About Seaweed Soil Amendments Nobody knows who first started using seaweed in the garden, but the situation is easy to picture. One day a farmer was walking the nearby shores of his land and saw some large storm tossed kelp or other type of seaweed strewn across the beach. Knowing that this plant based material was abundant and would compost into soil, releasing nutrients, he took some home and the rest is history....
Showy Mountain Ash Information While ash trees grow very tall in cool and moderate hardiness zones, mountain ash are much smaller. They are not in the same genus as ash trees and are native to the northern states. Showy mountain ash trees grow to about 30 feet (9 m.) tall and about half to three-quarters that wide. Their branches grow in an ascending direction and start from very low on the trunk....
What is Silver Falls Dichondra? Silver Falls is the common name for Dichondra argentea, an herbaceous and evergreen perennial. Outdoors it is hardy to zone 10 and can be grown as a low groundcover or as a plant that trails over the edge of a raised bed or container. It is especially popular in hanging baskets because of its trailing foliage. The name Silver Falls comes from the unique coloring of the leaves, a silvery pale green....
About Using Sorrel Herbs In Europe, cooking with sorrel (Rumex scutatus) was commonplace during the Middle Ages. The type of sorrel that Europeans initially grew was R. acetosa until a milder form was developed in Italy and France. This milder herb, French sorrel, became the chosen form by the 17th century. Sorrel plant uses were entirely culinary and the herb was used in soups, stews, salads, and sauces until it faded from favor....
Store Fresh Green Onions Spring onions and green onions won’t store long. They can hold in the refrigerator crisper for a week or possibly more, but are best when they’re fresh. These onions are used for their stems as much as the ends. The stems must be kept green and crisp for the best taste. Store green onions that still have their roots in 1/4-inch (6 ml.) of water in the refrigerator to keep the onions fresh longer....
Choosing New Outdoor Furniture Give your outdoor space the feeling you wish to impart to your family and guests such as making them feel relaxed and welcome. Your design may be sophisticated, country, or contemporary but it should be inviting. Many make their outdoor rooms an extension of the home, with a smooth and easy transition. Customize your outdoor space to fit your lifestyle. Decorate with the appropriate outdoor furniture for garden areas....
About Sweet Bay Leaf Trees Sweet bay leaf tree is frost tender and is only hardy to USDA plant hardiness zone 7. It prefers a full sun exposure and blooms in spring to summer. The leaves are leathery and stiff with a strong mid-rib. Crushing the leaf releases aromatic oil that is the source of the flavoring for foods. Bay tree care is very simple and straightforward but protection must be given to these trees in cold climates....
Keeping Cut Flowers Fresh While Harvesting When it comes to harvesting cut flowers, some tricks of the trade can be practiced to help ensure the viability of plants. Harvest cut flowers in the early morning or evening hours and about one hour after watering, as this enables the stems to fill with water. When harvesting single-blooming flowers, like tulips, choose those with buds that are nearly closed. For multiple-blooming plants such as lilacs, opt for flowers with about three-fourths of the buds open....
What is Sunscald? When tender plant parts are exposed to massive amounts of strong sunlight, the softer parts of the plant can become damaged. This will result in withered brown spots on the leaves, stems, and trunks of the plants and fruits that rot or get diseases. Fruit sunscald often happens in plants such as apples, berries, and grapes when disease or excess pruning takes away too many protective shade leaves, leaving the fruit open to damage....
What is a Tree Fern? Tree ferns are true ferns. Like other ferns, they never flower or produce seeds. They reproduce from spores that grow on the undersides of the fronds or from offsets. A tree fern’s unusual trunk consists of a thin stem surrounded by thick, fibrous roots. The fronds on many tree ferns remain green throughout the year. In a few species, they turn brown and hang around the top of the trunk, much like palm tree leaves....
What are Loppers Used for? Almost every gardener owns a hand pruner, also called hand shears. That’s the scissor-sized tool to clip thinner branches or stems, deadhead flowers, and take off soft shoots. So, what are loppers used for? Loppers are super-sized pruners. If a stem is thicker than a larger sized pencil, cutting it with a hand pruner could damage the light tool. When you are using garden loppers, with their long handles, you have a lot more leverage to prune heftier branches....
There are several advantages to upside-down houseplant growing, not the least of which is what a space saver an inverted houseplant becomes. How to Grow Houseplants Upside Down Whether you live in a cramped studio apartment or a palatial manor, houseplants have their place. They are the most sustainable way to clean the air and beautify your surroundings. For the aforementioned apartment dweller, upside-down houseplant growing has another benefit – space-saving....
What is Warm Grass? Warm-season grass includes those grass types that will grow best in warm months of spring, summer, and fall. Warm weather turf grass varieties include: Bermuda Centipede Zoysia Buffalo Bahamas St. Augustine Carpet grass It is best to do some research on which warm grass variety will do best for your growing region, as some warm-season grasses are better suited to some areas over others. You can also consult your local Cooperative Extension Office for the best warm season grass for your area as well as instructions for planting warm-season grasses and care....
What Are Pelleted Seeds? So exactly what are pelleted seeds? Pelleted seeds make vegetable gardening a whole lot easier. Think of seeds that require a magnifying glass to figure out how many you have between two fingers. Why do carrots keep coming to mind? Petunia seeds are just as small, at some 300,000 seeds per ounce (28 g.). Pelleted vegetable seeds are the same tiny seeds but covered in a dissolvable, pelleted coating....
Curiously, the three days are sequential, and it’s only safe to plant in spring after the three days of celebration. Although all three saints died hundreds of years ago, it is probably good wisdom to wait until these May dates are passed to plant if you live in an area where spring frosts occur. Meet the Frost Saints If you’ve never heard of the three frost saints, the names St....
What is a Cardinal Flower? The cardinal wildflower plant is an American wildflower native to Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin. These Lobelia flowers are tall perennials that thrive in USDA plant hardiness zones 1 through 10. Tall spikes of brilliant red, trumpet-shaped flowers rise above the dark green foliage. Growing cardinal flowers bloom during summer and sometimes into fall. Most insects struggle to navigate the long necks of the trumpet-shaped flowers, so cardinal flowers depend on hummingbirds for fertilization....
Sound like a scene from a science fiction movie? The star is the trigger plant (Stylidium graminifolium). What is a trigger plant and what does the trigger plant do exactly? Read on for more information on how the plant performs its strange pollination ritual. Trigger Plant Pollination More than 150 species of the trigger-happy plants reside in the southwest part of western Australia, the largest concentration of the fascinating flowers, accounting for 70 percent of trigger plants worldwide....
What is a Weeping White Pine? Weeping white pine (Pinus strubus “Pendula”) is a small cultivar of the white pine family. According to pendula information, it is a short shrub with many stems. The branches grow downward and spread across the soil surface like a ground cover. However, with proper early pruning, weeping white pine can develop into a small tree up to 12 feet (3.5 m.) tall. Its canopy outline is irregular....
What is an Intrepid Peach? Merriam Webster defines the word intrepid as, “characterized by resolute fearlessness, fortitude, and endurance.” That surely describes Intrepid peach trees. The Intrepid peach tree variety not only has stoic blossoms in the face of cold temperatures but also has resistance to bacterial spot. It’s a really great patented variety of peach for most suitable regions. The Intrepid peach tree variety was introduced in 2002 out of North Carolina State University....
What is Bentgrass? Bentgrass spreads by stolons which connect and root at internodes. The dense mat it produces has shallow roots and fine, bluish-green foliage. This makes it an attractive and resilient turfgrass, able to withstand foot traffic and frequent mowing. Bentgrass in lawns in the south is considered an interfering weed, but it is a useful species for cool zone lawns. The grass requires cool nighttime temperatures such as those found in the northern states and doesn’t produce well when evenings are warm....
