Home Gardens - Tips, Tricks, Methods, and the Bounty

[KMango]

^ Have you had problems with them getting hung up in it? A friend in Illinois had them get tangled in it, then I heard one horror story about finding a leg. No bird, just it's leg. In the net. I'd rather give them the figs until they leave for migration than find a leg.

I am with you! I heard similar stories, so I bought the more expensive nets with the smaller weave. I have not experienced any bird-catching issues the past three seasons. Bees can get through to pollinate, which is super, but birds don't even try.

My neighbor with a fig tree used the variety with the larger weave. She found two birds in her net this past week, thankfully only caught not maimed, and she was able to free them. She is now opting for individually weaving the emerging fruit with a cut out section of the net to see how that goes. If even one more bird gets caught, she's turning the tree over to nature, and will go for the smaller weave for next summer's fruit.

[lperry]

I'll try the one in the link - that's the one you bought? I also thought about caging each fig with some screen wire. It's amazing what you can come up with while sitting on the deck, drinking a cocktail, watching your crop get pillaged.

[thistle]

I have a lot of figs, so mine are unprotected- the birds, squirrels, & dogs (only one likes figs) all get equal cracks at them. My latest problem is figuring out how to summer prune 2 apricots & a pluot that have been neglected- they produce fruit, but it doesn't ripen, I think they're a little crowded , so I'm going to move one, & prune them all heavily, before they get totally overgrown.

[lperry]

The neighborhood listserve alerted us to a treasure trove of tomato plants that were being given away earlier this week by the Master Gardeners at Green Spring. I was going to get two to replace the ones I lost to the rain, but an enthusiastic Mr. lperry went with me, and now I have eight, newly planted, heirloom varieties of tomatoes in the ground. They were very pot-bound, and not looking super happy, so I figure I've got a 50/50 chance with them. I hope they take, and if they do, I'll make notes on which ones do the best in our yard.

Edited to add varieties: Omar's Lebanese, Tigerella, Orange and Green Zebra, Giant Syrian, White Beauty, Mule Team, Marvel Stripe, and Patio.

[weezy]

Damn wildlife.

They left behind four of the most unripe tomatoes and stripped the rest of the plants bare. This morning, there were about 20 or so in the green-but-not-for-much-longer stage.

Today? Nothing but fat squirrels and fockingbirds.

[lperry]

^ So sorry. It's rampant this year, as evidenced by recent complaints on our neighborhood listserve. I'll offer you the same advice I gave out to them, for whatever it's worth. Put out a saucer of fresh water for the squirrels. A couple of years ago a good friend told me he read that the squirrels don't want the fruit, they are really after water. We have water out for them all the time now, and it is pretty unusual for the tomatoes to go missing. The catbirds, on the other hand...

[KMango]

Oh, it's illustrated...

Solutions for Common Garden Pests

[thistle]

Mine would be much more graphically illustrated-OK, I'm bluffing, I hate to spray, so I usually just let the bugs have their way- if I'm lucky, we share....

[lperry]

Goodeats and I went to a program put on by the Master Gardeners for Arlington and Alexandria City this morning.  The focus was fall gardening, and they gave us a nice Powerpoint with all sorts of information, information sheets on planting times and various practices, and lots of packets of seeds.  I don't have a lot of space in the ground right now, but I came home inspired, so I filled a couple of old, wood wine crates with straw, soil, and compost and planted lettuces, raddichio, and mizuna.  Two, shallow but large pots are now holding what I hope are future stands of arugula, and chervil and dill seeds went into the herb bed.

I've never attended one of these workshops, and now I will be checking their calendar for more.  Just looking back in the spring I missed how to grow shiitake mushrooms and how vegetables are used around the world.  Even if you don't learn anything new, it is really inspirational, and it's a lot of fun to be around like-minded people who don't think you are nuts because you dug up the lawn.  I'm now waiting for the moon phase to change so I can get in all the radishes, turnips, and beets. 

There should be master gardeners for Maryland as well, but I'm not sure about the District.

[porcupine]

http://extension.umd.edu/mg

http://mcmg.umd.edu/

http://www.udc.edu/college_of_urban_agriculture_and_environmental_studies/master_gardening

[goodeats]

Many thanks to lperry for recommending the Master class! I was inspired, took their free seeds, attempted to plant and label, and I'm surprised little sprouts are appearing already!! Fingers crossed...

[lperry]

I've got mizuna, radicchio, and arugula sprouts, and I put wire cages around the big pots to keep the squirrels out.  So far so good!

[astrid]

My cover crop of fava beans is starting to flower, so I harvested the tips to redirect their energy. The 4 to 6 inch tips, quickly blanched, tastes just like pea shoots (fat tender ones at Asian markets, not the stringy and skinny ones occasionally encountered at upscale restaurants). It's really good with a peanut butter vinaigrette that I also use on blanched spinach. I may need to grow these every fall, just for the greens.

[lperry]

I'm hoping the weather forecasters change their minds between now and when I come home from work.  I'll have to pull in all the peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes.

[thistle]

OK, I take back everything I said about our tree guy, turns out it was a series of mishaps (he had the wrong address, went & talked to a neighbor, who was probably confused why this guy was asking what she needed). The crew started last Friday, they're still working, but that's mostly because everyone in the neighborhood is pulling him aside to look at their yard (I'm happy he's getting lots of business).

We're having a lot done-3 mature maples (2 of them were diseased) removed (stumps & roots, too), limbing up of 5 more large trees, & a couple of smaller ones, & removal of most of my figs. It's my own fault, they were planted 5-6 years ago (I thought they were marginal in this area, & needed protection-ha, turns out they're rudely healthy) & most of them were too close to the house or fence (1 was crowding a beautiful windmill palm). Before the guys cut them down, I took lots of cuttings, so if anyone wants to give them a try, just send me your address, & I'll mail them out. They were purchased from Paradise Nursery in VA Beach (before they closed down) & I have cuttings of Battaglia (Sandy's strawberry Verte), Conadria, & Mystery Fig (might be a Celeste).

It's going to take some time to get used to my new yard, it looks huge & barren (but a lot more sun). The dogs are still confused, not as many trees to chase each other around.

[lperry]

I just dug the leeks out of the snow.  With 11 (Fahrenheit!) forecast for tonight, and single digits a few days from now, I didn't want to risk it.

[Barbara]

I just dug the leeks out of the snow.  With 11 (Fahrenheit!) forecast for tonight, and single digits a few days from now, I didn't want to risk it.

Yeah, I'm wondering how many of my perennials are going to be lost in the next week.

[astrid]

This is going to be a very expensive cold snap for me.

Not the best year for me to invest heavily in pomegranates, gardenias, osmanthus, and michelia (I suspect a total loss on all of these).  It might also help make up my mind about my three established tea roses, which had been growing too exuberantly for their alloted space. I'm also guessing my winter trials for fava beans (hardy to 10 F!) and greens are going to be a bust.

If any of you have figs in the ground, definitely dump some mulch on top, I suspect all the giant figs in the area are going to get a serious pruning on Monday night.  And maybe take a couple cuttings as an insurance policy.

[lperry]

^ If it helps any, when I dug out the leeks, the mulch was frozen, but the ground was still soft, presumably from all the rain last week.  I had about three inches of straw in that bed, and we are in a pretty warm area in Alexandria.  I've got about five more bales for the garden, and most of that straw will go around my (already mulched, on a south face, fingers crossed) Brown Turkey fig this Sunday after I pour some hot water in the ground around it.  They keep moving tonight's low every time I check - I hope I didn't lose the tree by waiting.  I have zero hope for the dozens of dahlias I planted this year. 

[lperry]

The last two nights have taken out the rosemary - it is now brown and crispy.  It was a well-established plant, in the ground for six years now, so maybe it will resprout?  The fig still has a mound of straw around it for the first two feet or so, and a couple of small tunnels have appeared on the exterior.  I'm hoping they are a sign that the straw is rotting and creating heat.  The buds, which were green, are now brown, so the tips of the branches are gone.  We should pack up a big box of bribes for Punxatawney Phil.

[thistle]

I'm sure other folks besides me are absolutely gutted (I love it when they say this on masterchef UK) about all the plants that have probably been killed by this cold weather, I'm looking at a loquat tree in my front yard that was about 6 years old & it's brown & shriveled. I guess I should look at it as an opportunity for new plantings, but right now all I can think about is the plants that have died.

[lperry]

MOM's in Alexandria has seeds out from the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.  I know all the seeds aren't grown here, but it is a Virginia-based company, which is kind of nice.  I picked up seeds for a few herbs including holy basil. 

[lperry]

Yesterday was spent in the garden.  On the alive list: lavender, sorrel, three Scarlet Nantes carrots that were accidentally left in the ground last fall, and both the regular and lemon thyme (go French plants!).  The garlic chives have come back with a vengeance, spreading over about a meter of real estate (let me know if you want some), and the small clump of regular chives are getting choked out by them.  I'm considering potting the garlic chives to keep them contained.  I found a green branch on the giant rosemary, lifted it to get a better look, and realized too late that it had rooted in the ground and I had accidentally pulled it up bare-root (doh!)  It's in a pot now, and there appears to be one more live branch, so I didn't completely lose the plant. Dead: sage (that one was a bit of a shock), oregano (also surprising), catnip, lemon verbena, and at least some branches on the fig.  Still waiting for sprouts on that one.

Seeds got started and are in the basement under grow lights.  I'm afraid to use the cold frame for seeds with the 20 degree temperatures forecast for this week.  Chives, leeks, fennel, celery, celeriac, and cauliflower are planted.  I may do the hot weather plants later this week or next.

I still need to go get some manure for two of the beds.  The other two got bags of rabbit "berries" during the winter, so they will be ready when the early vegetables are ready to go out.  It's been an awful winter.  I look forward to some warmer weather and more time outside.

[porcupine]

ISO máche plants (not seeds); interesting varieties of lavender (from places other than DeBaggio).  If anyone sees either for sale please post here?  Thanks.

[lperry]

250 pounds of rabbit manure got put in the beds this past weekend, and I spent last night looking through the seeds and arranging them so I could plant my giant summer flat this afternoon.  Into the cold frame (which is feeling tropical right now), went two or three seeds of just about everything except the squash and melons.  I think it's still early for them, and I don't want to have the disappointment like last summer when everything suffered in the cold, wet, early summer and bore next to nothing later on.

Tomatoes: Black Krim, Pink Brandywine, Sun Gold, Hillbilly, Black Cherry, and a generic, Ferry Morse, red cherry tomato that is fantastic in paella.  Also in the flat (it has lots of little compartments - I love that thing) Chinese eggplants, Yolo red bells, Hungarian red paprika peppers (amazing fresh - really thick walls), poblanos, habaneros, and a slew of little ornamental peppers from gifted seeds.  Those include something called "lemon," a multicolor hot one, and a sweet, red datil from my uncle in Florida.

Everything from a couple of weeks ago came up and is now in the cold frame too.  Slow starts this year.  Come on, summer.

[Al Dente]

250 pounds of rabbit manure

Man, that's one huge rabbit!

Did anyone else have issues with squirrels eating up all your tomatoes last year? I'm told that they generally don't go after them, but they must've taken 90% of mine. I'm new to gardening and have scaled back on my ambitions from last year, but I still want to go heavy on the tomatoes.

Other than trying to cage them up (the tomatoes, that is), are there other methods of dealing with them short of purchasing firearms? Can I feed them nuts or something away from my plants? Already this year they've chewed their way into a heavy plastic composter, so I'm desperate.

I look forward to picking leaves off my basil plants, slicing up tomatoes, and putting together a Caprese with some fruit from my Mozzarella tree.

[mdt]

Man, that's one huge rabbit!

Did anyone else have issues with squirrels eating up all your tomatoes last year? I'm told that they generally don't go after them, but they must've taken 90% of mine. I'm new to gardening and have scaled back on my ambitions from last year, but I still want to go heavy on the tomatoes.

Other than trying to cage them up (the tomatoes, that is), are there other methods of dealing with them short of purchasing firearms? Can I feed them nuts or something away from my plants? Already this year they've chewed their way into a heavy plastic composter, so I'm desperate.

I look forward to picking leaves off my basil plants, slicing up tomatoes, and putting together a Caprese with some fruit from my Mozzarella tree.

Nothing short of fencing my garden in has worked for me.

[lperry]

Man, that's one huge rabbit!

Yep.

A friend once told me that he had read that squirrels are not after the fruit, they are after water.  We have "birdbaths" on the ground that we keep filled all summer long, and I usually have just a couple of tomatoes pilfered out of hundreds.  Now, if I could just keep them from chewing up my Halloween pumpkins to get at the seeds, all would be well.

[TedE]

Yep.

A friend once told me that he had read that squirrels are not after the fruit, they are after water.  We have "birdbaths" on the ground that we keep filled all summer long, and I usually have just a couple of tomatoes pilfered out of hundreds.  Now, if I could just keep them from chewing up my Halloween pumpkins to get at the seeds, all would be well.

For the first time ever I finally had my sh*t together to get peas in the ground at the appropriately early time.  From two full rows planted I'm left with a total of 5 seedlings due to those thieving bastards.  On a brighter note I will need to construct a much smaller trellis.

[thistle]

I'm giddy picturing 250 lbs of rabbit manure-I'm way behind on garden planning. The big thing for me is that we took out lots of the trees in the backyard, so now it's sunny, & bare, & a huge mud pit- must start planting the Earthboxes, & circular planters. Sungolds are my favorite tomatoes & I will try & grow any hot pepper I come across. Spring has (sort of) arrived!

[Barbara]

Did anyone else have issues with squirrels eating up all your tomatoes last year? I'm told that they generally don't go after them, but they must've taken 90% of mine. I'm new to gardening and have scaled back on my ambitions from last year, but I still want to go heavy on the tomatoes.

This is why I finally surrendered to the Tomato Gods and stopped bothering to plant them. Those nasty little suckers would take a bite out of every single tomato--just as they were starting to ripen. Admittedly, I had more luck growing cherry tomatoes, but those weren't the ones I was really after. And, even though I plant basil every year, I buy tomatoes and basil at the various farmers markets every week during the season--so it is all kind of a waste.  Also, it's amazing how many acorns I find in my pots. Removing nascent oak trees requires taking the plant out of the pot and doing some real yanking.

"Rats with good PR" sums them up nicely for me.

[Al Dente]

I wonder if this will work:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005NJMNNU/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B005NJMNNU&linkCode=as2&tag=gareughow-20

[lperry]

^ Unless you have Texas squirrels.

LA Mart in Springfield has boxes of seeds for very interesting vegetables right now, and they have a big display of vegetable plants and fruit trees outside.  Prices are ridiculously low.  I had never been in but was nearby and went in to get some white eggs ('tis the season).  I ended up buying quite a bit more.

[lperry]

After nearly a month, the tomatoes and peppers are just now coming up in their flats (too cold at night, even in the frame?), and seeds went into pots and various containers for arugula, máche, red amaranth (for greens), yu cai, and a bunch of herbs.  Radishes that were broadcast into a bed with chard, beet, and carrot seeds are up this week.  It looks like the shiso and basil reseeded, but I planted them anyway just in case.  The catnip is up from one old plant and from several seeds, and in a spring miracle of resurrection, there is new growth at the base of the fig tree, and the lemon verbena is resprouting from the soil.  I also have dahlias coming up in at least one spot.  Bizarre.  I would argue microclimate, but I know we got down into the single digits in the yard at least three times.  Maybe all that mulch really worked.

[KMango]

Here in North Texas, we're taking a crack at tenacity this summer.

Cedar is giddily inexpensive here.  So we built four above-ground cedar plank gardens, popped in a bunch of purchased seedlings, set up the soaker hoses on timers, covered the whole lot with cedar mulch (also inexpensive!), and intend to defy the upcoming oven-bake days.  We have several varieties of cherry tomatoes, numerous chiles, a few kohlrabi, cucumber, and both winter and summer squash.  Yes, many will die.  But it's a season of experimenting with what our sun does, when it does it, what can still get chompy by making it's way though the backyard fence, and what takes well with the types of fertilizer and filtered water we pipe in each day.

A big boon for today was when I discovered the Arlington, Texas location of this place, keenly focused on native plants and helping new-to-the-area gardeners succeed:

Redenta's Garden Shop

I left their shop with herbs more likely to succeed in this sun than any of the previously procured veggie plants.

Will post updates as herbicide and/or accidental thriving progresses...

[lperry]

Having gardened in Florida for many years, I have one suggestion: shade cloth.  If you are up for the labor of making canopies, shade cloth can keep your garden going through the worst of the heat and humidity.  It is, however, somewhat labor intensive to get in place.  Otherwise, I'm jealous of your two-season tomato opportunities. 

[thistle]

Finally found some Sungolds, & trying to plant all the cucumbers. I have a fine crop of weeds, in place of grass, in the backyard- well, at least it's green. The roses look lovely, thank you Astrid, some of them survived.

[weezy]

It looks like I can start harvesting lettuce this weekend.  It's salad season!

[lperry]

Fourteen of the tomato plants went into beds this morning along with a couple of Hungarian paprika peppers and some poblanos.  It took so long for everything to come up in the flats that I added more seeds, and now the heat has everything I planted sprouting up.  I need a bigger yard.   I also have a fair number of volunteer tomatoes that I left in the beds with the carrots and beets.  (So much for my composting abilities.)  I figure they will shade the root crops through the worst of the summer.

I'll get the Romano beans planted later today, and maybe transplant some of the celery and celery root seedlings out into the beds.  For reasons I don't understand, they are still quite small.  I also ended up with a measly two fennel plants after something went marauding through my garden, so I'll plant a few more seeds of those.

[Al Dente]

Help! I have a dozen pepper plants that were growing beautifully, but they've developed black spots underneath the leaves and many leaves at the bottom of the plant are turning brown. I've tried spraying them with neem, but I don't know what else I can do to keep them organic and healthy. The spots are beginning to show up on my tomato plants too!

Can anyone save my crops!

Farmer Mike

[lperry]

Sounds like bacterial growth, probably from all the rain.  So sorry.   

[thistle]

I'm verklempt- even though the rest of my yard looks like an overgrown horror show, my loquat (that I thought had been killed during the freeze) is resprouting, & the palms look like they're recovering, too, & the figs are leafing out at the roots. I'm so happy.

[astrid]

Thanks for the update Thistle!  I'm glad to hear that some of the roses are doing well for you.

[Bart]

Help! I have a dozen pepper plants that were growing beautifully, but they've developed black spots underneath the leaves and many leaves at the bottom of the plant are turning brown. I've tried spraying them with neem, but I don't know what else I can do to keep them organic and healthy. The spots are beginning to show up on my tomato plants too!

Can anyone save my crops!

Farmer Mike

Do you know about the "GardenWeb" site?  They have different forums for every type of plant under the sun.  Here's the link to the vegetable gardening section:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/cornucop/

There are a ton of real pros over there.  Post a photo and someone will ID your problem in no time.

[weezy]

Well, tonight's dinner showed that my lettuce is about done for the season.  It's bitter and getting ready to bolt -- like me near the end of my last relationship.

[astrid]

If anyone here is interested in adapting a couple baby pomegranate plants (or a couple dozen), please let me know.  I propagated about 150 plants from cuttings I received from USDA 3 months ago.  Right now, they're growing happily in 3"x3"x8" plant bands and ready to plant in the ground.

The plants are free, though all the interested parties will have to come by my home in Arlington to pick up the plants.

I'll post the varieties later.  Suffice it to say, there are a lot of choices and these were picked for flavor and hardiness.  They should grow and flower in DC, especially if they're grown in large pots.  I know pomegranates are considered marginal for zone 7, but I know of people who successfully grew them outside in zone 5 (with protection) and zone 6 (without protection).

Here's a bit more on Pomegranate cultivation

Here's a lot more on Pomegranates.

[Ilaine]

Some cultivars of pomegranate are more cold hardy than others, apparently the hard seeded ones.  Plants fruit after three years.  My south sided wall is protected enough but probably not enough room or sun.

I guess I will pass but look forward to your reports on how you did.

[astrid]

I planted a few pomes (purchased as gallon size plants) last August and the roots all survived the winter with a light cover of mulch. Even some of the stems survived. And two of the varieties were not reputed to be particularly hardy - Red Silk and Agat, so I think most Central Asian varieties have a good chance in DC as long as they are not planted in a frost pocket or in a cold suburb. If size or hardiness is a concern, pomegranates grow well in large pots and can be overwintered in garages. Pot culture can also help control moisture during the ripening process to avoid cracks, as well as buy more time for late maturing varieties.

Like a lot of fruit trees, the important thing with hardiness is to avoid wet feet while dormant and hope they don't encounter a cold snap following an early warm up. Salavatski and Kazake are generally considered the hardiest, but USDA did not offer them as cuttings. I have Lubymi and a few others that fall into the next tier of hardiness.

[astrid]

Here's my varieties list.  If you're interested, let me know by Saturday, as I will need to get the plants from my parents on Sunday.

Edit:  the list is shorter now.  PM me if you're interested.

Edited June 28, 2014 by astrid

[Al Dente]

Sugar snaps right off the vine... mmmmm.