Terry L. Ettinger Horticulture Consulting Services
Meeting The Needs Of Today With A Vision For The Future
"Let's Get Growing"
Since the spring of 1996, I've addressed hundreds of lawn,
landscape and garden-related questions posed to me by callers to "The Weeder's Digest", "Garden Journeys," and directly to
my office through this weekly question and answer column. At right is a list of topics that I've addressed
during the past couple of months.
To make sure you don't miss next week's column, call 315-434-8889, ext. 342 to subscribe! Or, go to the Eagle Newspapers website by clicking on the link below.
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Additional Information and Photographs
Scroll down for additional information, links to other websites and color photographs in support of recent "Let's Get Growing" columns.
"Stale" Seedbeds and Organic Weed Control
Letting
a seedbed go unplanted, or "stale" for two or three weeks after it's
turned in April, at right, gives the root pieces and seeds of
various weeds time to
sprout. These small sprouts can then be turned under, disrupted and
hopefully killed by light raking, or killed outright with an application
of a herbicide such as glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup and other non-selective
products.
Repeating this process of tilling and delayed herbicide application two or three times between April and June, followed by the planting of a cover crop can go a long way toward the preparation of a practically weed-free strawberry bed the following spring.
While I wish I could say that there's an effective, "organic" weed control product registered for use in New York State that works as well as synthetic, non-selective herbicides containing glyphosate as the active ingredient, there simply isn't at this point in time, as a demonstration project at the University of Minnesota illustrated a couple of years ago.
Vegetable and Fruit Gardening Resources
As I said in the column, "don't be afraid to experiment" in your (new) garden! After all, what's the
worst possible thing that could happen . . . . ., losing ten dollars worth of tomato transplants?
As a perfect example, you don't have to plant stuff in perfectly
straight rows - be creative, at right!
The faculty and staff at Cornell University have developed a number of excellent vegetable and fruit growing resources. To access them, click here.
Pumpkins Were a Bust
Because
the various squashes within a given species readily cross pollinate
one another, saving seed from one year to the next isn't a good idea
- unless you want to see what kinds of weird-shaped fruit you can
grow (which can actually be sort of fun, if you've got room in your
garden, at right).
To see just how weird some varieties of squash can look, and for information on growing "real" jack o'lanterns and giant squash, click here.
Keeping Neighbor's Weeds at Bay
Though the weed of concern addressed in this column is goutweed, at right, the management strategies are the same
regardless of whether you're dealing with
invasive weeds and/or aggressive ornamental groundcovers (including English ivy, vinca/myrtle
and/or pachysandra).
As pointed out in the column, the best way to prevent these invaders
from entering your landscape and garden beds is to maintain a mowed
strip of lawn between the beds and property line, below left.
Moving
planting beds into your property can also result in more effective
visual screens in a shorter period of time and often with far fewer
plants.
If, on the other hand, your beds are already in place, you can attempt to manage the invaders with a diamond hoe and/or herbicides applied using a "glove-in-glove" technique.
Virginia Creeper Vine is Native to Central New York
The picture at right is of a colony of
red-leaved Virginia creeper that's become well-established in a small woodlot near the intersection of
Thompson Road and Kinne Street in the Town of Dewitt. This picture,
at least to me, illustrates why it's probably not a vine you'd want
to plant in a residential landscape - unless you live in a huge
mansion!
What is "Good" Soil?
In my opinion, there's no such thing as a "good" or "bad" soil. After all, cactus seem to grow just fine in soils that look pretty "bad" to me in the deserts of Arizona, below left!
However,
in our Central New York landscapes and gardens, the best way to
"improve" sticky, clay soil or excessively dry, sandy soils is to
add organic matter.
Click here so that I can show you a simple way to determine the texture of your soil, as well as options for adding organic matter to the soil in your landscape and garden.