Happy Garden - January 31, 2008

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Susan

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Photos:

• Icy Thermometer
• Shopping Bag Into Planting Bags
• Front Yard Perennials
• Keep A Smile On A Little Gardener's Face
• Grow Cuttings To Give Away

Tips and Articles:

• Plant Onions To Keep Cats Out Of Your Yard
• Container Gardening - Thinking Outside The Box
• Making Angled And Tiered Planters
• Use Steel Cans In The Garden

New Requests:

• Rooting a Hibiscus from a Larger Plant
• Another Houseplant to Identify
• Help Identifying This Plant
• Growing Geranium Seeds
• African Violets Are Infested with Insects

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:
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Icy Thermometer

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Shopping Bag Into Planting Bags

Take plastic shopping bags (if they are too lightweight, they will not hold the seal). Cut off the handles and the bottom seam. Flatten the bag out completely. Fold the outside to the inside, you need to double the bag.

Divide bag in equal thirds. Now is when the Food Saver comes in, seal from top to bottom. While sealing, gently pull on the bag and it will separate, you should have a good seal.

Taking 1 of these small tubes, fold sides into the middle that will be the bottom, then seal. Be sure to cut a small slit anywhere across the bottom for drainage.

I use these for starting seeds, transplanting seedlings, cuttings, and even established plants.

By Babbie from Lemon Grove CA

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Front Yard Perennials

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Keep A Smile On A Little Gardener's Face

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Grow Cuttings To Give Away

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Plant Onions To Keep Cats Out Of Your Yard

We get frustrated with our neighbors cats as they are constantly in our yard and destroying our plants. We decided to fight back this past summer, we planted green onion every 5 feet all around our garden. This not only kept the cats our but also kept the squirrels and other unwanted pests out of the garden. We also noticed significantly less bugs around the plants. plus they look nice in the garden.

By Diane from Waterloo, Ontario

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Container Gardening - Thinking Outside The Box

For going green to save our environment, I'm teaching a class soon on "Container Gardening - Thinking Outside The Box" and needed to come up with some unique ideas for containers for my plants. Some I came up with are:

I took an old metal fan apart and unscrewed the wire basket parts (had one on each side of the fan), then placed cocoa liner I'd bought inside the wire basket, and placed wire hangers on the basket to hang it, filled it with soil and planted low hanging vine plants in it for 2 nice hanging baskets.

I took an old vase with barnacles on it my family had found while snorkeling, drilled 3 holes in the bottom, put in soil and planted succulents inside.

I took an old metal teapot, drilled 3 holes in bottom, filled with soil and planted pansies in it.

These pots are unique and did not cost a dime, recycle some items and see what you can come up with for your garden this year. It is fun and they sure last longer than those ugly plastic pots you'd buy.

By Linda from Fort Walton Beach, FL

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Making Angled And Tiered Planters

I landscape on an angle from the house. I will make a three level planter; the first level is 8 feet wide and long, the sides are white rock or, preferably, pressure treated wood. In the center of the second level, make the planter 5 1/2 feet wide and long. The third level is 3 feet wide and long. If possible make a second planter on the opposite angle from the house. The angles makes the grounds look bigger.

On each level, plant shrubs and flowers. Keep the planters in clean shape and put a nice ground cover like bark mulch thinly to keep it fresh. Then in the back, add some rectangular beds to plant vegetables. Loosely behind them, plant corn and potatoes. For a delightful addition, add dry flower seeds and miniature gourds. Then add berry bushes.

Source: myself

By Bev from Chilliwack

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Use Steel Cans In The Garden

One of the ways I recycle is by burying my steel cans in my garden, I leave the bottoms on and I bury them about 12 in. deep open side up. I fill the canned with compost and then plant above it. If I'm doing row planting, I will bury a roll of cans and plant above them. The cans will eventually rust away after a couple of years and in the process add much-needed iron to my clay soil.

I also take 1 gallon cans cut off the bottom and put them on the surface of the ground between my tomato plants, I push them in about an inch or so, then I fill them about half full with fresh compost and use this for watering. I fill it up with water and it slowly trickles through. We're in another drought here in Southern California.

By Babette from Lemon Grove

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Rooting a Hibiscus from a Larger Plant

Does anyone out there know how to or if it is even possible to root a hibiscus from a large hibiscus that I have?

Hardiness Zone: 6a

Barbara from Philadelphia, PA

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Another Houseplant to Identify

What is this houseplant?

Hardiness Zone: 5b

Mary from Long Valley, NJ

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Help Identifying This Plant

I have a large plant that I wanted to identify. I thought it might be some kind of Dracaena? What is it?

Hardiness Zone: 4a

Mary from Long Valley, NJ

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Growing Geranium Seeds

I have what I think are seeds growing on my pink geranium. I have been letting them turn brown and then gently removing them and storing these in a paper bag in a dark dry spot.

Do I test these in the same manner as most seeds to see if they are going to germinate? When would I put these outside? Should I start them inside first?

Hardiness Zone: 7b

Kelly from Western North Carolina

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African Violets Are Infested with Insects

I have been having a problem with my African Violets for months now and have actually lost some. I have some kind of spider or bug that you can't really see but there are tiny cottony white spots all over the plant stems and a few on the leaves. I have tried the normal insect spray and also dipping them into liquid dish detergent and nothing seems to work. Please help me, I don't want to lose any more of them. I only have a few left.

Diane from Pingree, ID

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Crafting for Fun and Money!

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