Fabric.

Landscape Fabric is made of Polypropylene, which is this:

Polymerization is Zieglar-Natta, metallocene catalysis and is highly crystalline and highly atactic. Melting temperature is 174 degrees Celsius.

HUH?????

The only thing that I know for sure is: LANDSCAPE FABRIC BITES THE BIG HOOTER.

Except for some uses in the vegetable garden, and perhaps in some retaining wall construction, this crap has NO use in the landscape or garden. The claim is that it "prevents weeds" and is better than plastic because it allows water and oxygen to get through. Hmmmm......plastic or landscape fabric? Which should I buy? WHAT! YOU DON'T NEED EITHER! (Sorry, I digress, I'll talk about plastic another day.)

Although landscape fabric IS permeable, it in NO WAY keeps weeds out.

As any gardener worth their compost knows, most weeds come from airborne seeds. Without soil disturbance, many weed seeds in the soil will not germinate, and regular mulching with organic mulches can ensure this.

If one chooses to go down the road to landscape fabric hell, here is one possible scenario that may be waiting:

So, ya put down your (expensive) landscape fabric with much difficulty, sweat, swearing, ect. Then you cut little holes and put your plants in the soil. Then you put some mulch (probably some hideous colored mulch) down which will probably either wash away, blow away, get moved around, add no nutrients to the soil, and will look crappy. All is hunky dory! Wow! A no maintenance landscape! But Wait!!! Here are some weeds! Dang! The root is stuck in the fiber, and you pull up some fabric. A few weeks pass.....more weeds....more fabric pulled up. No worries mate! I'll get the hoe! Oops, that doesn't work, you can't cut the root because of the, arghhhh....landscape fabric! Maybe if I add more plants, some annuals perhaps, there will be less room for weeds! A great idea! What? The shovel won't go down! I have to cut little holes in the landscape fabric! Will these plants ever spread? What have I done? Dispair....Depression...Anger....

There are several possible endings to the scene:

a. Wow! I just read Gardening with Gabby and now know that I should have not used landscape fabric! I'll remove it, add compost, lots of plants, and use organic non-colored mulch!

b. The HELL with this gardening crap! I'm going to pave everything!

c. Maybe this colored mulch is not working, I'll put rock mulch over the landscape fabric!

d. I'm going to consult a professional (gardener that is), meditate, do some yoga, take a sauna and flagellate with birch twigs, and have several shots of aquavit!

Polymer Schmolymer! There is no need to choose one of these outcomes (although d is pretty appealing) if you don't go down that road paved with bad advice and landscape fabric.

Harvesting of Spruce Tops is Harming Bogs

2010-10-26T15:19:00.000-05:00

Harvesting of Spruce Tops is Harming Bogs

by Norm Aaseng, plant ecologist, Minnesota County Biological Survey. This is a summary of his talk at the Nov. 5, 2009, MNNPS meeting.

Decorative tree harvesting is the cutting of the top two to four feet of stunted (six- to 15-foot) black spruce trees. These spruce tops are shipped to garden stores and other outlets where they are sold as decorations during the winter holiday season. In the mid-1990s, the harvesting of spruce tops in Minnesota began to expand, and today an estimated one-half million to one million tree tops are harvested per year. Surveys indicate that there is a market for three times that number of spruce tops. Harvesting occurs primarily on state and county lands in northwest Aitkin, southwest St. Louis, northwest Carlton, and southwest Itasca counties from mid-September to mid-December. This activity provides income to local harvesters from lands that typically do not generate any revenue.
Although black spruce trees are found in a variety of peatland and upland native plant community classes, almost all decorative tops come from the Northern Spruce Bogs (APn80 in the DNR’s Field Guide to the Native Plant Communities of Minnesota). The Northern Spruce Bog is the most nutrient poor as well as the most acidic native plant community occurring in Minnesota. These conditions create a very inhospitable environment in which only 25 vascular plant species are adapted to survive. Typical species found in bogs include carnivorous plants, such as pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea), ericaceous shrubs, such as bog rosemary (Andromeda glaucophylla) and bog laurel (Kalmia polifolia), and graminoids such as cotton grasses
(Eriophorum spissum) and bog wiregrass sedge (Carex oligosperma). Hummocks of sphagnum moss cover the ground surface. The severe conditions are responsible for the stunted size and shape of black spruce trees desired by harvesters.
As tree-top harvesting operations increased in size, environmental impacts from harvesting became apparent. DNR Forestry assembled a field team to determine the impacts of tree-top harvesting and the factors contributing to the damage. The team found that the cutting of the spruce tops did not appear to have a significant impact. Tree tops were reported to grow back and be harvested in 10 - 20 years.
However, very significant impacts occurred from rutting on all-terrain vehicles (ATV) access trails. Initial passes by ATVs create a trail by compressing the sphagnum peat, but repeated traversing of trails, especially with heavy vehicles, resulted in cutting through the live root mat that occurs in the upper six inches of the peat. Once this mat is cut, the weight-bearing capacity of the peat is severely reduced, resulting in increasing size and depth of pools with every pass of an ATV. The deeper the ruts are, the longer it takes the vegetation to recover. If damage is significant, there can be a conversion of vegetation to marsh or even exotic plant species. Water tracks and laggs (shrubby wet moats occurring between the interface of peatland and upland) were found to be particularly susceptible to damage from ATVs. The creation of deep pools and the elimination of existing vegetation easily occurred along the ATV trails in these areas.
To minimize these impacts, the DNR instituted regulations that limited the depth and length of rutting allowed on trails as well as imposing restrictions on the access of harvest areas through laggs and water tracks.
Despite the regulations, some impacts continued to occur, primarily through “rogue” or inexperienced harvesters. Because public auction requires that the sale of tree tops go to the highest bidder regardless of competence of the harvesters, the DNR no longer offers this option for decorative harvesting. Instead, private sales are negotiated with proven operators that possess the appropriate equipment, such as low pressure-tired vehicles. Because these private sales are much smaller in size than public auctions, the DNR sales are now limited to a total of 200,000 tree tops per year. With increasing demand for spruce tops it may be that operations will be shifting to lands that are less regulated.
Harvesting of spruce

Gabby's Guide to Bulb Planting

2010-10-18T16:53:00.001-05:00

Today, two of us from Green City Gardeners planted 1600 bulbs. Damn, we're good. In all modesty, I have found an efficient method that works better than anything else I have tried. And I have been at this for a LONG time. I have tried bulb planters, not practical for so many bulbs; augers and drills, only if the soil is perfectly soft and rock free (not typical); excavation of all soil, not good if you have existing perennials.

Follow the Gabby Guide to Bulb Planting for bulb planting en masse!

1. Remove any annual plant material. We have had such a weirdly warm season, that the annuals still look great! So harden your heart and chop away.

Annuals in mid-October!!

2. Loosen soil with garden fork. Old-fashioned? Maybe. But very effective.


Alison digging away

3. Toss bulbs on top of bed. Plant tightly for a fabulous spring show!

4. For tulips, plant about 6" deep from top of bulb, plant pointy side up. I use this great little hand shovel/knife. Easy to dig since your soil is nice and loose.

5. Cover bed with a generous helping of chopped leaves.

6. Top leaves with compost, or very fine mulch (seen here), and don't forget to water in!

And Voila! See what awaits you in the spring!

Gabby is Getting CRANKY!!!

2010-10-14T13:45:00.000-05:00

Gabby is getting cranky. I have tried diplomacy, scientific facts, logic. All to no end. Why is Gabby getting cranky? Because people keep putting leaves in bags!

Put your leaves on your garden beds. You do not need to remove leaves. They are delicious, nutritious, and FREE.

OK, I can't understand why you would need another reason to let your leaves be, but here's one: Your gardens will suck big time if you remove your leaves. Plants LOVE 'em! Plants thrive on 'em! They are full of vitamins and minerals! And talk about microbial activity! Whoa, microbes a plenty! Did someone say..."what about disease and fungus"? I can't hear you! Who told you that you're supposed to rake them off, put them in bags (preferably plastic) and pay to have them hauled off, then spend lots of money on fertilizer, mulch, and new plants (because now your gardens suck)? Gabby is telling you to leave them on. And Gabby knows.

Gabby is no fun when she is cranky.

Selective Foliage Removal

2010-10-11T17:17:00.000-05:00

Selective Removal. Sounds kind of surgical, but is my favorite method for autumn cut back. Leaving plants up adds fall and winter interest, provides bird forage and shelter, and keeps the soil protected from winter temperature extremes and erosion. Leaving plants up is generally more aesthetically pleasing than the severely chopped and roundy-moundy looks associated with total cut back.

Assess what plants will be in the way of paths, and what will be an eye-sore in the months to come, paying attention to main entryways and focal points, and take those plants back. Leave the rest, and voila......you're finished!

Oh, and don't forget to leave the leaves on the gardens!!!

Back to Reality

2010-08-19T14:57:00.000-05:00

When you're in the garden business, taking three weeks of vacation in the summer is not necessarily an easy thing to do. Or is it? The plants have filled in nicely, the weeds have slowed down in spite of all the rain, and I justify it because, um, well, I just do.

While I was partying down on the beach, the garden was growing quite well on it's own. As if by magic, upon my return, the steamy atmosphere lifted, the climate turned almost autumnal to make my work in the garden enjoyable. Next week I'll be back to cursing out the burdock and oxalis. This week, I am astonished by the beauty of the garden. It's good to get away.

Bloomin prairie today!

2010-06-29T20:01:00.000-05:00

Asclepias tuberosa

Dalea purpureum

Newbie Veg Gardener

2010-04-17T19:12:00.000-05:00

My First (Real) Veg Garden! Although I have been gardening professionally for the better part of 10 years, it has been ornamental gardening, with one foray into vegetable gardening. This experience, at the request of a client, was unsatisfactory, frustrating, and frankly, quite pathetic on my part. My client had us pick the meagre harvest and she would give them to the nuns at the local church. I'm sorry, nuns, I may go straight to hell for that. Oh well....... Try Again!!!

I am going to share my veg garden experience with anyone who may read this, and tell YOU what works, what doesn't. I share my plat with two friends, who have one solid season of veg garden experience under their collective belt. Our plot is 12x25, although we are attempting to acquire the plot next to us to expand (!) our garden.

Here in Minnesota, we start kind of late with veg gardening. Today I spent a couple of hours and got about half the plot weeded and covered with chopped leaves. My thought is, when it's planting time, we won't be covered up in weeds. Here is my photo journal from today:

Here is the part I didn't weed and cover with chopped leaves:

Last season's sage that made it through the winter:

Plot after weed removal and addition of chopped leaves:

Chopped leaves make such a great mulch, you can then incorporate them into to soil at planting time. A perfect and cheap (free) amendment. And PLEASE DON"T USE THIS!!!!!!!

The harvest of peat moss contributes HUGELY to CO2 into the atmosphere, and absolutely RUINS ecosystems. Use compost, leaves, anything but this. If you are tempted to use peat moss because the desired plant needs more acidic soil than you have available, PLANT SOMETHING ELSE!!!!!!!!!

And for HEAVEN'S SAKE! Don't use this! It looks like HELL, and the manufacture of black plastic uses petroleum and contributes to climate change.

This is the lot (the one totally covered in leaves) that we hope to acquire. Someone very forward looking covered this last fall, making it virtually weed free.

This, on the other hand, was not mulched and now will be a major pain in the arse to deal with:

So, Tune in next time for Veg Garden Adventures with Gabby!

2010-04-09T08:03:00.001-05:00

It's Tulip Time!

Planting Tulips is one job that is hard for some gardeners to do. It's a little hard to get motivated when it is fall, you're tired, and spring is a distant figment of hope.

Like many difficult tasks, the rewards are great. Here are some pics taken over the years of tulip plantings I have done for gardening clients. Let me know what you think.

In the fall, I will remind you to plant bulbs, and give you some tips to get great results like these.

For you Preppy Gardeners, pink and green

Gorgeous pink and red hues

Bold oranges and yellows

For the All-White garden

A colorful French tulip blend

A stream of soft pastels

Purples and pinks

Depaving – removing concrete and asphalt from cities

2010-03-04T17:08:00.000-06:00

Depaving – removing concrete and asphalt from cities

Nature Happens Here

2010-02-28T08:13:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I spent the day at a conference organized by Wild Ones ( www.for-wild.org ) entitled Design with Nature, Creating Communities Above and Below Ground. The keynote speaker was Douglas Tallamy. I have read his book Bringing Nature Home. and it is one of my favorites. An entomologist, Douglas Tallamy makes the connection between native plants, the insects that have evolved with them, and the birds and higher mammals that live off these insects. Alien plants cannot often support our insects, which have evolved to live off our native plants. Therefore, in gardens with fewer native species, there are fewer insects, thus less food for birds and other life.

Here are some of the points that Tallamy made in his talk yesterday:

our sterile landscapes are starving birds
there are currently 1/2 the number of birds than in the 1960's
1/3 of bird species in the US are endangered
we use TOO FEW plants
leave your leaves! Ground foraging birds need them!
alien ornamental plants have evolved outside of our local food webs
plants moderate our weather systems
we lose 50,000 acres per day to deforestation
in the next 50 years, 75 million acres of forestland will be cut down releasing 5.4 billion tons of carbon dioxide
We are paving over our healthy ecosystems
We have a love affair with the lawn
We need to put plants back into the landscape
landscape with plants that support our local food web
23% of Black Bear diet is insects
96% of terrestrial birds rear young on insects
minimize specimen planting, plant thickets and communities
woody plants support more animals that herbaceous plants
Horticulturists and Ecologists need to come together!!!

When he signed my book, Douglas Tallamy wrote, "Garden as if life depended on it!"

Make this your New Rule for 2010!

Heavenly Inspiration

2010-02-17T17:24:00.001-06:00

Heavenly inspiration from a cathedral stained glass window

Fresh peaches and plums translate into a show of azaleas

From the water to the prairie

Expanses of storm clouds to masses of bluebells

Yellow Bananaquits on spikey foliage

From a Sailfish in Michigan to a Michigan Lily in Minnesota

You get the picture. Get the color from everything.

2010-01-28T11:57:00.003-06:00

Bold Selections for Sunny Areas

Colorful Window Box Ideas

2010-01-26T16:20:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd share a few colorful annual summer window box and container ideas. These particular boxes needed to be showy from a distance so I used bold color combinations, and planted them closely. They were gorgeous from planting time up until our first frost!

From a distance

Mowing Technique

2010-01-23T12:54:00.001-06:00

Try this technique of simply mowing a maintenance strip. It looks neat, and you can plant bulbs in the taller grassy area.

Check out this Living Wall!

2010-01-14T11:43:00.000-06:00

English Landscape School

2010-01-11T13:30:00.002-06:00

"We should all be concerned about the future because we will have to spend the rest of our lives there."

Seed for Thought 1949

Charles Franklin Kettering

Born in 1716 at Kirkharle, Northumberland, England, landscape designer Lancelot 'Capability' Brown was born at the right time in the right place.
Landscape gardening was undergoing a major change from rigid, tightly hedged formality to a more natural look inspired by popular landscape painters of the day.

The formal Italian Garden

at Blenheim Palace

Stowe Landscape Garden in England evolved from an English Baroque garden into a landscape park designed by Charles Bridgeman, William Kent and James Gibbs. In 1733, Capability Brown was made head gardener at Stowe and was greatly influenced by the design. Bridgeman was the inventor of the 'ha ha' which is a small wall that allowed the eye to flow uninterrupted into the landscape while keeping sheep and other wildlife off the grounds.

A 'ha ha' at Blenheim Palace gardens

Capability Brown, a largely self-taught landscape designer, established his own business in 1751. His timing could not have been better as his designs were greatly appealing to the wealthy English aristocracy who could afford a secluded, peaceful, world.

Brown's adage was ' a good plan, good execution, a perfect knowledge of the country and the objects in it, whether natural or artificial, hiding what is disagreeable, highlighting what is beautiful.'

Brown's formula was one of turf smoothing away from the house, clumps of trees laid out naturally, and a tranquil lake formed by damming streams. Nothing got in his way. In his design at Blenheim Palace, Brown partially submerged a bridge to form his lake.

Critics claimed that Brown's work lacked texture, color contrast, visual excitement, and was bland and repetitive. Yet, the test of time has shown that Brown's style is timeless and provides a natural backbone for landscape gardeners to continue to enhance his work.

An excellent designer cannot pretend that nature made the garden, but must interpret the design to fit the surroundings and architecture. Capability Brown fits the description. The scope of his work was massive, a result of the deep purses of his clients. Although most of us cannot reproduce a landscape design on such a scale, from Capability Brown we can see the art of an enduring landscape garden from a true visionary.

A New Direction For Lawn Service Companies

2010-01-02T14:09:00.000-06:00

Walking through the neighborhood in the autumn can be a sensual experience. The sweet smells of ripening fruit, falling leaves and sweet autumn blooms are all around. Then, suddenly, jarring the senses, the altogether unnatural smell of chemical lawn fertilizer emanates and ruins the earthy delights of autumnal repose. You know it when you come across it, the piercing, chemically manufactured, nasal irritating smell.

Certain lawn care companies have told us to believe that we must follow the regularly scheduled fertilizer, insecticide, and herbicide treatments in order to have a 'healthy' lawn. We have followed this advice like zombies, spraying, fertilizing, irrigating and mowing season after season. I do not begrudge lawn companies to encourage their clients to adhere to a maintenance schedule, but what I am suggesting, is that by expanding their knowledge base, and diversifying their scope of work, lawn companies can eliminate the use of chemical fertilizers, eliminate or at least reduce insecticide and herbicide use, and have just as much work, if not more, by using better and sustainable techniques.

One large lawn treatment company claims on their website that:

"Very few soils are fertile enough to supply the nutrients which healthy plants need. The soil in most areas has become so depleted over the years that fertilizers and other additives must be added."

My observation is that while this may be the case in areas that are in rough shape, such as soil around a newly constructed building that contains concrete, sheetrock dust and debris, or soil that has been cultivated without additions of organic matter, the use of chemical fertilizers and insecticides and herbicides is not warranted. The best advice for nutrient-challenged soils is to add compost to amend the existing soil.

Unless one has been living under a compost heap, we know the truth is that banning or restricting the use of fertilizers in communities is an effective way to keep lakes and streams clean. Excess nutrients cause disgusting looking and smelly algae blooms causing eutrophication. With eutrophication, oxygen and light are restricted which eliminates life from the water. Think of the Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone, and many other coastal and lake areas where there are no fish and shrimp left. Contributing to this in our own lakes and sending excess nutrients down the river is wrong, and we should have no part of this as gardeners and landscapers.

Eutrophication on a pond.

Another large lawn treatment company claims that:

"To have a vigorous and healthy lawn, it requires nutrients to remain vigorous and healthy. A healthy lawn is better able to ward off pests and diseases."

The truth is, a lawn on a fertilizer and insecticide schedule becomes chemically dependent. The root system is shallow and needs more water, and the the fast, lush, weak growth that fertilizer promotes is perfect forage for insects and disease. Insecticides kill beneficial insects as well, that in a properly balanced system would take care of the "bad" insect problem. A healthy lawn is a lawn that has a deep root system and can withstand disease and insects without the use of chemical fertilizers. Oh, the icing on the cake! With all this watering and fertilizing, the grass grows faster and needs to be cut more! A bonus!

I think this is a gorgeous lawn!

What to do? Don't assume you need to fertilize. Try aerating, topdressing with a couple inches of compost and over-seeding. Mulch mow your grass clippings and fall leaves. This adds enough nutrients for a healthy lawn. Keep weeds to a minimum by over-seeding in the fall and spring with a good quality grass seed. Eliminate some lawn area. Planting beds can be very low maintenance, create beauty and a place for birds and beneficial insects. If you have a really bad soil problem from recent construction or other damage, use the soil you have and liberally amend with compost. Don't use "Black Dirt" as it is topsoil hauled in from another site (leaving more bad soil behind) and contains all kinds of weed seeds. If you really, really feel that you need a fertilizer, use only a slow release, organic, such as Sustane brand or Milorganite (not around pets or vegetable gardens). When you do fertilize, try to do this after aeration or add it on top of a compost top-dress and rake in lightly. This will prevent runoff.

If lawn companies expand beyond the 'mow and blow' to incorporate aeration, compost topdressing, seeding, slow release organic fertilizers, and properly maintaining shrub beds (not just hedging everything), they will still have business, indeed expand their business, and claim that their practices do not contribute to the pollution of our lakes, streams, and rivers.

A benefit for the bottom line, humans, water creatures, and nasal passages alike!

Allium Allegiance

2009-12-21T10:02:00.001-06:00

Onion, leek, chive, and garlic are all important members of the edible allium family characterized by their pungent odor and taste. While being useful additions to most vegetable and herb gardens, many allium are used in the ornamental garden. The ornamental part of the clever allium grows from a bulb, (the part we eat, think of the onion) is actually a modified stem and underground food storage device. Easy to plant, often as a bulb to plant in the autumn, and care for, ornamental onion doesn't have many soil requirements, only that it is well drained. A perfect plant for the water-conscious gardener (as all gardeners should be), place in a dry, sunny, and hot location. Many varieties, including the Allium glaucum scenescence (pictured below), work well in difficult areas around pavement where temperatures can soar, and in gravelly low fertility soil. No need to fertilize this tough plant.

The large pom-pom like alliums are very dramatic in the garden. Blooming later than many other bulbs, but before many perennials, allium fill a niche for the ever-blooming perennial border.

The drumstick allium (allium sphaerocephalon), like all alliums, is popular with butterflies and other pollinators. A. sphaerocephalon will naturalize nicely in the back of the border.

Planted en masse as above, ornamental onions
provide a stunning display, but can also be used
more conservatively to add texture, contrast and architecture to the border.

I love the little Allium glaucum senescence with it's lavender colored pom poms and silvery foliage.

This plant makes a great low hedge in a sunny dry location. Try in combination with other perennials and annuals. Winter interest? Covered. The dried seed heads stand up well in snow and rain and provide bird forage.

Some of the native alliums will naturalize and get a bit out of control in the garden. Reserve for areas where this is okay, as to not frustrate the gardener.

Indian Pipe

2009-12-17T08:41:00.000-06:00

This extremely cool plant was found at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Monotropa uniflora, also known as the Ghost Plant, Indian Pipe, or Corpse Plant is a herbaceous perennial plant, native to temperate regions of Asia, North America and northern South America. It is quite rare, does not contain chlorophyll, therefore does not photosynthesize. It obtains it's nutrients from a relationship with mycorrhizal fungus which forms a network with tree roots. It grows in very dark environments, such as in the understory of dense trees and forests where the soil is not disturbed. Don't try to transplant, since it has such a complex relationship with mycorrhizal fungus, it is very difficult to propagate.

Lilacs blooming in September! | Updraft | Minnesota Public Radio

2009-11-17T09:10:00.000-06:00

Lilacs blooming in September! | Updraft | Minnesota Public Radio

A comment from Gabby:

From the Stillwater Gazette October 22, 1870: "We received from Mrs. Geo S. Abbott who lives a few miles from the city, a twig of beautiful lilacs in full bloom, being entirely a second growth. This has been the most remarkable season ever known in this climate in this respect. We have lettuce growing in our garden, green and luxuriant, of a spontaneous second growth. We have seen several fields of wheat, where the scattered seed from the harvest, deceived by what seemed to be the gently call of Spring putting on the rankest foliage of green, is in total disregard of the eternal fitness of things"

You now have permission!

2009-11-17T07:54:00.000-06:00

www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/6554958/Urinate-on-the-compost-heap-to-save-the-planet-says-the-National-Trust.html