Posts for 'Gardening' Category

Daisies happen to be one of the best simple plants. They often grow on their own, but they are nice to have in the backyard for some color and also for simplicity. Often, you'll see these flowers thrown in a nice bouquet of flowers. They are simple and easy to grow, and that is why they are among the least expensive flower to purchase. You'll want to consider that the daisy looks good in a bed of flowers, but it is also a flower that can stand alone. They are wonderful in the gardens, but can make a huge difference to the décor of any room.

For those who are looking to become gardeners, but have not had much experience or success in the past, you'll want to pick the daisy. The daisy is one of the easiest flowers to plant and grow. Daisies are often planted by seed, but you can get many of the bigger daisies at the local nursery. Daisies will continue to multiple and grow each year. You may want to take your garden of daisies and separate some of the seedlings, because this will allow you to keep control of the growth. You'll also find that these plants will multiple at such a rate that it can begin to crowd the other plants and offspring. You'll need to separate the daisies, eventually.

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First, gardening pro and Globe Style columnist Marjorie Harris helped Globe Life editor Kevin Siu with watering his garden, then she took on his weeds.

Here, she helps him diagnose whether he can revive some plants that are on life support.

How can I tell whether or not a plant can be saved? Every plant wants to survive and if there's some life in it, you'll see it at the base of the plant or.

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Easy to grow in a sunny position, there are a variety of species for warm or cool climates, with less rigid pruning requirements than other fruit trees such as apples or pears. The best pruning time for plum trees is early summer. Pruning plums in winter should be avoided, as there is a greater risk of silver leaf disease to which plums are prone.

Start by removing crossing or weak stems or those affected by disease. Then thin the tree further if it still appears crowded. Plan for a well-balanced tree with an open centre and a good shape. For an established fan-trained plum, remove any damaged or diseased stems then train and prune to shape. Prune all side shoots to six leaves. After fruiting, shorten these pruned shoots to one leaf. The tree will direct its energies into next year's fruit buds.

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Colin Berridge of Peterborough Grass Machinery says cut the grass according to the weather. If you cut it tight now and we have two weeks of sun and no rain it goes brown very fast. So be cautious and set the blades a little higher.

Grass is vital in many gardens. It provides a clear breathing space to contrast busy borders, vegetable patches and patios. It's also a must for family ball games or simply stretching out on summer days.

Striving for a perfect lawn causes far more sweat to the brow than the most complex border, so it is worth deciding just how much time you want to lavish on it and what sort of end effect you want - lawn, or a "green area".

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The never-ending, heart-rending sight of the Gulf oil spill and its devastating effect on human and wild residents alike has us all horrified. While there may be little we New Englanders can do for the fish, turtles, mammals and birds of the Gulf of Mexico, there's much we can do to protect our own regional wildlife.

We can start by getting our backyards certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a safe habitat for our fellow Connecticut creatures. To earn certification, a backyard must supply four essentials: 1. Food: Since native flora and fauna evolved concurrently, indigenous plants feed our resident wildlife best and are often the easiest to grow because they're adapted to our climate and topology.

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The past few weeks I've written about using products in your landscape that sound strange and unusual to some gardeners, especially chemical users. I've talked about products like vinegar, cornmeal and corn gluten meal.

Many people today think that being "organic, natural or green" is just some kind of a new trendy thing. A few generations ago people gardened this way not to be in fashion but because gardening organically was the only way to garden that worked.

Back then gardeners and farmers used animal manures and legumes to fertilize the soil. They would also use crop residue and lots of other organic matter to build up their soils. They would routinely rotate their crops and they knew how to encourage beneficial insects.

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So many wonderful small seed companies, so little space. And don’t forget that in this age of texting, Twittering, and blogs, there still are small companies that don’t offer their wares online.

You can find them many of them using Google, but ordering will require a postage stamp.There are three ways to ensure immortality, the saying goes: Have a child, write a book, or plant a tree.

Those who choose No. 3 — and have the patience of Job — should start with the Schumacher Co., a candy store for Johnny Appleseed wannabes. There are half a thousand tree choices available by the ounce or by the pound. Peruse the catalog carefully, perhaps beginning with the 47 maples, because you’re planting for posterity.

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Valentine's day is over now, and the chocolates are eaten and the flowers are faded. But thank heavens for this holiday, which falls at a time of year when many folks are feeling, well, just BLAH! But didn't those roses feel good!

There's nothing quite like flowers indoors in the wintertime. It may, in part, explain the popularity of African violets.

Treated right, a healthy African violet can have flowers anytime, and if there are several plants, you could have flowers almost constantly. Amaryllis are good, reliable flower-producers too.

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Dripping with sweat, I switch off my chainsaw and set it down. It is 28F (-2C), there is six inches of snow at my feet, and the 70ft larch that I have just felled lies in front of me. The task leaves me quite drained and I find myself reflecting on a question that I and my colleagues are often asked: "What do you do in winter, do you work part time?'' When I think about domestic gardens I can understand why people wonder. There is no need to cut grass, collect leaves or tidy borders.

If not an  avid pruner, then shrubs can be ignored, too. But for the professional gardener, it is one of the busiestperiods. After a long spring and summer of maintenance, I find September is usually the most restful month. It gives me time to plan. This winter was late coming, with mild weather into December, and the tender plants still performing.

It left us a very tight schedule in which to cut back and tidy the borders (yes I do it early), lift dahlias, bananas and cannas, plant 6,000 tulips, then mulch before Christmas. We would normally have started this in October, giving us time to move on to winter projects, namely tree surgery.

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Q: I have a question about my winter garden. I live in Berkeley near the Claremont Hotel, and our winter garden has mostly grown beautifully. At the end of last September we planted lettuces, spinach, chard, kale and beets from seed.

All of them are still prolific and tasty, but the beets never produced any beet root even though the leaves look healthy. We also planted broccoli and Brussels sprouts from seedlings I bought at Berkeley Horticulture. The leaves are huge and beautiful (about 13-by-10-inches for the broccoli), but there are no broccoli flowers and no Brussels sprouts to eat.

The soil should be very good. We turned it all over during the summer and added new mulch. Do you know why we are missing some harvests?

A: Congratulations on your winter harvests. In my book "Golden Gate Gardening," I suggested September as a good month to plant lettuce, spinach, chard and kale in your area, but it's often too late for beets, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. I think they didn't have enough time to mature before cold weather slowed their growth.

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