spring unleashed

Written on March 19, 2010 at 2:07 pm, by Jane McKeon

Spring unleashes the inner puppy in gardeners. With boundless joy, we can’t wait to get down on all fours and dig in the dirt as soon as the ground thaws. Thanks to a new German Shepherd pup in my house, our first signs of Spring this year were muddy paw prints on the living room carpet.

With house-training little Apollo as my main motivator, I spent a lot of time outdoors this past month examining every square foot of our property, several times each day. Nose to the ground, Apollo follows scent trails of rabbits and deer while I inspect the tree and shrub damage those hungry critters have caused.

Yesterday, I discovered a pair of cheerful yellow winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) blooming in my woodland garden. Nearby, a clump of jonquil (Narcissus hybrids) sprouts were muscling their way through the leaf litter. Fortunately, the rabbits and deer find these tender morsels distasteful.

Before too long, I’ll be digging in the garden. I hope Apollo doesn’t get any ideas.

Darn rodents!

Written on March 19, 2010 at 12:00 pm, by Eric Liskey

The snow finally melted off enough to let me back into my garden and do some cleaning up. It’s always interesting when you get back out into the yard for the first time in spring, and see what mayhem occurred during the previous months. It can be kind of disgusting, actually. Rabbit droppings galore, dead birds, trash that blew into your flowerbeds. I noticed one thing this year that I haven’t seen before. I found a couple of nests (I guess) with piles of what used to be my prized lily bulbs.  I could plainly see where some critter had dug down to get at the bulbs, then removed the bulb scales to these piles. Rabbits are my biggest pest problem, but I dont’ think this was a rabbit. We had lots of snow this year, and I think something else (a vole, maybe?) was at work underneath the drifts. Hopefully this will stop now that the snow is gone!

Get New Shrubs for Free

Written on March 19, 2010 at 11:17 am, by Luke Miller

Our newest issue of Garden Ideas & Outdoor Living hit the newsstand March 16 (I argued for St. Patrick’s Day, but there apparently wasn’t enough green on the cover!).

One of the articles that is sure to pique readers’ interest is 25 Secrets Every Gardener Should Know. Here is one tip from the story:

Get new shrubs for free. Take 6-inch cuttings from easy-to-root plants, such as willow, poplar, privet, rose, redtwig dogwood, ivy, forsythia, arborvitae and creeping juniper. Dip the cut end into a rooting hormone (found at garden centers) and push it into a pot of moist potting mix. Cover with a plastic bag punched with holes that allow the plant to breathe. Place the container in an area where it receives light but no direct sun. Keep the soil moist but not drenched. Plants should root in about 6 weeks, after which time you can gradually acclimate them to the outdoors. Part shade is preferred till plants fully establish their roots several months from now.

the pick of the crop: non-traditional media sweep

Written on March 18, 2010 at 2:56 pm, by David Speer

Spring: the season when non-traditional gardening media discover our favorite pastime. Some examples.

The CBC in Canada says anyone who has a balcony can create a space to grow tasty vegetables.

MSN Money caught my eye with this headline: Windowsill veggies worth $200?

Powells.com (the website of a fabulous, quirky bookstore in Portland, Ore.) reviews Geoff Hamilton’s book on organic gardening.

OK, so the Christian Science Monitor does a fine job of covering gardening almost year-round. Here’s an example. A story on a blizzard of snowdrops.

The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash., checks in with a story on how to use newspaper to create a garden spot.

The ABC News site’s entertainment page carries a story from The Associated Press about leeks.

The Epoch Times carries a top ten gardening trends story from Canadian garden writer Mark Cullen. The short version: chemicals are out and creative small space gardening is in.

And finally, the Hamptons.com urges everyone to celebrate Earth Day this year by planting a veggie garden.

Heavenly Hydrangeas

Written on March 17, 2010 at 7:17 am, by Justin W. Hancock

It looks like hydrangeas are going to be hot again this year! I’ve been getting a lot of feedback from readers about hydrangeas, we’ve been getting lots of questions about them in our Garden Doctor application, and we even have a brand-new downloadable booklet online on growing and caring for the plants.

If you have hydrangeas, here’s some information that’s handy to have now:

• If you buy a florist hydrangea and would like to plant it outdoors, harden it off first by leaving it in a shady spot for a couple of hours a day. Then a few days later, leave it out for a few more hours. A few days after that, the plant will have toughened up and shouldn’t be too badly shocked when you plant it outside.
• If you have the blue- or pink-flowering mophead or lacecap hydrangeas, don’t prune them now. They’ve already made this year’s flowers, so cutting them back could mean sacrificing the 2010 floral display. (The exception to this is reblooming hydrangeas like Endless Summer; they made some of their flowers last year, but will also make a lot more flowers on new stems this year.)
• If you’re thinking about purchasing a hydrangea, be sure you select the right type for your conditions. The easiest way to have a terrible hydrangea experience is to pick the wrong variety for your spot.

Looking for more info? Check out our Plant Encyclopedia, hydrangea slideshow, and be sure to check out the new issue of Garden Ideas and Outdoor Living magazine, where my colleague Luke Miller produced a fun piece on hydrangeas that highlights some of the amazing variety this group of plants offers.

Pick of the Crop – apps, veggies, and city stuff

Written on March 16, 2010 at 10:38 am, by David Speer

Gardening? There’s an app for that.

Chefs in Melbourne, Australia, have created a city-center (or would that be centre?) edible garden to inspire office workers to eat healthy.

The Baltimore Sun offers 10 easy steps to creating your first vegetable garden.

HealthNewsDigest.com advises parents to plant a garden to encourage kids to eat more fruits and veggies.

Baltimore is planning to plant its second vegetable garden at city hall.

It is an exciting time in gardening, with programs like this one bringing gardening knowledge and passion to bigger cities.

Chicago Now picks the top ten from the recent Chicago Flower and Garden Show.