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Happy Gardening
by Joyce Wedel
.jpg) I really don't like to consider myself handicapped, but --- the truth of the matter is, I have now had three new knees, courtesy of a very fine surgeon. This does limit my mobility! But let me tell you how I am able to garden - lots of gardens.
I sit. I have a big thick cushion made of sponge rubber that I scootch on the ground under me. I am able to lean in as far as I can lay on my side, stretching all the way, and get that weed with my short hoe. This hoe is just 12" long, although I have one that is l5" that is heavier. I have a 5-gallon pail that I stuff the weeds and clippings into. When the pail is full, that is my weight limit anyway, so I go and empty it, either where the clippings can compost right where they are dropped, or into a wheelbarrow to take somewhere else.
My paraphernalia is complete with a small hand-clipper (lightweight for ladies and pink, of course) and washable garden gloves. By the way, a pink (or yellow or white, etc.) clipper shows up on the soil or in the pile of clippings so less danger of me throwing it away. Washable, cheap (99 cents) brown garden gloves. Works for me. I like a clean pair of gloves each day and if I touch poison ivy, I can just wash them out.
This is the time of year it is hard to resist transplanting. There's a hole here and there that I could nicely fill with an extra plant that has popped up. Sometimes, when George isn't home, I'll just transplant it anyway, and water it like crazy. It almost always takes, and if by chance it doesn't, I'm not out anything. The sure way to fill a hole is to get a new potted plant from Wedel's!
How wonderful the rudbeckia, or black-eyed Susans, are this year. I like a lot of one thing and rudbeckias sure do spread. Lots of office buildings and parks have great patches of yellow waving in the breeze. What a neat sight!
And Round-Up and Killzall are my good helpers. They are an invaluable aide to anyone who maintains a lot of garden. The trick is to get things weeded, and then just as the new weeds pop up, give them a good shot. Tall, dead brown weeds are quite unsightly, so I only shoot the short guys! Here again, I have modified to accommodate my knees. I use a three-gallon sprayer mounted on a luggage cart - a one gallon-sprayer always empties when I am too far from the water and chemical source, and three gallons is too heavy to carry. I've already worn-out one of these carriers.
Keep the water flowing! Sometimes one hot dry day can be a killer!
Happy Gardening! |
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A Thought
from the Garden
Just as a prism of glass miters light and casts a colored braid,
a garden
sings sweet incantations the human heart strains to hear.
Hiding in every
flower, in every leaf, in every twig and bough, are reflections of the God
who once walked with us in Eden.
- Tonia Triebwasser, The Color of Grace
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| Pretty Garden? |
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If you have a garden, a feeding station or bird pictures that you are proud of, send them to us. We'll share your picture with our readers. Send pictures to:
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We're Thirsty! |
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Unseasonably hot weather can make your flowers and vegetable plants start to look peaked. Although rainfall does help, you should remember to water thoughtfully.
To determine if you have watered sufficiently, dig down into the soil to see if more moisture is needed. Dig down with a trowel blade about 5-6 inches. If it's moist and damp, leave it alone. If it's still dry, water!
Most garden plants, including your lush lawn, need an inch of water a week from rainfall or watering. Keep in mind that a few deep waterings are better than frequent light sprinklings. When water soaks deep into the soil the roots will grow to reach it. If water does not penetrate deeply and stays near the surface, roots will start growing upward.
Stop by Wedel's to see our huge selection of watering equipment!
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Just for Grins... .jpg)
Gardening Rule:
A man should never plant a garden larger
than his wife can take care of.
- T.H. Everett | |
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| Volume 1, Number 5 August, 2008 |
| Time to
Smell the Roses
by George Wedel |
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 As our landscapes and gardens are at their peak of the summer bloom, green thumbers need to take a step back and smell the roses. It's easy to become so absorbed in planting and tending your garden, lawn and landscape that we fail to take time to drink in all the beauty of your own outdoor living area. My formula is to go all out in the morning, and then have lunch in the shade of our Scarlet Maple and enjoy the multitude of flowers and foliage colors and textures.
This is also a great time of year to visit other gardens, both public and private. Public gardens of interest within a four to six hour drive include Michigan State University's Beal Garden, Lewis Botanical Center and the MSU Trial Garden in East Lansing. You'd also enjoy Fernwood Garden in Niles; Kingwood Center Gardens in Mansfield, Ohio; Chicago Botanical Gardens; Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati and Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids. A little closer to home, you could organize a neighborhood garden tour. Enlist your neighbors with gardens, serve refreshments, swap garden, lawn and landscape ideas and get to know your neighbors better.
This time of year keep an eye out for aphids, leaf hoppers, mildew and leaf spot infections. Take steps to keep these pests in check. A good multi-purpose spray for flower gardens is Triple Action Plus. An application every 10 days will control most mites, diseases and unwanted insects in flower gardens.
Be sure to cut off or dead head spent blossoms stalks on both annual and perennial flowers as soon as the petals fall. Remove yellowing foliage on perennials that are beginning to go dormant, this would include; old fashioned bleeding hearts, daffodils and oriental poppies. To fill in bare areas, consider planting marigolds, salvia or impatiens for blooms that will last until frost. Wedel's has gallon size flowering annual plants especially grown for summer planting.
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 Q. I'm going on vacation this month, and my feeders will be emptied before I get back. Does this hurt the birds?
A. This is a good question since none of us want to do any harm to the birds that live around our homes. Research done by Dr. Geis of the Fish and Wildlife Service indicates that most birds get only a limited amount of their food from any one source. Since birds are very mobile, they are able to find other food if any single food source becomes depleted. Go ahead and enjoy your vacation and fill your feeders when you get back. The birds will very quickly rediscover the fresh food.
Hummingbird feeders are an exception to this rule and should be taken down before leaving on vacation. When the nectar begins to ferment the birds will learn that no good food comes from that flower and as a result it will be difficult to get them to stop by when you put out fresh nectar. Matter of fact take your feeder with you on vacation. Hummingbirds are quick to find a newly blooming flower and in their world a feeder is simply a flower that has lots of nectar.
Q. Why do birds fly in a V-formation?
A. Several bird species, particularly waterfowl such as geese, swans, ducks and pelicans fly in the V-formation. Birds fly either next to or slightly above the bird ahead of them. This allows them to take advantage of the upwelling of air created by the bird in front. Research has shown that birds in the V can travel more than 70% farther on the same amount of energy as a solo bird. The point bird is working the hardest so the flocks are equal opportunity when it comes to being point bird -- it is rotated equally without regard to sex.
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| Plant
Insurance? |
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Did you ever wonder if you should purchase plant insurance? Anything can be insured (think Lloyd's of London) but it isn't really reasonable to buy a policy for most plants. But there IS an alternative: PlantSure Plus, an all natural fertilizer with mycorrhizae. The fertilizer component of PlantSure Plus is derived from: feather meal, composted poultry manure, sulate of potash, rock phosphate and cold water sea kelp. All are familiar terms. It is the mycorrhizae that might not be as familiar..jpg)
Mycorrhizae are beneficial fungi with the emphasis on beneficial. When we think of fungus we think of moldy bread, toadstools and plant diseases but of the over 1 million species of fungi in the world, most are beneficial, even necessary for the break down of organic matter so that the nitrogen, carbon and minerals it contains can be put back into a form that other living organisms can take up and use.
The mycorrhizae in PlantSure Plus work with and are fed by the root system of your plant and, in return, grow, increase in surface area, absorb nutrients from the soil and feed your plant with those nutrients. They help to increase disease resistance and drought tolerance of your valuable landscape plants and are therefore a type of plant insurance. We at Wedel's have seen amazing results when PlantSure Plus has been used at the time of planting; but that's not the only time to use it. PlantSure Plus has been proven to revitalize ailing plants, even trees, when used properly.
Stop by Wedel's and talk to one of our Plant Doctors to find out how you can insure the health and vitality of all of your valuable plantings. |
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| Trees
Need Water
Too |
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Though trees are much more resilient than flowers or grass, you still need to pay attention to how much water they're getting, especially as hot weather hits. One thing to keep in mind: Trees get much of their water from their massive network of fine roots, which quickly get saturated, so just dumping a ton of water at the tree's base doesn't cut it because most of it will run off and not sink down deep into the roots. Instead, use a dribbler head on your hose to supply a slow, steady dosage. And remember to move the hose around some to make sure the whole root structure is evenly irrigated.
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Saturday Mornings
Birdwatch 8:00
with host Roger Taylor answering all of your birding questions
Call in at 382-4280 or 800-742-6590.
Over the Garden Fence 9:07
with host Andy Wedel answering all of your landscape and gardening questions
Call in at 382-4280 or 800-742-6590. | |
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Note from the Editor
There is something that all but one of the floral images above (the exception, the beautiful white roses) have in common. Can you spot it?
August. Can you believe it is August already? We've arrived at the time of year when we can, guiltlessly, stop and appreciate the results of all of our hard work. George has offered us a number of ideas, in his column, for how we can enjoy and share, with friends and neighbors, the fruits of our landscape labors. He knows that there are many gardeners, like him, who will be able to admire their handiwork just so long however before they notice an aphid here or leaf spot there. This is a good time of year for a gardener to relax but the best time of year for a gardener to really relax is approaching all too quickly. So do pour a glass of iced tea, pull up a lawn chair and appreciate all that nature has to offer during these warm, humid days; and, when you're ready, get back out there and have fun doing what you enjoy so much.
I'll give you a clue to the answer for my question. It's not too early to start planning...
By the way, the first person to answer my question about the floral images will win a $15.00 Wedel's gift certificate if you email your answer to my address below. You are eligible to win once every 90 days and the gift certificate must be picked up at Wedel's Garden Center. Good luck and have fun!
'Til next time,
"There's a time each year
That we always hold dear,
Good old summer time;
With the birds and the trees'es
And sweet scented breezes,
Good old summer time,
When your day's work is over
Then you are in clover,
And life is one beautiful rhyme,
No trouble annoying,
Each one is enjoying,
The good old summer time."
- Lyrics by Ron Shields, In the Good Old Summertime
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