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Shallow Planted Tulips And Narcissus

Midwest January

During the January thaw is a good time to start fighting common chickweed. It is in flower now having germinated in September and October. Soon it will be setting ripening seed. Walk across the lawn now pulling out the chickweed plants by hand while their fresh green leaves are conspicuous against the brown soil.

Protecting Shallow Planted Tulips and Narcissus

The long unseasonable fall experienced in the Midwest last year encouraged growth of tulips and narcissus. During February thaws they will begin to peek through the soil. Before they get nipped by frost, cover the bed with 2 or 3 inches of peatmoss or compost. Next fall plant the bulbs deeper.

Watering Evergreens

Even if rain and snow have fallen recently, it would be wise to check the soil under the evergreens. In many places last falls drought left the subsoil extremely dry. The evergreens require moisture during the winter.

Dormant Spraying

Dormant sprays can be applied whenever the temperature remains above freezing for at least twelve hours. If the trees are subjected to freezing temperatures less than twelve hours after application of the spray, they will be injured when the emulsion of oil and sulfur separates.

Starting Seed Indoors

Dont be tempted into starting seeds indoors unless a sunny window that can be kept fairly cool is available. But if you do have the right spot, you can start double petunias, Vinca rosea and other slow-growing annuals now. Dont start small-flowered petunias and marigolds and fast-growing plants until later.

Repotting Foliage Plants and Ferns

It’s time now to repot foliage plants and ferns, for soon the light will become stronger and they will start new growth. Also, the plants can stand more water and possibly some light fertilizer.

Timely Reminders

Apply fertilizers now, before the spring rush of garden work begins or even before the life cycle of mealy bugs start. Clean up the garden and destroy weed seeds at the surface as well as mealy bugs, and the ashes will supply valuable potash to the soil.

Even though the lawn might be frozen, dont make paths over it. Heavy traffic causes soil compaction and often destroys the grass.

If the evergreens are not already tied up, as a protection against snow damage, they should be taken care of as soon as possible.

April 04 2009 | Gardening | No Comments »

How To Get Rid Of Garden Pests

If you could garden without facing any problems with pests that attack plants, then gardening would be a whole lot simpler. At all times, you need to watch out for bugs, though small in size, can wreak terrible havoc. A human illness can be prevented by staying healthy, and pests can be kept away by observing strict guidelines for garden cleanliness. Heaps of waste and junk are an invitation for insects to breed in.

If you do not realize that a compost heap can do harm, but unkempt spots invite trouble to occur. There are things that can be done to eliminate or ward off pests. Stirring soil constantly by earthworms is an effort to keep the soil open for water and air. Most birds feast on insects; sparrows, robins, larks and orioles are birds who help keep insect infestation down. Some types of birds feed on harmful insects and ladybugs also do this. The ichneumon-fly can help too, and frogs work wonders in the unlimited amounts of bugs they can ingest in one meal.

Frogs deserve to be treated nicely by everyone. Each gardener should make a place in the garden that will attract birds and frogs. A nice birdhouse, seeds sprinkled around and a watering spot are all invitations for birds and frogs. During the heat of a summer day, a frog likes to rest in the shade and by nighttime, he is ready to eat. How do you fix up an area for frogs? Well, one thing you can do is to make a nice, dark, damp retreat with a few stones underneath for shade and a shrub with damp leaves are all appealing to frogs.

There are two classes of bugs and they are known for the work they do. One type is a gnawing bug, and eats bits of plants. This kind of bug has a mouth designed for this type of job. Grasshoppers and caterpillars are just two examples. The other type of bug sucks juices from the plant. In some ways, this can be worse. Plant lice are an example of this kind of bug, and so is mosquitoes as they feast on humans. All of the scale bugs attach themselves onto plants, and suck out the life. Now the question is how do we fight them? The gnawing bugs may be killed by spraying with poison, which they consume as they eat the plant. The Bordeaux mixture is a poison designed for this purpose. In other cases, you need to directly attack the bugs directly. Certain insecticides, as they are known, can be sprayed on the plant and then fall on the bug. They work in a deadly way of attacking the body of the bug.

We can be much troubled by the work of underground insects. You have more than likely seen an ant hill. Here is a probable pest control solution, but you have to be careful. The question is, how can you tell if the bug is doing destructive things? Well you can see some of the work being done by the bug itself and sometimes not so easily. One season I had cutworms and though I never saw one, I did witness the destruction. If you plants have tender stalks with the heads cut off, then chances are you are dealing with cutworms. If you do not know what one looks like, they appear like a grayish-striped caterpillar, these are cutworms. Because a cutworm has a habit of resting during the day, it can be difficult to catch a glimpse of one. The cutworm works first on the early spring flowers and then later on he heads for your pea plants. Homeowners gardens guide suggest that a good way to stop the cutworm is to put out paper or tin collars around the plants. The collars need to be about one inch away from the plant.

Plant lice are much more common. They are often green in color, but can also be red, yellow and brown. The are easy to find since they hang or cling to their host. As like the sucking insect they are, they cling to their host food and after that they hide. This makes them much harder to deal with. Rose slugs do extensive damage to rose bushes and eat the body of leaves, so that only the vein is left behind. They have a soft body and are green on the top and yellow on the bottom.

The striped beetle attacks young melons and squash leaves, it eats away leaf by leaf and riddles it with holes. This type of beetle is striped, like its name implies and the back is black with yellow striped running downward. Then we come to slugs, which are another garden pest. Slugs will eat almost any kind of plant, no matter if it is a flower or vegetable. Slugs lay their eggs in old garbage heaps and do more harm in the garden than any other kind of pest. You will find them by doing the following: you need to draw them to the surface during the daytime. They rest during the day underground and watering the soil where there slugs are living. Slugs hide near the plants the eat from, so water this ground with some nice clean lime water, this will bother them and they will come to the surface to investigate.

Besides the most popular pests, pests which feast on plants, there are special types for different plants. Bean plants have their own pests, so do potatoes and cabbage. The vegetable garden can have any number of different pests, in a flower garden lice can be very problematic, while cutworms and slugs also enjoy it here. Ants often get quite numerous as the season goes on but for very discouraging pest issues, the vegetable garden is tops. If you were going into fruit for example, perhaps the vegetable garden would have to take second place to the fruit garden.

March 26 2009 | Gardening | No Comments »