The Home Garden: Gardening in the Home Landscape

The Stowaway Plants

2009-07-13T20:58:00.003-05:00

Several months ago now my youngest daughter and I journeyed up to Clay and Limestone to visit Gail. While there Gail gifted us with a bounty of planting presents like a group of junipers, her famously practically perfect pink phlox, several St. John's Worts, golden ragworts, and a couple other plants that have now found a place in our garden. But what she didn't know was that two other plants tagged along. They hid among the soil of the transport containers that bussed the gifts to our garden where they emerged quietly. Soon they became noticeable and emerged from their hiding spots.

Redbuds! (Cercis canadensis)

Here is the redbud that is next to our back porch hanging out with the irises and the practically perfect pink phlox which was its traveling companion!

In the front garden between the arbor and out front porch this little redbud grew out of a golden ragwort from Gail's Garden. A creeping ornamental sweet potato is stealthily moving toward them both.

Redbuds are great trees and I'm always happy to have a few more! Most likely these redbuds grew from seeds hidden in the soil and sprouted in the spring. This fall I'll dig them up to transplant them to better locations. They are just too close to the house for planting but I do have plenty of room for a couple more spring flowering trees. Redbuds are spectacular in bloom!

Thanks Gail!

Rooting 'Powis Castle' Artemisia

2009-07-12T21:49:00.003-05:00

'Powis Castle' artemisia has quickly become my favorite plant of the year. A little pot I purchased this spring has quickly grown into this lush silver foliaged beauty in the picture to the right. I really didn't expect this much this soon otherwise my 'Mystic Spires' salvia would have been planted further away but in a way it looks kind of neat with the artemisia enveloping the salvia.

I had to have more of this great plant so I set about trying to root it. Just recently I potted up two rooted cuttings and took eight more! I tried two different ways (leaf cuttings and stem cuttings) initially but only found success with stem cuttings.

Here's how to root cuttings of 'Powis Castle' artemisia:

Find a piece of stem with two nodes and make your cutting beneath the second node.
Pinch off any top growth in the center and leave only one or two leaves. The fewer leaves you have the less water it will lose which increases the odds of success.
Dip the end of the cutting in rooting hormone and place it into your potting medium.
Keep the cutting medium moist for about two to three weeks then check for resistance.
Pot them up and grow them until they are large enough to plant in your landscape!

Here is one of my rooted cuttings just before potting. There is only a tiny little root coming from the artemisia but it is just enough to get this plant growing. It began growing new foliage while still in its medium which is a good sign that rooting may have occurred.

Here you can see the root a little closer along with the rooting medium still somewhat attached. I don't wash it off since I would risk dislodging the newly formed root from the cutting. In this case I used a mix of sand and peat.

Here is the top leaf node of the cutting. I pinched it back during rooting to encourage root formation by forcing the auxins (hormones) in the plant to work toward making roots rather than foliage. Once rooting occurs, foliar growth resumes fairly quickly.

What new plant have you tried rooting this year?

The Rain Garden Photos

2009-07-11T21:41:00.003-05:00

Early last year I put together a rain garden in our yard to absorb some of the driveway drainage. Here are a few pictures of how it looks now!

Inside the garden we have a variety of perennials that are generally carefree and tolerate a wide range of growing conditions. Plants like coneflowers. Echinacea purpurea is having a perfect year here in our garden.

If we change our focus a little we can view the gladiola. One of the few summer blooming bulbs I've added to the gardens. They look really nice when they stand upright but have a terrible tendency to topple toward the turf! Those little green bamboo stakes would be good to help stake them up if necessary.

The pale pink blends nicely with the purple of the coneflowers but the gladiolas look great all by themselves as well.

Asclepias tuberosa or orange butterfly weed is a fantastic, easy care perennial. It doesn't transplant very well due to the large tuber so if you decide it needs to be moved you had better move much of the dirt around the roots as well. You'll see butterfly weed growing along roadsides and it grows readily from seed planted directly in the garden.

It's not blooming yet but this ornamental golden rod (aren't they all?) is beginning to bud. Over the years varieties of golden rod (Solidago) have been bred to grow as shorter heights with different flowers than what we normally see in the wild. Unfortunately many people don't see the value of golden rod in the landscape as they get it confused with a more infamous plant: ragweed. Both plants blooms at the same time and golden rod gets blamed for the allergy problems associated with ragweed. Golden rod is insect pollinated while ragweed is wind pollinated.

Here you can see the golden rod's placement next to the coneflowers. It should look very neat with the purple and gold colors blending together in the late summer raingarden.

One of the two kinds of ornamental grasses in the raingarden is Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus' also known as Zebra grass. I took advantage of the setting sun to capture some back lighting for the photo. You can really see the variegation in the leaves of grass.

Due to Garden Blogger's Bloom Day on Wednesday (and poor planning on my part) I'm delaying Worst Weed Wednesday until July 29th. Wednesday July 22nd isn't an option since I'll be unavailable for blogging that day. I'll post a reminder toward the end of next week!

Coreopsis 'Limerock Dream'

2009-07-10T14:42:00.000-05:00

I think you will see why I bought Coreopsis 'Limerock Dream'. I have a fondness for perennial coreopsis since they are so easy to grow here in Tennessee. The colors on this variety drew my eyes instantly. It's not plain yellow like my 'Moonbeam' Coreopsis or 'Jethro Tull'. The yellow colors seem to begin in the center of the flower then gradually change to a reddish-maroon tint along the edges. The flowers remind me of autumn colors and would blend well with the Big Sky series of coneflowers. It's also a thread leaf variety which are named for their narrow, needle shaped leaves.

I didn't buy this plant with a location or combination in mind, I bought because I thought it was neat! Often I find myself in the impulse buy mode at the garden center but this year I have been much better. I've bought a few discount plants but so far I've shied away from actual full price plants.

I found my coreopsis 'Limerock Dream' among the perennials nestled in between some salvia, delphiniums, and echinacea but most likely this plant should have been where the less hardy perennials or annuals are located. As I have learned since buying (I incorrectly read the plant tag!) it may not be hardy in our area. Whenever I purchase a new plant I like to check it out online to learn a little more about it and I found a variety of information regarding its cold hardiness. Some sites say zone 6, (I hope so) others say zone 8 or zone 10, who really knows? The patent for this plant (yes plants have patents!) indicates that it was published in August of 2006, three years. Is three years long enough to determine with accuracy its cold hardiness? According to the patent it was tested down to -5 degrees C (23 degrees Fahrenheit) and up to 50 degrees Celsius (or 122 degrees F, if our local temperature ever gets this high I will be worrying about other things than my perennials!). It's the low extreme that has me a little concerned over the longevity of this plant in my garden.

Here's what I'll do to ensure it's survival in my garden:

Collect Seed. The seed may not come true to the original but it's worth a shot. Who knows something new and interesting may appear.
Divide in the fall. I'll make a couple divisions in the fall and overwinter them in my garage greenhouse. I've done this with a non hardy verbena successfully over the last two years.
Take cuttings. I'll take a few cuttings and overwinter them in the garage with the divisions.
Cover with mulch! I'll put a heavy layer of mulch/compost/shredded leaves over the coreopsis to help insulate it from the cold. I planted it in a garden near the house so there may be some residual heat from the house hat will help keep the soil warm.
Cross my fingers. All this stuff may not be necessary and it might do very well in its new home. My 'Moonbeam' coreopsis lasted through the winter last year and is thriving while others have had trouble keeping it going. Sometimes gardening is like gambling: you take chances and they are both addictive!

Do you have any other overwintering tips for tender perennials?

Since our night time winter temperatures here in Tennessee can be quite low, sometimes reaching -10 F, gardeners need to be careful about the hardiness of certain plants. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to get this new coreopsis to grow through to next year, but then again, I may just be dreaming!

Worst Weed Wednesday

2009-07-09T10:30:00.003-05:00

Next Wednesday (July 15th, 2009) I'll be hosting Worst Weed Wednesday and I'd like to invite all my fellow blogging friends to participate! All you have to do is pick out (or pick on) your least favorite garden invader in a post on your blog. It could be any plant you consider to be a weed, after all a weed is any plant in the wrong place. It could be that thistle that'll never leave, a ragweed you would like to rag on, or just some wayward flowers that can't be stopped and are invading all your garden beds! Talk about how you deal with them (any tricks or tips), why they are a problem and why you think they are the worst weed ever to sprout on the face of the Earth. You don't have to pick just one. Pull as many weeds as you wish for Worst Weed Wednesday.

All participants will get a Worst Weed Wednesday summary post (with links!) on this blog similar to what I put together for the Garden Blogger Fall Color Project last fall (which I plan on doing again this year, so keep that in mind for fall).

If you would like to participate in Worst Weed Wednesday there are three simple things I need you to do:

Post here that you are going to participate. That way I won't miss all those weedy posts.
Have your post up on Wednesday Morning (July 15th)
Provide a link back to The Home Garden (www.growingthehomegarden.com) so that others can read about everyone else's weeds!

If you would like to mention this in your blogs to encourage others to participate I would appreciate it but that is by no means required. You get to rant all you want about your most despised garden villains and arch enemies to sympathetic ears and eyes! What more could you ask for?

If your weeds attack and you can't get your post done on time, or if you catch this post too late, I'll be happy to add you to the Worst Weed Wednesday Post at anytime in the future.

Aphid Alert

2009-07-08T20:50:00.000-05:00

While aphids are easy to deal with they are definitely a nuisance! I discovered these on our hostas the other day feasting on the flower stalks.

Aphids are easy to find, just look for the ants. Ants are opportunistic little insects that love a sweet and easy meal that the aphids provide. When the aphids begin to feed on the plants they secret a sugary substance called honey dew. The ants love the stuff and tail the aphids to take advantage of their leftovers. Ants to the same with scale and other sucking insects that create honeydew residue. The incredibly strange yet interesting thing is that some ants will actually store the aphid eggs over the winter to save them for spring. That way the ants can harvest the honeydew from the aphids in the future. Ants will even move the aphids from stem to stem to harvest more from the juicy plants!

Pesticides will work against aphids but aren't necessary. A strong blast of water from a hose will dislodge the aphids from their meal. Insecticidal soap will do an excellent job of decimating the aphid population. If the plants are mature and well established the aphids will probably do little to hurt them. Still, I'd rather knock them out when I see them! I've had aphids appear on the hostas, asclepias (Butterfly weed), spirea, viburnum, and several other kinds of plants. It's one of the unwritten laws of gardening: if you plant it, aphids will come!

Russian Sage in the Garden

2009-07-07T21:34:00.002-05:00

What a difference three years makes in the life of a plant. Welcome to my front sidewalk garden at the beginning of July. You will notice right off the bat several flowering perennials on the left side of the sidewalk that could use a little pruning. The Russian sages (Perovskia atriplicifolia) are towering over the walkway.

In retrospect this probably isn't the best location for these large perennials, but I really like them! They attract all sorts of pollinators and their lavender colored flower spires last well into fall. Even when the foliage drops off Russian sage still stands out in the garden with ghostly white stems reaching toward the sky. And besides all that they are just plain cool! I suppose after this season I will revamp the front sidewalk garden and move my Russians to another location. Any suggestions? I already have several new Russian sage plants growing in other places from propagation through hardwood and softwood cuttings, should I start a new garden?

The deer don't like Russian sage and neither do the rabbits due to the fragrance of the leaves which makes it priceless in my landscape. Although Russian sage is not a true sage and shouldn't be eaten it does have a really interesting scent.

Aren't summer blooming perennials great! What is your favorite July bloomer?

5 Water Conservation Tips

2009-07-06T22:12:00.005-05:00

On Monday morning I was on WAKM AM radio show Spotlight on Spring Hill again to talk garden talk. Since here in Tennessee we just had a 2 week dry spell I thought some water conservation tips would be helpful to mention on the radio. Here's a few tips I gave:

1) Water in the Morning
If watering is necessary, water in the morning to reduce evaporation from the hot summer sun. Watering in the afternoon will lose more water and creates the ideal conditions for fungal diseases: hot and humid.

2) Water deeply and less often

Watering the soil deeply when you water will keep more water in the soil longer. It also encourages roots to grow down deep in search of that water, longer roots means stronger plants.When you water frequently the roots don't have to grow deep into the soil to get water so they remain in the upper layers which makes a weaker root system.

3) Consider purchasing and using rain barrels.
Rain barrels will store water from recent precipitation for use later. The water that runs off our roofs is generally wasted water that would be great if used on a hot, sunny day in the middle of July. Most rain barrels store at least 40 gallons or more and will easily fill up after one short rain. The rain barrel in the picture can be found at Gardener's Supply Company. For some great information on rain barrels take a look at the recent issue of the Tennessee Gardener where garden blogger Dee Nash has a great article explaining rain barrels and rain gardening. You should go pay her garden a visit!

4) Mulching
Mulching your gardens with a good layer of mulch (about 2 inches) will keep the soil cooler and retain much more moisture in the soil. Last Thursday I moved a plant to a new garden and dug into the soil underneath the mulched garden bed and found moisture, after almost two weeks of no rain. It's almost like striking oil for the gardener!

5) Soaker Hoses not sprinklers

When you water use soaker hoses to keep the moisture on the ground. Sprinklers send water up into the air which increases evaporation and results in the plants receiving less water while you receive a higher water bill. Soaker hoses aren't practical for watering lawns but unless you are starting new seed you really should go easy on watering the lawn. Covering the soaker hose with mulch also helps to increase the amount of moisture retained in the soil.

Hopefully rain will be plentiful this summer, but one thing is for sure, you can never count on the weather to do what you want!

(click on the pictures above to visit Gardener's Supply Company)

Propagating 'Purple Homestead' Verbena

2009-07-05T21:17:00.001-05:00

If you haven't tried 'Purple Homestead' Verbena you really should! I've used them in three places so far and couple think of many more locations I would like to see them. 'Purple Homestead' has found homes in our landscape in the mailbox garden, the front garden, and the birdbath garden. It's a low sprawling ground cover that blooms profusely with purple blossoms during the summer.

My only complaint about this summer blooming perennial is its tendency to disappear over the winter. Sometimes it comes back and other times it doesn't. Kind of like our newspaper delivery person. Often it will die back completely from the main plant and re-sprout from a different location along the plant where it rooted. Perhaps the verbena wants to travel? As long as it comes back I don't mind. Wet winter locations aren't very good for it but a well drained area with sun will keep it in good shape for the following spring and summer.

Propagating Verbena

To sustain your verbenas over long periods consider propagating a few extras. Here's what I do. Take a two node or more cutting and drop it in water. Wait a couple days for roots to form then pot it up! Complicated right? Not at all!

All I need to do now is trim the pieces below the root and pot up my new verbena.

Or if you want to make many, many, many more verbenas (and why wouldn't you?) try internodal cuttings with only a single leaf node on the cutting. Leave two small leaves on the cutting and treat it with rooting hormone then stick it in your rooting medium. Very soon you will have new verbenas! Verbenas are extremely easy to root and your success rate should be high. Each fall I prepare a few rooted cuttings to overwinter in pots in the garage so that should one of my verbenas depart for that great garden in the sky I'll have a replacement ready to go.

Verbenas layer very easily so if you go out to examine your plant you may find new roots along its stem. If it does then you can sever the rooted section away from the main plant and move it to a new location.

And if you think verbena sounds easy, you should try propagating coleus! Now go forth and propagate!

The Best Way to Heal a Deer Damaged Tree

2009-07-05T06:30:00.002-05:00

As you can see from the picture to the left that this tree has taken a beating. Last fall when the deer were out in force a buck decided to rut against several of my favorite trees. Coincidentally they were all young trees that I had planted in the yard including two maples, a dogwood and one of my personal favorite trees a Yoshino Cherry. I was furious. I contemplated a fairly violent solution but it was all talk in my head. Plotting the demise of the deer was not a pleasant thought process. Instead I turned my panicked mind toward finding a way to repair the damage. At one point I actually tried to graft maple bark onto the maple trees. As it turns out that wasn't necessary.

In the end I figured out the best way to repair a deer damaged tree, let Mother Nature take her course. It's hard to just do nothing and let the tree heal but ultimately that's what you have to do. You can help it along a little but cleaning up the rough edges of the cuts with a clean sharp knife and by monitoring the health of the tree so that mold and rot doesn't set in but that's about all you can do. Poultices reportedly help but I suspect that they really could hurt the tree since moisture could creep in and help create an environment that propagates mold and disease.

You can see in the close up picture how well the new bark is closing the damaged area. The new tissue has created a rounded edge that will eventually close up the hold completely. Since it was a young tree the damage should be repaired very fast, maybe even by next year. The two sides will close up then new tissue will form on the outside of those pieces and merge together to create a seamless repair.

If the cambium layer (the cells that transport water through the tree) had been girdled (damaged all the way around the tree) things would not have turned out quite so well. The parts of the tree above the wound would be irrevocably dead. A new tree could grow from below the damage but it would be a long process to turn it into as great of a tree as this Yoshino was.

This fall I will be protecting all my young trees with a plastic mesh to prevent deer from rubbing against the trunks. I won't be caught unprepared this year!

Happy Independence Day!

2009-07-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

While we are eating, and playing, and celebrating the holiday let us always remember why we celebrate, our freedom! Happy Independence Day!

Consider Zinnias For Easy Color !

2009-07-03T06:00:00.000-05:00

Low maintenance and hard working, it's hard to go wrong with zinnias! Their colors cover nearly any shade you could ask for in the spectrum. There are even varieties with multiple colors although I don't have any of those in my garden. They are extremely easy to cultivate and just need a little water to get started then the zinnias pretty much take care of themselves. What is really nice is that they will continue to bloom with regular deadheading all the way into fall. A couple weeks before the first frost date I let them go to seed then collect the seeds for the following year. The colors that come back the following year may be the same or different. The flower shape may change also but one thing is the same, great color!

Zinnias are annuals here in Tennessee and are great for attracting butterflies, hummingbirds, and other pollinators. The only problem I have had with zinnias is occasional powdery mildew but a baking soda spray should take care of that. These zinnias in the photographs were all from the self-seeding garden.

The 2009 Vegetable Tally

2009-07-02T20:36:00.007-05:00

Here is the beginning of a running tally of vegetables we collect from the garden. I've noticed that several other garden bloggers are doing similar vegetable counts and it's just too cool of an idea to pass up! Hopefully I can keep it updated on a daily basis. Keeping track of the total vegetable crop should be a good way to estimate what the actual financial benefit of the garden is for this year. I'll be updating this post regularly with vegetable numbers and hopefully some financial analysis later so keep checking back!

The 2009 Vegetable Garden Tally:

June 28th and before - 15 Cucumbers, 1 Cherry Tomato, 10 yellow squash, 2 Zucchini, 8 Heads of Romain Lettuce, 4 Heads of Broccoli, 1 Cup Basil Leaves, Multiple servings of Cilantro and Oregano, 1 Cup of Sugar Snap Peas, 4 cups of Green beans, 2 Radishes (sad but true!)
June 29th - 8 Cucumbers, 7 Cherry Tomatoes, 1 Serving of Cilantro
June 30th - 1 Squash
July 1st - 5 Cucumbers, 5 Cherry Tomatoes
July 2nd - 14 Cherry Tomatoes, 1 Cup of Green Beans
July 3rd - 3 Cucumbers, 1 yellow squash
July 6th - 20 Cherry Tomatoes
July 7th - 6 Cucumbers, 2 Yellow Pear tomatoes, 25 cherry tomatoes, 1 cayenne pepper
July 8th - 13 Cherry Tomatoes, 2 cucumbers, 1 Yellow Pear tomato, 1 mystery tomato!
July 9th - 2 Yellow Pear tomatoes, 22 cherry tomatoes, 2 mystery tomatoes
July 11th - 8 Cucumbers, 13 Cherry tomatoes, 1 mystery tomato, 1 Jetstar tomato, 1 Better Boy tomato
July 12th - 2 Better Boy tomatoes, 3 cucumbers, 24 cherry tomatoes, 1 cayenne pepper, 1 yellow squash

Some Totals Updated 7-19-09:

Tomatoes:
Better Boy: 3
Cherry: 137!
Jetstar: 1
Mystery: 4
Yellow Pear: 5

Peppers:
Cayenne: 2

Cucumbers: 46

S is for Sedum!

2009-07-01T21:38:00.001-05:00

It's amazing to see how plants grow. You look back at pictures taken in previous years and see a drastic difference between then and now. Take my sedum garden for instance. When it started there were only a few plants in the area between our driveway and the front sidewalk. A 'Blue Spruce' sedum that we had in a pot was divided into two plants initially and several others were added like 'Dragon's Blood', 'Autumn Joy', and one other unidentified sedum.

As the garden grew and weeding was done pieces of sedum broke away from the main plants and were stuck where ever open space was to be found. No plan was put together for the sedum garden other than the general theme. Things grew, some faster than others, especially the 'Blue Spruce' sedum.

'Blue Spruce' has taken off and is in full bloom right now. The worst thing about its current blooming state is the open spots in the middle of the plant that form when the weight of the blossoms cause the branches to fall toward the ground. It almost looks like a cat decided to lay in the bed of yellow. The bees are in love with this plant! When the blooms fade the sedum will regrow back up through the center of the plant and replenish itself, become larger and larger. 'Blue Spruce' sedum is extremely easy to propagate by using either a stem stuck into the ground or stripping the leaves and rooting them in a pot of soil or on a damp paper towel.

In this case the "S" stands for super-sedum!

Sedum 'Blue Spruce'
Full Sun
Zones 4-9
Succulent, Extremely drought tolerant!

Building a New Potting Bench

2009-06-30T21:39:00.001-05:00

Building a new potting bench has been on my mind for at least a year. When we moved here I threw together a makeshift potting bench that cost me nothing in materials out of an old palette and some scrap lumber. It did well for what it was but I decided that this year I would upgrade. I used many of the old materials for my new potting bench minus the palette. The gaps between the slats were problematic and I really wanted something more efficient. It's not finished yet but most of the construction is complete. When finished the potting bench will have a removable top to access a dirt container, a shelf underneath, a sink built into the top surface, and a series of shelves for holding containers. Here's how its coming along after two work sessions.

The bench is kind of tilted at the moment because of the rocks underneath. I'll level it when I get a chance. There is a planting bed to the left of the bench and a dryer vent to the right which helped to determine the length of five feet for the potting bench. The width is around 30 inches deep as is the height. It's made from pressure treated lumber that I plan on staining with the leftover stain from the arbor project. I considered doing the 48 Hour Challenge with a potting bench but decided to do it on a project that didn't exist yet rather than one that I already had even if my old bench was looking rather sad. There is room in the front to either add cabinet doors or a nice curtain made from outdoor fabric. I would rather have doors but in a pinch curtains will do. A shelf to hold more pots is in the also in the long range plan.

Underneath the bench I've put together small platform for the soil container. This will get the soil container close enough to the potting bench surface to be accessible through the top. The platform is removable and retains a little spot for storing small things. Maybe all those 2" pots I keep collecting!

Here is the removable top surface made from decking. I still need to add a hinge and a handle for easy soil access.

On this side is where the sink will go. I'm trying something special with the surface area around the sink that I'll tell you about later - when I install the sink. I think my plan will be rather creative but it all depends on my execution!

I wouldn't mind incorporating a water proof drawer system for storing tools but that isn't in the immediate plans. I hope the sink will add some convenience for outdoor cooking as well as gardening. What elements would you put on your ultimate potting bench?

Red Foxes in the Garden

2009-06-29T20:55:00.001-05:00

Last week I caught my first glimpse of something I have never seen before, a fox in my backyard. There was a little doubt in my mind when I saw it. Was it some sort of dog that resembled a fox or did I really seen one? I've never been fortunate enough to see one in the wild just in zoo enclosures but I today I can definitely confirm what I thought I saw last week. We have two red foxes living in our yard.

Last year we had a little mascot named Murry. I never really spoke about him at all but he was here munching on rotten tomatoes that weren't good enough for us to eat. I would toss them out into the yard from the garden and when I wasn't around Murry the groundhog would saunter over and eat some garden tomatoes. He lived in a little hole on the slope alongside our house. You might ask why if I have foxes am I talking about groundhogs? Foxes like to make their homes in abandoned groundhog holes, hollow logs, and other similar spots. We haven't seen Murry in a long time, since last fall before his hibernation. Whether he moved on or passed away, I can't say, but in the current Spring Hill, TN housing market there are always homes looking for new residents!

This explains some other things too. Over the winter months (Jan.-Feb. mostly) I remember hearing odd sounds outside at night. I had assumed it was coyotes off in the distance but now I realize that maybe it was the mating calls of the foxes. They mate during that time of year and new kits are born in the spring. When the kits are about 3 months old the begin to learn how to hunt. I wonder if we'll be fortunate enough to see some young foxes scampering through the yard? Here's a quick slideshow with some pictures I took this morning:

Here's one of the cropped pictures of the foxes from the slide show above. The tall ears, fuzzy tail, and black fur on the legs are a dead giveaway.

The two foxes did a whole lap around our yard. They must have been having fun. The shot below was from inside our kitchen looking out at the backyard. Unfortunately all these pictures were taken through a pain of glass otherwise they might have been more clear.

The foxes ran right through our yard and into a neighbor's but I could still see them through the trees. From the information I have read about red foxes they generally don't bother cats and almost never tangle with dogs. As long as they aren't destructive or threatening I'm content to let them live where they choose. They are definitely more unique than the animals we usually see around here!

As the telling of every tale/tail must do this one has now arrived at ...

...the end!

For a little more on Red Foxes visit the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

A Challenge for Any Glove Manufacturer

2009-06-28T21:38:00.000-05:00

Today I'm issuing a challenge to any glove maker, manufacturer, or garden handware retailer: Make me a glove that lasts longer than 5 months! I'm throwing down the gauntlet, or the garden gloves as the case may be. So far I have not met a pair of gloves that lasts more than a few months. This pair of gloves was purchased back in February but began unraveling at the seams about six weeks ago. You can see the sad and sorry state this pair of gardener handware is in below.

I really like this type of glove but I fear they are destined to bring me constant disappointment. The leather palms are tough and protect against sharp weeds and rocks while the flexible fabric on the back of the hand lets your hand breathe better than it would in pure leather gloves. The problem is they just don't last and its not just this pair of gloves. Last year I went through four pairs of gloves and wore holes into all of them. One pair was like these, but the others were made from leather. This year I've blown through two pairs of gloves and I still have several more months to go before the garden season is over. Is this normal or am I just really hard on gloves?

What I need are gloves made from Kevlar. Something bullet proof, or at least Dave-proof. Rubber gloves don't last, leather gloves get worn out, fabric gloves are practically worthless as they allow sharp thorns to pierce all the way through to the hand. Perhaps I really need that gauntlet, steel reinforced gloves with chainmail for flexibility. That wouldn't be work either; too many holes and the hot summer sun would grill my hands like hot dogs on the Fourth of July!

So what's the answer? Is there a glove maker out there who has the perfect set of gloves that can take the wear and tear of this gardener? Is there a true gardener's glove that will last through at least six months?

What would make that perfect set of garden gloves?

It would hold up to regular daily weeding.
It would resist the rigors of occasional stone and paving stone lifting, moving, and setting.
It would be flexible so that manual finger dexterity was not severely reduced.
It would turn away thorns and briers making picking fruit from raspberries and blackberries or pruning roses easy work.
It would be resistant to water preventing it from hardening up into a permanent claw.
It would keep all my fingers inside!

So tell me Mr. Glove Manufacturer, does my glove exist?

The White Pigeon

2009-06-27T21:42:00.000-05:00

Today I had an odd thing happen. I was working in the garage when all of a sudden something slammed into the wall above the garage door. How a bird could mistake a wall for open air I don't really know. Of course many birds aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed. After all where else would the expression "bird brained" originate? So I walked over to investigate to see the first pigeon visit to our property.

OK so what's so unusual about a pigeon? We can see them everyday under highway overpasses and in large cities pretty much anywhere you look the aren't really anything unusual but this one was sporting something interesting.

Just look at his legs and you will see a fine piece of jewelry adorning his ankle. This particular pigeon was tagged by someone this year for the purposes of tracking his movements and migrations. At least I assume that's the case. I attempted to catch the pigeon multiple times so I could get a better look at that tag around his ankle but I only go a hold of him once. I held him very loosely because I didn't want to hurt him accidentally and he broke free and flew to freedom. The only bits of information I was able to gather on this pigeon were the numbers 4326 and the year 2009. There were more numbers on the tag but I never really got a good look.

This bird managed to find himself in my garage at least twice, danced on the top of my car, left a present on the car, and ran through the front garden. He was a busy bird, of course he was being chased by a gardener intent on looking at his feet, you'd run too wouldn't you?

In the end the bird flew off into the trees but he left me wondering where is he going and where did he come from?

Growing The Home Garden

2009-06-26T22:00:00.000-05:00

The time has come! I finally purchased my own domain name this week and got everything all set up. Hopefully since I'm still using Blogger and everything is still hosted there everything should function as normal. If there are any issues please let me know but you should be able to use all the old links that you may have made in your blog roll. In the future you can point any links to the new domain.

www.GrowingTheHomeGarden.com wasn't my first choice but it was the closest I could come to the name of this blog that I've used since October of 2007. Unfortunately I missed out on the name I was targeting and another blog now has it. Sometimes things just don't work out the way you want them to.

Truthfully the domain name of this site is Growing on me, if you'll forgive the pun. After all it is what this site was started to document my adventures in setting up our home garden. It's come a long way since we bought the house in February of 2007 and its still growing. That's the fun thing about gardening, don't you think? It never stops changing, evolving, or growing.

And we still have a long way to grow!

Q&A: Leaf Spot Disease

2009-06-26T07:31:00.000-05:00

Dave,

I had a Yoshino Cherry Tree planted in late May and I'm noticing holes in most of the leaves. I am asking you if you know what pest may be attacking it...and if it is under attack, what treatment does it need?

The answer to your question is leaf spot disease, not exactly a pest of the insect kind but rather a fungus. The fungus forms little brown-black spots on the leaves that eventually fall away from the leaves which leaves the leaves with an extremely spotty appearance. It's almost like the neighbor's kid was out with an automatic BB gun. If the fungus spreads, like fungi do, it will cause enough holes to interrupt water from getting to the leaves which causes the leaves to yellow and eventually drop off. On healthy established trees this may not be a big problem but younger, newly planted trees may have more of an issue.

Once leaf spot disease is established you can't reverse the process, but you can prevent it from spreading. A fungicidal spray may be effective in prevent it form spreading. There's even an organic control using baking soda that should do the trick. The leaves will remain damaged until new one's replace them in the spring.

Prevention is important but during the hot and dry months the chances of it spreading further are slim. Warm and wet springs provide a great environment for leaf spot disease to thrive. Good watering practices can ensure that it won't continue to spread. Water at the base of the tree and not the leaves. Also clear out fallen infected leaves to prevent spores from finding new "spots" to roost!

For more information check out these sites:

Oregon State University Extension
Univeristy of Missouri

Anticipating the Vegetables

2009-06-24T20:00:00.003-05:00

I just can't wait. Pretty soon the tomatoes will be ripening and we'll be pulling them from the vine as fast as we can. Unfortunately the hard part of gardening is learning patience for we still have to wait. It takes time for things to grow and mature and you have to grow to appreciate the process from seed to table. Once those vegetables come in from the garden for dinner you realize that the wait was most definitely worth it. Too bad it took so long!

While we are anticipating the harvest let's take a look and see what new vegetables are coming up!

The cayenne peppers are beginning to form. We used them in a salsa and in several stir fries. One important note when handling cayenne peppers, the insides can burn your skin! Wear gloves if you have them or be very careful when dicing. I've also used the Cayenne pepper to make a deer repellent that seems to work fairly well. It just needs reapplied after rains.

The yellow pear tomatoes are forming their characteristic shape. Pretty soon they will turn yellow and live up to their name. These are new to use this year and are one of many varieties of heirloom tomatoes you could choose from. My plan is to save the seeds this year to save on my seed budget in the future.

And I have one more star in the garden to show you, my 'Moon and Stars' watermelon! It's small now but you can see the stars beginning to appear on the green backdrop of a watermelon sky.

Learning patience is a hard lesson!

A Hillside Garden Pathway

2009-06-23T21:10:00.000-05:00

While I haven't written about it in quite some time we have a large hillside that so far we've left pretty natural. Over the last two years I've gradually cut into the slope in an attempt to cut down on the worst of all weeds, ragweed. Right now the slope has large pathways cut into the top that have natural island beds filled with Queen Anne's Lace, blackberries, and sassafras as well as an vast assortment of other weeds and wildflowers. Eventually I hope to add some fruit trees to make a small orchard on the slope since it seems to be a great location for fruit trees to thrive. For now though I'm tinkering around with a few things like this little pathway.

It's located near out driveway and leads up the slope to the larger areas that I've already cleared. Clearing it out was a bit of a challenge. I hauled our push lawnmower up the cleared slope and gradually worked my way down to where the entry area of the pathway is. As a kid I used to run around at my friend's house whose fields were filled with pathways around natural areas. I've always wanted to have a maze of pathways in the backyard ever since. Sometimes impressions made in our childhood stick with us for a long time!

It's a little hard to see in the picture and still a little narrow for traveling but it's a start to what I hope will become a neat feature. Along the hillside is a small trench that is designed to carry water into the backyard and not into our driveway. I'm planning on building a small platform bridge similar to what I put together for my patio area. Then I'll piece together a staircase/pathway to make traveling up the hill a little easier. The pathway curves pretty quickly disguising the way ahead. If you ask me what makes a good pathway I would say anticipation! People walking down the pathway will either anticipate seeing something around a curve or will see a planting or feature that will draw their eyes in to see more.

Along this stretch of pathway you can see two plants that I hope to leave in the area in some fashion while I incorporate other plants into the landscape: Blackberries and Queen Anne's Lace. Last summer and fall as I was clearing away parts of the slope I made sure to avoid cutting down the blackberry stems. It was my hope that they would eventually produce some wild blackberries for cobbler or preserves. Blackberries and other brambles have biennial tops that die back after fruiting but have perennial root systems. By leaving the blackberry stems alone last year I may have given myself a nice crop of blackberries. That is if the birds don't get to my crop first!

I like the Queen Anne's Lace for two reasons. One it looks great and two it houses quite a few beneficial insects!

I'm not in a rush to get this project done but over time I'll show you its progress. My number one goal right now with this pathway is to keep it open until fall when the cooler weather makes hard work just a little bit easier. The next step will be to build the little bridge.

Going Topless

2009-06-22T21:33:00.006-05:00

This weekend we were in West Tennessee attending a friends wedding and took a side trip to visit some of my wife's relatives. While there I saw a horrifying site. At my wife's grandmother's house is a wonderful old oak tree that casts a welcoming shade on hot summer days, or at least it used to. On the right is the tree as it stood in 2005. Unfortunately I don't have a wider angle shot to show you but I think you will agree that it is a beautiful tree with nicely proportioned branch angles.

Typically on trees branches that extend outward from the trunk at a horizontal angle are strong branches. Vase like shapes (like those in my least favorite tree the Bradford pear) tend to have weak branches since the branches are exerting more force where they join up with the trunk. They also peel away large pieces of bark along the trunk when they get damaged in storms.

Just wait until you see the way the tree looks now.

Yes this is the very same tree four years later. The important thing to notice in this picture is not the ugly mangled stubbiness left behind by a tree topper's chainsaw, it's all the new growth emanating from every possible bud. This tree will regain much of its lost foliage within 2-3 years, which is very fast. All the roots are still there and the tree will work overtime to reestablish what it lost. (How would you like to lose over 1/3 of your total body?) Fast growth means weak growth, and lots of it. But that's not the only issue of concern when a tree is topped. The wounds are gaping holes just waiting for diseases. Consider what happens when you limb up a small tree or a small tree gets a wound. The smaller the wound the faster it heals but it can only heal as far as the current seasons growth will allow it. That small tree will grow over most wounds in a single season but many of the branches on this tree were 10-16 inches in diameter, they won't heal anytime soon and could be several years if ever which opens the door to disease and decay.

I understand why the tree was a concern. It was planted very close to the house and had large limbs that extended over the roof. The fear of a large branch coming through the house is definitely no laughing matter, but think of what happens now. The new branches are significantly weaker than the ones that were on the tree for the last 20 years and will eventually grow over the house. If diseases, insects, and rot don't fester in the wounds of the tree and it survives long enough those branches will again be a concern. Then it will need to be pruned again, oh wait this wasn't pruning. Pruning is what should have happened. A licensed arborist should have been hired to determine what branches should be taken out. The arborist would not have pruned out more than 1/3 of the branches at any one time and it would not have resulted in the stubby giant oak that you see in the picture. If you need an arborist to take a look at your trees please call your local county extension agency, they are there to help you...use them!

The other option would be to remove the tree completely and plant a new smaller tree in its place. One that wouldn't extend branches over the roof of the house or pose any threat of damage. A redbud might have been a great one to place there. This is why it is so important to plant trees in the right spot. You may not be concerned with it today when it's an elegant little sapling but when it becomes a graceful giant you will be!

What's Happening in the Vegetable Garden?

2009-06-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

It's time for another look into the vegetable garden. To say that things are growing well is an understatement. The raised beds filled with mounds of organic material like grass clippings, newspaper, composted cow manure and good old compost are doing the trick. In many cases the plants are exceeding their boundaries and covering walkways. I need to confine those vegetables in question to their beds through additional stakes to create some sort of border.

The cucumbers are climbing the homemade trellis I put together. It's nothing fancy just reused fencing material and a few branches. I like to use materials I have on hand to help lower costs. Underneath the trellis is our cantaloupe stretching outside of the bed. you can even see the flowers poking up through the foliage. I can't wait to see some melons forming on the vines.

Speaking of melons, do you remember the little 'Moon and Stars' Watermelon plants I showed you a couple weeks ago? They are doing nicely! We have a couple flowers but no melons forming yet.

By far the most revered fruit of our vegetable garden are the tomatoes! We have some nice round green tomatoes ready for ripening. I do only minimal suckering on my tomato plants. If you sucker the plants you tend to get larger tomatoes, if you don't sucker you get more tomatoes of a smaller size. I believe smaller tomatoes are actually tastier than the larger ones and I like having lots of tasty tomatoes so my choice was simple!

I am a little disappointed with the zucchini and the squash. We seem to be getting some blossom end rot which is caused by a calcium deficiency. I'll try to take a few pictures of that soon so I can show off that nasty problem. It's correctable with some special care. Often its because of irregular watering that can't move calcium through to the new cells on the fruit. This could be caused by an imbalance in the pH of the soil and sometimes a little lime helps. That's one reason why testing your soil is a great idea! I had this issue last year so I took a few Tums and after my stomach settled I dissolved them in water then watered the squash plants. Tums are made with calcium and they seemed to help the squash!

The Beginning of a New Garden

2009-06-18T21:50:00.002-05:00

It may not look like much now but just wait and see what it turns into. This is the way most of my gardens start, one small little spot in the yard that projects an image into my mind. Can you see what this might turn into?

Maybe not but I don't blame you,

right now all that is there is a teeny maple tree (who incidentally would be five times as tall if it were not for deer and rabbits) and three little Russian sage plants I made from hardwood cuttings.

This is how most of my gardens start, small. Small plants and small areas. The reason is simple and twofold, time and money. In the long range plan I have this garden will play an important part in our backyard landscape but for now I have too many other areas to concentrate on growing. The border garden, the corner shade garden, the front garden, the back garden, the vegetable garden (maybe one day I'll be more creative and come up with better names but descriptions make it easier to see the locations), etc. Each of these previously established areas needs weeded, tended, watered, and planted and there are only so many hours in the day to start new gardens.

This small garden was easy to put together. The maple was planted in the fall 2007, (yes that's right 2007 and it's still that small, thanks to the deer), it was one of several Arbor Day trees that I got through the mail. The Russian sage plants were completely free since they were produced from cuttings. They are small but will grow quickly and hopefully will be in bloom by August. I planted them very close together mostly because I suspected at least one would be accidentally eaten by a rabbit before they realized they didn't like Russian sage. No bites have been taken as of yet. If the need should arise I'll transplant one or two in the spring.

To prepare the garden area I gathered grass clippings and piled them around to smother the grass underneath. Then I waited a couple weeks and planted the Russian sage plants. They grew a few inches then I added some compost to top dress the grass clippings and covered with hardwood mulch. I didn't do any real digging or even use newspapers this time, the grass clippings were enough to smother the grass. I spent time on it when I had opportunities to work.

Over time I'll enlarge the bed and it will start to become a defining border between out lawn area and a large shade area, that all depends if the deer let my trees grow! How do you start you gardens? Do you start small and build your garden gradually or do you complete the garden right from the start?