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seattlepi.com: Home & Garden
Sun Apr 24 04:44:11 EDT 2011
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March gardening tasks - share: digg facebook twitter March is the month when the fierce winds called westerlies blow in off the Pacific Ocean. Fertilize bluegrass, fescue and rye lawns lightly with lawn food. - Finish pruning deciduous dormant plants such as fruit trees, grapes and cane berries before they leaf out. - When daffodils finish blooming, leave the leaves attached to the bulb to provide nourishment for next year's bloom.

Why poppies continue to be popular - share: digg facebook twitter For many gardeners that enjoyment is of the popular orange California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), which pops up on hillsides and along roads in March and April. Others may be familiar with Greek poppies, which is actually a common moniker used to describe a number of bright-red poppies, such as Papaver commutatum 'Ladybird,' that also feature dramatic black spots at the base of the petals. In about six weeks' time, flower heads begin to appear at the tips of each branch, gradually enlarging until overnight they shed their shells and unfurl into brightly colored flowers. Ranging in color from white to soft pink to fuchsia pink to raspberry, burgundy and red, the 4-inch-wide, cup-shaped flowers make a dramatic statement in any garden. There are a growing number of peony-form breadseed poppies, whose globes are densely packed with fringed petals that, yes, do look a lot like peonies. This year they've introduced a nearly peony-form, burnished wine variety called 'Thelma Crawford' and the aptly named peony-form 'Crimson Feathers,' with enough curly red petals to make one almost go blind.

Composted manure is the gardener's best friend - share: digg facebook twitter Every week, I shovel load after load of goat berries and rabbit pellets into my wheelbarrow, and you know what? I find myself smiling. Don't get me wrong - it's backbreaking, dirty, smelly work - but the gardener in me can't help loving turd duty because the manure I collect makes my vegetable and fruit garden incredibly productive and healthy. If you are an urban farmer like me, space is limited, so crops are grown intensively - broccoli right next to cilantro, closely sown lettuce seeds for cut-and-come-again harvesting, apple trees planted a few feet from plum trees. Composted manures naturally slow-release nutrients to growing plants while building soil structure, and increasing water-holding capacity of vegetable beds. The best manures to use in the garden are rabbit, goat, horse, dairy cow and sheep. Since the animals are herbivores who mostly eat hay and grass, their manure isn't prone to pathogens like those of chickens and pigs. Make sure the manure is composted, or have a plan to compost it by adding carbonaceous material like straw, dried leaves or wood shavings to the manure, at a ratio of 30:1. First of all, there is a large concentration of animals; too many animals in one place, so there's not enough land to spread the manure, like people used to do. Bob Giacomini of Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co. has been supplying organic farmers in the region with cow manure for decades, and now has partnered with Teddy Stray of Point Reyes Compost Co. to take his cows' manure to the masses. [...] instead of going directly into a lagoon, this combo of urine, water and manure goes into a giant device called the Separator. Solids are ground up and fall into a pile, and the wet stuff goes into a capped lagoon for methane capture, which generates 50 to 80 kilowatts per day - enough to run 85 percent of the farm's entire operation. From the Separator, the manure is moved into giant piles, 5 feet wide and 5 feet tall, running the length of three football fields. After the manure is broken down and is a stable 132 degrees for two-plus weeks, Stray puts the compost through rigorous testing for proper nutrient levels, and testing for pathogens. After the tour, over plates of their famous Point Reyes Blue and Toma cheeses, Stray and his wife, Lynn, explain their philosophy about using all the so-called waste products of the farm. Use caution, though, if the manure doesn't come from a trusted source or there's some question about the ratio between nitrogen and carbon; soil scientist Lynne Carpenter-Boggs suggests using an indicator plant.

Close cropping is an easy way to gain garden space - share: digg facebook twitter Native Americans are credited with introducing the "Three Sisters" concept, in which corn, beans and squash were planted alongside one another. The nitrogen-rich climbing beans used the corn stalks for structure, while the ground-hugging squash smothered weeds and reduced soil evaporation. If done right, massing plants in their growing beds is also an efficient way for urban gardeners to make the most of patios or decks, balconies or fire escapes. "Many gardeners find themselves in a situation of wanting to grow either more produce in the same amount of space, or grow similar amounts in a reduced area," said Ben Sturtevant, a marketing specialist with Johnny's Selected Seeds in Winslow, Maine. Rather than planting in single rows, plant in square or diamond patterns, Fell suggested. "Shop around for 'kit gardens,' or comparable plant varieties that are made into salads, pizza fixings or herbal teas and seasonings," said Linda Chalker-Scott, an urban horticulturist with Washington State University's Puyallup Research and Extension Center.

A little bit of blooming cheer - share: digg facebook twitter Delightfully fragrant 'Erlicheer' narcissus, clear yellow 'Dutch Master' trumpet daffodils and miniature umbrellalike snowflakes are the only blooms in otherwise freeze-damaged beds. The patch of 'Dutch Master' daffodils that's naturalized in a raised bed by the front steps is a cheerful distraction from surrounding brown. The large trumpets are carried on sturdy stems perfect for snipping to enjoy in a vase.

WINDOWS: Group plants?or pots that are similar - share: digg facebook twitter While we wait on spring to ?re-color the outdoors, we can window garden inside. Choose a container to complement your plant, whether in shape or color. For an easy grouping, use containers of one material (such as terra cotta) or color for unity. Mist or group plants to boost humidity in heated or air-conditioned rooms. Bright, indirect light from a window is ideal for many houseplants. With bright light and moderately moist soil, they'll freshen the indoors with lush green. The whirling tufts of gray leaves, Tillandsia ionantha, need no soil, only frequent misting or a weekly dunk in warm water.

It's time to prune roses - share: digg facebook twitter Leave four to eight healthy canes and remove about half of the top growth and height of the plant. Wait until after the spring flowering period:to prune climbing roses.

Natural products, from beer to sugar, tame pests - share: digg facebook twitter When it is eaten by insects, it releases carbon dioxide bubbles that are fatal. If you soak a rag in beer and put it in the middle of your garage floor at night, it will be covered in drunken cockroaches the next morning, waiting for you to dispatch them. Neem oil will repel mosquitoes, biting flies, fleas and ticks. Soaps can effectively kill insects because of fatty acids in the product that destroy cellular membranes in the bugs. Sprinkle laundry soap around the foundation of your home to keep ants out. Sugar is a popular insect attractant that can be used to control many insects if mixed properly with other ingredients. The yeast will produce gas, causing the ant's stomach to rupture. Another ant bait can be made by soaking paper towels with 2 tablespoons of boric acid, 2 tablespoons of sugar and a cup of water.

Grafting fruit trees can be simple - share: digg facebook twitter [...] even for novices, fruit tree grafting is alluringly simple: a dormant branch or twig - a scion - is spliced onto a compatible, dormant fruit tree. If after several weeks the graft takes, then within a few seasons, the scion begins producing fruit identical to that grown on its original parent. Grafters point to the economic incentive of growing rather than buying fruit, and to the advantages of trees grafted with multiple varieties of fruit that ripen at different times, which saves space and can stretch a fruiting season over months. [...] it's a taste for rare varieties that drives many home orchardists to seek out new scions - and the selection can be mind-boggling. Hongisto wants to teach his young children they can grow their own, and to start creating an orchard legacy for the next generation. At Rosenthal's Berkeley home, a mountain papaya arches gracefully in the back corner of the front yard, and a small cluster of cherry, apricot, mulberry, almond and tangerine trees takes up the center of the modest lot. "Why plant a 100-tree orchard when I can have one tree with 45 grafts on it?" she said. Because I don't need 200 apples of each kind, I want to taste the different kinds, and have three or four or five of each kind, and then the ones I really like, I graft more later. A perimeter of 13 carefully pruned and multigrafted deciduous fruit trees in Kay's backyard includes a European plum tree grafted with 18 unique varieties, some of them hard to find even at specialty nurseries. [...] it's the drawn-out process of fruit cultivation many grafters find appealing. Nurseries sell bare-root trees from winter through spring, but any healthy fruit tree is a good candidate for grafting and for scion wood. -- Contact between the living cell tissue (cambium) in the scion and the tree is essential if the graft is to take. -- Binding material: A firm tape such as electrical or florist's tape wound firmly around the join area helps compress the graft and ensure continued cambial contact. Record the variety, date and source in permanent marker on tape at each graft.

Growing potatoes is in the bag - share: digg facebook twitter The containers take up little room, can be placed where they get good sun and eliminate much of the labor required for growing potatoes. "No more digging to plant or digging to harvest," said Frank Oliver, head of product design and development at Gardener's Supply Co. in Burlington, Vt. People have been making their own for years from such things as plastic garbage bags, wire baskets, whiskey barrels and buckets. "What's new about it are the space-age materials that are available," said Jim Gerritsen, co-owner of Wood Prairie Farm, a mail-order house specializing in organically grown potatoes near Bridgewater, Maine. About one in every five of the nation's home gardeners grows potatoes, said Bruce Butterfield, market research director for the National Gardening Association. Place them eyes up in a layer of potting soil about four inches from the bottom of the container and a foot or so apart. Give them too much of a (chemical) jolt and you'll get a sturdy plant with a whole lot of foliage, but at the expense of a sizable crop.

Bats, rodents, leaky pipes possible causes for stain - share: digg facebook twitter Eight years ago, I purchased a 1920s two-story home that has remained mostly original except for modern upgrades for wiring, heating and appliances. The kitchen sink has a vent pipe for the sink's drainage system that most likely passes over the kitchen ceiling to reach the second story's exterior wall. Where the kitchen's roofline intersects the second floor's vertical walls, a driving rain or snowmelt could seep through the flashing joints. If there is a window on the second floor above the kitchen, a driving rain can enter at the seals around the window frame, enter the exterior wall and flow down the roof to the ceiling. Bats tend to make their homes in dark places such as cold attics where they perch from the rafters during the day, leaving their perch only as the sun sets.

Pruning's a necessary evil, and can be done well - share: digg facebook twitter Unless the weather is frigid, rapid respiration ("breathing") and cell division occur, during which natural antimicrobial chemicals are released and new cells grow to seal off the wound. Smaller cuts leave smaller wounds, so prune off that misplaced maple limb when you can do it with hand shears rather than when you need a chain saw. When disease transmission is a hazard -- as it is, for example, with fire blight disease of pears -- sterilize your pruning tool between cuts by wiping the blades with alcohol. Young, actively growing stems heal easiest and quickest, which makes pinching out a growing point between thumbnail and forefinger the least damaging method of pruning. First undercut the limb one-quarter of the way through about 12 inches further out than your eventual cut. Marketing or an innate desire for nurturing has induced humans for centuries to cover wounds with dressings ranging from clay to manure to tar.