Science has created a tree that grows 50 fruits at once. The wonders of grafting are being shown off with this magnificent tree. Every fruit that can be grown on a tree is on this one. I can only imagine the amount of care that must be needed to keep it happy, but the pay-off is undoubtedly worth it.
Killing weeds is the number one topic, come spring time, every year. The easiest way is to get out there in the cold early on and pull up all of the babies and therefore never give them a chance to seed. Most people dont catch them at that perfect time. So we have developed other methods of destroying the weed population.
1. Vinegar water. 4 cups vinegar, 1/4 cup salt, and 4 cups water sprayed full force on a weed in hot sun will wither it up until it dies. 2. Newspaper. Layering newspaper about one inch thick and soaking it will prevent weeds from growing until you are ready to work with your soil. 3. Boiling water. After all, wouldnt you wither up if someone poured boiling water on your head? if after trying these tips, your weeds are not gone, you need to dig them out and be done with them. The easiest thing to think of, when you’re trying to understand a tuber, is the potato. The potato is a tuber that I’m sure we’re all familiar with. A tuber has leathery skin and lots of eyes with no protective covering, or basal plate. All of those eyes are the growing points where the plants will emerge.
There are two types of tubers, stem tubers and root tubers. Stem tubers are true tubers and generally grow their storage units from the sides of rhizomes or stolons. Their cell structure is a stem. Stem tubers are usually oblong or somewhat rounded with visible nodes. They are often near the top of the soil. Stem tubers that develop underground are often temporary, and then used to produce young plants. Stem tubers that develop storage units above the ground will drop them to reproduce. A couple examples of stem tubers are the tuberous begonia and cyclamen. Root tubers, or tuberous soft roots, are simply underground stems. They grow horizontally just below the soil’s surface. They will continue to grow and creep along under the surface with lots and lots of growing points. They are quite similar to stem tubers with a few differences. Their cell structure is of root. Another difference is that the end that is attached to the parent has crown tissue where the foliage and stems grow. The roots grow at the other end. Root tubers live for two years, making them biennials, meaning It will live its first year as a tuber. The following year the tubers will grow foliage and flowers. After it is finished blooming, the mother plant will develop tubers as it dies in the fall. Examples of tuberous roots are day lilies, sweet potatoes, and dahlias If there is one secret to making fast compost, it is finely shredding the carbon rich ingredients such as fallen leaves, hay, straw, paper and cardboard. Shredding increases the surface area that the compost microbes have to work on and provides a more even distribution of air and moisture among the materials. The type of chipper or shredder used is not important, provided it can handle the materials. It's also important to have the right balance of materials in our fast compost so that it breaks down as quickly and efficiently as possible. The bacteria in our compost need both carbon and nitrogen to function; carbon for energy and nitrogen for protein synthesis. For every one unit of nitrogen used by the bacteria they also consume about 30 units of carbon. Therefore, in order to keep the bacteria working efficiently we need to create a compost pile that is about 30 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen. We want to have a ratio of 30:1 in our compost bin but we only have access to the following ingredients:
Within two days the compost pile should be ready to be turned for the first time. Compost bacteria need plenty of air to survive so it's best to turn more rather than less frequently. Move the material from the outer edges of the pile into the middle. The pile should be ready for a second turning after another day or so. If you are making a new garden in an old yard you will find one thing no matter where you are, lots and lots of rocks. Ooldes and oodles of rocks in every conceiveable color and size. Now you face two problems, 1. How do you get all of them out of the soil, and 2. What do you do with them after?
I intend on answering both questions and hopefully helping you find your way to a happier, healthier garden. there are many ways to get rid of the rocks, depending on the size. I use a few methods combined to get everything out. 1. First, Cut the top six inches of soil and grass off of your yard. Pile this in a far corner where it will be left to turn back into useable soil, making sure to turn the green sides of any grass or weeds toward the ground. Next, you should use a spade to break the hard packed under soil into clumps, pulling all of the large rocks aside and piling them nearby. Use mesh to sift out the smaller stones and pebbles and fluff the soil. Then water the bare soil thoroughly and wait for the rocks you didnt find to float to the top. after a few watering sessions you will see weedling and stones galore. repeat the sifiting process after weeding the soil and you will have a spot free garden in no time flat. 2. Now that you have a pile of stones set aside you can use the largest ones for borders and the flat and slightly smaller ones for cobble stone paving in your paths, this will prevent weeds and add a polished touch. The smallest pebbles can be used to fill gaps between the cobble stone to further prevent weed growth. Hopefully this will help you on your way to a rock free haven of your own. Having issues with water logged soil? Try these long lasting fix-its.
The sink hole method: Drill a hole 1/1.5 meter - 3/4½ feet - deep with the auger (a hand-held drill for earth removal), drilling through the clay layer into the sandy soil beneath it. If you hit more rubble, even after your best clearing efforts, you'll need to widen the hole and remove the excess rubble cutting the hole out to the breadth of spade, then fill the hole carefully to about 0.5 meter - 1½ feet - below ground level with the stones and builders rubble (mixed with a little coarse sand) If you don't have any stony materials available, you'll have to obtain them somewhere. Neighbors with home renovation projects are often very helpful since everybody wants to get rid of building rubble. Then fill the hole to ground level (of the path) with coarse sand mixed with small stones. Repeat with a distance of roughly 1.5 meter - 4½ feet between each hole Bog plant display: If the space that is waterlogged is one available for planting, try planting in water and bog loving plants. Try gunnera tinctoria, voortuin plants, violet stem taro plant, or some of the many, many other wonderful additions to your gardens. There are many other solutions available, depending on your problem, these two are simply the ones I personally favor. According to scientists, the first rose appeared almost 35 million years ago. Although not much is known of these first specimens, ancient texts show that the queen of flowers was highly appreciated by the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans, amongst many others.
Take into consideration your site conditions while choosing roses. There are many roses to choose from and even if you have a windy or shady site, there is always one that will grow happily in your site. The wrong rose for the site conditions, will mean extra care of roses and not so good results. Sometimes it's better to just move a plant that is not on a good location and plant it in another spot of the garden. Common pest and diseases, like the blackspot and mildew can be prevented or at least treated. Rust is one of the most serious rose diseases and it can be fatal. Planting roses with companion plants, for instance, will help protect them from pests. One way to combat rust and the other fungal diseases, mildew and blackspot, is to minimize excessively water logged soil around rose plants. Good soil drainage is essential for moisture control; adding organic matter, double digging beds or planting raised beds are effective means in providing a good healthy environment for roses. Also it is best to avoid working in a wet rose garden so as not to help spread rust spores (this is also sound advice regarding minimizing the spread of blackspot and mildew). Try to limit wetting the foliage on rose plants while watering and provide good air circulation between plants by spacing them well apart from one another (planting hybrid teas and smaller rose bushes 3 feet apart and larger rose bushes 4 feet apart). Prune to keep the centers of rose bushes open for air circulation as this will assist in keeping them drier. Once planted your rose plants will need dead heading once or twice per year, trimming yearly, and regular weeding and fertilization. The queen of the garden is a healing herb, a beautiful oil and perfume, and a wonderful attraction in the garden. One of our oldest flowers, the rose has held many in thrall for decades. What to plant where, and when? The question of quick growing vines.
Blackberries, grapes, ivy, morning glory, and other quick growing plants can be a beautiful addition to any garden if you situate them properly and tend them regularly. If, on the other hand, you plant them improperly or forget to tend them, they can quickly overgrow the place you had intended for them. Getting rid of blackberries or ivies, or any other plant of that sort can be back and wallet breaking and often doesn’t have a 100% success rate. The roots spread far and even a miniscule piece left in the soil will start another infestation. To prevent this, plant in cement gardens, far from house walls and trees. It is often tempting to grow ivy up the sides of your house or fence, but it ruins your house while it looks pretty. Morning glory, I am of the opinion, was miss spelled. It shouldhave been spelled mourning glory, because gardeners are in mourning when its in its glory. Planting these plants should only be done if you are prepared to care for them constantly and ensure not only that they don't take over and ruin not only your yard, but everyone in the surrounding area's houses as well. |
AuthorPeggy Turner is the creator of the Mind's Eye Youth Newspaper's feature, The Gardener's Corner, as well as an avid gardener, botanist, and environmental rights advocate. Archives
October 2018
CategoriesPeggy Turner. 2018.
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