Save Your Garden With Less Water

If your looking to save on water costs, while saving your landscaping at the same time there may actually be a solution.

It's called Xeriscape. It's derived from the Greek word "Xeros" which means dry. That's what makes this gardening technique so different, you can conserve water but no one would be able to tell by looking at your landscaping or garden.

So how do you do it? Well this weekend in Pueblo, the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District is offering up some free help. You can take a tour through their very own garden and learn tips on how to do it yourself at home. The full tour will take you to several stops.

"It's a chance to walk through other peoples gardens to see what they've done, they are all water-wise gardens," said Liz Catt, the Garden Coordinator for the Southeast Colorado Water Conservancy. "We try to do different styles so that people can see that Xeriscape is not a style of gardening but rather a way to garden water wise."

Catt says that key to Xeriscape is what to plant and where to plant it.

"It's smart to grow things in a way that fits our climate. Instead of trying to grow things that should be grown in Kentucky or Connecticut," she said.

The Xeriscape Garden tour was in Pueblo Saturday, and will continue in Pueblo West on Sunday from 9:00am - 3:00pm.

http://www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=10490436

Gardeners disclose their all-time favorite landscaping gizmos

We asked three locals (a professional gardener, a recreational green thumb and a Back Mountain Bloomer) to talk about the handiest gardening implement they’ve ever … handled.

In this year of victory and recession gardens, experts say many will grow their own produce instead of buying it elsewhere and others might simply want to beautify their yards with flowers. Those who can’t take a vacation can at least feel as if they’re somewhere else.

Whatever the case, they’ll need the right tools on hand to get the job done.

Bill Jones doesn’t want to think about how long it would take him to break up the soil in his half-acre garden in the Back Mountain.

Had he not purchased a tiller or cultivator some 15 years ago, his favorite pastime might take a bit longer.

“Something like this is a lifetime investment,” he said, of the Yard Machines large tiller he owns. (He and his wife also keep a small Honda tiller on hand).

The garden-center expert at Home Depot in Wilkes-Barre said tillers are a big seller right now and they get his vote for best gardening tool.

“I don’t even want to imagine if I had to dig it up by hand,” said Jones, who grows everything from corn and squash to watermelons and pumpkins and uses his tiller about three times a week.

The lawn-mower-like machine breaks up the soil to plant seeds or actual plants, and they can be used again and again in between crops to stop weeds from growing.

It’s important to maintain the garden throughout the season, he said.

“I start right from seeds because I enjoy watching them come up through the soil,” he said.

The pro loves to garden so much he even gives crops away at a small stand in front of his house where he accepts small donations.

“To cover the costs of the seeds,” he said.

What else is popular nowadays?

Believe or not, the standard lawnmower is topping Jones’ customers’ shopping lists at Home Depot.

“The biggest thing this year is a lot of people who had landscaping contractors are doing their own gardening,” he said. “People are putting more time into their homes.”

Everything is “cottagey” in Lynn Kelly’s Trucksville garden.

Kelly is a member of the Back Mountain Bloomers and has studied at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square.

“I start every day in the garden,” she said. “I walk around and see what happened overnight.”

She grows foxgloves, ferns, blue hydrangeas, sweet alyssum, some vegetables and lots more.

With plants growing in the front and back of her cottage, the trip from her back yard to the front garden is up a hill, so she needs a little help.

That’s where her trusted gardening dollie is put to good use.

After picking it up at a yard sale for $10, she started using it to transport big pots from the back to the front.

“I’m out of breath carrying it with that. Can you imagine me trying to carry it up?” she said on a recent morning in her garden as she transported pots of flowers up the hill to her front yard.

But the dollie is tied with the soil knife for the honor of Kelly’s most beloved tool.

The knife, with its stainless-steel blade, makes her life much easier, she said, because not only does it kill weeds, it loosens soil, divides plants and digs.

“Two of the girls at Perennial Point use it,” she said, explaining she bought it a few years ago. It costs roughly $24 to $30.

The knife comes in handy this time of year, she said, especially as she prepares her garden for the Back Mountain Bloomers “Tour of Back Mountain Gardens” set for June 27, a day on which seven different gardens will be highlighted, including her own.

Day lilies line the side yard at Bob Schalm’s Luzerne home, where Schalm is constantly planting vegetables, flowers and trees.

After living on an acre of land in Dallas for many years and growing up with avid gardeners for parents, Schalm, fittingly, adopted gardening as a favorite pastime.

And he couldn’t do it without his two favorite tools: the hose and planting shovel.

“I use the big one, too, but mostly that guy,” he said, pointing to the small shovel, which can be purchased at any hardware store and sits atop his backyard potting table, where he pots begonias and impatiens.

In fact, he’s not even able to guess how many he’s owned in his lifetime.

“I know there are two more in the shed worn out,” he said.

As for the hose, it is vital to the success of his vegetable garden every season, he said.

“Without the hose, you wouldn’t be able to have all this,” said the gardener, who waters his plants “every day it doesn’t rain.”

He plants onions, radishes, lettuce, carrots, spinach and bell peppers next to a white shed he bought at T Town Sheds in Tunkhannock.

“We’ll have a salad out of that garden every night in the summer,” he said.

In another part of the yard, he grows a variety of tomatoes that his companion, Karen, uses to make marinara sauce, stewed tomatoes and occasionally tomato juice.

“We’ll have homemade sauce all winter,” he said, noting the pair freeze those they don’t use.

Also in the yard are Rose of Sharon bushes, or as some call them, tiny trees, which Schalm renamed “Rose of Karen,” in honor of the special lady in his life.

http://www.timesleader.com/features/Gardeners_disclose_their_all-time_favorite_landscaping_gizmos_05-16-2009.html

Lawn, garden options needn't bust a budget for Oregonians

Olivia Bucks/The Oregonian Jonathan Scott (left) and his wife, Elyse Cavagnetto-Scott, place the raised bed frame that Scott had just constructed into place in front of their Northeast Portland home. Home gardening is increasingly popular and helps stretch the family's food budget.

Perhaps you are among those with less money to spend this season on your yard but haven't figured out what to spend it on?

Here's advice from experts and garden-variety gardeners on ways to stretch your landscape dollars, so you can enjoy your yard this year without breaking your budget.

Plant an edible landscape. Mark Bigej, owner of Al's Garden Center, offers this as his top tip: "Use attractive edibles like blueberries right in your landscaping, with other ornamental shrubs, so they do double duty. Your fruiting plum trees and cherries can be absolutely gorgeous -- you get great spring bloom, you can prune them into interesting shapes, you have nice fall color on them."

Buy or build your own trellis, and put a grape or kiwi vine on it. "Grapes are beautiful over arbors or trellises," Bigej says. "The kiwi is another great vine that has really neat large leaves with red petals and is beautiful in the summer."

If you'd like to invest in edibles, seeds and starts are cheap and can prove cost-effective. For example, the average tomato plant start costing less than $2 can produce more than 20 pounds of tomatoes in a season.

Raise beds, grow veggies. But where to plant those tomatoes and other vegetables?

If you have a little space in the sun, consider installing raised beds. Vegetables like them because they provide good drainage, and if you plant them with good soil, the result can be healthier, more productive plants.

Many retail and online stores sell raised bed kits that are easy to assemble. For instance, Home Depot sells all kinds of star-shaped, circular and rectangular raised bed kits, starting at $169.

Or, if you're handy, you can buy the raw materials and build your own for less. (If you live in some parts of Portland, you can even borrow your tools for free from a tool library.)

"You walk the neighborhoods here and see everyone's doing it," says Jonathan Scott of Northeast Portland, who built his own 4-by-6 raised bed last summer and is building a second one.

Scott started his research by browsing the Internet, then headed to Home Depot for his lumber. He ended up buying treated two-by-fours, which he banged together in about an hour. The whole project took less than a day, including two hours to dig out the grass. It cost him less than $100, including $35 worth of organic plant starts.

The most expensive items were the top soil and compost, which he bought by the bag. Next time, Scott says, he will try to round up neighbors to buy soil more cheaply from a bulk supplier.

The project was worth it. "The runner beans grew like weeds and gave us oodles -- enough for several side dishes a week for months," says Scott, who also grew leeks, peppers, eggplant and tomatoes.

With a little more money and sweat, you could build a raised bed out of decorative rock. For about $300 including delivery, you could create an attractive 4-by-8 bed using stone such as basalt, quartzite or river rock.

But if you're seeking a cheaper and less labor intensive route, consider sheet mulching. Also known as "composting in place" or "no-dig gardening," sheet mulching is a bed-building technique that suppresses weeds and improves soil and plant health.

"It's the most cost-effective way to make new beds," says Annie Bamberger, a landscape designer with Dennis' Seven Dees in Portland. "You lay out newspapers and cardboard, lay on grass, pile on high-quality soil, and let it sit for three, four months, and then plant right into it.

"Then you don't have the cost of cutting out grass, hauling it away, paying for debris removal or renting a tiller to till in amendments," Bamberger says.

She cautions not to use cheap compost, because it's often infested with weed seeds. "It's better to pay the money and get higher quality," Bamberger says.

(Or you could make your own high-quality compost by throwing your kitchen scraps and leaves into a compost bin purchased from Metro for $39. You know you should.)

Design your landscape for less. What if your conundrum is that you'd like to improve your landscape design but don't want to spend buckets of money doing it? There are less costly alternatives to full landscape design services, especially if you're willing to do your own legwork.

For instance, Dennis' Seven Dees offers a design program for do-it-yourselfers at its garden centers. You fill out a site-analysis questionnaire, plot out the area on graph paper and take pictures of the garden site before meeting with a professional landscape designer. In an hour-long consultation, the designer works with you on a design, and gives you a sketch and a suggested plant list.

The cost is a gift certificate for a minimum of $500, which can be applied toward plants, delivery or anything else the store sells. You also get a 10 percent discount on purchases for a year.

A similar sweat-equity service is offered by a Design in a Day, a firm owned by Carol Lindsay, a past president of the Association of Northwest Landscape Designers who has a special interest in using native plantings and those that require little water. At the Home and Garden show in February, people packed Lindsay's booth to request information about her scaled-down four-hour landscape design service.

Harvest your rainwater. No matter what your budget, you'll have to water whatever you plant. You might consider harvesting some of the bountiful free rainwater that deluges us most of the year in Oregon. You could buy the materials yourself and make a picturesque rain barrel, using free instructions from the Internet.

There are even YouTube videos to guide you. Or you could buy one from a local store, including Rain Barrel Man in Northeast Portland, Division Hardware in Southeast or Home Depot (plastic ones start at $89.99).

If you live in Portland and are willing to disconnect your downspouts, you can sign up for the Bureau of Environmental Services Clean River Rewards Program. Ratepayers can receive up to 100 percent discount on their storm-water management charges by managing storm-water runoff on their property, as well as free technical assistance.

If you live in the Tualatin River watershed, which includes most of Washington County and parts of Clackamas and Multnomah counties, you can sign up for the Clean Water Hero Program, run by Clean Water Services. This program provides up to three hours of on-site technical assistance to help you create a sustainable storm-water landscape.

Or combine landscape design with storm-water management and create a rain garden. Rain gardens hold storm-water runoff, allowing it to soak into the ground naturally, helping reduce stream pollution. Typically planted with hardy, low-maintenance perennial plants, they provide food and shelter for birds, butterflies and beneficial insects.

The East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District (emswcd.org) offers free workshops on creating a rain garden; the Clean Water Services Web site also has a great deal of information.

Get help with the job. Sounds like too much work? Take advantage of free good will from your friends and acquaintances and start a garden club. Jessica Holliday of Northeast Portland belonged to one for several years where, once a month, members from six households would work on one family's yard projects for six hours on a Saturday.

"They were mostly the really big projects that you dread doing, but you get five other people and you'd be amazed what you can do in a day," Holliday says.

"We dug a trench for bamboo, we moved some big shrubs, we pulled ivy and blackberry, and put in irrigation. We built six raised beds and moved all the dirt for a couple of vegetable gardens. Stuff got done."

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/04/lawn_garden_options_neednt_bus.html

Creating a more sustainable landscape or garden just makes sense in these challenging economic times

Adding some "sustainable" landscaping and gardening techniques can add beauty and functionality to your outdoor living space, and can save you a considerable amount of money - something we are all interested in doing, particularly during a recession. Additionally, sustainable landscaping can be functional and beautiful too. If you plan to sell your home in the near future, adding sustainable landscaping could, potentially, increase the value of your property and set it apart from the competition as buyers may be looking for a home with a yard that isn't going to be costly to maintain.

Here are some simple strategies that you can employ to help make your landscape or garden more sustainable:

* Observe your land before you decide on a final design for your property- really think about what you are going to plant and where you are going to plant it. A great way I have found to help me work out design challenges is to simply take my folding chair to a back corner of a property, just sit... and observe. I once heard that, in years past, designers of those world famous Japanese gardens were required to observe the land for a minimum of one year before being permitted to plant anything. I'm not suggesting you do the same, but you can often get a better overall picture of your property, get to really "know" it, by just observing subtleties existing in your planting space that you may not have otherwise notice (I have found that this can also be a great way to decompress after a particularly stressful day!)

* Reduce the size of your lawn - traditional lawns require many excess inputs of water, fertilizer and herbicides to keep them looking lush and green. (Lawns are remnants of another era - a time when people were interested in demonstrating their wealth by showing others they had agricultural land to waste. You can read more about the history of lawns at American-lawns.com).

* Choose native plants in your landscape - since native plants have had to evolved to survive in our region, they tend to be more drought tolerant, disease resistant and very rarely become invasive. This means that natives will require less work and fewer resources to do well in landscapes in the Delaware Valley. See the links below for links to local native plant societies and nurseries.

* Harvest rainwater that falls on your property - Rain barrels, attached to downspouts on your house, can collect water that may otherwise have run-off your lawn and into storm sewers. You can use this water to irrigate your vegetable garden, and water trees and shrubs. Not only will you save on your water bill, but you will be helping to reduce pollution (rainwater running off your property causes erosion and can collect toxins from lawns and paved areas, as it finds its way back into streams and creeks). Rain barrels can be anything from 55 gallon barrels that were once used to hold cola syrup, to those fancy models found in the eco-living catalogues. I have listed some rain barrel sources (include do-it-yourself instructions and a website for The Chester County Conservation District - they sell rain barrels to area residents at a discounted fee) below.

* Use mulch, and lots of it. Mulching under trees and around bedding plants conserves water, keeps plant roots cool when the weather gets hot, and makes it more difficult for weeds (who are engaged in a constant competition with your "desirable" plants for resources like water) to become established.

You can mulch with:

* free materials like wood chips (often enthusiastically provided by local tree services, just call them and ask!), just be sure the chips are from trees have not come from wood pallets or other refuse; leaves that have fallen from your trees in previous years, or lawn clippings
* inexpensive materials like chopped straw, or shredded newspaper (non-glossy pages are printed with soy based inks, but glossy ads may contain undesirable chemicals)
* the pricier stuff - often found at home improvement stores.

Using a light colored mulch will help reflect the sun and keeps plants happier, and I would caution against using any of the mulches sold that contain dyes- particularly if you plan on using it on edible plants (because, eventually, you may be eating that dye).

Sustainable landscapes and gardens come in all shapes and sizes.They can be formal or informal, and can be designed to compliment the existing elements on your property. By designing a landscape or garden that is more sustainable you can feel good knowing that you are helping to reduce your environmental impact; but even if you don't really care too much about being "eco friendly", you can take comfort in knowing that by landscaping and gardening more sustainably you are saving yourself some money and a whole lot of extra work!
http://www.examiner.com/x-8317-Philadelphia-Home-Gardening-Examiner~y2009m4d16-Creating-a-more-sustainable-landscape-or-garden-just-makes-sense-in-these-challenging-economic-times

The Most Common Greenhouse Mistake

If you have gardened for any amount of time you have either wanted a greenhouse or wondered if getting a greenhouse would be a good thing for you to do. Most of us get on the internet and start doing research about all the things we need to consider; the climate we live in; ventilation; what we will grow and when; racks and shelves and so on and so forth.

If we decide that we will indeed get a greenhouse and get everything we can dream of out of it! We measure and check where the sun will be and then start looking for the best bang for our buck. It is here that most of us make a mistake that will come back to haunt us in a very short time; we buy a green house that ends up being too small.

You might think it's the money that makes the difference but that's not it at all. We underestimate what can be done in the grow house and end up with more plans and plants than room! We are then forced to go back and purchase a second greenhouse to either supplement the first one or replace it. The problem is that if you don't have experience to know what you really want to do so you go into the greenhouse experience a little bit blind.

With that said, there are a few things to consider about how you garden and what your intent is with your new greenhouse that can help you determine the best size. If you are the experimenter type just save yourself the trouble and buy one to two sizes larger than you think you need because you will be using your greenhouse for a lot of things on a year round basis.

If you are the type that loves to be outside in the garden even if it's a bit chilly or windy and your spouse thinks you are crazy, buy one size larger than you think you need. If you just garden to grow some vegetables and are hoping to do the same; just longer or year round, make sure you get a greenhouse with a high insulation ratio and you will need to determine what kinds of vegetables and herbs you plan to grow and make sure you have enough expansion room to grow everything you want to in the dead of winter. Again, buy at least one size more than you think you need.

Unless you just want to putter around and play with growing in a greenhouse buy one size more than you think you need. In other words, buy at least one size more than you think you need. It will, in the long run, save you time, money and frustration.

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Most-Common-Greenhouse-Mistake&id=2205243

A Home Garden – Fun for the Whole Family

Home gardening is a wonderful pastime that the whole family can enjoy. In addition, gardening has become an increasingly popular hobby for people of all ages. Currently, studies show that in the United States, eight of ten households take part in some type of home gardening endeavor. Based on these statistics, gardening is one of the most popular outdoor recreational activities in the nation.

Typically, when people start planting their garden, they start with flowers. In addition, most people will pursue planting roses. The novice garden does not realize that roses usually take the most time and effort as compared to other flowers. With such an enormous array of flowers to choose from, it is best for the novice to start of with easy care plants and flowers.

Vegetable gardens have become quite popular too. A vegetable garden can bring a sense of pride and accomplishment when you place those fresh vegetables on your dinner table. The list of vegetable plants is endless, therefore when planning your vegetable garden choose the right vegetable for your growing climate. For instance, cool weather crops would be green beans, zucchini, and cucumbers.

Many gardeners will consider planting fruits as well. In a warm climate, you could plant watermelons, and trees such as apricots and peaches. A berry garden is also fun, planting strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. These types of berry gardens are easy to care for and take less space than a traditional vegetable garden.

Herbs are another favorite for the home garden. If you have limited space, you can grow your herbs indoors in a sunny window. The most often used herbs for cooking are basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, and cilantro. These herbs are easy to grow too.

Landscaping your yard is another form of gardening. There are different types of grasses and shrubbery to decorate your yard. Decorative rocks, ponds, and statues are also included as a form of landscape gardening. Landscaping your yard is not limited to plant life. As with a garden, your lawn and shrubbery need upkeep.

As mentioned earlier, gardening can be fun and educational for the whole family. In addition, what a delight to see the flowers bloom and harvest the vegetables. However, as with anything else, to be a successful home gardener takes work. Plants need to be weeded and watered. Do not get discouraged if the flowers are not as brilliant as expected or the beans did not do so well. Research the plant in question and then try again next planting season, eventually you will have a wonderful garden.

http://ezinearticles.com/?A-Home-Garden---Fun-for-the-Whole-Family&id=163489

How to Plan Ahead For Your Perennial Garden

If you're like most gardeners, once you discover how fun perennials can be you want to fill your whole yard up with them. Perennials are different from annuals in that they survive through the winter and come back every year in your garden. The only downside to perennials is that most don't flower the first year you have them. However, if you take care of them properly they will decorate your garden with color for many years after they make it through their first winter.

There are literally thousands of varieties of perennials to choose from in different shapes, sizes and colors. One of the most difficult choices you'll have to make is what type and variety of perennial to plant. Some of the most common varieties include hardy mums, phlox, hydrangea, peonies, irises, bleeding hearts, peonies, and grasses just to name a few. You can also think of shrubs and trees as perennials. One of the greatest benefits of planting a flowering perennial in your garden is that you don't have to plant them every year and they often provide the most beautiful and interesting flowers. However, a major downside is that they often have a short blooming period.

One way to get around this is to plant a variety of perennials in your garden, each scheduled to bloom at a different time throughout the season. That way your yard is never without color. Of course, this requires quite a bit of planning on your part! You don't want all your plants blooming during the same week and then have nothing to look at for the rest of the summer! You will also have to spend some time figuring out exactly where to plant each different variety as they will probably stay in the same location for many years.

You might think you can just buy a perennial and "plant it and forget it." However, just like any other type of plant, perennials require a lot of care. Perennials that grow too large for their space will need to be divided and some require quite a bit of pest control. If you don't know a lot about the different types of perennials available you can study the many garden books and catalogs available. It's best to know exactly what you're getting into before you add any plant into your garden, especially one that will last for many seasons. It might be a good idea to start out with a trial garden to get a feel for what to expect.

Many avid gardeners prefer to start their perennials from seeds rather than purchasing expensive adult plants at the nursery. The best way to do is to get a head start on the growing season with a portable greenhouse you can use to grow seeds inside your home.

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Plan-Ahead-For-Your-Perennial-Garden&id=2130154