As much as people love gardening, sometimes it can be a lot of work. This chapter includes tips for making your gardening life a bit easier. We’ve included ideas for easy planting, weeding, and general garden maintenance. We will also show you how to make your own potting soil and grow great tomatoes.
Gardeners pass lots of tips to each other. Here are some we’ve heard that we hope you may find helpful.
Artichokes send up suckers that you can transplant. Simply remove the sucker, taking care not to damage the roots, and start a new plant.
To control weeds around asparagus, try putting down three to four inches of sawdust mulch from untreated wood. The sawdust discourages insects, but the asparagus can poke through easily. Sawdust can become matted down, so fluff periodically or mix with a coarser material. If you like white asparagus, heap soil or mulch around the spears so just the tips show.
When digging up bulbs to be stored for next season’s planting, sprinkle some medicated talcum powder on them before storing in order to prevent diseases.
A good friend told us not to pick cantaloupes until the stem attaching the cantaloupe to the vine starts to dry out. Then the melon would be at its sweetest. He was right!
Start your salad cucumbers in tomato cages. The vines grow up and the cucumbers hang down, making picking easier. In addition, you don’t have to worry about ground rot.
To get a bigger production of beans, plant your beans next to sweet peas or morning glories. These plants fix nitrogen in the soil and the beans benefit from the added nitrogen. Peas and morning glories also attract pollinators early for added pollination success.
A neighbor discovered this successful trick. She grew cabbages and then harvested the heads but left the lower leaves attached to the roots of the plant. She continued to water the unsightly cabbage plants, and in a few weeks had more heads starting on them.
Gardeners must often use a fairly large sprayer to reach the tops of their trees. These sprayers can be heavy when full. Try placing your sprayer in an old golf cart with wheels, making for easy pulling through the garden.
Growing herbs is so easy that you often end up with lots to dry. Here’s an easy way to dry them. Place stripped leaves in a brown paper bag. Then shake the bag every few days to mix up the leaves and get air circulating. Of course, the old method of hanging herbs upside down to dry them works too. After drying, use some as air fresheners when you vacuum. Herbs such as lemon verbena, rosemary, or basil work well for this. Just vacuum up about ? cup of dried crushed herbs into the vacuum bag before doing the rest of your carpet. As you vacuum, the smell of herbs will fill the air.
Have you ever wanted to roast your own sunflower seeds? Here is a simple recipe. After harvesting, remove the seeds from the heads. Seeds that are ready for harvest are white and plump. Now soak the seeds in water for a week. If you like them salted, place one full pound of salt into enough water to cover the seeds. Make sure to keep the salt well dissolved in the water during the soaking period. After soaking, remove the seeds from the water, do not rinse, and spread them in a thin even layer on a cookie sheet. Place in the oven for 1 hour at 350 degrees. In about 45 minutes check for doneness. They are done when they just start to turn golden brown.
To keep chewing insects from eating your melons before you harvest them, slip the unripe melons into one leg of a pair of pantyhose. Loosely tie the pantyhose on the stem end. Make sure there are no holes in the pantyhose that the insects can get through. This method also works well with corn, cabbages, grapes, cucumbers, peaches, and squash.
Make minigreenhouses. Cut the bottoms off clear two-liter plastic soft drink bottles and place the bottles over transplanted seedlings on cool nights.
For an easy pest repellent for yourself or your pet, grow some pennyroyal in your garden. When you go outdoors, just pick a few leaves and rub them on your skin. Flying insects such as flies, mosquitoes, and gnats will stay away. Some people say pennyroyal repels ticks and chiggers too.
This is a great idea for those of you who have a fruit tree that needs cross-pollination but you don’t have a second tree. The key is to find another tree and then ask the owner if you could trade some flowering branches. Take the branches home and arrange them in a bucket filled with water. Make sure they are secure. Now tie the bucket in your tree. When bees come to pollinate your tree, they will cross-pollinate it with the flowering branches from the other tree at the same time.
Pine needles placed in the bottom of a planting hole or trench can prevent scab on potatoes.
It is hard to keep the top layer of soil moist on windy days. Yet it is especially important to do so if you are sprouting a lawn or seedbed. To solve this problem, wet some burlap bags and place over the area that needs to stay moist. The burlap allows air to pass while keeping the top layer of soil moist.
Roses like well-draining soil. To test if yours drains well, choose a nice sunny spot and then dig a hole about 1½ feet deep and 2 feet wide. Pour in at least 2 gallons of water. If it doesn’t drain away in a few minutes, this may not be the best area for your rose. If it does drain well, plant the rose in the hole with equal parts soil, sand, and compost.
Many rose gardeners swear they get wonderful roses by adding Epsom salts to the bases of their rose bushes. Epsom salts, is high in magnesium. The usual dosage is ½ cup Epsom salts, around each bush in the spring. One note of caution: in areas with a lot of salt content in the soil, using Epsom salts is not recommended.
Sunflowers will cast welcome shade over shade-loving vegetables like cucumbers and lettuce. But don’t plant sunflowers too close to other plants because they can retard the growth of some. Growing corn to shade cabbage or spinach is another solution.
— Sometimes small seeds are hard to see when planting. For better visibility, try mixing some white silica sand with the seeds when planting your rows or broadcasting wildflower seeds.
— Marking off your garden can be a big job. Staking and running strings is one method, but the string can get in the way of planting. Try marking the garden or planting area off with flour. Use the flour as you would chalk to mark off a baseball diamond. Later, the flour will just wash away.
— Cut planting time and use less space by planting crops that mature at different rates. Try planting radish seeds with other favorite vegetables, such as carrots or beets. The radishes will germinate first and will be almost ready to eat when the other vegetables sprout.
— Plant lettuce between rows of other plants. The lettuce will benefit from the shade during summer and will take up less room in the garden.
— When planting cucumbers, pumpkins, melons, and squash, the mounds and the area around the mounds may look a bit bare until the vines grow and spread. To save space, plant quick growing crops that will mature quickly around the mounds; try radishes, green beans, peas, and lettuce.
— In colder climates, keeping the soil warm enough for early harvests can be a problem. Lay black plastic over your prepared bed and cut holes in it just large enough for planting and watering. The plastic will keep weeds down and help warm the soil. When the weather warms up, remove the plastic or just lay some mulch over it.
— Planting seeds or seedlings in trenches instead of raised rows will direct the water to the plant and help protect the seedlings against drying winds.
— Keep cutworms from chewing on new seedlings by wrapping a piece of newspaper, straw, or aluminum foil around the roots and stems of seedlings.
— To save space in your garden, try planting corn with light vining crops like beans and peas. The corn stalks will support the vines and you will get two crops in the space of one.
— To have vegetables throughout summer and fall (or until freezing weather), try staggered planting. Plant the vegetables every two weeks or so. Corn and tomatoes work well with this type of planting. As you finish eating the first planting, the second planting will be ready, then the third, and so on.
— Rather than simply watering hanging plants, use ice cubes. The ice cubes melt slowly so there is no gush of dripping water from the hanging plant.
— Try misting wilted plants to revive them. Misting is great for stressed plants in hot weather. After the plant is well misted, water as usual.
— Jug watering is great for slow watering. Punch a few holes in the bottom of a one-gallon plastic milk jug. The more holes, the faster the water will emerge; the fewer holes, the slower the trickle. Fill the jug and set it next to plants. The plants are then slowly watered, and no water splashes up on the plants to cause problems. Add liquid fertilizer to the jugs if you need to fertilize as well. Instead of a milk jug, you can substitute a large coffee can or a bucket, but if you do use open containers, take care that small children and pets don’t get into them.
If you are like us and love flowers but not the work that is necessary to maintain them, try planting one or more of these flowers that don’t require you to snip dying heads off to look good.
— Annual baby’s-breath (Gypsophila elegans) is a bushy eighteen- to twenty-four-inch plant that puts out white or pink small flowers all summer long.
— Baptista (Baptista australis), lunaria (Lunaria annua), love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena), and blackberry lily (Belamcanda chinen-sis) all have decorative seed heads or pods that are quite attractive later on in the season.
— Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) is a drought-resistant shrub that starts out in the spring with light pink flowers, turning later to red berries. The lovely evergreen foliage turns red in the fall. Bearberry likes any type of soil in sun or partial shade.
— Brazilian vervain (Verbena bonariensis) is a tall annual that has tiny, pinkish lavender flowers. It is heat- and drought-resistant, and butterflies love it.
— Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) is a short ground cover that has white dogwood-like flowers that turn into red berries. It likes moist, acidic soil in shady areas.
— Cascades mahonia (Mahonia nervosa) is a low-growing shrub with bright yellow flowers that bloom in eight-inch clusters in the spring and then turn into small blue fruit. It thrives in partial shade, well protected from wind.
— Cleome (Cleome hasslerana) is a heat- and drought-tolerant plant with pink, magenta, or white flowers on three- to five-foot-tall stems. Butterflies and bees like this plant too.
— Common yarrow (Achillea millefolium) produces pink or red flat-topped flowers that bloom all summer on two-foot stems. The plant looks dainty, but common yarrow is heat and drought resistant and spreads quickly.
— Feverfew (Chrysanthemum parthenium) puts out white daisylike flowers on one- to three-foot-tall stems. Tolerates partial shade. The flowers attract beneficial insects.
— Gaura (Gaura lindheimeri) are shrubby plants that put out lovely, delicate white to pink flowers on two- to three-foot stems. Once established, they are drought resistant and do well in the heat.
— Heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens) is a fragrant annual that puts out small purple or white flowers in tight groups on tall stems. It blooms from spring until late summer.
— Kalimeris (Kalimeris pinnatifida) will give you beautiful white daisies with yellow centers from summer to fall. This is a good plant to try if you have moist soil in sun or partial shade.
— Mealycup sage (Salvia farinacea) produces flower spikes of blue or white on a two- to four-foot-tall plant.
— Pincushion flower (Scabiosa caucasica) is an eighteen-inch plant that puts out lots of lavender-blue flowers from late spring to the first good frost. Pincushions like well-draining soil in sun or partial shade.
— Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is a drought-tolerant plant that puts out beautiful daisylike flowers from spring to fall. Seed heads make great bird food in the winter. Establish plants in full sun.
— Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) is a shrubby plant that is covered in tiny blue flowers from midsummer to fall. Likes well-draining soils in full sun.
— Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) comes in many varieties with flowers of many different colors. Plants range in size from a small seven inches to a tall three feet. Snapdragons like light shade and may need extra water in the heat of summer.
— Threadleaf coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata) provides a bounty of light yellow daisies from June through fall. Plants grow to be about one foot tall and spread by runners. Give them a sunny site.
— Common bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis) and primroses are perennials that have a short growing season. The plants will fade away without necessitating much cleanup, leaving room for other later season flowers, like plumbagos.
It is estimated that in areas with large numbers of earthworms, the worms can cover an acre of land with as much as eighteen tons of new soil each year. However, it is also estimated that we are using seventeen times more topsoil than is being produced.
Have you ever wondered where topsoil comes from? In fact, earthworms make it, and they are the only organisms that can. They do this by eating leaves and other plant material and then depositing castings, or excrement, back into and at the surface of the soil. And, of course, earthworms are also essential to good soil composition.
How do you get these great soil builders to build more topsoil in your garden? Make your garden earthworm-friendly by doing some of the following:
— Mulch the soil. Mulching adds organic material to the soil, which creates plenty of worm food and helps regulate soil temperature. These are ideal conditions for worms.
— Leave the catcher off your mower. Like mulch, grass clippings provide food for earthworms. Clippings can raise the pH of your soil, so watch for that and if needed add a bit of garden lime or calcium carbonate to make the worms happy.
— Add worms to a compost pile. Worms will generally migrate to a compost pile after the initial heating process. By adding some extra worms, you will improve the quality of your compost and have extra worms to spread in the garden along with it. These transplanted worms will have compost to eat and new garden soil to make. If you decide to add a lot of worms at one time to your garden, add at least two inches of good compost on top of the worms. Then apply another two inches every six months to keep the organic content high.
— Fertilize the soil. Fertilizers added to the soil increase plant production and provide extra food for worms. Give your garden a good organic fertilizer, and let the old leaves fall and decompose for the worms.
— Don’t overtill the soil. Research show that soils that have been tilled frequently don’t have as many worms as soils that have never been tilled. Earthworms are natural tillers, so let them do the work.
— Keep soils moist. Earthworms need moist soils to breathe, so they will leave soils that are too dry. Keep the soil moist and encourage them to stay with plenty of food.
— Add garden lime. Earthworms prefer a slightly alkaline soil, so if you have an acidic soil, an application of some garden lime or calcium carbonate will bring the soil up to the pH that earthworms love.
Here are tips for long-lasting Christmas trees and ever-blooming poinsettias.
Mix up this solution and soak your tree for a fresh tree all season. Be sure to do this outside, because bleach and carpets don’t mix.
1 pint clear corn syrup
4 ounces chlorine bleach
¼ teaspoon borax
2 ounces clear vinegar
2 ounces liquid detergent for delicate washables
Cut off the bottom 2 inches of the trunk. Mix together the ingredients and place the solution in a large bucket. Do this outside so as not to damage your carpets or floor with the bleach. Now place cut tree in the bucket and let the tree soak for 12 to 24 hours. Remove tree from solution and place in regular tree stand. Bring tree indoors and water with plain water as usual.
Note: Trees treated in this manner may require more water than those you’ve had in the past. Watch the water level carefully and do not let it dry out.
Many of us enjoy poinsettias during the holidays, but afterward most plants end up in the compost pile or garbage can. This doesn’t have to happen. You can have a beautiful poinsettia plant year after year. How?
First, remember three holidays: Easter, Independence Day, and Labor Day. These are the times at which you need to prune and feed your poinsettia. On each of these holidays prune the plant back, leaving four to six buds. Leave the plant in a bright place, but not in direct sunlight. Water the poinsettia when the soil first dries and give it a good allpurpose organic fertilizer.
During the first week of October, when the nights grow shorter, the plant needs to be in total darkness for a full fourteen hours every night. And we mean total darkness. Even a flash of light can ruin your chances of a good bloom. Try placing an appropriately sized cardboard carton over the plant at the same time every night. Continue this practice for eight to ten weeks. If you’ve done it all right, your poinsettia will develop a colorful display of blooms for the holidays!
There are many ways to obtain free plants. Some are obvious—saving seeds and dividing plants, for example—but in this section we offer a few other ideas as well.
This is a great way to get two or more plants from just one plant. Most herbaceous plants that increase in size by forming new stems and roots can be divided. Dividing is great for most perennials and many types of bamboos, ferns, grasses, and herbs.
The best time to divide perennials that flower in mid to late summer—like asters, chrysanthemums, sunflowers, and Japanese anemones—is springtime. For those perennials that flower in spring, the best time to divide is late summer or early autumn. Some of these plants include peonies, columbine, bleeding heart, leopard’s bane, and cranesbill. Divide clumps of bulbs about a month after flowering is over, when the foliage is dying back.
To divide plants, use a garden fork or trowel to gently loosen the clump of plants from the soil and lift it out. Knock off most of the soil and soak the clump in water to get a better view of where to divide it. Some plants can be easily pulled apart with your hands; others with stronger roots will need to be cut apart with a knife. Remove dry leaves, broken stems, dead roots, or pest-infested parts. Most clumps should only be divided into three or four pieces. Very small sections may be too weak to produce a healthy plant. Bulbs can be divided into as many bulbs as possible, but discard the small undersized ones.
Replant clumps immediately or store bulbs. Have holes or pots ready with fertilizer and good planting soil. It’s important that the roots stay moist and don’t dry out.
Ground covers are a snap to divide. Do you have a friend with an overgrown border of ground cover? Offer to divide it and have lots of plants for your own border.
Don’t forget to divide houseplants too. Chinese evergreen, asparagus fern, arrowroot, and African violets are just a few plants that divide easily.
Saving seeds is almost as simple as letting a few plants go to seed each year and then collecting the seeds. Of course, nothing is quite that simple.
— Don’t save seeds from hybrids. You won’t know what you’ll get! The offspring from plant hybrids can be quite different.
— Always harvest seeds from plants that are the healthiest and have the biggest blooms. Small, weak plants will produce inferior seeds, so pick nice big healthy plants to collect seeds from.
— Seeds that are quite tiny in fruits or vegetables can be hard to harvest. Try this trick that works well on eggplants, peppers, and cherry tomatoes: Coarsely chop up fruit in a blender. Add water to cover. Blend until fruit is liquefied. Stop blender and let mixture sit until seeds settle to the bottom. If mixture is too thick, add more water. Pour off liquefied fruit and then pour seeds into a fine sieve. If seeds are very tiny, line sieve with cheesecloth or paper towel to collect. Dry seeds on wax paper.
— For seeds such as those of tomato and cucumber, you need to remove the slimy coating before storing. Place the seeds in a plastic container with the lid ajar at room temperature for at least four days or until a mold develops on the seeds. Then rinse the seeds in a sieve to remove mold and coating. Dry on wax paper or a plate.
— The seedpods of some plants contain chemicals that can irritate the skin. Okra is a prime example. So wear gloves when harvesting seedpods.
— When picking seedpods or collecting seeds from native plants in nature, always leave some so the plant can reseed itself in its native habitat. Be sure never to pick anything in protected areas or national parks.
— After picking seedpods, it’s usually best to store the seeds in the pod until ready to use. Then open dried pods and pour out seeds. Always store seeds or pods in marked envelopes in a cool, dry place. Many gardeners also store seeds for next year’s planting in plastic bags in the refrigerator.
— Start roses from seeds. Yes, it can be done. Remember, seeds from hybrid roses will not breed true. However, you can save fully mature rose hips from nonhybrid roses for planting. When the hips are ready, the fleshy interior will be dry and you can slit the hips open and remove the seeds. Sometimes the whole hips are left intact and placed in cold storage, then the seed is removed before planting.
— Treat seeds for fungus and bacteria. Fungus and bacterial diseases can ruin seeds. To kill the fungus and bacteria before storing, soak the seeds in hot water (at least 125 degrees) for thirty minutes. Remove and dry seeds.
— Okay, you collected seeds only to find that many did not germinate when planted. An easy test for viability is to pour seeds into a glass filled with water. The seeds that fall to the bottom of the glass are good; throw away those that float to the top of the glass, or use them in a craft project. Another way to check viability is to take some of the seeds you’ve saved and place them between two pieces of moist paper toweling. Keep moist and check every day for germination. The percent of the seeds that germinate will correspond to the percent of viable seeds, so you can then plant accordingly.
— Some seeds need a period of cold to emerge from dormancy. This process is called stratification. To do this, add seeds to a mixture of equal parts sand and moist peat moss in a plastic bag. Place the bag in a cold refrigerator (under 41 degrees) for four to twelve weeks before planting. Some of the plants that benefit from cold are aconite, bells of Ireland, bleeding heart, columbine, cotoneaster, daylily, euonymus, gas plant, hellebore, hickory, holly, juniper, lavender, lupine, peony, phlox, some roses, serviceberry, trillium, and violas.
— Some seeds have seed coats that need to be penetrated in order to germinate. The process of breaking the seed coat to allow for better germination is called scarification. Nick a hole into the seed coat of large seeds with an emery board, sandpaper, or file. Soaking small seeds overnight in hot water (about 190 degrees) will achieve the same results. Just pour the hot water over the seeds and let sit. Don’t do this until you are ready to plant the seeds since the seeds should not dry out before planting. A few plants that benefit from this treatment are apples, beans, beets, canna, carrots, celery, honey locust, impatiens, laburnum, lupine, mimosa, morning glory, pansy, parsley, peas, stone fruits, and sweet peas.
— Start saved seeds by growing them in paper egg cartons. Fill the cups with sterile seed starting mix and add seeds. When ready to transplant, cut sections apart and plant the cup section with the seedling in it. The paper carton sections will degrade, and there will be less shock to the seedling.
— Everyone knows about starting seeds between two pieces of moist paper toweling, but it’s hard to start really big seeds that tend to dry out this way. Instead, slip the paper toweling and seeds into a plastic zip bag. Now place the bag in a warm area to allow the seeds to germinate.
When you pull dead heads off your flowers, instead of throwing them in the compost pile, throw them into bare spots and cover with a bit of mulch or dirt. Before you know it the bare spot will be flourishing with flowering plants. Some flowers that grow easily from seed include zinnias, marigolds, bachelor’s buttons, larkspurs, sweet peas, California poppies, cosmos, snapdragons, petunias, morning glories, and celosias.
— Take cuttings from your favorite annuals in the fall and root them in water or potting soil. Keep plants inside in a sunny spot like a bright kitchen window over the winter. In the spring you’ll have plants ready for outdoors.
— If rose bushes that don’t have grafted root stock can grow in your area and are available, then you have a bounty of free roses. Ask your nursery if such roses are available. Then, when it is time to prune your roses you will have great cuttings to start a new bush just like the original one. To root the cuttings, place each one in a planting pot of about one gallon that is prepared with well-draining potting mixture. Keep the cuttings well watered and soon you’ll have new rose bushes. Note that roses that have grafted root stock should not be propagated in this way.
A good way to get more plants for your dollar is to buy self-seeding plants. When the plant dies at the end of the season it will leave behind seeds that will be ready to germinate next spring and take its place. Collecting seeds from a few flowers you let go to seed is another way to use the seeds from self-seeding plants. Just collect the seeds and broadcast them in various spots to increase the number of plants around your yard.
To promote self-seeding, avoid heavy rotary-tilling in areas where plants have died back and dropped their seeds in the spring. If the seeds get buried too deep, they may not germinate.
In the spring, don’t put down mulch until the seedlings are up. Many seed varieties need bare ground and sunlight in order to germinate.
Talk to your local nursery staff. Ask for varieties of plants that self-seed in your area. You may be surprised to find quite a few plants—tomatoes, for example—that self-seed. Many native plants self-seed too. Don’t forget to check these when planning a border or flower bed.
Here is a short list of flowering plants that self-seed. It will help you get started looking for the best ones for your needs. All of them are annuals, except for forget-me-nots, fringed bleeding heart, and honesty or money plant, which are biennials.
Chinese forget-me-nots (Cynoglossum amabile)
Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus)
Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus)
Feverfew (Chrysanthemum parthenium)
Forget-me-nots (Myosotis alpestris)
Fringed bleeding heart (Dicentra eximia)
Garden balsum (Impatiens balsamina)
Honesty or money plant (Lunaria)
Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena)
Marigolds (Calendula officinalis)
Mignonette (Reseda odorata)
Poppies (Papaver spp.)
Rocket larkspur (Consolida ambigua)
Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)
Sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritama)
Here is a list of herbs that self–seed
| Borage | Chervil | Fennel |
| Calendula | Dill | Summer savory |
Potting soil may be made of many different ingredients, so tailor-make the one that fits your needs best. Making your own potting soil not only is easy but can save you money.
Potting soil usually contains 1 equal part of loamy topsoil, sphagnum moss, or peat moss, and 1 equal part of perlite, vermiculite, or sand. Other nutrients, such as compost and organic fertilizers, may also be added. Use the following ingredients to mix the perfect potting mix for you.
To make a basic potting mix, combine equal parts of one ingredient from column A with one ingredient from column B.
| A | B |
| Loamy topsoil (soil that has a relatively equal balance of sand, silt, and clay and is also rich in organic matter) Sphagnum moss (moisture-retaining moss found in bogs; low in nutrients) Peat moss (partially decayed sphagnum moss; low in nutrients) | Perlite(a granular, volcanic rock used to improve aeration)Vermiculite (moisture-holding bits of expanded mica) Sand (fine rock particles, usually quartz, good for drainage) |
Then add some of these to the basic mix:
Coffee grounds
Compost (use 1 part compost to every 4 parts potting mix)
Dried manure (use about 1 shovelful per 5 gallons of mix)
Organic fertilizers
Wood bark (use in large containers to keep soil mix loose)
Wood chips (use in smaller containers to hold water)
Worm castings or vermicompost (should make up from 5 percent to 25 percent of potting mix)
Here are a few examples of potting mixes for specific needs.
— Outdoor container mix: An easy mix for outdoor plants is 1 part loamy soil, 1 part compost, and a well-balanced organic fertilizer (use amount recommended on package for your container size and plant).
— Propagating mixes: For root cuttings try peat, perlite, or sand as a base.
— Quick-draining, lightweight mix: Good for hanging plants and others that need fast-draining soil. Mix 1 part loamy soil, 4 parts compost, and 4 parts perlite. Add appropriate organic fertilizer.
— Seed-starting mixes: These are usually light, retain moisture well, and are sterilized to prevent fungal diseases. Try soil, sand, or peat mixed with vermiculite. These are usually low in nutrients. For example, mix 1 part vermiculite with 1 part compost, and sprinkle top with sand to discourage fungal diseases after planting seeds.
— Soilless potting mixes: Try sphagnum or peat moss, perlite, or vermiculite alone or mixed together.
— Worm castings mix: Make this balanced nutrient mix with 2 parts aged compost, 1 part castings, and ½ part vermiculite.
— Heavier soils hold more water and need less watering.
— Plastic pots don’t allow for water evaporation, and plants in them will need less water than those in clay pots. If you need the insulation factor that a clay pot gives, before planting line your plastic pot with newspaper or bubble wrap. Or plant in a plastic pot and then slip it inside a clay pot.
— Mix small amounts of potting soil by shaking ingredients in a plastic bag. Use smaller sealed bags for leftover mix.
— Use clothes dry sheets after they been used to line the bottom of a pot instead of stones. New coffee filters will also work, but why not recycle used ones in the garden?
— To lighten heavy pots and use less potting mix, place styrofoam peanuts, pine cones, soda cans, or plastic bottles, among others, at the bottom of large pots. Put a piece of burlap or cheesecloth over them to make pot cleaning easier.
— Not ready to repot, but think your potting mix has had it? Remove one or two inches of the old potting mix from the surface and replace it with fresh potting mix, mixed with a good fertilizer.
Tomatoes are grown by more gardeners than any other vegetable. If the number of questions we receive about tomatoes is any indication, for some people it is the only vegetable to grow! But who can blame them? The taste of a fresh, homegrown, vine-ripened tomato just can’t be beat.
Growing tomatoes is not difficult, but it is not without its challenges either. To ensure you get the best-tasting tomato for your efforts, try a few of these simple growing tricks:
— Grow the correct variety. This may sound obvious but it really isn’t. How many gardeners do you know who have moved from one area of the country to another yet still try to grow that “greatest-tasting” tomato they remember from where they lived before? These gardeners order the seeds by mail or get them from friends and just “know” they will work. In the end, they are usually disappointed. Instead, go to your local nursery and ask which varieties do best in your area. Listen to the recommendations. Ask about diseases that might occur in your area and if resistant varieties are available.
— Amend the soil. Tomatoes are heavy feeders. For an average bed of eight feet long and two and a half feet wide, we add one hundred pounds of compost and about one pound each of cottonseed meal, kelp meal, hoof and horn meal, and feather meal. Then we add two pounds of bonemeal and mix these fertilizers in six to eight inches. There is no benefit in placing the amendments too deep, because they will be carried down with the watering anyway. Finally, on top of the bed add a calcium source to prevent blossom end rot. Agricultural gypsum added to alkaline soil or dolomite added to acidic soil will work well. If your soil is deficient in magnesium, adding some Epsom salts will help.
— Dig deep. Loosen the soil a good eighteen inches down. This will give your plants a head start in the race to grow healthy, deep roots.
— Plant deep. You don’t plant most plants any deeper than the soil level in the pot they came in. When planting pony packs of tomato seedlings, forget that rule—stick young tomatoes one or two inches deeper than the soil level in the pony pack.
— Stake the plants. Growing tomatoes on stakes, trellises, or cages helps expose the leaves to the air and sunlight. This in turn helps prevent disease. Supporting the branches laden with tomatoes helps prevent the limbs from breaking off, too.
— Water them. Tomatoes are best watered with drip irrigation or soaker hoses, which prevent the water from splashing onto the leaves and causing moist conditions for diseases such as mildew and late blight. Some gardeners water their plants with a bucket with holes punched in the bottom for a quick and easy drip method. (See this page for more on this method.) Don’t overwater. A good soaking once a week or so is enough. Too much water discourages production. Overwatered tomatoes that do form usually taste watery.
— Cover them. Tomatoes will not set fruit until nighttime temperatures stay above 55 degrees. To protect new plants from late frosts, place two-liter bottles with the bottoms cut off over seedlings. In very cool climates, it is best to keep a row cover on the plants. You can make a simple row cover by draping row cover material over stakes around plants. We know one gardener who places black stones (the kind used for decorative rock gardens) around her tomatoes. They absorb the heat of the sun during the day and keep the soil warm at night. Using old tires to ring growing tomatoes is basically the same idea.
Many gardeners find that birds have pecked holes in their tomatoes or squirrels have nibbled on them. These creatures aren’t tomato fans, but they do love the water inside them. Try placing a birdbath or other water source near your tomatoes and see if the damage stops. You can make an easy watering station from a tomato cage and plastic pot saucer. Push the tomato cage deep into the ground so it is stable, then place a plastic pot saucer on top. Make sure that the saucer fits securely. Fill with water.
Weeds are just plants growing in the wrong place. Homeowners and gardeners spend millions of dollars each year to rid gardens of weeds. The bottom line on weeds is, we keep spraying them and they keep coming back. Then all we have done is add more chemicals to the soil that can pollute our groundwater. What can we do?
All plants need sunlight to live. If you block the sun, the plants soon die. Use this idea to smother weeds away. Place newspaper, cardboard (boxes that pizzas came in, for example), geotextiles (agriculture or landscaping cloth), or plastic over weeds. Top the newspaper or other material with bark chips or mulch so it looks more attractive. If you are using newspaper, wet the paper after you have put it down in order to keep it in place. Use six to twelve sheets for good light blockage. Cut holes in the layer of material and put in shrubs or vegetables. The area will be weed-free.
Place at least three inches of wood chips, straw, shredded leaves, pine needles, compost, or other mulch over weeds to block out the sun completely. If you know your soil is alkaline or acidic, pick a mulch that will help neutralize the pH. Put down the mulch in the fall and you will have a weed-free area to plant in next spring.
You can also place mulch around existing plants to choke weeds from between plants. To prevent rot, don’t let the mulch touch the plant’s stem.
Basically, you can plant anything as a cover crop if you plant it close enough together so that there is no bare ground. Try planting a cover crop of rye, clover, or buckwheat to control weeds. Many cover crops also attract beneficial insects, have showy flowers, and deter brushfires. Ground covers such as ice plant or lantana can also choke weeds out. Space ground cover plants twice as close as recommended. They will fill in faster, reducing the amount of bare ground and weeds. Ground covers usually don’t mind dense plantings either.
Don’t pull those weeds—just cut them. Repeated cuttings will eventually kill the weed by not allowing the leaf growth that produces food for the plant. Use a stirrup hoe or lawn mower to take off just the top of the weeds. Because you are not digging down into the soil, you will not bring up more weed seeds. A quick cut from a pocketknife on a lone weed works well too.
Soil solarization means letting the sun kill the weeds and their seeds for you. It is a great idea, but it does have a downside: it takes time.
Lay a piece of clear plastic over the weedy area. Anchor the plastic with bricks or stones on all sides. Then wait. The sun will heat the soil under the plastic and cook the weeds. In very hot areas, weeds may die in as little as three weeks; in cooler areas, the process can take up to two months or longer. The average is four to six weeks.
When it is time to remove the plastic don’t till the soil. Tilling will bring up buried weed seeds that the heat didn’t reach. Just rake lightly.
If you have plenty of time or many weeds, you may want to repeat the process. After the first heating, till the soil to bring up the buried weed seeds. Water the area to germinate. When the seeds start to sprout, replace the plastic and cook again for another four to six weeks.
If waiting that long is just too long, try tilling twice. After the plastic comes off the first time, till the soil, then water. Wait a couple of weeks for the buried weeds seeds to germinate. Then till again to kill the weeds that emerge. One note of caution: the soil solarization and tilling method of weed control is tough on earthworms, since they live in the top inches of the soil and don’t like hot temperatures!
Some weeds are edible. Why not incorporate them into your next meal? You may like them so much you will plant some on purpose! Try the young tender greens in salads; leave the old bitter leaves on the plant. Of course, always double-check the plant identification with an expert before eating, and never eat any plant that may have been sprayed with insecticide.
Here’s a list of a few edible weeds:
| Chickweed greens | Nasturtium (petals) |
| Dandelion greens | Purslane |
| Lamb’s quarters | Violet (leaves and flower petals) |
| Mustard greens |
Just like other plants, weeds cannot tolerate certain chemicals, including alcohol, vinegar, and soap. Use this knowledge to mix up a batch of cheap and easy weed killer. These sprays are similar to those we use to control pests and diseases, only much stronger.
Alcohol spray
2 to 5 tablespoons alcohol (2 tablespoons for little weeds, up to 5 for tougher weeds)
1 quart water
Mix ingredients together and pour into spray bottle. Mist the weed only; try to avoid other plants. Repeat if necessary.
Bleach spray
1 part bleach
1 part water
Mix the solution together and pour into a spray bottle. Mist weeds. This works on tough weeds, like those that grow in cracks in sidewalks and driveways. For really tough weeds, use bleach full-strength but keep well away from other plants.
Soap spray
6 tablespoons dishwashing liquid
1 quart water
Mix solution and pour into spray bottle. Spray weeds during heat of the day to allow soap to burn them. Repeat if necessary.
1 part vinegar
1 part water
Mix solution and pour into spray bottle. For tough weeds, use vinegar full strength, away from other plants. Vinegar spray works well on broad-leafed weeds.
When you spray weeds, be sure to spray the crown of the weed and not just the leaves. Never spray when it is windy. Make a shield from a piece of cardboard, to place between the weed and desired plants. Or make a spray dome for weeds. Cut the bottom off a two-liter plastic bottle. Place the bottle over the weed and spray down through the top. Cut a wider hole in the top if needed. You can use several sizes of bottles for all weed sizes.
Pouring hot water on unwanted plants can cook and kill them. Be careful not to get the hot water on desired plants. Hot water works well on weeds that emerge from cracks in driveways and sidewalks.
Pour table salt on weeds that sprout in paved areas. Just make sure that the salt and its runoff does not come in contact with your favorite plants.
If you are desperate and just have to pull that weed, water it first to loosen the soil and make the weed easier to pull. Often, the whole root will come out with it.
There’s something new on the preemergent herbicide market that not only stops weeds from germinating but also fertilizes the soil and is nontoxic. What is this marvel? Corn gluten meal, commonly used as a filler in dog food. You can purchase it by the bag from many mail-order garden suppliers, or ask your local nursery to order it.
The meal works only to prevent weeds (or other seeds) from germinating; it won’t kill existing weeds. This makes it great at stopping weeds that tend to poke through lawns and bedding plants. As it breaks down, the gluten adds nitrogen to the soil. So don’t add nitrogen fertilizer too soon after applying gluten meal. Wait at least two to four weeks.
Many unwanted weeds end up in the compost pile. That’s okay, but if the compost didn’t heat up to at least 140 degrees, the weed seeds could be still be alive and germinate after the compost is spread. (See this page for tips on making compost.) Many gardeners have a separate compost pile just for weeds. That way, they are sure the seeds do not get mixed up with the compost being made for garden use. If you use compost you are not sure about or haven’t bought certified weed-free compost, take two simple precautions.
— Mulch over it. After putting down a layer of compost place a couple of inches of good mulch over it.
— Bury it. Use this compost in deep planting holes and place dirt over it.
When it comes to tools, most new gardeners think they are all alike. Well, we know that the pruning shears that fit the hand of one of us, who is 6 foot 3, sure won’t fit the hand of the other, who is 5 foot 2. With the burgeoning popularity of gardening, manufacturers are customizing tools and making them easier to use.
Follow these rules for choosing garden tools that you will be happy with and use for many years to come.
Check the weight, length, and grip to make sure you find the tool comfortable to use. Grips may be too large or small, and either can lead to blisters or cause you to tire easily. Some new pruners come with rotating handles; they make pruning easier on the wrist. Check the lock on the pruners, and make sure you can open and close them with your gloves on!
They may cost a bit more but you will save money and time in the long run. Often high-quality tools have newer designs that allow you to work more efficiently without tiring so quickly. Be open to new ideas.
Tools forged from a single piece of steel instead of from folded or pressed steel are better. Look for loppers and hand pruners with heat-hardened steel blades. They are made to stay sharp and last. Tools are usually labeled: forged, drop-forged, or tempered.
Many pruning shears today have replaceable blades. Sharp tools make the work easier. Invest in a small sharpening stone or file to keep shovels and hoes sharp.
They bear the brunt of each cut instead of your hands, arms, and shoulders. Padded or vinyl coated grips will also prevent blisters. Ash wood handles are better at absorbing shock than metal-handled loppers.
Always clean your tools after using them. This can be as easy as wiping or hosing off the dirt and plunging the tool a few times into a small bucket that is filled with a mixture of fine sand and mineral oil. The sand will clean off leftover dirt and then deposit a light coat of oil to protect the metal from rusting. To make this kind of cleaning system, just place clean silica sand in a bucket and add about a cup of mineral oil on top. Mix the oil and sand together in the top few inches. Now plunge a pair of pruners or hedge clippers in. If the tool comes out with a light coat of oil, the oil-sand mixture is perfect. As the oil moves down through the bucket, add more if necessary.
Thorough cleaning is even more important when you use your tools to cut out a diseased part of a plant. To prevent spreading the disease, a disinfectant cleaning is a must. Mix a 10 percent solution of bleach and water (1½ cups bleach to 1 gallon water) in a bucket and dip your tools in. This will kill most plant diseases, although experts say to double the strength when dealing with fireblight bacteria. Dipping tools in 3 percent hydrogen peroxide will also disinfect them, but it is more expensive than bleach. When cutting extremely diseased plants, it is a good idea to dip the cutting edges in the disinfecting solution after making each cut.
When the job is done and you’ve dipped your tools in the bleach and water, don’t forget to plunge them into your bucket of sand and mineral oil to protect the blades from rusting.
— To finely dust plants, use one leg of an old pair of pantyhose. Just drop in the dusting substance and shake the leg up and down to distribute a very fine dust. Of course, when dusting always wear a dust mask.
— Plastic pots make a great granular fertilizer spreader in tight areas. Find two plastic pots—the kind with holes in the bottom—that fit together well. Use old or new pots or even the plastic kind that nurseries use. Fit the two pots together so that the holes do not line up. Fill with fertilizer or other material. When you are ready to distribute the fertilizer, twist the pots so that the holes line up, then shake to distribute. Open the holes a lot to release a large amount; open just slightly to release a trickle.