Getting a Jump on Spring: Growing from Seeds

Posted on February 22, 2012 by admin

Starting vegetables from seeds at home can be a great way to get the jump on the growing season, and can be a great learning experience for kids and adults alike. It can be encouraging to know that some species that you might have tried unsuccessfully to grow from seed in the garden have a much better chance of survival when started indoors.

Typically, the best candidates for starting indoors are those plants that can tolerate disturbance to their roots. A short list of these vegetable includes Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, tomatoes, eggplant, onions, peppers, and tomatoes. From that list, tomatoes, broccoli, and eggplant will require a bit of extra care early on in their life cycle.

If you are considering planting slow-growing vegetables such as celery, leeks, asparagus, and onions, it’s important to take into account that they can take from two to three months from seed stage to transplant stage. Consulting a planting chart will help determine when to start growing indoors in order for them be moved out to the garden in the spring.

While soil from the yard can work as the growing medium, using the soil included with a starting kit can yield the best results, especially for the beginner. Such kits supply most of the necessary materials and instructions to get things off to a good start.

It’s Not for Everyone

It’s important to realize that while some plants can get a leg up from an indoor start, there are other common garden crops that simply don’t take at all well to transplanting. These include corn and legumes such as beans and peas, which typically fare better when direct-seeded.

Likewise, many root crops including carrots, beets, turnips, and parsnips are better off planted directly in the garden. Fortunately, these are generally cold-hardy crops, too, so they can be seeded fairly early in the season.

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A Midwinter’s To-Do List

Posted on February 15, 2012 by admin

A quick glance at the clock at sundown this month should reveal that it’s starting to stay lighter until later in the day, but a quick look around the landscape reveals that it’s still very much winter. It might still be bleak outside, but don’t despair, get organized!

Around the Landscape
Late winter is the ideal time to prune many kinds of deciduous trees. Now is the time to remove any dead or otherwise undesirable portions of the tree, as well as any sprouts near the base of the trunk. Fruit trees can be pruned in late February or early March: Typically (though not always), the worst of the winter cold has already passed but spring has not yet sprung.

For the Garden
If you didn’t have any gardening resolutions for the New Year, here’s one to try: Try to grow at least one new crop that you’ve never attempted before. This new plant just might outshine something you are accustomed to growing, and you’ll certainly come away wiser for the experience.

If you are starting your garden plants indoors, don’t be too hasty. A full two months allows enough time for the slower growing vegetables such as peppers, while about six weeks ahead of the anticipated planting date is sufficiently early for the faster growing plants such as cabbage.
Now is the time to check your supply of seeds to determine what you might still want to order. This can also be a good time to pick up some soil mix and any other supplies.

The winter’s downtime can also be put to good use repairing items such as planter boxes, lawn furniture, and tools in preparation for the warmer months ahead.

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Continent-wide Count is for the Birds

Posted on February 8, 2012 by admin

Some people count sheep. Many more count costs. But for one long weekend each month in February, scientists and amateur bird enthusiasts alike invite everyone in the United States and Canada to count wild birds. It’s free, it’s fun, it’s easy and it helps contribute to our understanding of the migratory behavior of our feathered friends.

This year’s Great Backyard Bird Count will be held from Friday, February 17, through Monday, February 20. Now in its 15th year, the GBBC helps create a real-time picture of where the birds are across the North American continent.

Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to expert birders. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. To participate, simply count birds anywhere for as little or as long as you would like during the four-day period. Then, tally the highest number of birds of each species seen together at any one time. To report counts, participants are asked to complete an online checklist at the Great Backyard Bird Count Web site, http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/.

As the count climbs, anyone with Internet access can log in to see what is being reported from their community or from anywhere in the United States and Canada. They can also see how this year’s numbers stack up against those from previous years. Participants can also send in photographs of the birds they see. A selection of photographs is posted in the online photo gallery.

Scientists and bird enthusiasts can learn a great deal simply by knowing where the birds are. Since bird populations are dynamic and constantly changing, no individual or team could ever begin to document their distribution and movements on so large a scale. Data obtained from the count can help answer questions such as:
• How will this winter’s cold temperatures influence bird populations?
• How will the timing of birds’ migrations compare with past years?
• How are bird diseases, such as West Nile virus, affecting birds in different regions?
• What kinds of differences in bird diversity are apparent in cities compared to suburban, rural, and natural areas?
• Are any birds undergoing worrisome declines that point to the need for conservation?

Each year the data is gathered makes them more meaningful and allows scientists to investigate some truly far-reaching questions.

Can they count you in?

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Combating Cabin Fever

Posted on February 2, 2012 by admin

By February, it’s not uncommon to start feeling at least a touch of cabin fever; it’s especially common among those of us who can’t wait until spring to start gardening. But just because outdoor gardening will have to wait doesn’t mean you have to wait till spring to be surrounded by all things green and leafy.

Get Back to Your Roots
Propagating seeds from compost pile-bound foodstuffs can be fun and rewarding! Many common vegetables can take root and grow indoors on the windowsill, as you may remember from elementary school science projects. Some suggestions include legumes such as lentils and root vegetables such as garlic, carrots, beets or potatoes. Here’s how to do it:
• Cut 1 to 1-1/2 inches from the top of the root.
• Place the cut side down in a shallow bowl or saucer filled partly with pebbles for support and water.
• Keep the cutting in full light

An alternative to the saucer method for plants such as sweet potatoes (eyes included) is to suspend the cutting in a glass of water, using toothpicks as lateral supports. Make sure water covers the bottom third of the cutting.

New leaves should emerge soon, giving way to lush, green foliage!

Road Trip!

Much closer to home than the Everglades or the Amazon, Central Indiana’s botanical gardens and greenhouses can be a great escape on a cold winter’s day.

The botanical gardens at White River State Park in Indianapolis are extensively planted with trees, shrubs, grasses, perennial flowers and annual flowering plants, with more than 1,000 types of plants on display.

Located in aptly named Bloomington, the primary purpose of the Indiana University Department of Biology greenhouses is to grow plants to serve the department’s teaching and research needs, but they also contain many plants from around the globe that are grown in conservatory rooms open to the general public. The Jordan Hall greenhouse is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Group tours are available and can be arranged by calling (812) 855-7717 or by Email at biogreen@indiana.edu.

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Don’t Fence Me In

Posted on January 25, 2012 by admin

The best time to see the true layout of any garden is in the middle of winter when all is bare. Man-made objects, especially, contrast with a dormant winter landscape, so if there are some aspects of your landscape design that could do with some improvement, there is no better time than now when it comes to planning.

For instance, are you tired of having a worn fence as the backdrop to your garden space? One alternative is plant a hedge near it or in its place. Often, hedges are cheaper to install than a new fence, and they provide a more natural way to mark landscaping boundaries.
Since they are living things, hedges have other considerations that are important to bear in mind. A common mistake is to choose plants based solely on appearance rather than function. Ideally, a hedge should satisfy both aesthetic form and practical function.

Dimensions such as depth and height at maturity should play heavily into a design plans. For example, a hedge will be deeper front to back than a fence, so planting a hedge row in front of a fence will appear to make an area smaller. Choosing a hedge that achieves a desired height at maturity will keep you from having to prune too often. If maintenance is a concern, make sure to make this a priority in your selection.

Foliage color and prospects for blooming might seem strictly aesthetic concerns, but they have some very practical implications during the growing season. Some foliage color other than green can add visual interest, but that might only be a short burst of color only during the autumn. Keep in mind that conspicuous flowers can add beauty but they can also attract insects such as bees. So, if a hedge is destined to be close to a pool, deck, or patio, it might be wise to choose a non-blooming variety.

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A Little TLC to Your Outdoor Plants Can Make a World of Difference

Posted on January 18, 2012 by admin

Although it might be the slow season for growing things of many kinds, winter can be a crucial time of year for the survival of most outdoor plants.

Snow buildup on evergreens, for instance, can lead to breaks and alter the shape of the plant, and not necessarily in ways you might have groomed it. To keep this from happening when the snow starts to accumulate, consider using a broom to brush it away using an upward motion. Be careful: sometimes a well-intended snow removal mission can cause more harm than good, so try not to shake the branches since this may be enough to cause them to break. Likewise, if the snow is frozen on a branch and won’t brush off easily, it’s better to let it melt on its own rather than increase the chances for damage.

Should a tree limb break from to the weight of ice or snow, try to have it removed as soon as the weather allows. Such a wound will heal better when spring comes if there is a clean cut rather than irregular edges.
While wintertime salt applications help keep walkways and roadways safe for traffic, they can cause real problems for bordering plants. One way to protect plants from road and sidewalk salt is to put together a screen made from burlap to keep the briny spray off your plants.

This is also a great time of year to identify places to plant windbreaks. Wherever there are snow drifts on your lawn this year, consider planting a windbreak this spring. A great way to design such an installation is to use a movable barrier to determine the best placement for planting.

On the flipside of this, if you notice evergreen trees or shrubs blocking a window where the sun’s warmth would be welcome, consider replacing them with deciduous trees. These leaf-shedding plants will let in sun in during winter, while providing cooling shade in the summer.

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Early Winter Checks

Posted on January 11, 2012 by admin

If you don’t like the weather in Indiana, wait five minutes: It’ll change. While that familiar phrase might be a bit of an overstatement, it’s not entirely inaccurate. Especially during early winter, Indiana often continues to see wide swings in temperature.

While most outdoor plants are accustomed to dealing with it, some plants such as bulbs and plants kept in coldframes might need some extra attention, especially during prolonged exposure to warmer weather followed by a quick snap back to winter’s cold reality.

Remember to check perennials to see if any have been pushed out of the ground by a freeze-thaw cycle. If this proves to be the case, simply push them back into the soil. Left alone, the exposed roots will eventually succumb to wintry conditions. If several consecutive warm days have caused bulbs to pop out from protective mulch, add another layer before the cold weather comes back to prevent freezing by exposure. Similarly, replace any mulch that winds may have already stripped away.

Sometimes even in the middle of winter, we experience a few warm, sunny days. Typically, this is not an issue for most outdoor plants. If you keep some of your garden in coldframes, however, it may be necessary to ventilate to keep heat from building up inside. Always remember to close the vents before the temperature plummets again at night.

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Re-purposing Your Cut Christmas Tree

Posted on January 4, 2012 by admin

Though it may give you the wintertime blues to take down your holiday tree, you can still find comfort in being able to recycle it as part of the landscape. So if you are one of the holdouts who stalwartly hangs on to ol’ Tannenbaum through the twelve days of Christmas and then some, or who otherwise finds it difficult to part with a cut evergreen tree, there are several ways to multipurpose your otherwise discarded holiday centerpiece well into the new year.

In some communities, one option is to use a pick-up service for discarded holiday trees. Typically, these trees are put to use as mulch in parks and other municipal properties. Many communities offer this pick-up service through the end of January, but be sure to check newspapers and city web sites or call your local street department directly for information specific to your area.

If you’d like to keep your tree closer to home, Christmas trees can also be recycled to use as mulch around your own landscape. Smaller branches can be chopped or ground up for use as wood chips in flower and shrub beds. Larger branches can be cut into smaller bundles for winter protective mulch around newly planted perennials and small shrubs. Just make sure to remove the branches in spring, when the plants begin to grow again.

Another option for using a discarded Christmas tree around the landscape is as cover for local birds. Adding bird food ornaments such as suet, molded seeds and disposable birdseed hangers provides an extra incentive. If you decide to go this route, make sure to remove any non-recyclable ornaments first. To prevent your new bird sanctuary from tumbling away in high winter winds, consider securing the trunk to the ground with wire or bailing twine or by bracing it with stakes.

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Now’s the Time to Think About Landscape Design!

Posted on December 28, 2011 by admin

Has this past season’s growing season got you thinking about next season’s? If your New Year’s resolution is to improve your garden or landscape, winter is the perfect time to plan for the next growing season.

If your New Year’s resolution is to do something different with the landscape around your home, from planting new bulbs to a complete landscape makeover, there is no better time than the present to get started. Not only can a well-designed landscape add aesthetic enjoyment to your property, it can increase its value, as well.

“A properly designed and installed landscape increases a home’s value by 6-11% or more over time,” according to a statement from the Department of Horticulture at the University of Michigan. And unlike most improvement projects around the house that depreciate with age, landscaping improvements appreciate over time. “Effectively landscaping your yard can be one of the most cost-effective ways to boost your home’s appeal,” agreed Money magazine, in an article that appeared in its March 2006 issue.

Although it may be hard to “think spring” in the dead of winter, if you wait until spring arrives, it may be too late to get a good start. Design is a fundamental part of any successful project, and planning during the winter months provides enough time to create a design, make revisions, and make a budget for a landscaping project.

So while your trees, shrubs, flowers and lawn have settled down for a long winter’s nap, take advantage of this “downtime” by planning for next year’s yard and landscape. If you are new to landscape design and would like some expert advice, consider contacting a pro at Greensketch Concepts – www.greensketchconcepts.com.

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De-Salting the Lawn

Posted on December 21, 2011 by admin

December usually isn’t a month we think of when it comes to landscaping, but winter has a way of rearranging the landscape, often with the help of human accomplices. Early snows often have a way of popping up, and if your community’s snow plows are on the road to keep the streets snow-free, that usually means salt is part of the solution. Closer to the house, it’s not uncommon to apply ice melting compounds to driveways and sidewalks to prevent unwanted skating rinks.

All this comes at a cost, however. Many of these chemicals find their way to the lawn, leading to brown strips of grass along tree lawns, driveways, and anywhere green spaces meet the road. One way to deal with this problem is to apply gypsum before the first snow hits – well, we might have missed the first snow, but do it now. Gypsum works to neutralize the high pH levels found in many of the snow melting chemicals, and does so by not altering the pH levels of the soil itself – a pretty neat trick.

A liberal sprinkling along grassy areas that border streets, sidewalks, and driveways, or any other green area that you know will be treated with salt or snow-melting chemicals will go a long way toward keeping grass healthy when spring finally gets here.

Back to Nature for Your Sidewalk
If you have a sidewalk or path made from stone or brick, you know the havoc Indiana’s freeze-thaw cycles can play with paving materials. To help keep sidewalks from heaving and cracking, consider covering them with mulch topped with a few inches of hay just after the ground freezes. The mixture provides good traction during the winter, and when spring comes, all you have to do is collect the mulch and add it back to your compost pile.

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