Compost 101
One of the best natural fertilizers and soil builders is available free. You make it yourself and solve some environmental problems at the same time. It's compost. Good gardeners have been making their own compost for a long time, but it has ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Chipper-Shredder Basics
Yard wastes are the stuff that great compost and mulch is made of. To these, you can add the vegetable wastes from your kitchen. Chipper/shredders not only make materials compost faster, they reduce the volume by up to 10 times. The ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Planting Bearded Iris
While bearded iris are relatively durable and easy to maintain, there are a few things you can do to get them off to a good start. Here are some tips for planting iris. These flowers' popularity is explained in part by their being widely ... [... more]
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Building Great Soil
It's no coincidence that soil rich in organic matter looks, feels, and smells so good To paraphrase a famous campaign slogan: "It's the soil, stupid." Meaning, of course, that--no matter what varieties you plant, or how you stake, feed, water, . [... more]
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Calcium Fertilizer Helps Trees Survive Winter
With winter around the corner, many gardeners will be preparing their landscape plants for the coming cold temperatures. With an estimated 1 million urban trees worldwide dying each year from freezing temperatures, researchers are trying to find ... [... more]
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A Sprinkler for Any Lawn
Most portable sprinklers work well if your lawn or garden is round or rectangular, but what about curved beds and oddly shaped lawns? If you're tired of watering the sidewalk and driveway instead of the lawn, there is a new sprinkler that adjusts ... [... more]
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Phosphorous
A steady program of soil building is like a steady program of physical conditioning. You'll get great results in the long run if you stick with it and don't go overboard right away. Some things are soil amendments. They improve the soil's ... [... more]
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All About Petunias
Petunias have always offered nonstop summer bloom, but now you're more likely to find a color, size, and growth habit to suit your garden needs. New, vigorous trailing types and miniature-flowered types have rekindled gardeners' ... [... more]
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Beware Toxic Compost
Herbicide products containing clopyralid have been used by the lawn-care industry for more than 15 years. The chemical is extremely effective against persistent weeds, such as dandelion, yellow starthistle, and Canada thistle. For the past 2 ... [... more]
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Build a Rain Garden
Storm water runoff can be a big problem in summer during heavy thunderstorms. As the water rushes across roofs and driveways, it picks up oil and other pollutants. Municipal storm water treatment plants often can't handle the deluge of water, and ... [... more]
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Caring for Peas
Peas don't need as much attention as other vegetables, but do need support, weeding, some fertilizing and care. In single rows, position the support about three inches behind the row. For double rows, put it in between the rows, so the peas can ... [... more]
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Building Organic Matter in the South
Organic matter, they say, just can't accumulate in southern soils. But from the Coastal Plain Research Station in Florence, South Carolina, the latest word is that organic matter can accumulate--if you reduce tillage. Patrick Hunt, a soil ... [... more]
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