Gardener's Calendar GiftAdd a personal touch to a gardener's gift.
A Quick Tip: Make the Most of Your Christmas TreeIf you have a live Christmas tree, recycle it by cutting branches off and laying them in flower beds for mulch and bird cover.
Simple and Natural Winter Decorating30 minutes, clippers and access to some evergreen material is all you need to add a little bit of nature inside your home.
Value MistletoeMistletoe has often been considered a pest that kills trees as well as degrading and devaluing natural habitat. The plant has now been recognized as an ecological keystone species, playing "a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community, affecting many other organisms in an ecosystem and helping to determine the types and numbers of various other species in the community" (Wikipedia).
A Little Garden for my Christmas TreeIt's just an old well worn gardening hat that's seen many years.
Landscape Design Tips for a Smaller GardenWant to make your small garden look larger? Try using a color scheme that includes plants with mostly white blossoms and green leaves. Add some green shrubbery and a colorful accent plant as well. The green and white combination gives the illusion of more space. Add some curving paths. They will also trick the eye into seeing the space as larger than it actually is.
Team Natural or Team Artificial?Historically all indoor winter decor was natural. With the invention of artificial greenery, Team Artificial was created. I'll even allow that some bat for both teams. Whatever the case for your family, come share your holiday traditions of decorating with us!
Firewood CautionBe sure your firewood is untreated. Chemicals in treated wood can react with fire and will release toxins into your home.
Decorating for the HolidaysJudicious pruning around the garden can provide materials for holiday decorating.
Growing Crinums in Colder ZonesIf you garden in a zone that’s too cold to grow crinums, plant them in pots and treat them as you would amaryllis. They need to be crowded in their pots in order to bloom, so be sure that there is no more than an inch of space between the bulb and the pot rim. Winter them over right in their pots in a cool, dark area that remains above freezing.
Glossary: CleistogamusCleistogamus is a Greek word meaning closed mouth. Cleistogamus flowers are small, inconspicuous closed self-pollinating flowers that are additional to and often more fruitful than the open showier flowers on the same plant. Violas and peas are examples of cleistogamus plants.
Winchester Gardens Fertilizer ReportYour reviewing reporter, giving you the followup scoop on my fertilizer trials. Read about my experience with the fertilizers from Winchester Gardens.
Take Note of Your PlantsKeep notes or diagrams on where you plant things. That way you'll still have a good idea what a plant is, if the label is moved or destroyed.
Killing Off an Invasive PlantIf you have an especially invasive plant that is large and you want to get rid of it, you can cut it back to 3 or 4 feet. Drill holes 2 or 3 inches straight down into the cut stems, then pour Roundup into the holes. The plant will take the poison internally and it will kill any suckers as well. You may wish to refill the holes after about 12 hours. Please be sure to cover each filled stem with tin foil secured with a twist tie, so our lizard and insect friends don't get into the poison. I had a Shooting Star Clerodendrum that I had to treat this way. It was sending suckers out 30 feet away!
Lightweight RocksLike the look of rocks in your landscape but have a bad back? No young person around to help you move the giant boulders? Consider buying 'feather rock', so called because it is 'light as a feather' (it is a very porous type of lava rock). It is very attractive and a sizable stone can be easily picked up.
Harvesting Juniper BerriesEdible common Juniper berries (Juniperus communis) turn from green to dark blue when ripe and to black when dried. To dry them, pick only ripe blue berries and allow to dry. Crush the dried berries well just before using; flavor will decline quickly when exposed to air. Three or four berries should flavor most dishes without being overpowering. Pregnant women and those with kidney problems should avoid Juniper berries due to their diuretic qualities.
What's Blooming in NovemberNovember here in our zone 5 gardens brings hard frosts and ends our outdoor gardening season. Almost. I was determined to find at least one blossom as I was writing this. My efforts were rewarded with more blossoms than I expected to find. Come on in and check them out. A note to gardeners in warmer climes: Show us what's blooming in your gardens!
Glossary: Naturalized, Invasive and NoxiousThe terms “invasive” and “naturalized” are used to refer to both garden plants and non-native plants growing in wild areas.
Recycle Your Old HoseDon’t throw away that old, leaky garden hose. Using a small bit, drill holes in the hose, spacing them about six inches apart. Give some thought as to how far from female end of the hose you want the holes to start. Drill all the way through the hose, so that you’re making two holes at once. Cap the male end with an old soaker hose cap or an old nozzle. Voilà! A free soaker hose!
Little ThankgivingsWinter celebrations were all strung out like beads on a necklace, one right after the other. It was difficult for a child to tell one from the other since most of them were all covered in snow, but I always knew Thanksgiving followed closely on the edges of my birthday.
Seed Cleaning SievesSeeds can be separated from chaff using kitchen strainers, window screening, hardware cloth (wire mesh) and spice jars.
Cleaning PotsClean hard water deposits from clay or plastic pots by spraying with a mixture of equal amounts of vinegar and water. Let the pot sit a few minutes; then use a scrub brush to loosen residue and rinse with fresh water.
Newspapers as a Tree WrapTo prevent tree scalding in the winter, don't bother with "tree wrap." Just get some newspapers, wrap those around the trunk of the tree, and use duct tape to keep the newspaper in place. I prefer the bright orange duct tape so I will remember to take it off in the spring. Just don't wrap the newspapers tight around the trunk.
Winterize Your Garden EquipmentIf you haven't already, now is the time to put away your motorized gardening equipment. Drain the gas and the oil, repair and replace any parts that need maintenance including filters and spark plugs, clean the dirt and grime away, cover and store it for the season.
