Gravol and gardening

Despite having cut my finger and passing out on the sofa for Mother's day weekend, I  managed to plug away at the gardening chores thanks to Tylenol . Sunny and warm weather is nothing but  a distant memory as it has been raining for a week and just as well because the girls had and still have a stomach flu. After Valentina decided to give me a vomit shower on Tuesday @3am by 11am gravol became my new BFF . I have been praising the makers of gravol ever since and love them more than Tylenol at this point.

Before the gravol era kicked in, I was on a gardening marathon ...which started with my half a yard of triple mix soil.

  This is the edging that was pushed up by the long winter months.

The dead tree branches were pruned and were awaiting transportation to the burn pile.

                                  Beds begging to be weeded and the soil turned.

The new cherry tree waiting to be planted.

Then there was the grass that need cutting because it was almost a tall as the twins. We got a new lawn mower that mulches as it cuts and it is the best thing ever, especially when I have to cut under the pine trees. The pine cones no longer fly in the air and hit me in the face...what's not love?!

Here are some tips for planting cherry trees I learned;

1. Before purchasing trees, evaluate the pollination requirement of the given fruit crop.
2. Place pole-type pollinators every 60 to 120 feet in every row, with adjacent rows offset.
3. The honey bee is the most important carrier of pollen.
4. All sour cherries are self-fruitful. All sweet cherry varieties, except Stella, are self-unfruitful and must be cross-pollinated.
5. The location should have soil that is well drained, since standing water will easily kill the trees. The location should also have good air drainage, keeping low-lying cold air in the spring away from the tree. The location used for planting cherry trees should also provide for full sun access. If planting cherry trees in a lawn, the grass should be removed from the planting area in a four-foot diameter circle, to prevent the grass from competing with the young tree for nutrients and water.
6. Once the site is selected, the first step in planting cherry trees is to dig the hole. The hole should be approximately twice the diameter of the root system, and two feet deep.
7. The soil should also be loosened up around the border to allow the roots to break through more easily. The roots should be spread out on the loose soil, ensuring that they are not twisted or crowded. Soil should be placed around the roots and pressed down firmly, to remove any air pockets.

Courtesy of aboutcherrytrees.com

Sour and Sweet Cherry

All sour cherries are self-fruitful, such as Montmorency, North Star, Balaton, Meteor, English Morello, Early Richmond, Hansen Bush Cherry and Nanking. Most sweet cherries are self-unfruitful(self-incompatible, SI) and require cross pollination with another variety as the pollen source.

Some varieties, e.g. Bing, Lambert, Royal Ann/Napoleon, are also cross-unfruitful and cannot be depended upon to provide pollen for each other. Index, Lapins, Skeena, Sweetheart, WhiteGold, Sonata, Stella, Symphony, Sunburst, and BlackGold are self-fruitful (SF) sweet cherries that can serve as "universal" pollen sources for many self-unfruitful sweet cherry varieties (Stella does not work for Bing in some areas).

Their use as "universal" pollinators should also take bloom timing into consideration as follows. Early-bloom: SI – Somerset; SF – Lapins and Skeena. Early- to early-mid-bloom: SI – Kristin, Chelan, and Black Republican; SF – Sweetheart and WhiteGold. Mid- to late-mid-bloom: SI – Royalton, Summit, Ranier, Royal Ann / Napoleon, Bing, Burlat, Van, Regina, Lambert, Sam, and Windsor; SF – Sonata, Stella, Symphony, and Sunburst. Late-bloom: SI – Gold and Hudson; SF – BlackGold. Move bees into orchards on the first day of bloom.

 ~Courtesy of Colorado State University 

I found a couple of these feather or fur piles through out the property...not to sure what it was but I ran the lawn mower over it just the same. That sounds awful I know but it's the cycle of nature out here and I was not about to try and pick that up.

 Next came the cedar shrubs that did not survive my husband's terrible planting job. Hence the new ban on him ever planting again.

 Here are some useful tips I found on the Canadian Tire website.

How to Plant a Cedar Hedge

LOCATION:Salt damages the evergreen foliage, causing tissue death. Cedars prefer a sunny to part shady area in the garden. They will not grow uniformly or properly in a heavily shaded area. 

Do not plant a cedar hedge near steep gradients. Moisture loss is a serious problem with steep slopes. 

Be sure to plant at least 3-4 feet away from walkways, roads or any property edges.

PLANTING: White Cedar (Field Cedar) or Pyramidal Cedar (Emerald Cedar, Brandon)

Dig a trench 16 inches (40 cm) wide and deep along this line. Place plants 12 to 18 inches (30 to 45cm) apart. 

Place plants then backfill with existing soil that has been mixed with manure, compost, triple mix or peat moss. 

In heavily sandy soils add 2 parts amendment (ie: manure) to 1 part existing soil. (Cedars thrive on moisture and nutrient rich soils.) 

Push the soil firmly around the roots ensuring that the plant remains straight and at the right soil level. Be sure to soak the trench well after planting and add plant starter fertilizer to the water.

During planting it is advised to feed with Plant Starter fertilizer Organically rich soil is preferable to help maintain moisture. Supplementing the existing soil with manure will improve soils water retention. Watering thoroughly is key for helping cedars take root after planting. Begin by measuring the distance of the planting line. Never situate a cedar hedge close to anywhere near a walkway or roadway where salt is used over winter.

WATERING:

Thorough watering is better than light, infrequent watering. 

Let the hose sit at the base of the planting trench and allow water to lightly trickle for several hours, while moving the hose down the line of cedars every other hour. Another way is to use a soaker hose along the planting line. 

Water like this every week right after planting and use your own discretion during drought like conditions. Thoroughly soak the roots again in late fall for them to maintain adequate moisture for over wintering.

SOIL: Mulch is an excellent method of adding nutrients to the soil, slowly over time. It also inhibits evaporation.

FERTILIZING CARE: Subsequently feed with water-soluble plant fertilizer, three times through the growing season (once in May, June, and again in July). 

Fertilizing with slow release nitrogen and phosphorus is advised in late fall to give the hedge an added boost for spring. 

A combination of Blood and Bone Meal can also be used as an organic alternative.

They are predicting a hot and dry Summer despite the rain and I am preparing by using some xeriscaping in my garden beds. Xeriscaping refers to a method of landscape design that minimizes water use.Although we have a well, I don't want to stand outside for long periods of time watering everything.

 For more information on which plants you could use check out  HGTV Xeriscaping plant guide

After a week of rain

 After

The view from my kitchen window

They are calling for another week of rain so my new garden bed wont be cut and my wisteria bush will have to wait to be planted. Feeling the way I do.....it's not such a bad thing after all.

Perennial Plants and Divisions

I love Spring!...the promise of warmer weather and sunny Summer days seem closer than ever. Mind you it has been raining and cold the last couple of days but the plants have been loving every minute it . My day lilies are growing quite quickly and have spread alot so I need to transplant the new growth. The hostas have gotten quite large and have to be divided this year. Hostas, lilies and irises have very similar roots so the technique in dividing them is the same. 

My day lilies

One of my overgrown hostas and day lilies

Irises

Better Homes and Gardens has amazing tips and information, like the article below on how to divide hostas. This technique can be used on lilies and irises.

When to Divide Hostas

The best time of year to divide hostas is in late summer (August or early September). But, don't worry if you forget: You can divide hostas anytime from spring to fall.

 Here's a hint: If you divide your hostas in summer, be sure to keep them well watered for a few weeks to help them get through the shock of being transplanted. And make sure you allow at least three or four weeks for the hostas to become established before the soil freezes solid if you divide them in fall.

You'll know your hostas have to be divided when they get too crowded and the center of a clump starts to die out. As a general rule, count on dividing the plants every three to four years to keep them at their healthiest. Some slower-growing varieties may need longer before they're ready for division. And you may be able to divide faster-growing varieties every two or three years.

How to Divide Hostas

If your hostas aren't too large, dig out the entire clump. One way to do this is to dig around the clump in a circle, then use your shovel like a lever to lift the clump out of the ground. Once it's out of the ground, you should notice that the clump is made up of many individual plants. (If there's still a lot of soil around the plant, wash it off so you can see the hosta crowns.) Carefully break apart the clumps into divisions made up of at least three sets of shoots coming out of a crown.

If your hostas are too large to lift out of the ground, use your shovel to cut the clump into divisions. Carefully dig out the sections and replant them.

Here's a hint: Many gardeners find that it's easiest to divide hostas using a garden fork or flat spade.

Replanting

Plant your hosta divisions in the ground at the same depth they were growing before. Water them well.

 Better Homes and Gardens guide to hostas

Future gardeners in the making

There is so much to learn about gardening and I am very happy to have come across this handy dandy website that breaks it all down into soils, plants, care and much much more.

Everything you need to know about perennial plant care

  It is still raining so I shall spend the day doing a little Monday and Tuesday blog hopping

DEET marinade no more!

Although it`s still freezing cold and snow is covering the ground, I got Summer on my mind. Hot & sunny days swatting bugs away after bathing in DEET. I use the highest % I can find and it is nothing more than a very tasty marinade.So this year I am going to try companion planting and use plants that deter bugs because bathing in chemicals just can`t be a good thing.

List of plants that deter bugs

A definite must have no matter where you live are these mosquitoes deterring plants

Citronella Grass

Catnip

Rosemary

Marigolds

and marigolds repel alot more other bugs too.

Here are some popular unwelcomed insects;

Ants -pennyroyal, spearmint, southernwood, tansy

Aphids -garlic, chives and other alliums, coriander, anise, nasturtium and petunia around fruit trees

Borer -garlic, onion, tansy

Cabbage moth -mint, hyssop, rosemary, southernwood, thyme, sage, wormwood, celery, catnip, nasturtium

Colorado potato beetle- green beans, horseradish, dead nettle, flax, catnip, coriander, tansy, nasturtium

Cucumber beetle- tansy, radish

Cutworm- tansy

Flea beetle -wormwood, mint, catnip, interplant cole crops with tomato

Japanese beetle- garlic, larkspur, tansy, rue, white geranium

Leafhopper- petunia, geranium

Mexican bean beetle -marigold, potato, rosemary, savory, petunia

Mites- onion, garlic, chives

Nematodes- marigold, salvia, dahlia, calendula, asparagus

Rose chafer -geranium, petunia, onion

Slug- prostrate rosemary, wormwood

Squash bu tansy, nasturtium, catnip

Tomato hornworm- borage, marigold, opal basal

Whitefly- nasturtium, marigold

Courtesy of http://www.pallensmith.com/ is a list of some other flowers that can be very useful;

Artemisia - This plant produces a strong antiseptic, although not unpleasant aroma that repels most insects. Planted in drifts it can also deter small animals. My favorite variety is 'Powis Castle'. I prefer to use this plant in flower borders and not in my vegetable garden because it produces a botanical poison.

Basil -The oils in basil are said to repel thrips, flies and mosquitoes. I plant basil along side my tomatoes for larger, tastier tomatoes. However, basil and rue should not be planted together.

Bee Balm - I love this plant because it attracts bees to my garden. It is another plant that you can grow with your tomatoes.

Borage - This plant is a real workhorse in the garden. It repels tomato hornworms and cabbage worms and attracts beneficial bees and wasps. Borage also adds trace elements to the soil. This is an annual, but readily comes back each year from seed.

Catnip - I think that this plant repels just about everything, except for cats of course! Use it to keep away flea beetles, aphids, Japanese beetles, squash bugs, ants, and weevils. I use sachets of dried catnip to deter the annual parade of ants that invade my kitchen. My favorite variety of catnip is 'Six Hills Giant' because of its proliferation of sky blue blooms.

Chives - Chives are one of my favorite herbs. Not only do I love the flavor but their grassy foliage and round flower heads also add so much interest to my garden. You can plant chives to repel Japanese beetles and carrot rust flies. It has also been said that chives will help prevent scab when planted among apple trees.

Chrysanthemums - When I do use an insecticide I use one made from chrysanthemums called pyrethrum. This all-natural pesticide can help control things like roaches, ticks, silverfish, lice, fleas, bedbugs, and I like to use it to control ants in certain parts of my garden. In the garden white flowering chrysanthemums are said to drive away Japanese beetles and C. coccineum, commonly known as Painted Daisy, kills root nematodes.

Dahlias - I have a renewed appreciation for these old fashioned favorites. Dahlias repel nematodes and the blooms are great for adding bold splashes of color to flower borders and fresh arrangements.

Dill - I always find a place for this plant in my garden. Dill is best planted with cucumbers and onions. During the cool season I plant it with my lettuce. Dill attracts hoverflies and predatory wasps, and its foliage is used as food by swallowtail butterfly caterpillars. Tomato hornworms are also attracted to dill, so if you plant it at a distance, you can help draw these destructive insects away from your tomatoes. Dill repels aphids and spider mites. I like to sprinkle dill leaves on my squash plant to repel squash bugs.

Four O'Clocks - This plant is a favorite food for Japanese beetles. However, because of its poisonous foliage rarely do they get to finish their meal. It is important to note that Four O'Clocks are also poisonous to people and animals, so avoid planting it if you have small children or pets.

Garlic - I could write endlessly about garlic. I love the stuff. In addition to its great taste and health benefits, garlic planted near roses repels aphids. It also deters codling moths, Japanese beetles, root maggots, snails, and carrot root fly.

Hyssop - This is another one of my favorite plants. Hyssop is great for attracting honeybees to the garden.

Lavender - I can't imagine my garden without lavender. I just love its fresh scent and delicate blue blooms. Lavender is a favorite among many beneficial insects and also repels fleas and moths.

Marigolds - The marigold is probably the most well known plant for repelling insects. French marigolds repel whiteflies and kill bad nematodes. Mexican marigolds are said to offend a host of destructive insects and wild rabbits as well. If you choose marigolds for your garden they must be scented to work as a repellant. And while this plant drives away many bad bugs, it also attracts spider mites and snails.

Nasturtiums - I plant nasturtiums with my tomatoes and cucumbers as a way to fight off wooly aphids, whiteflies, squash bugs, and cucumber beetles. The flowers, especially the yellow blooming varieties, act as a trap for aphids.

Petunias - I plant petunias throughout my garden just because I love them so much. As an added benefit they repel asparagus beetles, leafhoppers, a range of aphids, tomato worms, and a good many other pests.

Sunflowers - I use sunflowers as a way to draw aphids away from my other plants. Ants move their colonies onto sunflowers. The sunflowers are tough enough that they suffer no damage

I am really hoping that companion planting works but I always gotta have a backup plan just in case. Here are some tips I found online:

• Drill holes in the centers of small bars of soap (hotel sample sizes are perfect), hang four to five in each tree on "S" hooks of wire to repel deer.
• Place Dial soap in a drawstring tobacco pouch and hang in fruit trees and Christmas trees to deter deer.
• Hang human hair in a sack for deer repellent (one ounce of bagged human hair hung in each orchard tree or in perimeter trees will repel deer).
• Keep ants from crawling up a picnic table by standing each leg in a small pan of water.
• To kill ants, use a paste of equal parts of borax and confectioner sugar.
• Mix peanut butter (six parts), brown sugar (one part), one-half teaspoon salt with boric acid (one part) for Pharaoh Ant control.
• Mix mint apple jelly and boric acid for Pharaoh Ant control (two tablespoons boric acid powder per 10 ounces of mint apple jelly).
• Mix three cups water, one cup sugar and four teaspoons boric acid powder for ant control. (Pour a over a cotton ball in a small dish or bottle cap.)
• Apply slices of Osage oranges (hedge apples, horse apples or Bois d'arc apples) of Maclura pomifera to repel cockroaches.
• Sliced or crushed cucumbers to keep cockroaches away from food.
• Mix equal parts of boric acid powder, powdered sugar, and cornmeal as a poison bait for cockroaches.
• Mix equal parts of plaster of paris and powdered sugar as a poison bait for cockroaches.
• A nail spike beside a tomato plant repels cutworms.
• Place a milk carton over young tomato plants to keep out cutworms. (Set vertical carton collars at least two inches above and two inches into soil.)
• Place cornmeal around tomato plants for cutworm control.
• Wrap tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants with a four inch by four inch aluminum foil strip to prevent cutworm damage and soil borne blight organisms (wrap stem area between roots and leaves; place two inches of foil wrapped stem below soil and two inches above soil.)
• Walk through a room wearing white socks to detect fleas. Dark fleas jumping on the white background are easily seen.
• Use flea bane daisy to repel fleas.
• Use banana peels to repel fleas.
• Feed yeast to dogs to repel fleas.
• Suspend a light bulb over a pan of oil or soapy water to attract and drown fleas during the night.
• Rub jewel weed on mosquito bites and poison ivy to control itch.  
• Use hedge apples for control of crickets and spiders.
• For grass and weeds growing between stones or bricks on walks or terraces, sprinkle 20 Mule Team borax powder and sweep into cracks (one application every other year).
• Apply tobacco and snuff juice for wasp stings and bites.
• Apply Adolph's Meat Tenderizer in a poultice, baking soda, ammonia or ice for bee stings.
• Spray insect stings with "Fantastic."
• Put up a chicken fence to keep rabbits out of home vegetable gardens.
• Apply finely ground cayenne peppers sprinkled on moistened vegetable leaves to repel rabbits.
• Use plastic or heavy cardboard tree wrap around tree trunks to prevent rabbit feeding damage.
• Use wood ash for slug control.
• Use beer or yeast dissolved in water in pit fall traps (cups sunk into the ground) to attract and drown snails and slugs.
• Use Juicy Fruit gum in mole runs for control.
• Use chocolate flavored Ex-lax to control chipmunks, moles, etc.
• Apply paradichlorobenzene (PDB) crystals to the soil in autumn in a band surrounding the peach tree trunk to control borers.
• Install an electric fence to keep raccoons out of the sweet corn patch.
• Use alcohol on a cotton ball with a toothpick or commercial "Q" swab stick for mealybug control.
• Spray aphids with garlic.
• Spread tin foil spread around the base of plants to repel aphids.
• Spray Ivory soapy water for plant scale, aphid and spider mite control.
• Put bay leaves put into stored beans, peas and flour meal to repel pantry pests.
• Plant marigolds around other plants throughout the garden to repel nematodes. (The African Marigold, Tagetes erecta is effective.)
• Place pans of apple cider vinegar on the periphery of the picnic area the night before to attract and drown picnic beetles. Place an upright bottle in the middle of the pan to assist beetles falling into the vinegar.
• Tick and Fly Spray--two cups white vinegar, one cup Avon Skin-So-Soft bath oil, one cup water, one tablespoon eucalyptus oil (available at drugstores and health food stores).
• Keep pests away naturally, add a sprig of basil to a fruit bowl to deter fruit flies, rub a drop of vanilla extract into skin to control gnats.
• Pour hot boiling water and a strong cleaning detergent down the drain to eliminate nuisance gnats and flies.
• Coffee spray---bugs hate coffee...especially aphids.Mix yarrow, tansy, penny royal, thyme, lavender, rue, catnip and artemisia. Mix at least a cup of this herbal mixture with 2 tablespoons used coffee grounds and 2 cups of water. Allow this to marinate for at least 24 hours before straining and placing into a spray bottle. Keeps for several weeks. 

And last but not least...a small wet towel and good aim...WORKS EVERY TIME!

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