Weeding Your Organic Garden
Dandelion WeedWhen I first started my present organic garden, it had been totally farmland and therefore, it was full of weeds. It had no shape. It was like a typical farmers field, bumpy ground and obnoxious weeds. At first I felt rather daunted and overwhelmed by the job of creating this nightmare into an English Cottage garden. As I have lived in England, I knew what I …
Organic Gardening Never Changes
Gardening in the ‘Good Old Days’.
I have just been reading about gardeners in the 18th and 19th centuries, and I have been quite amazed at the similarity of the problems that gardener’s face today.
Organic gardening was alive and well in those days, as I outline in my soon to be released ebook “How To Master Organic Gardening.”
Although, I think,the double purpose of a garden has been …
Vines For Your Garden
Vines are climbing or trailing plants that must have support to grow vertically. They may be annual or perennial, evergreen or deciduous, herbaceous or woody. Vines can fit into the tiniest spaces , provided their roots are firmly planted in the soil, and grow vertically and/or horizontally with great flexibility.
Clinging Vines
Clinging vines can attach themselves almost anywhere by one of several means. Boston ivy has …
Should I get a Compost Tumbler?
I am back from the compost hiatus. Last Sunday, we (and when I say “we,” I mean “my husband”) cleaned out the
gutters. There was some serious composting already happening in there. My fellow garden tweeters let me know that gutter compost is good stuff. It sure looked it! We made a pile of it in the backyard so that …
Buying and Maintaining Healthy Bulbs
In order to have a good display of bulbs in your garden, you first have to make sure that the bulbs you are going to rely on for that display are healthy.
Buy only dormant bulbs that show little if any, root development and no top growth other than a pale fat bud. (Lilies, however, are never really dormant; their bulbs often have fleshy roots attached.)
Look for bulbs that have their papery skins (called tunics) intact. …
Walking Through Wildflower Gardens
A few years ago I took one of my sons camping in the Wasatch Mountains near our home. It was early in the spring and after hiking until dark, we set up camp in a small meadow. In the morning we realized the opposite end of our small meadow was covered with wildflowers. As we ate breakfast and the sun lit up our camp, the wildflower colors really came alive. I decided the difference in …
How to Stop Your Dog from Digging Up Your Garden
Let’s face it. If your lovable little furry friend is creating craters in your yard, he’s only doing what comes naturally. Digging is a natural part of puppy hood and some adult dogs dig because it is part of their genetic make up.
So Is It The Dog or The Garden?
If your furry friend is digging his way to China it is possible you will never stop his digging completely. But many people have dogs and …
Raised Garden Beds-An Indispensible Method in the Organic Garden
While it would be wonderful to have garden soil with the perfect balance of clay and sand resulting in a wonderful loam that all plants enjoy, there are not very many people who can boast that this is the condition of their soil, even after years of building and conditioning. Raised garden beds are a great way to make up for this deficit in the organic garden.
Building raised beds may seem a daunting task at …
Vertical Gardening. Great Spaces in Small Places.
Not every gardener has the luxury of expanses of land to till for their gardens. In fact, some great gardeners have produced beautiful gardens on a patio or balcony. They were able to do this as a result of smart use of vertical gardening.
There are many uses and applications of upward space in any size garden. Most plants can be adapted to this method, even if it is not their natural tendency. This method can …
What I Can’t Live Without
I’ll turn 30 on April 24th. I’ve been gardening since I was three years old. I remember picking green beans with my parents at their first house. I remember calling Asiatic lilies “bubblegum flowers” because I thought they smelled like gum. I remember dumping sand from my sandbox in my mom’s flower bed, telling her it “improved drainage.”
I had my very …
