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Desert vegetable gardening is a truly challenging hobby for the avid gardener. Southwest gardeners will be the first to tell you that desert vegetable gardening has its biggest dilemma in the weather. The weather is predictable, …
Source: Jennifer
Dang! I wasn’t able to make the garden tours last Sunday or this weekend. (It’s the busiest time of year for Realtors). The Valley of the Sun Gardeners has a nice little page with tips about desert gardening.
Source: John L. Wake - Realtor
Eric and Wendy Arendts live in Phoenix, Ariz., with their three boys, two dogs and a fifteen-year-old cat. Warm temperatures year around and a housing boom has made this city in the desert an attractive place to live for people all over …
Source: unknown
AID=/20070426/NEWS18/70426001&oaso=news.rgj.com Tips for successful Nevada gardening CORY FARLEY RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Posted: 4/26/2007 Predicting the weather beyond a few days is notoriously chancy, but count on this: Northern Nevada, …
Source: willem van cotthem
Judith Phillips is a well-known author and native plant expert in the southwest.
Source: unknown
Living in New Mexico, Judith Phillips is a much-sought-after speaker and author of a number of books on gardening in the southwest.
Source: unknown
I’ve been busy lately installing a drip irrigation system in the backyard. For the last couple of years most of my attempts at growing something green have failed. Hand watering in the desert is a losing battle. …
Source: thrasherarts
SRC and I when last evening to a gardening work shop. The workshop was held as part of the Sustainable Ways Food co-op that helps educate people how to grow food here in the valley (high desert, zone 4). …
Source: Janet C.
Ok, here are a few things that could help keep you busy if you are in the middle of a cold winter. If you are in the middle of your summer (you lucky people) enjoy!
1. Give your grass a high cut every now and then. If you can, choose a dry, windy day when the dew has lifted so the clippings are removed. Where I am, finding a windy day is not so much of a problem, finding a dry one… now that is a different matter altogether. But if you are like me, hang in there, one will turn up soon.
2. Check the ties of shrubs grown against walls (Ceanothus, Pyracantha, Moroccan broom, etc) - those sudden gusts of wind that are all too frequent this time of year can throw them forward and crack roots.
3. Take old honeysuckles back to a strong, well-spaced framework of not-too-old stems, keeping a few young ones around the edges.
4. Clear away and burn the dead leaves from under roses to reduce the chance of any disease lingering.
5. Do not forget that central heating, as nice as it is this time of year, will play havoc with tropical houseplants. Increase the humidity by simply standing the pots on saucers or trays of damp gravel and keep them away from radiators (which is easy) and draughts (perhaps not so easy this time of year!)
6. If you have ever dreamt of scooping a prize at the local summer gardening show, start planning for it now. Have you ever thought about onions? Exhibition ones are fairly easy to grow. The biggest bulbs come from varieties such as Mammoth, which are sown any time now.
7. Try to remember where you have bulbs growing in grass. The new leaves should be well through by now and it is all too easy to walk on them unawares. I am thinking of things like snowdrops, narcissi, crocus, fritillary, etc.
8. Have you worked out what you want to plant this season? Well, if you still have to then why not fish out last years seed packets and you can work out what you want to buy for this season. Great excuse to get down to the local garden centre, as if you needed one!
9. If you are lucky enough to be a gardener with a warm greenhouses (and do not forget your minimum winter temperature in there should be 55F), why not start growing indoor tomatoes such as Sparta, Shirley and Big Boy. Now, early to mid January, is the perfect time.
10. Now wisteria has dropped its leaves, you can prune it. Just take back the long stems you pruned last summer to two or three buds. Also, cut out stray stems wrapped around gutters and slithering along walls. Be careful though: do not forget those buds can be thorny.
11. Why not treat your much-abused and maligned garden shears to a professional sharpening? Afterall, they are not really needed at the moment and you will notice a big difference. You will not regret it!
12. In those long spells of freezing weather we can unfortunately experience this time of year, winter-flowering pansies can sometimes receive a knock to their growth. If this happens, wait until the weather warms up a little, then deadhead any spent flower stems. This should induce a mass of new flowers to emerge for you to enjoy.
Well, that little lot should keep you busy for a while and enjoy your gardening. It can be just as much fun in the winter!
Take care for now.
The Gardener
Hi everyone
Welcome to this edition of your Gardening Weekly, today's edition is entitled:
Getting Children into Gardening
QUOTE: No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden
- Thomas Jefferson
If you have ever wondered how to keep children occupied for hours on end then it's time to introduce them to the joys gardening.
Children can really enjoy growing plants particularly if they have their own area of the garden where they can see the results of their own efforts growing there.
It will give them a sense of reward to see what they have been able to accomplish, whether it is from a flower garden or a vegetable garden.
It is also a very healthy pastime that will get them out of the house and into the fresh air. It will do more for their health than sitting in front of a computer screen or playing on their PlayStation all day.
They will also be learning about gardening and as this is one of the most popular hobbies it will give them a knowledge base that they will benefit from for years to come.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/plants.html
Gardening can also help to relieve stress and fatigue and there are many more children suffering from that these days.
By getting your children to work alongside you in the garden, it will help to build better family relationships too and that is an investment in them that no amount of money could ever buy.
I have known many children who have used their gardening skills to make a few dollars of their own by selling the plants and vegetables that they have grown in their own garden to others during their school holidays. Not only do they get a sense of accomplishment but they can also get monetary reward for their work.
If you have ever seen the delight on a child's face after they have sold something that they have grown themselves in their own garden then you will know exactly what I mean. It is more exciting for many of them than opening their presents on Christmas Day.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/plants.html
Thanks,
Annie
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com
