An Organic Lawn
The lawn mower is your most important turf-maintenance tool. Mowing not only cuts the grass down to size, but done properly, it also helps grass grow thicker. It can reduce the weed population, too, and even feed the turf. Every type of grass has its own preferred height. Table 20-2 lists how high to set your mower blades. For best results, mow when the grass is no more than 50 percent taller than its optimal height see Figure 20-3 . If your grass should grow to 3 inches, for example, mow it...
Plant cold and heat hardiness
The ability of a plant to survive is called its hardiness. Plant catalogs often use the term rather loosely to indicate whether you can expect a particular plant to live in a cold-winter climate, but hardiness really is a measure of a plant's ability to survive all the aspects of a particular climate. For a map of U.S. hardiness zones as well as information about heat zones and sunlight zones , head to the later section Considering your region's climate. Many things influence a plant's...
Pruning fruit trees
Producing bushels of high-quality fruit and developing a sturdy tree that can support the crop are the twin goals of pruning and training fruit trees. If you end up with an attractive landscape specimen too, that's a bonus Although you use the same basic pruning techniques on all fruit trees, each kind of fruit tree has unique timing and methods for reaching your goals. For an introduction to basic pruning techniques and tools, flip to Chapter 19. You need to prune fruit trees regularly for...
Choosing the Right Grass
Organic lawn care gets a lot easier if you grow the right grass for your climate, sun, and soil conditions. You can find grasses that thrive under nearly every combination of lawn conditions. Finding the right grass variety for your lawn is easier than ever because plant breeders have worked hard to produce grasses that thrive under different conditions. One particular variety can't do it all. For that reason, most grass seed and turf is sold as combinations of grasses that complement one...
Cultivating Roses
Roses need plenty of nutrients and regular watering to grow vigorously and flower profusely. You don't need synthetic chemical rose fertilizers, though many organic options are available. Organic fertilizers such as fish emulsion, compost, and aged manure not only contribute nutrients to soils but also provide organic matter that has positive, long-term benefits on soil health. Compared with chemical fertilizers, organic fertilizers also release their nutrients more slowly over a longer period...
Type of leaves flowers and roots
This section isn't a botany lesson. The reason you need to know plant parts when you're planning a garden is that it will help you choose plants with flowers and foliage that complement each other from a design perspective, and it will help you foresee challenges such as trying to plant under trees with shallow roots. Each leaf characteristic influences the overall appearance of a plant. I won't bore you with the scores of words botanists have come up with to describe leaves, but here are a few...
Curing Common Garden Diseases
Many names of plant diseases describe the symptoms they cause powdery mildew, leaf curl, and club root diseases, for example. Some diseases attack only one plant part, whereas others can affect the entire plant. The following list describes some of the most common diseases of trees, shrubs, vegetables, flowers, and fruits Anthracnose This group of fungi can attack many plants beans, vine crops, tomatoes, and peppers and trees dogwoods, maples, ash, and sycamores . Look for small, discolored...
Solving Common Rose Troubles
Choosing disease-resistant roses in the first place eliminates many common problems, but many of the most popular roses need intervention to keep them healthy. Show roses regularly fall prey to the common diseases, especially in climates with humid growing seasons. If you're in a low-humidity region where summer rainfall is rare, you have the best chance of growing disease-free show roses without fungicides. Diseases that damage leaves look unsightly and prevent plants from making enough food...
Identifying beneficial insects
Insects that prey on or parasitize insect pests are called beneficial insects. Whether you know it or not, you rely on these allies to help keep the insect balance from tipping too far in the destructive direction. If you familiarize yourself with these good guys, you can encourage their presence in the garden and avoid killing these innocent bystanders just because they happen to be the insects you spy on your favorite dahlias. You can buy many of these beneficial insects from mail-order...
A trifecta of tactics Trellises fences and cages
If you're short on space in your garden or want to plant more than you really have room for, go vertical You can save space and energy by trellising, fencing, or caging certain vegetables. Climbing vegetables, such as peas and pole beans, need fences or poles to grow on. These devices save space also, these crops produce best when they're allowed to climb. Set up a teepee of 6- to 8-foot poles, attach chicken wire to fence posts, or train the plants on an A-frame. If you use the teepee method,...
Choosing the Perfect Trees and Shrubs
When you choose new trees and shrubs, think about what you want these plants to do in your landscape. Do you need shade or shelter from the wind Does a corner of the yard need a spark of color Consider all the seasons of the year when you make your decision the best shrubs and trees have practical or decorative value in several seasons, not just one. A Japanese maple, for example, may have ornamental leaves in spring and summer, colorful fall foliage, and interesting branching patterns and bark...
Planting the Lawn
Whether you're planting seed or laying sod, do it during the prime grass-growing time for your area if at all possible. In the northern United States, late summer or early spring is best. In the South, the best time is late spring or late summer. As a rule, it's okay to plant any time when you can count on about a month of temperate and moist weather to follow. That should give your grass enough time to get off to a good start. If you need a lawn in a hurry, but it's the wrong time to plant,...
Vining crops Cucumbers squash pumpkins and melons
All these crops have the common trait of growing their fruits on long, trailing vines, although some varieties now grow in more compact bushlike patterns. Many of these species can pollinate one another, too, making it nearly impossible to get seeds that grow fruit resembling the original varieties. Plant leggy tomato transplants horizontally in a trench. Plant leggy tomato transplants horizontally in a trench. Cucumbers are classified as slicers long and thin and picklers short and prickly ....
A Quick Guide to Getting Rid of Common Pests
The following list of vegetable, flower, tree, shrub, and fruit pests includes the worst offenders. Many more insects cause damage, of course, and you can get more information about the ones to watch out for from your local extension office Aphids These pear-shaped pests, shown in Figure 8-1, pierce holes in plant tissue and suck the juices. Their sizes range up to V inch, and color varies depending on the species, from black to green, red, or even translucent. Aphids leave behind sticky sap...
