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How will we apply that water to our lawns and gardens? Watering cans are obsolete. Watering with a hose by hand is time consuming and sometimes hard on the back if you must drag the hose. Sprinkler hoses are good for root systems but have to be replaced and don’t allow much control of the water applied. Enter the smart sprinkler systems…. Smart Water Sprinkler Info Sprinkler systems for the lawn and garden are often controlled improperly or totally forgotten....

Rhizoctonia root rot causes crop damage by harming barley roots, resulting in water and nutrient stress. It is a type of fungal disease that attacks cereals. For information about treating barley with rhizoctonia, including tips on how to stop rhizoctonia root rot, read on. What is Barley Rhizoctonia Root Rot? Rhizoctonia root rot of barley is also called barley rhizoctonia bare patch. That’s because the soil-borne fungus that causes it kills barley, leaving dead patches in barley fields....

When your zucchini fruit is hollow, they’re weird looking but safe to eat (although hollow fruits may be hard to get rid of). Read on to learn how to avoid this problem in the future. What Causes Hollow Zucchini? The fruit of the zucchini is an overgrown, fleshy ovary designed to protect the seeds and encourage animals to carry them far and wide. When zucchinis are hollow, it’s usually because the seeds didn’t get properly pollinated or aborted soon after the fruits began to form....

Apricot Fungal Gummosis Fungal issues are among the most common problems which home orchard growers may encounter. One fungus, Botryosphaeria dothidea, is responsible for a condition known as apricot fungal gummosis. Though the name may imply its presence solely in apricot trees, other trees (such as peach trees) may also be affected. Gummosis of apricots results from prior damage or injury to trees within the orchard. The cause of injury may vary greatly, or result from a combination of events....

How Big Do Wisteria Roots Grow? When you consider how tall wisteria vines can grow, it just makes sense that the wisteria root system is strong and aggressive. For example, Chinese wisteria can shoot up to 60 feet (18 m.) with stems up to 15 feet (5 m.) in diameter. Both Chinese wisteria and Japanese wisteria are the two most popular types of garden wisteria in the U.S., and both grow and spread aggressively....

What are Winged Beans? Growing winged beans are similar in growth habit as well as appearance to the garden variety pole bean. The plant has a vining habit with 3 to 6 inch (8-15 cm.) long leaves and producing 6 to 9 inch (15-23 cm.) pods. Four angled “wings” run lengthwise to the pods, hence the name. Seeds of the Asian winged bean look much like soybeans and are round and green....

About Azalea Varieties The explosion of blossoms on azaleas creates a show that few shrubs can rival. The generous load of blossoms in vivid shades makes azalea an extremely popular plant. Most azalea plant cultivars bloom in spring, but some bloom in summer and a few in fall, making it possible to have azaleas flower in your landscape for many months. When we say there are quite a few kinds of azalea bushes, we aren’t exaggerating....

What is Boxleaf Azara? Imagine a slender tree with tiny, shiny evergreen leaves that look like round emeralds. The foliage is evergreen, with variegated types available, and stays on the plant year-round. But that’s not all you’ll get if you start growing azara boxleaf shrubs. Early every spring, the azara produces yellow, pom-pom-shaped flowers that exude a striking fragrance with a touch of vanilla. These become orange or crimson berries in summer....

Bay Leaf Tree Care Growing bay leaf trees require a little patience as they are slow growing evergreens, although they may live for 40 years or longer and attain a height of 10 feet (up to 23 feet in the wild) (3-7 m.). Care of bay leaf trees is minimal when bearing in mind that Laurus nobilis is hardy in USDA zone 8, thrives in rich, well-drained soil (pH 6.2), dislikes overwatering, and should be brought indoors when the temperature dips in the fall months....

Brocade Geranium Info Brocade geranium plants (Pelargonium x hortorum) are zonal geraniums that are more commonly grown as accent plants for their colorful foliage rather than their brightly colored, classic geranium blooms. Like all geraniums, their flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds, while the plant’s natural scent deters deer. The truly outstanding characteristic of brocade geranium plants is the unique variegation of their foliage. Below are several of the highly sought-after varieties of brocade geranium and their unique color combinations:...

What is Broomcorn? In addition to more traditional brooms, the broomcorn plant was also used for whiskbrooms, a short, hand broom that may still be used occasionally for small chores. Many brooms are replaced these days with some type of small, electronic sweeping device or with a sweeper product that grabs dust, dirt, and hair. But, just in the previous century, brooms were regularly used as a cleaning device. Many people grew their own broom straw and made their own brooms....

Can I Restore Bent Corn Plants? If rain or wind blew corn over, fixing the knocked over corn may be a question of how severely the plants are damaged. Often the corn is bent over at a 45-degree angle at the very least, sometimes it has been battered down to the ground. When the corn stalks are mildly bent over, they may just rebound themselves given a bit of time. Maybe you need to mound a bit of dirt around the base to aid in straightening them up....

Butterfly Bush Plants Butterfly bush plants are native to Japan and China and rise quickly to some 10 or 15 feet (3 to 4.5 m.) high, offering lush flowers in shades of blue, pink and yellow, as well as white. The flowers, presented on panicles at the end of branches, smell sweet like honey. Butterfly bushes are tough and easy plants, tolerant of drought, poor soil, heat and humidity. Since these shrubs grow rapidly and can reach a spread of 8 feet (2....

What is Cow Manure Made Up Of? Cattle manure is basically made up of digested grass and grain. Cow dung is high in organic materials and rich in nutrients. It contains about 3 percent nitrogen, 2 percent phosphorus, and 1 percent potassium (3-2-1 NPK). In addition, cow manure contains high levels of ammonia and potentially dangerous pathogens. For this reason, it’s usually recommended that it be aged or composted prior to its use as cow manure fertilizer....

How to Control Wisteria Unless you know how to control wisteria, this vine can quickly and easily choke out surrounding plants and other structures within its path. Learning how to cut back wisteria isn’t difficult but may be a time-consuming chore. Nonetheless, vigorous pruning is about the only way to keep wisteria under control. You should lightly prune wisteria on a regular basis throughout summer to remove any unruly shoots as well as any new ones that may pop up....

What is a Corm? Corms occur in many types of plants. What is a corm? Corms are very similar to bulbs but lack the layered scales that characterize true bulbs. They reproduce via cormlets or individual corms, and each can be divided away from the parent to produce exact copies of the plant. Just like rhizomes and tubers, corms are specialized sections of the stem. In the case of corms, these usually appear flattened to slightly round....

To Stake or Not to Stake a Leaning Tree Many arborists now believe that a tree grows best without staking, but there are circumstances where staking or guying is necessary to stop trees from leaning. Newly purchased saplings that have a very small root ball are not readily able to support the growth of the tree, thin stemmed trees that bend under their own weight, and saplings planted on an extremely windy site are all good candidates for staking to make a tree straight....

When to Plant Crocus Why does it matter when you plant your bulbs and corms? It would seem that as long as they get in the ground they will grow when it is time, but actually, bulbs, tubers, and corms require certain conditions to break dormancy. The plant will not emerge if it doesn’t get this combination of correct conditions. The best way to achieve this is to plant them just before they will experience those circumstances....

Dealing with Rocky Soil Oftentimes, when new homes are built, soil fill or topsoil are brought in to create a future lawn. However, this layer of fill or topsoil is usually only spread 4-12 inches (10-30.5 cm.) deep, using whatever inexpensive fill they can to get by. Normally, a depth of 4 inches (10 cm.), which is sufficient for lawn grasses to grow in, is what you get. What this means is that when you go to plant your landscape or garden, it is not long before you hit the rocky subsoil that lies beneath the illusion of a lush green yard....

Choosing Deer Resistant Flowers for Shade There are many strategies to employ in the war between deer and gardeners. For instance, you can fence in vulnerable plants or use a deterrent chemical. These are labor-intensive, expensive, potentially harmful to other species, and create eyesores in the garden. A more organic way to live harmoniously with the big herbivores in your garden is to simply put in plants that hold no interest for them....