Happy Garden - January 22, 2009

This week we have more tips and photos from readers. We also have a new growing guide about Growing Stevia.

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The ThriftyFun Team

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Photos:

• Garden: Trellis Rosebush
• Garden: Singing Frog
• Garden: Clematis

Tips and Articles:

• Take Photos of Your Garden in Different Seasons
• Garden Surprise for Valentine's Day
• Use Tin Foil to Deter Cats from House Plants
• Fill Watering Cans When Waiting for Hot Water
• Time to Get Ready for Spring Gardening
• Use Canning Lids for Marking Your Seeds
• Share Seeds With Your Friends
• Sandbox Sand for Your Icy Driveway
• Prepare Your Garden Soil With Early Additions

New Requests:

• Getting Rid of Briers
• Killing Weeds with Steam
• Bugs Inside Mimosa Seed Pods
• Starting a Hyacinth Bulbs in Water
• Rope Hoya Losing Leaves
• Using Lemon Juice on Moss
• What is This Plant?

Growing Guides:

• Growing: Stevia

Crafting for Fun and Money!

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Garden: Trellis Rosebush

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Garden: Singing Frog

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Garden: Clematis

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Take Photos of Your Garden in Different Seasons

Throughout the spring and summer, snap photos of your gardens so that when planning the next year's gardens, you can refer to photos and decide what to plant where, what needs to be moved to where, etc. Unless you have a steel trap mind, this is very handy for remembering!

By Joyce from Benson, MN

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Garden Surprise for Valentine's Day

This takes some pre-planning but worth yearly returns. "Sneak" and plant very early blooming spring bulbs in someone's garden or lawn, prominent where they are sure to be seen. Try (easily) to find those that should be in full bloom during the week of the holiday. The recipient will find the garden surprise and wonder how it came to be. You can find a lovely card to send saying you hope your friend enjoys the Valentines Day flowers this year AND many years to come!

By Trace from Wartburg, TN

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Use Tin Foil to Deter Cats from House Plants

I have read questions on how to keep cats out of your house plants. Simple, use tin foil. Lay tin foil around the plant on the dirt. Don't push it down onto the dirt or you will start to get some mold. Just lay it on top. Your cats will hate it, and your plants will be fine. Also, they do make colored tin foil if you don't want the plain silver.

By Laurie from Osakis, MN

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Fill Watering Cans When Waiting for Hot Water

We have an instant on demand water heater, so while waiting for the cold water to run out of the pipes, instead of just letting it run, I put my flower watering pots on the counter and fill them until the water gets hot. I've saved energy by not having a water heater running constantly and conserved water by using the cold water for watering plants.

By Sandy from Elon, NC

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Time to Get Ready for Spring Gardening

It's winter, and I am covered in mailorder catalogs. I often have two or three open at a time, carefully making my selections of what I think I can grow this coming year. I also know some of the stores will have seeds for sale, very soon.

About 20 years ago, after my dad died, my mom encouraged me to learn to grow plants from seed. We didn't have a greenhouse, but we had each other, and books from the library. My mother let me drill holes in the ceiling of a south facing room. We put a table near the window, and there was a furnace duct underneath that table. I hung a four foot fluorescent light fixture with chain from the ceiling. We put one warm fluorescent bulb, and one cool bulb in the fluorescent light fixture. I layed newspaper out on the living room floor, and carefully put potting soil in several trays. Then I put paper towels, plastic on the table, and moved the trays to the table, and carefully put water in the trays. I let the soil soak up all the water, and checked the next day to make certain they weren't too wet or too dry. Then I very carefully put one seed in each spot on the trays, and slightly covered them with the soil in the trays. I made certain the light fixture was hung about a half an inch to an inch off the trays. I also had a clip on light fixture that people might use on headboards, and I put a plant light in it, and attached it to one side of the table.

To my astonishment, glee, and surprise, within a couple of days, some of the seeds had started to sprout! I nursed those seed trays, and if I saw any sign of green fungus, I just scraped it with my fingernail, then washed my hands. As the plants grew, I used the chain to raise the fluorescent light above them. I will never cease to be amazed at the germination of seeds. We never had a greenhouse, we used a south facing window in one of the rooms of the house, and suddenly I was transformed into my mother's good gardener. I used a spray bottle to keep the seedlings moist, without overwetting them, which can cause damping off.

One time, after this success, I started a tomato plant from seed in February. By the time I was able to plant it out into the garden in May, I had to transplant it into a huge 10 inch pot, and had to water it twice a day. It used up all of the soil nutrients I had planted it in, and in keeping it alive, when I planted it out, it was humongous! There was almost no soil left in the container. The tomato survived, and we had to give away tomatoes to everyone we could, besides the fact we had 18 more tomato plants.

If you can, till the ground. If you can't till the ground, leisurely spade, hoe, and shovel the ground. Pretend you are giving the ground a facial. I have seen people rush through this process like its rocket science or a microwave dinner or instant coffee. No! Give yourself at least a few days to get the ground ready. Enjoy it. Feel the soil on the shovel, the spade. Work it. Put everything and everyone else out of your mind, and just be with the shovel, the spade, the hoe. Feel it. And pull all of the grass and weeds and large rocks out. Then, use a garden rake, and once again, with the garden rake, feel the tilth of the soil. Know if you step on it, you will sink deeply into the soil. and that you will have to reshovel, and rake to get that soil back to it's glamour stage. I can't stand walking in a garden that doesn't have it's rows marked out, because all of that ground will have to be reworked.

Once you have the ground ready, then add the proper soil amendments, known as fertilizer. and work them in the soil. I once had an argument with my mother. She believed in top soil, and it worked for her. I don't know why. I believe in working top soil into the ground so the roots of the plants can utilize it. If top soil is sitting on top of the ground where the plant roots can't utilize it, and it just looks pretty, what good is it? Plants cannot survive without their roots, and I believe top soil should be tilled into the ground, or dug, spaded, or forked into the ground so the roots of the plant can benefit. Unless someone used too much fertilizer, that would kill the plants, then the top soil could slowly go into the lower soil instead of all at once.

I believe in the use of soil test kits, and have used them most years. I find the soil where I live is usually lacking in nutrients, and the soil test kits prove or disprove that fact, then I know what kind of fertilizer I need to amend the soil.

Also, make certain you know your zone hardiness. Last year, moving, I got started late on gardening, and several people told me I was too late for beets, but I wound up with good beets, and I'd never grown them before. That is when I truly discovered the idea of succession planting. One day, I sat down, and drew out on a piece of paper an ideal pumpkin patch garden for myself. It just came out of my mind.

Learn as much as you can about the veggie/fruit, trees, shrubs, whatever you want to grow, and when you think you learned it all, websearch, and find out more.

Source: I give credit to Nancy Bubil, "The Seed Starters Handbook," for helping me successfully start plants from seed.

By Carol from SouthBend, IN

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Use Canning Lids for Marking Your Seeds

Don't discard those canning lid rings when they no longer are suitable for canning use. They are handy in the garden when you have young ones helping you with the gardening. Plant your seeds in the center of the rings or place the rings over young seedlings. It makes it easier for the young ones to distinguish what and what not to pull. The rings don't hinder the plants growth or production and can be use year after year.

By Timelessneed from Erie, PA

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Share Seeds With Your Friends

It is mid January and already the seed catalogs are coming in the mail, the packages of seeds are in the store and anxiety begins of what are we going to plant. Sometimes when wanting to try something different, I know my little spots of trial produce won't use up the whole packet. OR when I am trying a variety of a plant and there are 9 seedlings to the pack. I buy what I want and then share with a variety of my friends. Between about 4 of us, there would be someone willing to take the extra seeds or seedlings. It is one way to try something new and not waste anything.

I keep the packet jacket with the info on it, staple or paste it to recycling paper from my basket, put the into into a notebook with sleeves for reference. If you have time, draw an outline of your gardens and make note of what seed went where. Tuck it in the front of the book. At the end of the growing season, evaluate the product you used. If you liked it, make sure it is on the list for the next year. If you don't want to plant as much, write down whom you shared the seeds/plants with.

I am so fortunate to have smart gardening friends who share their produce, plants, flowers, seeds, etc with each other. When I thin out abundant flowering plants, I know which neighbors need to add them. We work well recycling our gardens through many households.

By Joyce from Benson, MN

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Sandbox Sand for Your Icy Driveway

Every year, I replace the sand in my daughter's turtle sand box because it gets leaves and pine needles from the yard, but I thought there should be something else I can use this sand for. Then I thought, in late October in Maine it is beginning to get cold and we are all stocking up on salt for icy driveways and walk ways. I started mixing half salt and half sandbox sand in the big kitty litter buckets. Sprinkle on with a cup when needed and this has been working great got us. 2 bags of sand at the beginning of spring, a summer of fun for a 4 year old, then safe walking during the winter for our family. Boy I guess I got my money's worth for that sand.

By Debbie from Maine

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Prepare Your Garden Soil With Early Additions

Start preparing the soil by digging in leaves, coffee grounds, vegetable trimmings, leftover vegetables from dinner, hay or straw and anything else you would normally put in a compost bin. It will start decomposing and enrich the soil by planting time. This will also attract earthworms. If your kids have birds, rabbits or guinea pigs, you could add their droppings (herbivores only). Water in, and if you live in a dry area, cover with hay or straw to keep in moisture.

By Leslie from Mesquite, Tx

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Getting Rid of Briers

Can I get some helpful hints on how to kill briers that keep coming back time and time again even after pulling them up by the roots?

Hardiness Zone: 8b


Angie from Brooklet, GA

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Killing Weeds with Steam

I understand that steam can kill weeds in a fence row or on gravel driveways. What temperature of steam could you use on a lawn to kill weeds but not the grass (Bermuda and St. Augustine)?

Hardiness Zone: 8a


Larry from Burleson, TX

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Bugs Inside Mimosa Seed Pods

I thought I was so lucky when a neighbor let me have as many seed pods as I wanted from their Mimosa tree. Next thing I know, while I'm shelling them, I see 90% have a little hole in them from some kind of bug.

I put the whole seeds in a sealed pill bottle with a small container of desiccant. I just got them out to starting planting the seeds when I see holes in the seeds and gnarly little bugs putting their bellies on the inside of the bottle! How can I get quality seeds from a hardy tree without the bugs and holes?

Hardiness Zone: 6b

Jane from Baltimore, Maryland

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Starting a Hyacinth Bulbs in Water

If you are starting a hyacinth bulb in water, how long do you leave it in there before you actually plant it?

Hardiness Zone: 6b


Lisa from Spring City, TN

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Rope Hoya Losing Leaves

I have a Rope Hoya that is pot bound and receives bright light. Since winter started, the leaves on several of the branches/ropes have been shriveling. Some are falling off closest to the soil. I've had this plant for 2 years. This is the first time I've had a problem. Does anyone know what is going on with this plant? What should I do? Thank you.

Hardiness Zone: 5a


Cindy from Carol Stream, IL

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Using Lemon Juice on Moss

Will lemon juice kill moss?

Gary from Mount Vernon, WA

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What is This Plant?

What is the name of this of plant?

Hardiness Zone: 8a


Beth from Charleston, SC

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Crafting for Fun and Money!

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Growing: Stevia
By Ellen Brown

Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana "Bertoni") is an all natural sweetener that you can grow in your garden. Native to South America (Paraguay), stevia has zero calories, zero carbohydrates and a zero glycemic index. It makes a wonderful substitute for sugar in your coffee or tea, and you can also use it for cooking and baking. Here's how to grow it.

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