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Getting Rid of Sago Palm Diseases Here are some common diseases of sago palm and tips on treating them: Cycad scale – This sago palm problem isn’t a disease, but the powdery white substance on the leaves may lead you to believe your palm has a fungal disease. Scale is actually a tiny white pest that can destroy a sago palm very quickly. If you determine your tree is affected by scale, prune heavily infested fronds and dispose of them carefully....

Benefits of Harvesting Rainwater and Using Rainwater in the Garden Why use rainwater in the garden? Here’s some reasons: Enhances the beauty of your garden and community. Provides habitat for birds, butterflies, and other wildlife. Helps the environment by filtering and cleaning rainwater runoff before it runs into local waterways. Recharges the supply of ground water. Controls erosion. Reduces your water bill. Contains no chemicals or dissolved minerals from the soil....

Where and How to Grow Hostas Although hosta plants are touted as shade lovers, their sunlight requirements vary widely. Successfully growing hostas in the shade depends on color. Hosta leaves come in a variety of greens, ranging from a color so deep it’s called blue to a light chartreuse to a soft creamy white. A good rule of thumb for the placement and care of hostas is the lighter the foliage, the brighter the sun....

Are Beetles Pollinators? When you first hear about beetles and pollination, you are likely to ask questions: Do beetles pollinate? How are beetles pollinators? That’s because beetles share the pollinating role with other insects and animals today like bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies. Beetles were the first pollinators, starting hundreds of millions of years ago. Pollinating beetles developed relationships with flowering plants a long time ago, before bees evolved as pollinators. While the role of beetles as pollinators is not as great today as in yesteryear, they are still important pollinators where bees are scarce....

When to Harvest Sugarcane Sugarcane harvest is around late fall, when the canes are tall and thick. If the plan is to make your own syrup, and I’m sure it is, harvest as close to your area’s first frost date as possible but not so late that they get hit by the first frost. If the frost hits them, sugar loss occurs rapidly. How Do You Harvest Sugarcane? Commercial sugarcane plantations in Hawaii and Louisiana use machines for harvesting sugarcane....

Types Of Zinnias Zinnias are annual flowers that grow in full sun and well-drained soil. They thrive in heat and tolerate drought well. Zinnias range in height from 6 inches to over 4 feet tall. Their flowers can be striped, speckled, or solid in a variety of colors from pastel to vibrant hues. Zinnias also come in an array of flower forms. These include single bloom, beehive, button, and cactus. They make wonderful cut flowers that can last in a vase for a week or more....

What are the Causes and Symptoms? The impatiens fungus is caused by the pathogen Plasmopara obducens, which is very difficult to control. The fungus on impatiens plants forms in cool moist or humid conditions, generally in spring or fall. Ornamental impatiens and downy mildew go hand in hand in 30 states of the Union with only a few resistant varieties available. It affects both cultivated and wild impatiens, but not New Guinea impatiens....

Italian Stone Pine Information Italian stone pine is easily recognizable, as it is one of the only pines to form a high, rounded crown. Hardy to USDA plant hardiness zone 8, this pine doesn’t tolerate lower temperatures happily. Its needles brown in colder weather or wind. If you grow Italian stone pine trees, you will notice that as they mature, they develop multiple trunks close to one another. They grow between 40 and 80 feet (12....

Lavatera Plant Info Lavatera rose mallow (Lavatera trimestris) is an impressive, shrubby plant with rich, green foliage and 4-inch (10.2 cm.) blooms that appear from midsummer until the first frost. The satiny, hibiscus-like blooms range in color from pale pink to deep rose. This rose mallow is a Mediterranean native. However, it has naturalized and grows wild across much of the United States. The pest- and disease-resistant plant is a magnet for hummingbirds, butterflies and various beneficial insects....

Are you interested in a few more longleaf pine facts? Read on. We’ll give you info on the longleaf pine growth rate as well as the cultural care it requires. Longleaf Pine Facts The longleaf pine tree is native to the Southeastern United States. These trees are quite tall, growing to a height of 80 feet (24 m.) or even 100 feet (30 m.), with a spread of half the height, and they shoot up in the blink of an eye....

Why Should You Make Your Own Recycled Garden Tools? There are a lot of good reasons to make your own tools made from recycled materials. Perhaps the most important is that it’s a sustainable practice. Take something you would have thrown away and turn it into something useful to avoid waste. DIY garden tools can also save you money. It’s possible to spend a small fortune on gardening, so anywhere you can save is helpful....

Growing Mexican bird of paradise in a pot is relatively simple, as long as you can provide plenty of warmth and sunlight. Read on for information on growing potted Mexican bird of paradise. Growing Mexican Bird of Paradise in Containers The flower is suitable for growing in zones 8 and above; however, the plant will die down during the winter in zones 8 and 9. If you live in a northern climate, your best bet is to grow Mexican bird of paradise in planters and bring the plant indoors when temperatures drop in fall....

Help, My Lawn pH is Too High! Soil pH is represented by a rating of 0 to 10. The lower the number, the higher the acidity. The neutral point is 7.0, and any number above this is more alkaline. Some turf grasses like a bit more acidity, such as centipede grass, but most are fine around 6.5. In high pH soils, you often need to lower yard pH. This is relatively easy but should start first with a simple soil test to determine how much acidity needs to be added....

Using Nigella as an Herb in the Kitchen Growing nigella in the garden not only allows you to collect the seeds for herbal and medicinal use but also to enjoy a pretty annual. It grows 8 to 12 inches (20.5 to 30.5 cm.) tall with fine, wispy leaves and delicate blue or white flowers. Allow the flowers to wither and develop into pods and you can collect and use the small, black seeds....

Can Onions Tolerate Cold Temps? Protecting onion plants from cold isn’t necessary for some parts of the country, but in the north and even temperate west, severe weather is still possible. New onions and frost can cause damage to the tender young stalks and fragile bulbs. The worst thing that usually happens is the bulb freezes and then rots after it thaws. There are ways, however, to give onion cold and frost protection that are quick and easy....

About Onions for Zone 8 The reason that onions are so adaptable to many different climates is due to differing responses to day length. With onions, day length directly influences bulbing rather than flowering. Onions fall into three basic categories based on their bulbing related to the number of daylight hours. Short day bulb onions grow with day lengths of 11 to 12 hours. Intermediate onion bulbs require 13 to 14 hours of daylight and are suited to the mid-temperate areas of the United States....

About Insects that Eat Pawpaws Also known as the Indiana banana, hoosier banana, and poor man’s banana, the pawpaw (Asimina triloba) grows naturally in rich, fertile, river bottom soils as understory shrubs. The plant is hardy in USDA zones 5 through 8 and grows in 25/26 of the eastern states of the US. As a slow growing tree, pawpaws need several years of growth before they produce fruit. Flowers bloom between March and May depending upon weather and cultivar....

Tips for Planting Tomato Plants When planting tomato plants for family consumption, here’s a helpful tip. If you only want fresh fruit, purchase about three plants per person in your household. If you’re looking for fruit to process, you’ll need from five to ten seedlings per person. Before we talk about how to plant a tomato, let’s talk about what to look for before planting. Tomato plants should be straight and sturdy and six to eight inches (15 to 20....

With minimal planning, even small containers of flowering annuals or perennials can serve as a resource to this beautiful species of butterfly. How to Attract Monarch Butterflies Attracting monarch butterflies is much similar to attracting other pollinators to the garden. Including the right plants is key. Beneficial insects are attracted to flowers that provide a steady source of nectar throughout the growing season. This is no exception in the creation of a monarch butterfly garden....

Treating Powdery Mildew on Grass When your grass has white powder, fungicides for powdery mildew treatment do a good job of temporarily eliminating the symptoms, but the disease returns if the growing conditions don’t improve. Grass is a sun-loving plant that grows best in open locations with good air circulation and plenty of light. Powdery mildew grass disease takes hold in shady locations with little air movement. Watering late in the evening, so that the grass doesn’t have time to dry before nightfall, further encourages this disease....