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The 11 commandments of gardening

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“There is a myth that if you write about gardens you must have a perfect garden.”

— Kate Copsey, garden writer

Gardening is more like an action sport than a hobby in that there are rules that should be followed so one doesn’t keep slapping oneself on the forehead. There are also penalties if you don’t follow the rules and rewards if you do.

For instance, thou shalt plant the right plant in the right place. This makes sense unless you would prefer to spend your time and money returning to gardening centers and nurseries picking out plants rather than enjoying them in your garden. This goes hand in hand with thou shalt read labels. Like action sports, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to follow the rules.

Thou shalt not beat oneself up for making mistakes. It’s how we learn. We wouldn’t have iPads if Apple had given up or the wheel if cavemen went back to square one. Mistakes become good stories and jokes in time.

Thou shalt not covet your neighbor’s garden. You have no idea what another person’s life is all about. Many sorrows could be buried there among the gorgeous delphiniums. Concentrate on your own garden, which, by the way, looks greener from the other side of the fence. Your garden should reflect you and not someone else.

Except for the following exception.

Thou shalt not steal ideas from other people’s gardens unless they are good ones. Yes, even Mother Nature steals and is constantly reinventing herself. Think of it as cross-pollination.

Thou shalt think of the environment as a friend. Work with nature, not against her. Go with the flow. Minimize plants that need extra water or fertilizer or sprays. Choose the sturdy over the delicate and needy. Choose plants that can hold their own or are native. Consider going organic. Contrary to what Kermit says, it’s easy being green.

Thou shalt not kill. If you decide you don’t like the way a plant looks in your garden, or it throws off your color scheme, dig it up and give it away. Wrap it in tissue and add a bow. Everyone occasionally has a lapse of judgment. Besides, one person’s abomination is another’s treasure. Beg Mother Nature for forgiveness and donate it to your local garden club sale or the closest white-elephant table. Speaking of killing, thou shalt be kind to good insects like ladybugs, lacewings, butterflies, bees and worms. This commandment does not apply to cutworms, slugs, snails or Japanese beetles.

Thou shalt not underwater or overwater. Too much water is as bad as too little. In fact, it’s a standard answer at nurseries when you bring a dying plant back: “You’re watering too much or too little.”

Also the time of day for watering is critical. Do it in the morning or early evening so plants have a chance to dry off. At high noon, leaves that are wet can actually cook in the sun.

Water deeply once rather than a little bit frequently. If your plants reach down into the soil for the water they will grow stronger roots. Shallow watering creates shallow root systems. Dig into the soil a couple of inches to see if it is dry. Consider conserving water by using drip irrigation. It is also healthier for your plants as drip hoses release water into the soil rather than on the leaves, which makes them vulnerable to diseases.

Thou shalt choose multitasking plants that provide food or fragrance or flowers and interesting seed heads, or colorful leaves in different seasons. Thou shalt mulch around them to cool the soil and prevent interlopers from stealing their water and nutrients. Thou shalt lay hands upon plants and deadhead spent blossoms to keep them blooming, and groom them with pruning shears when necessary.

Thou shalt sing praises to your plants and let them know the joy they bring into your life, even as your muscles ache and your fingernails overflow with grit and you have to set the alarm early to get up and weed before going to work. Thou shalt honor and respect Mother Nature, who makes all gardens possible.

New frontiers in green gardening: Fresh ideas from author of ‘The Conscientious Gardener’

Green gardening isn’t just about compost bins and rain barrels anymore.

The ecologically aware can select native plants, analyze their soil, even take steps to protect local fish populations.

Yes, you read that last bit about the fish correctly.

“We actually have a whole program on salmon-safe gardening here in the Seattle area,” says Sarah Hayden Reichard, professor of conservation biology at the University of Washington and author of “The Conscientious Gardener: Cultivating a Garden Ethic” (University of California Press).

Phosphorus from garden fertilizers sinks into the soil and eventually flows out into waterways, causing excess plant growth, which eventually leads to depletion of oxygen in the water, she says.

“It’s an interconnected world, and when you do something in one place it affects things in other places, in ways that we can barely imagine,” says Reichard. She offers fresh ideas for green gardeners:

Pick the right plants: Native plants are great if you want to support local wildlife and give your yard an authentic sense of place but, Reichard cautions, some can be major water hogs and others may prove to be invasive. Just because a plant is native to your broad region, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s native to the precise area where you live. And regions and landscapes change over time, meaning that a plant that’s theoretically a great match may actually be a pest or a threat.

Gardeners can find good information on plants, native and invasive, at local botanic gardens and arboretums, as well as from local conservation groups.

Respect your soil: It isn’t always easy to love the soil you’ve got, but you’ll save resources and reduce waste. Accept that you may not be able to grow certain plants in wet or clay soils, and don’t feel that you’ve got to pump your soil up with large amounts of organic matter.

“You (generally) need 10 percent or less organic components – people think you need much more,” she says.

Go easy on fertilizer: “Fertilizers are among the worst polluting culprits – and it does not matter if they are from organic or synthetic sources,” she writes.

The elements nitrogen and phosphorus are good for garden plants, but they’re bad for fresh water, she writes. She suggests fertilizing most woody plants and herbaceous perennials sparingly. Mulching with well-aged manure, compost or other easily broken-down materials is sufficient.

Reichard uses fertilizer on her vegetables, roses and containers, but not on her lawn and shrubs. In the fall, she rakes leaves into beds and lets them decay over the winter, enriching her soil.

Use less water: “Water is a finite resource, and as the human population grows, we have less of it to go around,” Reichard says.

She suggests choosing plants that don’t require much water, reducing your lawn area and putting water-hogging plants only in areas that are naturally wet. You can also group plants with the same water needs, minimizing waste.

“It is generally best for plants if you water deeply and less often: usually about an inch of water, including precipitation, each week is enough,” she writes.

PEAT MOSS ALTERNATIVES

Peat moss holds moisture well and it’s popular among gardeners. Unfortunately, it’s harvested by draining and destroying peat bogs, some of which are centuries old, and that’s cause for concern, says Sarah Hayden Reichard. Many scientists believe that peat bogs, which hold vast amounts of carbon, can help prevent global warming.

Reichard suggests some peat alternatives, among them:

Coco peat, coir and coir dust, which are made from coconut fibers and offer peat-comparable water absorption and drainage. Buy coir labeled for horticultural use to avoid high salinity.

Compost, or decomposing organic matter (often leaves, grass, manure, bark or nutshells). Compost offers water absorption similar to peat’s and is generally higher in nutrients such as nitrogen.

Gardening news and notes: Gardening better than gym; new from OSU; mystery solved

View full sizeThe OregonianIf you’re not using a tractor, turning compost is good exercise.Meg Liptrot says she’s “no gym bunny.” Paying to exercise doesn’t make sense to her, which I can understand. I gave up my gym membership several years ago. Of course, I don’t look like Meg. But I agree that, “Among the best calorie-burning exercises you can do in the garden are turning a large compost heap, or digging a new garden.” The end result is not just a physical benefit. “Organic waste is also a valuable resource. Homemade compost can be cycled back into the ground for other plants and soil microbes to use, giving you abundant flowers, veges and fruit. It will help turn your soil into a nice friable loam, rich in organic matter – and make digging easier.”

Juliana Jensen, a master gardener in Marin County, Calif., was unaware of that when she bought her house 18 years ago and found a rotting pile in the backyard. “My first thought on finding this unsightly mess? Haul it out! I now realize, of course, that what I hauled away was an enormously valuable resource: a well-established compost pile. It has been many years since I was that foolish novice gardener …”

NEW FROM OSU: The Oregon State University Extension Service has a revamped online gardening page with resources such as gardening tips, a calendar, publications to download, how-to videos on sustainable gardening and lots more.

A BITING MYSTERY: A blogger for the New York Times challenged readers to figure out what caused a middle-aged gardener to develop a rash, numbness, tingling and intermittent muscle contractions. “More than 400 readers weighed in with diagnoses that included pesticide poisoning, tick-borne disease, brown recluse spider bite, puss caterpillar toxin, scorpion sting, foxglove intoxication, sporotrichosis (a fungal infection sometimes called “rose gardener’s disease”), tetanus and a severe allergic reaction to his plastic gardening shoes.” Turns out to be a black widow bite.
Black widow spiders are one of two poisonous spiders in western Oregon. The other is the hobo spider.  No, the brown recluse does not live here.

– Kym Pokorny

Research and Markets: 2011 National Gardening Survey – U.S. Food Gardening Sales Total $3 billion for the Second Year in a Row

DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/316efb/2011_national_gard)
has announced the addition of the “2011
National Gardening Survey” report to their offering.

Food Gardening Sales Total $3 billion for the Second Year in a Row

According to the just-released results of National Gardening
Association’s 2011
National Gardening Survey, consumers spent nearly $3 billion for the
second year in a row on food gardening last year while sales for other
types of lawn and garden activities saw a small decline. In 2010, sales
for vegetable gardening, fruit trees, berries and herb gardening totaled
$2.990 billion and $2.989 billion in 2009. “That’s the highest level of
spending on food gardening seen in more than a decade and a 20% increase
over the $2.409 billion consumers spent in 2008 before the economic
downturn,” said Bruce Butterfield, NGA Research Director.

People are doing more lawn and garden activities themselves and hiring
fewer services.

Total sales for all types of do-it-yourself lawn and garden activities
declined by 5% in 2010 to $28.409 billion from $30.121 billion the
previous year. Apparently homeowners did more for themselves and fewer
hired someone to do it for them last year, but they spent a little less
money. The number of households that hired lawn care and landscape
services last year declined by 8% from 24 million households to 22
million households.

That’s the lowest level seen in households hiring someone to do it for
them in the past 5 years. Nearly four times as many households, 80
million, participated in do-it-yourself lawn and garden activities as
hired someone to care for their lawns and gardens for them. The
nationwide average amount spent on all lawn and garden activities in
2010 was $363 compared to $355 in 2009, a difference of only $8 per
household.

“It is gratifying to see that people are directly connecting to their
food source as well as taking personal responsibility for their outdoor
environments. If one good thing came out of our recession woes, it’s
that many people have reconnected with the land and are growing their
own vegetables, fruit, berries, and herbs” said Mike Metallo, NGA
President.

The report anticipates your questions and provides answers not available
from any other source. A representative sample of more than 2,000 U.S.
households is surveyed by Harris Interactive to obtain the data included
in this unique report. All the facts and figures have been compiled,
cross-tabulated, analyzed and presented in this 249-page report. Here
are just some of the issues addressed in this timely report:

• Who are the consumers for your products in terms of age, education,
  occupation, income and other demographics?
• Where are the best markets for your products by region and size of
  community?
• What should you know about the impact of the current recession on lawn
  and garden sales?
• Have your sales been keeping up with the growth segments of gardening?

You can put the in-depth analysis and detailed data of the complete
survey to work for you tomorrow. You’ll find the National Gardening
Survey an invaluable marketing tool whether your company markets its
products to wholesalers, retailers, by Mail-order/Internet or directly
to consumers.

Founded in 1973, the National Gardening Association is a national
nonprofit leader in plant-based education. NGA, uses gardening as a
vehicle to advance social, environmental, and educational causes, and
supports gardeners and educators with in-depth information about
gardening and its many benefits. NGA’s mission is to promote home,
school, and community gardening as a means to renew and sustain the
essential connection between people, plants, and the environment.

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/316efb/2011_national_gard.

Gardening | Make a statement with black petunias

There are hundreds of black plants. You are likely familiar with the Black Parrot tulip. It is a purple-black tulip that was introduced in 1937. You may also know Queen of the Night tulip another would-be black tulip introduced in 1944; it is actually maroon-black.

The first black hyacinth, Midnight Mystic, arrived in the market in 2007 after 16 years in development. The Black Velvet petunia took only four years to breed, and it was done traditionally using pollen – no genetic engineering. Both plants have flowers that are black at a distance, but upon closer scrutiny have a purple tinge.

There is no black flower in nature. A truly black flower is unattainable because plants do not make a black pigment. The black-looking color in the plant world comes from anthocyanins, pigments which produce red, purple and blue. The pigments are in all parts of a plant: leaves, flowers, stems, roots, vegetables and fruits. Picture black elephant ear, black pansy blooms, black stemmed bamboo, black radishes, eggplant, black cherries and so on.

Some gardeners are infatuated with black flowers and foliage; others are completely uninterested in them. The rest of us who straddle the middle of the two extremes have an open mind to their place in the garden.

In the landscape dark colors recede. As a result black plants can make a garden look larger. Black also draws the eye. Astute placement of dark foliage plants can lead the eye across a landscape. Black accentuates light colors and makes bright colors more vivid. Working with black flowers and foliage is an interesting way to exercise your creativity in the garden. Imagine the effect of a garden path edged with black mondo grass.

However, black has no impact in certain other garden environments. Against a dark background black flowers and foliage disappear, and they are invisible during the night.

Look for Black Velvet (Black Cat) petunias in nurseries for your fall gardens and containers. Its black flowers will pair beautifully with the red orange, yellow, lime and burgundy colors in coleus, for example. Caution: Both petunias and coleus are frost tender, so be prepared to cover them if we have an early frost.

Keep your eyes open for black pansies and violas, too. Plants with black and orange blooms turn up in nurseries for gardeners to use in Halloween displays. Later add yellow and burgundy for Thanksgiving or some bright colors for a cheerful winter show of color. As you know pansies and violas are winter hardy.

You may have noticed advertising for the Black Velvet petunia accompanied by the tagline: “Everything goes with black.” For a sophisticated look try it with white, Diamond Frost euphorbia for example, or pair it with a silver plant like dusty miller. Experiment with your favorite bright or pastel colors. Unless you just don’t like black, the color really does go with everything.