Garlic Mustard, an invasive with value?


Thu. Jun. 17, 2021

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Garlic Mustard, an invasive with value?

Garlic mustard, a weed or an herb? Or both? Garlic mustard was first introduced as a garden herb but escaped and has been causing problems ever since.

An herbaceous plant, it takes two years to reach maturity. The chemicals in garlic mustard reduce the growth of neighboring plants, so when it’s introduced to a site it can quickly outcompete native understory vegetation. It can thrive in fully intact forests. No good  … [Continue reading]

Weeds away! Using ground covers


Wed. Jun. 16, 2021

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Weeds away! Using ground covers

 Weeds a problem? Likely.. They are in my landscape.

But ground covers come to the rescue! 

Ground covers can also enhance soil health, provide food and habitat for pollinators and other beneficial insects, and reduce soil erosion.

The University of Minnesota Extension has a great article “Ground Covers for Gardens”. There’s a list of ground covers in the article.

As many of you know, I have a new rain garden, however, there’s  … [Continue reading]

What the heck is mycorrhizae?


Tue. Jun. 15, 2021

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: What the heck is mycorrhizae?

It’s the fungi with the funny name. Mycorrhizae fungi have a symbiotic relationship with the roots of many plants. Mycorrhizae play an important role in plant nutrition.

The fungus, because it does not photosynthesize, cannot fix its own carbon. Consequently, it receives all of its necessary carbohydrates from the host plant. In return, the mycorrhiza absorbs nutrients from the soil which are passed along to the plant. Cool, huh!

In most situations, the  … [Continue reading]

Watering tips for your lawn


Mon. Jun. 14, 2021

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Watering tips for your lawn

We’ve had weather to melt the best of us! AND those who love lawns are looking at some brown, crunchy stuff already. New sod was laid last last year after the city redid my street… (rain garden in the background)

I admit I have a hard time wasting water on a lawn, but this looks bad. I’ve started to water it!

The University of MN Extension has some great ideas to train your  … [Continue reading]

Plant sales – what to look for


Fri. Jun. 11, 2021

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Plant sales – what to look for

Soon, if not already, there are plant sales. Although this year is different with the continued garden explosion, the choices may not be as prevalent as previous years.

Still, you want to be smart about what you buy. I have some tips for you as you shop…

Here are some tips for touring the plant sales:

  • buy healthy stock
  • check the roots, if you can.  Pull the plant, gently, out of
 … [Continue reading]

Perennial (as in long lasting) planting tips


Thu. Jun. 10, 2021

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Perennial (as in long lasting) planting tips

Today is about those tips that long time gardeners generally know, almost by instinct, that newer gardeners might not!

When planting containers:

  • Right Plant, Right Place (I know we talked about this but always a good thing to reinforce)
  • In container planting, mix perlite with your potting soil to lighten it and allow better drainage
  • plant your purchase at the level it was growing in (most of the time)
  • remember to
 … [Continue reading]

Controlling late blight on tomatoes


Wed. Jun. 9, 2021

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Controlling late blight on tomatoes

Ugh… late blight.

If you lost your homegrown tomatoes due to a nasty disease called Late Blight, will the disease affect this years crop?  Not likely, the pathogen doesn’t survive our winter.  It’s generally brought in from elsewhere.  It can only survive on potato culls or tomato fruit that are sheltered in soil or a warm compost pile.

For now, our humidity has been low in spite of HOT weather. But we know  … [Continue reading]

Vegetable garden tips for June


Tue. Jun. 8, 2021

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Vegetable garden tips for June

June is an exciting month for vegetable gardeners!  We’ve got our warm season plants in the ground and we’ve already been munching on salad greens!

You can start successive plantings of beets, peas and shorter season crops. Also fans of broccoli, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts can plant them in June for a Fall harvest.

The first few weeks of a vegetable plant’s growth are the “critical period” for weed control, they’ll have the  … [Continue reading]

Annuals for punctuation


Mon. Jun. 7, 2021

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Annuals for punctuation

Punctuate your landscape by stuffing some annuals in with your perennials!  Annuals make great transitions for filling in those “holes” in our perennial gardens.

As the tulips and daffodils fade, don’t pull them out, just put some pretty annuals around them!  Either right in the ground or in pots.

The ‘Wave’ petunias are some of my favorites for sun.  They fill in very nicely, offer a wide variety of colors and generally don’t get as  … [Continue reading]

Wasps are back! Good or bad?


Fri. Jun. 4, 2021

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Wasps are back! Good or bad?

Wasps, the bane of the summer time picnic and those nests! Ugh, don’t get me started.

BUT, and it’s a big BUT, they’re good for our ecosystem. Dang it! I mean, that’s good, but their sting is not fun. However, they don’t really want to sting you but they’re not all that pleased with you either. How to treat a wasp sting. 

Wasps build honeycomb nests under the eaves of a  … [Continue reading]