Happy Garden - January 15, 2009

We have got some great tips and photos sent in from readers as well as an article by Ellen Brown about Eight Great Perennial Vegetables. Thank you to everyone that took time share something!

It's January, is there anything you do this time of year to prepare you garden for spring? Any tips would be appreciate.

Thanks for reading,

The ThriftyFun Team

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Photos:

• Scenery: Ice Bush
• Garden: Greenhouse Lily
• Build Your Own Patio Cover
• How to Catch an Opossum
• Scenery: Tired of the Snow

Tips and Articles:

• Use Vinegar to Kill Weeds in Sidewalk Cracks
• Recycle a Spiral Christmas Tree as a Trellis
• Bargain Plants at Garden Centers
• Gardening on a Budget
• Use Sandbox Sand in the Garden
• Eight Great Perennial Vegetables
• Spray Snow Shovel with Silicon
• Keep Birds and Animals Out of the Garden With CDs

New Requests:

• Protecting Plants as They Start to Grow
• Planting a Burning Bush
• Hydrangea Not Growing
• How Does Salt Effect Plants?
• Flying Bugs on Houseplants

Crafting for Fun and Money!

If you are an avid crafter, capable writer and own a digital camera, you are eligible to participate. Submit your craft projects to ThriftyFun and we will pay $15 for any crafts that we publish.

More Information:
Click Here: http://www.thriftyfun.com/post_craft.ldml

Scenery: Ice Bush

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Garden: Greenhouse Lily

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Build Your Own Patio Cover

By Kathleen from Dothan, AL

Editor's Note: We have updated this with a photo. It is a little blurry but you can get the idea.

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How to Catch an Opossum

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Scenery: Tired of the Snow

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Use Vinegar to Kill Weeds in Sidewalk Cracks

This is sort of a garden tip. When doing your yard, mowing, weeding, etc. you find you have grass/weeds growing in the sidewalk. It is such a pain to crawl along or bend over pulling them up with TOXIC chemicals. Fill a sprayer with vinegar and go at it.

A couple days after spraying, they will be dead! Just sweep them away! I find this works if I am spot spraying area of weeds in the yard. I do not like chemicals and straight vinegar helps with so many yard spots. Rinse your bottle out after use.

By Joyce N. from Benson MN

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Recycle a Spiral Christmas Tree as a Trellis

At Christmas one year, I bought one of those lighted spiral decoration trees. After a few years, it just didn't work. I was looking for a trellis for some plants, and guess what I used? The spiral frame made the flowering vine that grew up it, look like a tree in my yard. Everyone would ask what kind of tree it was.

bcborys from Bloomingdale, MI

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Bargain Plants at Garden Centers

Have a green thumb and a tight budget? I have found that if I go to garden centers in the big box home improvement stores on the day after their vendors go through the plants, I can find some real bargains. I have bought some puny plants that were in planters which cost more than the plant was reduced to!

Generally all the plants need is a little water and some TLC. I bring them home, put them in a shady spot, and keep them well-watered for several days before planting them out.

The stores usually have them on rolling carts toward the back of the garden section. If you don't see them, ask someone. The folks in the garden center are happy to show you to help get them out of there.

Don't be afraid to ask if they will reduce something that is less than vibrant. A little clipping, plant fertilizer and watering can revive most annuals which are droopy. I have been doing this for several years and have lost very few plants. At the price I got them for, that didn't amount to much money.

By Sandy from Elon, NC

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Gardening on a Budget

I think that the easiest way to garden on a budget is to first have patience.

Second, gain a collection of plants that are simple propagators; for example Sedum. You can break a piece of this off of the mother plant and just plunge it into the ground and it will stay green and thrive, and the following year will bring you a hardy new plant with multiple stalks to fill out more and more with each year.

I also like to buy hardy plants that can be safely split, like day-lilies already bloomed (these often get discounted after the flowers are gone so if you don't mind guessing the color) Take it home and slice it in half and plant it you will have two fuller plants the following year, and it may re-bloom late summer.

Forsythia will bud roots in water in a few weeks so take your neighbors clippings that they have to take off and sprout the roots and replant! Also if you take clippings in the house in winter you will force bloom them and they will be that beautiful spring yellow early. It brightens the wintry day.

Rose of Sharon produces tons of offshoots. Ask others for some and they will grow like crazy up to 6 feet in poor soil.

You can buy one marigold flower plant and as the heads die and dry pull them off, roll it in your hands these are the seeds and they are very hardy, spread them where you need low lying flowers they will sprout the same year and probably next year too, and since its seeds the color may be different and unpredictable, and dead heading the plant will help more flower heads to come.

If you have the patience, seed saving can be very fun. Seeing something come up that you dropped seeds for is amazingly gratifying. You could find info about where to find the seeds of a plant by googling "where are the seeds on (flower name)" some may not have viable seeds but if they do not, then you could propagate by clippings or by root cuttings.

Last but never least are bulbs; they are beautiful, they are typically cheap, you get multiple bulbs that will create multiple plants for a small price. There are bulbs for each season so you can plan out something new coming up all year long. If you wait until just before the season for planting (Spring and Fall) you can get these at a discount at the home stores. As long as they are not so dry they break in your hand, they are still good. They should also not have an odor, take these home and get them in the ground immediately and next year you will have new colorful flowers. Don't forget to look for the word perennial here so you do not have to buy every year.

Basically you can save a lot of money by asking for clippings, buds, or seeds from friends and family or by purchasing one plant and having some patience if possible.

By Gina from Collegeville PA

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Use Sandbox Sand in the Garden

In the fall when we put things away, it was always "What do we do with the sand from the sandbox?" Well, I assess what areas of my veggie and flower garden soil needs some soil treatment and divide out the sand box to the garden needing it most. Eliminates the spring work of finding sand to use, as well as putting the sand box away. Many veggies grow better in sandier soil. Some flowers need better drainage.

By doing this in the fall, I can plan my garden seeds and planting on paper during the winter. One draw back to this is if you have an uncovered sandbox where cats might have pooped. You don't want that sand in your veggie garden. Flower garden is o.k.

By Joyce from Benson, MN

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Eight Great Perennial Vegetables
By Ellen Brown

Perennial vegetables sometimes take a year or more to yield a first harvest, but the rewards are well worth your effort. Plant them once and you will have a reliable annual crop for years to come. Try some of these vegetables you plant once and harvest for several years.

1. Artichoke (Cynara scolymus) is a perennial in zones 9 and warmer. In zones 7 and 8, it over-winters in the ground if mulched. In colder zones, treat artichoke as a tender perennial, digging it up and storing it like a bulb over the winter, or grown it as an annual crop.
2. Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) These favorite perennial veggies can produce spears for up to 30 years. For more color and a fruity flavor, add a purple variety to the mix. Asparagus grows well in Zones 4-8. In warmer zones they never go into their required dormancy.
3. Chayote (Sechium edule) This odd-looking member of the gourd family can be cooked the same as you would a summer squash. Give chayote vines plenty of space. They can grow up to 90 feet. Hardy in zones 8-10, the vines will die back where the ground freezes unless protected with a deep layer of mulch.
4. Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) These roots are readily grown in most soil types in Zones 4-8. In colder zones, over-winter the roots as you would bulbs. Wear gloves when harvesting horseradish. The root contains an oil similar to hot peppers that can burn your hands. This plant can become invasive so plant with care.
5. Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) Also called sunroot or sunchoke, the tubers are planted like potatoes. In colder zones, the tuber can be over-wintered the same as you would bulbs. Grow Jerusalem artichokes where you can control the plants, because they can become invasive.
6. Nine Star Broccoli (Brassica oleracea) This perennial veggie will produce an annual crop for approximately 2-3 years. They are very vigorous so allow at least 36 inches between plants. Nine Star broccoli prefers well-drained soil. It can grow in semi-shade or no shade, but requires moist soil. The plant forms a small cauliflower head in early spring. When this is harvested, another 6 - 12 smaller cauliflowers are produced on side shoots. Although not highly productive, they are very tasty and the cabbage flavored leaves can be harvested year round.
7. Rhubarb (Rheum xcultorum) This popular perennial can be grown in Zones 2-9, but prefers a climate where winters are cold enough to freeze the ground. The stalks can be cooked and used in a variety of ways. The leaves contain toxic levels of oxalic acid and should not be eaten.
8. Sea Kale (Crambe maritima -- Family Cruciferae [Brassicaceae] ) Sea kale is not actually a type of kale, but rather a member of the Cabbage family. Hardy to Zone 6-9, itís been grown since Victorian times for its blanched young shoots. Sea Kale prefers full sun and produces its first yield in the third year after planting. Young shoots are blanched by placing an inverted pail or box over the plant. The flavor of the shoots is similar to kohlrabi, and the frilly leaves taste similar to a strong cabbage.

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Spray Snow Shovel with Silicon

Snow was sticking to my snow shovel until I coated the blade with silicon. The silicon spray I used was for my knitting machine but I've seen cheaper silicon spray at the hardware store. Now the snow doesn't stick. I like not having to lift the same snow more than once.

Source: I thought my idea was original until I completed a quick search on google. Oh well.

By Holly from Holly, MI

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Keep Birds and Animals Out of the Garden With CDs

This tip doubles as many things. Decoration as well as scarecrow. Take those DVD/CDs you were planning on tossing aside for whatever reason. I used a soldering iron, melted a hole in the edge of the DVD/CD. You can also use a small tipped hot glue gun without the glue in to do the same. If you don't have either, just knot the twin from the center hole.

Anyway, tie twin or thick cord on it here and attach to a shepherd hook or other element and place in the garden. The breeze will blow the disk and helps keep squirrels, animals out of your garden. My clothesline is nearby and I hang these on the ends as well. Different colored discs make for colorful additions in the garden.

A friend asked for an idea for her woodpecker at the lake which loved the cabin. I said to do this and hang shorter twine from the eves with a hook. The motion will keep the birds from pecking the cabin. She tried it and it worked!

By Joyce from Benson MN

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Protecting Plants as They Start to Grow

What is the best stuff to make or buy so that my seeds don't get fungus or get tamped down and croak when they start to grow? This would be for wisteria, crape myrtles, apples and some ornamental grass. Thanks, I love this site.

Hardiness Zone: 7a


Jane from Baltimore, Md

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Planting a Burning Bush

How and when do I plant a burning bush?

Hardiness Zone: 6a


Jean from Adena, Ohio

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Hydrangea Not Growing

My Hydrangea gets plenty of leaves but it hasn't grown since I planted it. It is the same size as it was since I took them out of the planting pots. And no blooms last summer! Any advice?

Hardiness Zone: 5b

Pattie from Bridgton, ME

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How Does Salt Effect Plants?

What effect does salt have on plants? Rohana

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Flying Bugs on Houseplants

How can I enjoy my house plants without those pesky little flies? I don't want to spray anything on the plants because I'm afraid it may harm them, but the bugs are driving me crazy! Any suggestions? Please help!

Serena from Austin, TX

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Crafting for Fun and Money!

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