by GardenLover | Sep 25, 2013 | Special Topic
By Debra Knapke
Being somewhat of a pragmatist when it comes to garden maintenance – do what you can, when you can – I consider recommended garden maintenance schedules to be guidelines, not rules. Yes, you want to deadhead flowers because it will prolong bloom and it looks better. Edged beds will delay grass and weeds from creeping into the garden bed. But what are the tasks that must be done, could be done, and shouldn’t be done. Let’s take a look at fall…
Must:
– Remove all diseased leaves, fruit, branches from plants and remove all obvious diseased plant parts from the soil and mulch. This is especially important in food gardens as you need to reduce the amount of disease spores from the area. DO NOT place these parts in a compost pile unless it is an active pile that reaches 140° F.
– Weed. Many annual weeds take advantage of cooler temperatures and fall rains. They produce seeds for the weeds of late winter and early spring. Get a head start on eliminating late sprouting thistles and dandelions as you walk around the garden, enjoying the fall weather. I find a cup of tea (morning) or a glass of wine (evening) to be a nice addition.
Could:
– Plant bulbs! Depending on your location, you 
could plant bulbs now, but I like to wait until after October 1st. Extended or late Indian Summers can cause your bulbs to send up leaves. This takes precious energy from the bulbs. How late can you plant? One year I planted bulbs on December 24th and they still bloomed, but I would not recommend this as a yearly practice.
– Pile your leaves in an area that will become a garden. Fall is a great time to start a garden bed. Lay newspaper or cardboard down first and then pile the leaves on. If you collect grass clippings, add that in – although, grass clippings are best left to feed the lawn.
– Consider leaving leaves in your more naturalized beds. 
– Add leaf or mushroom compost, 2-3” thick and 3-4” from trunks and crowns, to beds where the soil is bare.
– Take an inventory of what worked and didn’t. This will be invaluable for when you plan next season’s garden additions and subtractions.
– Prune trees and shrubs. Once the leaves drop you can see crossing and broken branches, and structural problems that need to be corrected.
– Plant trees and shrubs as long as the ground can be dug.
– Edge your beds and get a jump-start on spring maintenance.
Shouldn’t:
– Remove all the mulch from an area and bare the soil. 
– Remove seedheads that provide food for birds in the winter: purple coneflower (Echinacea), goldenrod (Oligoneuron), asters (Symphyotrichum), false sunflower (Heliopsis), Joe-pye weed (Eupatorium) and more.
– Cut your herbaceous perennials down to the ground. Exposed crowns are more likely to freeze in the winter. If you cut down plants, leave some of the stems to provide a windbreak.
TOMATO ALERT –
This year, late blight decreased my tomato harvest and of many gardeners in Ohio. I have watched it creep (jump?) across the Midwest and have noted reports of infection in Indiana and Wisconsin. Along with removing diseased plants and destroying them or segregating them, you need to move your tomatoes to another location. Next year, make sure your tomatoes are as healthy as they can be with appropriate fertilization and watering practices. This year I am going to put fresh chicken mature on the area where my tomatoes were. I am hoping this “hot” manure will decrease fungal and bacterial spores in the soil. This may – or may not – reduce the inoculum of late blight, but it will certainly increase the fertility for other food plants I intend to grow in that space. Another approach is using clear plastic to solarize the soil. The best time to solarize soil is in the summer, but you may be able to catch some hot fall days or wait until the first weeks of May. This is done in Florida to reduce nematodes.
As you can see from the above list, most of this is optional and if you get really busy, just think… you can do it all in the Spring!
by GardenLover | Aug 23, 2013 | Special Topic
Text by Michael Leach; photos by Teresa Woodard
The past-tense season is here. More plants in my garden are past their prime than coming into it.
However, the future tense promises abundant color for me, as perhaps for you. Autumn is a spectacle. Ironweed is beginning to 
flower. Golden rod is not far behind. Buds are plumping up on asters and hardy mums. With luck, Monarchs will add even more visual pizzaz when the crabapples have turned burgundy, crimson and orange. That’s about the same time the flowers of autumn crocus and colchicum suddenly appear over night and the unimpressive flowers on the beautyberry or callicarpa become small fruit that look like clusters of lavender pearls. (Please share your fall favorites that flourish in your Midwest garden.)
The future also brings the golden grandeur of ancient sugar maples on the front lawn. They are but one dab on the autumn palette of tree and shrub color. Breathtaking autumn is the finale of growing season, which is always too short and delicious for me to release without a sigh or two.
When winter becomes the present tense we enter the hospital-waiting-room of seasons — time stands still (maybe runs backward), as the gray gloom plods imperceptibly toward spring.
Shudder as we might at that thought, gardeners spend little time looking over shoulders, being wistful about what was.
Why? Garden is both verb and noun.
This makes gardeners action people, busy in the present with an eye toward the future. We rarely stop considering ways to make our little Edens more beautiful. This will ensure the present tense, whatever the season, is lovely.
We deliberately cultivate signs of hope in the garden. Where there is hope there is life.
by GardenLover | Jul 10, 2013 | Special Topic
You H.A.V.E to Garden: Feeling Good in the Garden
By Debra Knapke
As Michael pointed out in his post, You H.A.V.E. to Garden (April 17, 2013), there are many reasons why we have to garden and why we have to spread the word about the benefits of gardening, not only for ourselves, but also for the world.
My family knows that when it’s been a bad day or if I have a decision to make or if I just need to think — I will go out into the garden and weed, plant or putter. Putting my hands in the soil is calming. I can be present in the moment and let my mind become still and untangled. This is not unique to me. Other gardeners report that being in the garden is calming, thought-ordering, life-changing. So, the question is: Why?
Sometimes it is the small things in life that are important. In an experimental lung cancer treatment, researchers found that a soil-borne bacterium, Mycobacterium vaccae, reduced the symptoms of the cancer and seemed to increase the vitality, positive attitudes and cognitive functions of participants in the trial. Dr. Christopher Lowry, a neuroscientist at Bristol University, continued the research with mice to look into this bacterial reason for the 
patients’ mental and emotional well-being. His research was corroborated by Dorothy Matthews and Susan Jenks, at the Sage Colleges in New York. According to their studies, Mycobacterium vaccae increases the levels of serotonin in the brains of mice. The researchers believe that it has a similar effect on humans and thus appears to increase a sense of well-being in us.
Serotonin, found in animal digestive tracts and central nervous systems, has been called the “happiness hormone.” It affects many of our life functions: mood, learning, sleep, and the constriction of blood vessels. Low levels have been correlated with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, appetite and sleep disorders, migraines, and digestive disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome. There is also considerable evidence for a connection between low levels of serotonin and SIDS. Would it be stretching the imagination to think that by walking in the garden and smelling freshly turned soil we can increase the happiness in our lives?
As gardeners, we not only smell it, but we get a bigger dose through skin-to-bacterium contact. Is this why so many gardeners tend to be happy? Unfortunately, the research has shown that the effect is temporary, two to three weeks.
So, here is your prescription: go out into the garden and renew your acquaintance with Mycobacterium vaccae at least once a week for 30-60 minutes; the more, the better.
by GardenLover | Jun 8, 2013 | Special Topic
By Teresa Woodard
Graduation parties, garden weddings and backyard family reunions – there’s nothing like a milestone event to 
motivate you to get your garden in peak shape. For me, the planning for our daughter’s graduation party started a year ago when I took a closer look at what was blooming in our landscape in late May. At the time, it seemed rather green and lacking some flowers, so I decided to add some late-blooming allium bulbs to our boxwood hedge and plant some poppy seeds in our meadow.
While the allium bulbs bloomed on command, the poppies lagged behind. Still, the impending event deadline pushed us to weed, trim, prune, edge and plant ahead of our typical spring schedule. As the event date drew closer, we checked off more and more gardening chores. Yes, some weeds still snuck by us but we were able to get the garden in good shape to share with friends and family. Now, we’re hoping the early work will give us a chance to rest and enjoy the garden for a few weeks. That is, until we start planning for our second daughter’s graduation in 2014.
In the meantime, here are some journal notes on lessons learned:
- Start container baskets a month in advance to allow them to fill in better.
- Sow more seeds for spring-blooming flowers (e.g., poppies and larkspurs) in the meadow. Try planting in October instead of February.
- Embrace the landscape’s peak elements for that season and make them look their best (e.g., the lush spring lawn, the boxwood hedge and the blooming shrubs)
- Block out days for garden chores, so we don’t get overwhelmed with last-minute work.
- Welcome friends’ gracious offers to help.
- Enjoy the successes and accept the imperfections.
by GardenLover | Apr 13, 2013 | Special Topic
By Debra Knapke
(Abridged version of an article published in the Perennial Plant, Winter 2013, a publication of the Perennial Plant Association)
Plants for the Edible Garden that is in partial sun:
Not all of us have full sun (6 + hours) areas for our food gardens. Below is a list of plants that will tolerate less than ideal light conditions.
Paw paw fruits
Fruits (caveat – production may be decreased)
currants; gooseberries; many of the brambles
(blackberries, raspberries, etc.); chokeberry; rhubarb; pawpaw
Vegetables beets; cole crops: broccoli, cabbage, collards,
kohlrabi, turnips, etc.; greens, especially in the summer months;
Swiss Chard ‘Bright Lights’
horseradish; peas; potatoes; spinach; Swiss chard
Guideline:
Vegetables that are the fruit of a plant usually require
more sun; 6-10 hrs. – eggplant, tomatoes, chilies, beans
vegetables that are a vegetative part of the plant tend to be more
tolerant of part sun/shade – 3-6 hrs.
Herbs (some prefer shade) angelica, anise hyssop, basil, borage,
calamint, catnip, chamomile, chervil, chives, cilantro/coriander,
fennel, horehound, lemon balm, mints, oregano, parsley, rosemary,
sage, scented geraniums, sorrel, summer and winter savory, sweet bay,
Chives
sweet cicely, sweet woodruff, tarragon, thyme, valerian, violas, wintergreen
by GardenLover | Mar 28, 2013 | Special Topic
By Debra Knapke (Abridged version of an article published in the Perennial Plant, Winter 2013, a publication of the Perennial Plant Association)
Edibles are everywhere. This “new” garden trend has its roots in the Victory gardens of WWI and WWII. When times get tough or supplies of food are low, we think about going back to the time when “everyone” grew their own food. This time around, there is also the desire to take back some of the control over what we eat. If you grow it, you know what’s in it. And there is no denying that a home-grown tomato beats a grocery store tomato in flavor and eye appeal.
If you decide to embrace the task of growing some of your own food, you must understand two fundamental principles of creating and maintaining edible gardens and landscapes: edible landscapes are not low maintenance, at least, not initially; and edible landscapes are environmentally friendly.
Maintenance: plan before you plant!
- Decrease your maintenance load over time by including perennial herbs, fruit and vegetables that require less maintenance once they are established – such as asparagus.
- Take the time to understand the balance of an edible garden. Nature is a web of checks and balances that we alter in our garden-making process. Work with nature by using fertilizers and pest management practices labeled for food crops such as biological controls and cultural practices. The products you use on the lawn and landscape may not work here.
- For products where there are no guidelines you have to ask you self, “Do I want to eat that; Do I want to feed that to my family and friends?”
Essentially, if you treat the environment well you will be treating yourself well, too.
When you create any garden or landscape there are four factors to consider. PART 1 covers the first three factors. Part Two will contain Plant Selection.
- Site Selection
- Budget – time and money
- Soil Prep and Care
- Plant Selection
Berry protection
Site Selection: you’ve heard it before – figure out what you have! Look at where you have sun and shade, wet areas and dry areas, and compacted soil. Where are your microclimates: warm spots where you can push the zone; cold spots which will harm emerging plants? And, then think about the surrounding environment. Will you need to protect your garden from visiting animals? Are there any restrictions imposed by your community? In some subdivisions, vegetables in the front yard are not considered to be in good taste.
Nirvana for many vegetables, fruits and herbs would be full sun, well-drained, fertile, friable, loamy soils with a pH around 6.5 where there is little root competition from trees and shrubs. It would rain twice a week in the morning from 6:00 to 7:30, soaking the ground. No weeds would grow, no animals or insects would eat the leaves or fruit and, you would be able to spend less than an hour a day to harvest your bounty and keep everything running smoothly.
Not your situation? This leads to the question: how much of the bed prep, planting and maintenance will you do yourself and how much will you pay for? Budgets are often ignored because we go out, buy some seeds, a few plants, some compost and then we have to find the time to do it. Two of your biggest costs will be the materials and time to create the foundation for a successful garden: soil that is amended with compost that will support the growth of the plants. If all you have is 20 minutes a week to garden, maybe a container or two is a more realistic goal and then support your local farmer at the many farmers markets that have sprung up in the Midwest.
There are a variety of methods for preparing the soil that range from removing the sod and rototilling to the no-till technique of sheet mulching. If you are adding edibles into existing beds you will be “spot-prepping” in between plants. No matter which method you use, the end goals are to eliminate or prevent weeds from growing and to increase the fertility and friability of the soil. In short: a garden that will grow food.
McGee, R.N. and M. Stuckey. 2002. The Bountiful Container. Workman Publishing, NY.Toensmeier, E. 2007. Perennial Vegetables: From Artichoke to ‘Zuiki’ Taro, a Gardener’s Guide to over 100 Delicious Easy-to-grow Edibles. Chelsea Green Publishing Co., White River Junction, VT.
By Debra Knapke
could plant bulbs now, but I like to wait until after October 1st. Extended or late Indian Summers can cause your bulbs to send up leaves. This takes precious energy from the bulbs. How late can you plant? One year I planted bulbs on December 24th and they still bloomed, but I would not recommend this as a yearly practice.
