Summer In the west making sure plants are watered throughly can be difficult, especially where the ground is mostly hard and can barely be called "soil". The water usually runs off long before it has a chance to soak in. To help with deep watering....take a half gallon plastic milk carton, rinse it out and punch pencil size holes all over it making sure to have holes at all levels. Dig a hole big enough to set it in to the top of the pour spout...making sure not to dig into roots as you do. Cover with soil to level with the pour spout. When watering fill the carton with water to make sure you get all the way to the roots. This works extremley well for fertilizing too, as long as you use a mild fertilizer. *Good recycling too...when cloged with roots..you can easily cut and remove the carton to expose the roots* To keep grass greener, keep it mowed to a third taller than recomended, Grass is weakened if it grows too long between mowings and shorter clippings can be left on the lawn to decompose and add Nitrogen as well as prevent moisture loss. When adding new plants to your garden, there are two things you can do to help prevent moisture loss in the exposed roots. First is to do any planting after the sun in on the decline... the soil will be cooler and the plants will have time to retain moisture during the night. Second is to set in the plants and cover the area around the base with sawdust, which will keep the soil moist (if you use redwood dust..it has repellent properties as well) Back to the top | Spring  [Autumn] [Winter]

Autumn & Winter With the turning of the seasons, weather turns chilly and most perenial flowers have faded. To chase away those chilly clues...plant bulbs!!! Now is the time to prepare bulbs for forcing ( which is a process by which you simulate the winter freeze and spring thaw prematurely.) To do this...take which ever bulbs you want to force and plant them in the pots you want them to bloom in. Place the pots on a shady porch away from any heat...so the cool nights will chill them, for approx two weeks. If you have a frig in the garage even better, as most frig settings are around 40'. DO NOT USE A FREEZER!!!!! After the cold period, bring them in the house and place in a bright sunny spot. You should see a bit of green in a week or so...and then its up to what you planted how long till the full bloom. Amaryllis 6-8 weeks Paperwhites 4-6 Crocus 4-6 Mini Iris 4-6 Grape Hyacynth 4-6 This is also the time of year to clean up the garden. Making sure all dead is cut away and debris is cleaned up around the base of plants and trees. As soon as it remains in the 50s most all day then you can also do your pruning of trees and shrubs, but make sure growth has slowed and you don't cut too much of the plant away. One final note.....since most of the herbs have also faded...plant some in pots to use during the winter and to make bouquet garni for turkey roasting. Some also repel insects that like to stay in where its warms too, so growing pots of herbs by your doorways is a natural way to keep them OUT. Back to the top | Spring | Spring

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