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blog_soil_evaluation

Once you have decided the best place to plant your garden you should take a closer look at the structure of your soil. The quality or how healthy your soil is will determine how well your plants will grow. Once you determine the quality of the soil, you can make adjustments so that your garden is successful.

The best way to understand your soil is to get out in the middle of your garden and take a look! The next best thing is to take a soil sample and sent it to a lab to be evaluation. While you are waiting for lab results, take these easy steps to evaluate your soil.

  1. Look at the color. The best soil is a dark rich brown color.
  2. Smell it! Good soil has a rich earthy smell to it. (no need to taste it)
  3. Crumble it in your hand. If it falls apart- too dry.
  4. Look for earthworms! Earthworms are a good indicator of a healthy soil. You cannot add them but they will come when your soil is improved.

These simple steps are an easy way to start getting aware of what type of soil you have. You can get a more in depth understanding once your test results are back. Knowing your soil is important in understanding what you need to do to help improve it and in turn improve the life of your plants.

blog_winter_moth

It is inevitable that Northerners will get spring fever in the next couple months and weeks until Spring has officially arrived. We are craving the rush of energy that pushes up through the ground, giving us the first signs that winter is over. The bright yellow flourish of the forsythia, the parade of colorful tulips, the early blooming dogwood trees, daffodils, crocuses and all the smells and sights that bring us ultimate joy and exhilaration.

With all this excitement, it may be easy to overlook one of the most devastating signs that the Winter Moth, (Operophtera brumata), has already done its destruction. By the time the trees have leafed out and begun to bloom, this atrocious intruder has already hatched and feed ravenously on the leaves and fruit beginning early spring. Larvae has feed on the inside of the buds and leaf clusters during the day, inching their way to the outside of leaves at night. The Winter Moth is a common threat in our area but there are ways to overcome this voracious pest.

  1. Take inventory: In early spring, look for the winter moth in their favorite hangout areas, like inside buds and leaf clusters. At night, look with flashlight to see them on outside of leaves.Search trunks of trees October through January. At this stage they are in moth form and will be grayish brown with 1″ wingspans, and appear hairy; females have no wings. Keep a record of what you see and what you don’t see.
  2. Make a Plan: Figure out which stages of the Winter Moth lifecycle you can impact. In winter, search trees for wingless females. They are easy to catch. Look for the male moths around the trunk of tree, waiting to mate.
  3. Determine the severity of the problem: The health of your tree can withstand some leaf loss and doing nothing might be all you have to do. The Winter Moth is also the prey of many other natural predators and parasites.
  4. Praying with dormant oil: Because many winter moth eggs are exposed on the bark, horticultural oil spray can potentially be used to control the moths on small trees and shrubs. Typically, dormant oil sprays are applied in the very late winter or very early spring depending on temperatures. When applying oil sprays, it is necessary to have temperatures above 45° F and to avoid applying oil when temperatures may dip below freezing for 24-48 hours after application. Below this threshold, there’s a considerable potential for injuring the plant. If you believe you have a serious infestation affecting many trees on your property, you should consult an arborist or reputable tree service.
  5. Physical Barriers:Physical barriers such as sticky tape is a method that works with limited success. The problem is that the number of winter moths are so great that, while the first moths are trapped, later moths will simply crawl over their bodies. Also, sticky tape doesn’t address the caterpillars that have ballooned into the trees upper reaches. This said, it is still a good organic method to use other than chemically treating your trees.

Fertilize your trees! Your trees can defend themselves if they are strong and healthy

blog_soil_structure

Once you have determined your garden site it is important to take time to improve the soil structure of where you are planting. Organic gardening thrives on how healthy the soil is and plants do best in soil that is loose and thoroughly aerated. Many plants have roots that grow deep into the soil so tilling or amending the soil structure is a good way to ensure a healthy life for your plants. Tilling is also a good way to discard any large rocks or tap rooted weeds from your garden.

To till your soil you will need a long garden fork with strong, thick tines. Thick tines are strong and won’t bend when working the soil or when they encounter a large rock. The tine should be also narrow so they easily move through the soil when loosening clods of dirt. An alternative to hand tilling is using a rototiller. This is a heavy piece of equipment that will aerate you soil but there is a danger of compacting the soil with this heavy machine. You will have to determine which will be the best tool to use according to your particular garden.

Tilling your garden can be tiring and a bit of a workout, but it will make an amazing difference in your garden. Here I will show you 3 easy steps on how to correctly and effectively till your own garden.

  1. First step is to take your garden fork and dig about a foot (or as deep as for goes) into the ground.
  2. Second step is to turn over the soil
  3. Third step is to do this to your entire garden! Make sure you drink plenty of water and use your abs!

Remember that it’s important to keep the soil aerated so try not to step all over the garden once its tilled. At this point you should be thinking about where you want your foot paths to be. Place stone where you want to walk and remember to stay only on that foot path! Also note that if you encounter worms it is a good sign! Worms do many miraculous things to your garden, including aeration!

blog_amendments

Applying what you learned from evaluating your soil is essential to creating the most beautiful gardens. It is important that each season you amend your soil if your test results show it is necessary. It’s all about a well balanced soil! Some gardens lack certain nutrients that will cause plants to be weak, slow growing and not fruitful. It’s important to know how much organic fertilizers to give your garden and how to apply them correctly.

Organic Traditions Bone meal
North Country Organics 4-5-10
Neptune's Harvest Fertilizer

There are other alternatives to using organic fertilizers but I stick to ones that are plant based and organic. I like to use North Country Organics 4-5-10, Bone meal (if your garden is low in phosphorus) and a Calcium based lime (if your garden’s PH is on the low side), and a general fish/seaweed fertilizer like Neptune’s Harvest which is covered in this instructional video from yours truly!

In applying any type of fertilizer it is extremely important to read the back of the bag to know exactly how much you need for the square footage of your garden. If your test results called to amend the soil with an organic fertilizer, I would use the appropriate amount give the square footage of your garden. This runs true for all amendments, so take your time to know exactly how much to apply. If you do have any questions nurseries are a great resource.

organic fertilizer
blog_compost_feature

Compost is one of the most vital ingredients in creating a wonderful, healthy, productive garden. Compost is a soil that is especially rich in organic matter and for that reason it is the most important thing to add to your garden. Organic matter found in compost is made up of living organisms like fungi and bacteria. These microrganisms actually help you thrive and absorb all the nutrients they need!

Through a bit of a time and patience you can make your own compost by using table food scraps and decaying garden debris or you can pick up some bags at your local nursery. A good average is about 1-2” layer of compost, generously spread out in your garden. You can smooth the compost out with a the flat side of a steal rake and make sure not to walk much over garden beds.

Remember to drink lots of water, lift with your legs, tighten those abs and get excited! You are steps away from a beautiful productive garden!

blog_witch_hazel

The awakening of the Hamamelis bloom is one of nature’s welcome signs that spring is not too far in the future. This small tree, or stout shrub is an anomaly among all the flowering trees in that its spectacular beauty comes mid winter. Most varieties (excluding Hamamelis virginiana that blooms late autumn) will send out brilliant star-like blooms at a time of year that is often void of stunning or showy growth. This spark of the Hamamelis bloom is a made up of delicate petals like tiny streamers. Each threaded blossoms also produce a distinctive fragrance that will inspire anyone anticipate to the birth of spring.

There are a number varieties that are available in the trade, each ranging in color, scent and bloom time. Common witch hazel, Hamamelis virginiana; Chinese witch hazel, Hamamelis mollis; Japanese witch hazel, Hamamelis japonica and many selections of the hybrid between Hamamelis mollis and Hamamelis japonica, Hamamelis x intermedia. I favor the hybrids because of their distinctive color, fragrance and mid winter bloom time.

My favorite is H. x intermedia ‘Feurzauber’. It is one of the best red flowering clones. Second is the coppery-orange flowering ‘Jelena’ and ‘Strawberries and Cream” both being a beautiful concoction of red, pink and yellow. H. mollis ‘Wisley Supreme’ and ‘ Early Bright’ hold some leaves throughout the winter but have fantastic fragrance.

witch hazel flower

This star studded winter-flowering tree is a perfect addition to any landscape or woodland garden. They make a great boarder or grouped in mass (take a look at ones planted by the airport authority and Logan International, terminal B?) Grouped together makes a stunning spectacle. Hamamelis makes an attractive specimen tree with decent foliage for summer and fall color. The flowering branches in winter also make a wonderful addition to any indoor floral arrangement.

blog_jimmy_stewart_feature

Ok, so we are not talking about the American film stage actor here, but it is a good way to remember the name of one the most interesting and distinctive trees available today, Japanese Stewartia, Stewartia pseudocamellia. This small (20-30’), deciduous multi-stemmed ornamental tree has interest all year long; glorious fall color; showy tea-like flowers around mid June; vivid and eye catching exfoliating bark.

Oh, jimmy stewart

Named ‘pseudocamellia’ which roughly means it disguises itself as a camellia when in bloom (a reference to white June-into-July flowers, and the fact they are very distant relatives in the Tea Family). Grown in part shade to sun, this specimen tree has so much more to offer then its delicate white flowers. 

All Stewartias have distinctive exfoliating cinnamon-colored bark that can look quite impressive against a white carpet of snow. In the winter, the tree displays strips of gray, orange, and reddish brown once the trunk attains a diameter of 2-3 inches.

Although slow growing, this tree is a rewarding specimen that makes an ideal focal point to any landscape. It doesn’t tolerate drought well so if you do have it in a sunny location, be sure to water it regularly. I have often seen lace cap hydrangeas or daylilies growing under larger specimen trees, so play around with shade loving under plantings.In the movie The Philadelphia Story, Jimmy Stewart said, “It can’t be anything like love, can it?” I say, “Yes Jimmy, the Japanese Stewartia tree can be a lot like love.”

blog_sowing_seeds1

Starting your plants from seed can be an extremely rewarding and cost efficient way to grow annuals and vegetables. It is a good opportunity to choose from the abundance of varieties there are out there. For example, many nurseries will only carry a couple varieties of basil, where in a seed catalogue you can choose from half a dozen or more!

Starting from seed outdoors can be a tad daunting but given the proper instruction and a little TLC anyone can do it! What you need are your seeds, a garden hoe, watering can or hose on a fine mist, piece of lumber, and a hand trowel.

Each seed contains a small amount of stored energy that the germinating plant uses to push through the soil into the sunlight. If the journey though this soil is too far because the seed was planted too deep, or to difficult because the soil is compacted, the little plant run out of gas before it ever sees the light! The smaller the seed the smaller energy reserves so make sure you don’t plant your seeds to shallow or deep. Read the back of the packet for planting depth requirements.

  1. After reading packet, use the back of a garden rake to make the seed bed smooth. This makes it easier to make sure the seeds are all planted at the same depth. Remove and pebbles or large bits of soil.

  2. Make a furrow to sow your seed in. You can use a piece of lumber for this to get a straight line at the depth you want. You can also draw a line in the soil, just make sure your are consistent with the depth.

  3. Sow your seed. After, fill the furrow by dribbling a handful of soil into the furrow, crumbling any lumps as you go. Gently pat the soil to make sure it makes contact with the seeds. Don’t pack too hard.Third step is to do this to your entire garden! Make sure you drink plenty of water and use your abs!

  4. ‘Label the row so that you know what you planted. Mark with a string along the furrow. This will allow you to notice what is a weed and what is the seedling. Weeds and Seedlings often look VERY similar, so marking a line will allow you to notice what should stay and what should be pulled up.

  5. Water the bed VERY gently, but evenly and thoroughly. Check the moisture daily. The goal is to moisten the bed but not make it soggy. The first week or so water with a gentle mist so the seeds stay where they were planted.

Remember: Every seeds have different requirements for germination so make sure you read the back of the seed packet carefully!