joene's garden » Techniques

Poorly screened compost … a Gardening Oops

joenesgarden — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:17:14 +0000

A topdressing with compost is a great way to begin the process of refurbishing an aging and abused lawn. A little bit, just a quarter inch, spread and raked into a grassy area provides nutrients and introduces beneficial soil organisms. My husband took on this job for a high traffic area of our lawn. Unfortunately, the task involved a bit more work than anticipated, making it the topic of my Gardening Oops – GOOPs – post for May 2012.

I believe that all gardeners make mistakes. If you are out there playing with plants you are bound to forget something, mis-plant something, or have a gardener's brain freeze that results in a GOOPs. I also believe too many people refrain from trying an idea or a new task because they are afraid of making a mistake. But if we, as gardeners, admit and share mistakes we might make new gardeners … or even each other … more comfortable with investigating the activity of growing plants.

My GOOPs this month is about purchased compost.

I make compost … as much as I possibly can. I use it in vegetable and ornamental beds and mix it into planting medium for container plants. But I have yet to make enough compost to meet all our needs, nor have I met another gardener able to do so. This forces compost users to seek other, preferably local, sources of quality compost for tasks like topdressing a lawn.

Our lawn has taken a beating over the last few years and is screaming for our attention. Lawn is not the top priority in our landscape – we tend toward the easiest form of lawn care, but we do want what's there to be healthy. So my husband found a local compost source, paid his money, and brought a pick-up truck load of compost home.

Compost for topdressing lawn should be screened to a quarter-inch or less. Do you see the larger chunks of material in this blend? These are not clumps of soil. Take a closer look.

This is the size of the partially composted material we had to hand screen, one wheelbarrow at a time, from the truckload.

This is the method I use to screen all the compost I make for my gardens, but I do small batches at a time. This job required hand screening a truck load of compost all at once, and getting it spread before ensuing rain.

The lesson here? Either make sure the compost you are purchasing has been processed through 1/4 inch screen or be prepared to do the job yourself.

Do you have a GOOPs to share? Don't be shy. Tell your tale in a comment below or share your GOOPs on your own blog and leave a teaser below.

I've declared the first of each month GOOPs day at joene's garden. Here's a peek at past GOOPs. I hope you'll join the GOOPs party. If you've not had a gardening faux pas you've not gardened hard enough.

For more information on organic lawn care peruse the information provided by the Northeast Organic Farming Association's organic land care website. You may find Introduction to OLC particularly useful. You can even download a free copy of NOFA's Introduction to Organic Lawns and Yards.

Garden thoughtfully … may my GOOPs prevent your GOOPs.

Categories: Gardening, GOOPs-Gardening Oops, Soil, Techniques.
Tags: compost, gardening in Connecticut, gardening oops - GOOPs, topdressing lawn.

Share this post:
Delicious
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Google Bookmarks
Reddit
Stumbleupon
Technorati Favorites
Twitter
Yahoo! Buzz

We Are Killing Bees

joenesgarden — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 15:58:09 +0000

Do you know that the grub-killing pesticide you put on your lawn and the flea control you put on your pet likely contains imidacloprid, a pesticide implicated in honeybee-killing Colony Collapse Disorder? And, if you purchase non-organic coffee, citrus, grapes and other fruits, potatoes and other vegetables, rice or use any sugarcane products you are probably buying an imidacloprid-treated crop?

Imidacloprid, by Bayer, is an ingredient in over 400 products in the U.S., according to the National Pesticide Information Center. Bayer reports it is used on sucking and biting insects such as aphids as well as fruit flies, grubs, termites, white flies and many beetles.

Bees are exposed to imidacloprid through the pollen and nectar they collect from treated crops. Honeybees are also exposed to imidacloprid through the high-fructose corn syrup they are fed by beekeepers, notes Alex Lu, associate professor of environmental exposure biology in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard School of Public Health. Most U.S.-grown corn is treated with imidacloprid so the insecticide is in corn syrup, Lu explains in this Science Daily report.

Lu and colleagues studied the role imidacloprid might play Colony Collapse Disorder. They monitored four different bee yards, each with four hives – three exposed to different levels of imidacloprid plus one no-exposure control. After 23 weeks of observation, 94 percent of the hives exposed to imidacloprid had died. Those exposed to the highest imidacloprid levels died first.

Strikingly, said Lu, it took only low levels of imidacloprid to cause hive collapse -- less than what is typically used in crops or in areas where bees forage.

Related studies, conducted in the United Kingdom and France, also implicated imidacloprid exposure in the decline of honeybee and bumblebee populations. Both suggest that levels of the nerve-effecting neonicotinoid type of pesticide imidacloprid, similar to those reached with common crop applications, impair bees ability to gain weight, their sense of direction, and ability to produce queens.

«Bumblebees pollinate many of our crops and wild flowers … The use of neonicotinoid pesticides on flowering crops clearly poses a threat to their health, and urgently needs to be re-evaluated.»

There are many neonicotinoid pesticides - too many to address in one post – so let's focus on imidacloprid, the active ingredient in Bayer's Merit and Season Long Grub Control products.

Imidacloprid may remain in the soil for more than a year. It easily moves through soil via water, causing a run-off problem. The pesticide will not remain where you put it, it ends up where ever water takes it. It is taken up by blooming plants … exactly where bees head for pollen and nectar. It is toxic to bees, earthworms, fish, and other aquatic life.

Just look at the label for one imidacloprid product, Merit, approved for use on turf grass, landscape ornamentals, fruit and nut trees, and interior plants. The caution statement for humans is scary enough. The Environmental Hazards statement then lists Merit as highly toxic to aquatic invertebrates and highly toxic to bees exposed directly or from residues on blooming plants. It also cautions that Merit – in essence imidacloprid – is not to be used in areas where soil is permeable to water.

Think about this … All lawns and gardens are in soils permeable to water. To me, this little fact negates the use of imidacloprid on any lawn or garden.

Lawn and garden owners must take the initiative to be informed. Question all lawn and garden care sales pitches in television, newspaper and magazine ads, and through direct mail. READ ALL LABELS. Know what is in a product before using it. Most importantly, acknowledge that each action you take in your lawn and garden is important. What you add to your soil affects insects and birds and toads and small mammals and continues to affect all creatures along the food chain - all the way to humans.

This TED talk, http://www.ted.com/talks/dennis_vanengelsdorp_a_plea_for_bees.html provides an entertaining and informative explanation of the importance of bees. It's worth the time to watch. You may begin to look at bees with a bit more respect, and understand that bees do not exist to annoy us … they actually help feed us.

Garden thoughtfully …

Categories: Creatures, Gardening, General, Techniques.
Tags: bees, Colony Collapse Disorder, imidacloprid, Science Daily, Ted Talks.

Share this post:
Delicious
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Google Bookmarks
Reddit
Stumbleupon
Technorati Favorites
Twitter
Yahoo! Buzz

Native Plants for Connecticut Gardens

joenesgarden — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 12:37:16 +0000

Connecticut gardeners have another opportunity this week to learn more about landscaping with native plants, shrubs and trees. The UConn Garden Conference on March 16, 2012 is one (click on the highlighted link to learn more). Another is at the monthly meeting, Thursday, March 15, 2012 of the Connecticut Horticultural Society when landscape designer Larry Weaner will discuss how to use Connecticut's native plants to create beautiful, low maintenance landscapes that fit well into the local environment.

His talk, «At Home with Natives,» promises to be another lesson in planting the right plant in the right place for entrance areas, screening and sloped areas, woodland gardens and residential meadows.

Read more about Larry Weaner and how to get to Emmanuel Synagogue in West Hartford by 7:00 pm on March 15, and be sure to bring a $10 donation if you have not yet become a member of Connecticut Horticultural Society.

To bone up on the topic of native plants visit Native Plants & Wildlife Gardens. This blog is a great resource for any gardener or naturalist interested in learning more about native plants and how they work in the environment. It covers current issues and basic information that will help you have a good grasp of the issue before hearing Larry Weaner speak.

To read more about two good resources on native plants in general click on, Make a Difference. Plant Natives, which highlights Doug Tallamy's book Bringing Nature Home, and On The Bookshelf: The Green Garden: A New England Guide, which reviews Ellen Sousa's book on planting natives in New England.

Categories: Conferences/Shows, Gardening, Gardening Education, Horticulture Groups, Techniques.
Tags: Connecticut Horticultural Society, gardening in Connecticut, gardening with natives, Native Plants & Wildlife Gardens, The Green Garden: A New England Guide to Planning, UConn Garden Conference.

Share this post:
Delicious
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Google Bookmarks
Reddit
Stumbleupon
Technorati Favorites
Twitter
Yahoo! Buzz

A Sustainable Lawn … You Can Grow That

joenesgarden — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 18:56:46 +0000

Just as sure as blades of green grass are beginning to show in the lawn outside my office window, thoughts of lawns will start creeping into Connecticut home owners' heads. This spring I want Connecticut lawn owners … no, I want lawn owners across the U.S. to repeat this phrase: You can grow that sustainable lawn.

We are told by a certain fertilizer and chemical company that lawns need 4-steps. But they don't, as Tom Christopher noted during his Sustainable Lawns presentation at the February 2012 meeting of the Connecticut Horticultural Society. Because so many land owners buy into the onslaught of 4-step advertising, lawns are typically spread with chemical fertilizers and covered with pesticides. And, as Christopher noted, lawn is the largest irrigated crop in the U.S. Most of the seven billion – yes that's billion with a 'b' - gallons of irrigation water used each day goes to lawns and a good portion of these water-soluble chemicals end up in waterways where they adversely effect water quality and aquatic creatures.

Lawn owners can change these facts, one lawn at a time.

Stopping the use of unnecessary water-soluble chemical and pesticide treatments is one way. Converting some of your lawn into other types of plantings is another. But for homeowners wanting to keep some or all of their lawn while minimizing the environmental, time, and financial cost of lawn care, choosing the right lawn seed for the climate and soils is the way to go.

In Connecticut, Christopher said, this means planting fine fescues (blends of hard fescue, creeping red fescue and other fescue cultivars) which

are insect-resistant,
grow well in sun and tolerate shade,
have deep root systems that are less vulnerable to drought than shallow-rooted grasses,
once established, will tolerate foot traffic,
are slow growing, which means less mowing,
grow in nutrient poor soils, and only need supplemental fertilization in very poor soils,
are allelopathic – they emit compounds that depress the growth of competing plants – think weeds.

Fine fescue turf is not adapted to heavy traffic, such as a soccer or baseball field, but Christopher says it is fine for home landscapes.

Here's a close up look at a fescue blend I started growing in pots on a window sill just a couple of weeks ago.

I wanted a close-up look at how this Eco-Lawn fescue blend grows, looks and feels. So far so good. The blades are soft to the touch but thick enough to withstand foot traffic and the color is a wonderful grassy green … not that dark green color of an over-nitrogenized lawn. The next step is to try it in our lawn, which is in dire need of attention.

Autumn is the optimal time to seed a lawn. To redo an existing lawn in the spring, Christopher suggests letting the grass grow to seven inches or so then mowing it down as low as possible to scalp existing grass. Use a slit-seeder – a machine that slices rows into existing soil where it deposits grass seed - or overseed the area with fescues. To give new seed a better start, top-dress the area with good quality compost before slit-seeding or overseeding. Of course, you'll have to water regularly until the seed is established. However, limit watering once summer comes to encourage deep root growth.

Christopher, who is a sustainable lawn consultant at Smart Lawn, also suggests adding clover to your grass seed blend. As one of the legume crops, clover fixes nitrogen into the soil where grass roots use it as needed. Thus, clover is a low-maintenance, natural way to provide nitrogen to the lawn. Clover takes mowing and foot-traffic well and is salt-tolerant, making it a good addition to roadside areas and has the extra benefit of attracting a host of pollinators to its flowers.

The bottom line is a lawn is nothing more or less than a large green garden … a large green garden you can grow best with the right seed for the right place. A large green garden you can grow with minimal maintenance and for maximal enjoyment.

sustainable lawn.

You Can Grow That! is a blog meme idea germinated by C.L. Fornari of Whole Life Gardening. On the fourth of each month, C.L. asks gardeners to remind the world You Can Grow That! because gardening is good for people.

Consider yourself reminded.

Link to more You Can Grow That! posts through the You Can Grow That! Facebook Page. Other sources of low-maintenance grasses: Prairie Nursery, Seed Superstore, Outside Pride, or ask your local independently-owned nursery for low-maintenance grass blends.

Also, read more about the extent of lawns in the U.S. from Earth Observatory/NASA, and more about water for landscape irrigation.

Garden thoughtfully,

Joene

Categories: Gardening, Horticulture Groups, Techniques, You Can Grow That!.
Tags: gardening in Connecticut, sustainable lawns, The Connecticut Horticulture Society, Tom Christopher, You Can Grow That!.

Share this post:
Delicious
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Google Bookmarks
Reddit
Stumbleupon
Technorati Favorites
Twitter
Yahoo! Buzz

On The Bookshelf: The Green Garden: A New England Guide

joenesgarden — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:24:22 +0000

Are you a New England gardener seeking a good gardening book in which to lose yourself during cold winter months? Look no further than Ellen Sousa's book The Green Garden: A New England Guide to Planning, Planting & Maintaining the Eco-Friendly Habitat Garden.

Sousa is a fellow garden coach and a natural gardening instructor. She holds a certificate in Native Plant Horticulture & Design from the New England Wild Flower Society and has written about habitat gardening for National Wildlife Federation and other magazines. Sousa writes for a few blogs, including Native Plants & Wildlife Gardens, and the Massachusetts farm she shares with her husband is a Certified Wildlife Habitat and Monarch Waystation.

She walks the walk and talks the talk.

Now she has compiled an extensive and comprehensive guide for other New England landowners interested in making their property more user-friendly for non-human naturally-residing creatures and, ultimately, more enjoyable for human residents as well.

Sousa explains the what, why, and wherefore of habitat gardening in rural, suburban and urban areas in addition to forests, fields, fresh and saltwater shorelines, and wetlands.

She explains how to replace lawns – or most of a lawn - with diverse plantings needing less human input.

She describes how to begin transforming a patch or a property to a wildlife habitat - perhaps as simply as insuring a fresh water source for birds or planting nectar sources for butterflies and moths- and how continue the multi-year process.

Sousa separates plants as:

· New England natives - growing in New England prior to European settlement. Think violets, goldenrod, hemlock and oak;

· naturalized non-natives - plants that native creatures have adapted to and count on. Think Queen Anne's lace;

· introduced non-natives - cosmos, peonies and nasturtiums - brought to New England as ornamentals or edibles. These provide some nectar, pollen or seed benefits to native wildlife;

· and to be avoided and controlled invasive non-natives like Asiatic bittersweet vines that overpower and destroy trees and the purple loosestrife overtaking many New England wetlands.

Then, so readers are not left guessing, she offers more than 40 pages of specific tree, shrub and plant recommendations keyed for their habitat value (attractive to birds, butterflies and moths, amphibians or mammals) and growth characteristics (light and water requirements, deer resistance, ease of growth, etc.).

Sousa further provides lists and links to more information, source nurseries, public habitat gardens, and wildlife gardening organizations, just in case readers crave even more guidance and learning.

The Green Garden: A New England Guide to Planning, Planting & Maintaining the Eco-friendly Habitat Garden is a wonderful primer for those just learning about natural habitat gardening, but it's also a valuable educational resource for seasoned gardeners seeking to hone their habitat gardening knowledge.

It is one of the books I'll reach for time and again as I care for my property and continue to urge others to garden thoughtfully.

Want to read another great book about habitats and native plant gardening? Check out my review of Bringing Nature Home by Doug Tallamy.

Disclaimer: Ellen Sousa provided this book, free of charge, for me to review. I know Ellen only through her blog and through our mutual membership in a Facebook group. If I did not like her book you would not be reading about it here.

Categories: Gardening, On the Bookshelf, Techniques.
Tags: Bringing Nature Home, habitat gardening, native plants, Native Plants & Wildlife Gardens, Planting & Maintaining the Eco-Friendly Habitat Garden, The Green Garden: A New England Guide to Planning.

Share this post:
Delicious
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Google Bookmarks
Reddit
Stumbleupon
Technorati Favorites
Twitter
Yahoo! Buzz