with Teri Knight
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Winter and your containers
We all know it’s coming, the s-word! While I could be talking about stew and sweatshirts, there are some who have seen snow! That means we still have some things to do to prepare for Winter. It may seem early but I want to put this one out there. One of those items is cleaning out the annuals in our pots.
I do leave out my large pots to plant for the Christmas season. … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Battle over Buckthorn continues
As we creep toward Halloween in the year 2020! a plant that sends shivers down the spine of most folks is Buckthorn. The bane of the botanical minded, buckthorn takes over forests and parks and invades our landscapes. Common, or European, buckthorn, and glossy buckthorn are the two non-native, invasive buckthorn species found in Minnesota, Wisconsin and throughout the U.S.
It was brought here from Europe in the mid 1800’s and planted as … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Emerald Ash Borer – still here and on the move
The Emerald Ash Borer remains on the move and confirmed cases have now been established in Carver and Sibley counties in Minnesota, making them the 24th and 25th counties with confirmed EAB in the State. MDA staff were able to find live EAB larvae in infested trees on both sides of the county border and collected samples for federal identification. That means they are now under quarantine. … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: The Winged Burning Bush is a weed
Today, I’m going to tell you the story of the winged wahoo! Also know as Burning Bush, I didn’t know it was called that either until I started research after getting an email from the Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture. They have deemed the Winged Burning Bush, October Weed of the Month for 2020!
Wait, what, no winged wahoo!! Minnesota added it to their Noxious Weed List as a “Specially Regulated … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Planting before the ground freezes
You can still plant healthy shrubs and trees into November! The ground in our zone 3 and 4 climates doesn’t “generally” freeze until late in November and December. That means you can get those great deals at your local nursery and get them in the ground. Now’s a good time to also see what areas of your yard “need” something!
When shopping, don’t be afraid to take the plants out of their container, … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Peony division
This is a perennial question, when should I divide my peonies…. Wait for the tops to be killed by frost, cut the stems to near ground level then, using a spading fork, dig out the rhizomes.
Make sure you dig a hole wider than the plant to avoid damaging the root system. Take out the entire clump with as much of the root system as possible, cut it into smaller pieces, leaving at least 3 to … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Bringing houseplants indoors
Brrr, there’s been some crisp Fall air and plenty of wind. Many of those beautiful Fall leaves have already landed on the ground!
For those who’ve had tropical plants outside it’s time to start preparing to bring them indoors. Some have already had to as temperatures dipped below freezing. If it’s just one day of cold, consider a cloth or inside a shed or garage.
The general rule of thumb is to bring those indoor … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Digging up bulbs for winter storage
Last week we were planting bulbs for Spring bloom, and yesterday talking about keeping those squirrels from digging them up. Today, however, I’m talking about us digging up bulbs for winter storage not munching!
Gladiolas, dahlias, cannas, begonias and elephant ears to name some! It’s important to wait until the foliage of these plants are showing that the show is over, the flowers are gone, the foliage is browning or toast.
My … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Tenacious bulb eaters and the bulbs they might not eat!
You know who they are… these little menaces wrapped in fur and cute little pudgy bodies… the enemy of the bulb!
They are tenacious, they are SQUIRRELS! Red ones, brown ones, black ones, white ones, they love digging up your newly planted bulbs to feast. People have discussed ideas about what to do for as long as we’ve planted bulbs.
Some say the most effective method is to … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Best time to fertilize your lawn
Although most plants are shutting down right now, your lawn is actively growing. Fall is the time when lawn grasses use their energy to spread and develop deeper root systems instead of above ground blades. The best time to fertilize your lawn now to late October.
Using a slow release nitrogen fertilizer, the actively growing plants will use some of the nutrients now and save the unused nitrogen in the frozen soil … [Continue reading]