A Master Gardener's Journal

One of my favorite native shrubs is Birch Leaf Spirea (Spiraea betulifolia)—a plant that doesn’t look very much like a spirea, but has all the desirable characteristics of the family. It’s hardy to zone 4 and is native to many states in the Pacific Northwest, Midwest and from PA through the South Atlantic. There are many cultivars of this lovely deciduous shrub. I chose 'Tor' for my garden.

Tor has gorgeous blue green foliage and adorable white flower clusters in spring. If you’d like to prune it, do so after it blooms. Tor grows two to three feet tall and wide, is not fussy about soil or water, is happy in full sun to part shade and even has colorful foliage in the fall. And like most natives, it basically takes care of itself.

Use Tor as a specimen in a border, as a low hedge or to line a walkway. This wonderful shrub can be easily propagated by taking softwood or hardwood cuttings, dividing the root ball or by layering.

Do you have a gardening question? In Delaware County, call our Master Gardeners hortline at 610-690-2671 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 AM-12 NOON.

UPCOMING MASTER GARDENERS EVENTS

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By Joe Daniels, Delaware County Master Gardener

Vegetable Gardens:
1. Continue to plant heat resistant vegetables like beans, chard, and cucumber.
2. Provide shade to lettuce, radishes, and spinach to discourage bolting (stretching and flowering).
3. Watch for tomato hornworms; hand-pick these large caterpillars off.
4. Prepare for your fall garden with potatoes, broccoli, carrots and other fall crops.
5. Continue to weed your vegetable garden and apply fertilizer as needed.

Lawns:
1. Be careful not to cut grass too short--most should be around two to five inches to avoid drought damage problems.
2. Leave nitrogen rich clippings on the lawn to keep it greener.
3. Water your lawn in any week where there is less than an inch of rainfall.
4. If using herbicides, be cautious about applications during very hot days, injury to desirable plants increases then.
5. Aerate lawns to improve drought resistance. A step-on plug aerator is okay for small areas.

Perennials, Biennials, & Annuals:
1. Continue pinching mums and asters so that plants can flower in late summer and fall (but not after mid July).
2. Echinacea, some sedums, and astilbe produce decorative seedpods which you may want to cut for dried arrangements, or leave them on the plants for winter garden enjoyment.
3. Deadhead (remove) dying and dead flower heads from flowering plants, unless you want them to reseed the area. Columbine and foxglove are among the many plants which will re seed.
4. A mid-summer application of liquid fertilizer will help to keep your flowers coming through the remainder of the summer.

Trees & Shrubs:
1. Native trees and shrubs may require additional watering if there is not at least 1" of rain per week.
2. When you shear hedges, remember to shape them so that the bottom is wider than the top if you look at the plants from the side. This will help keep growth full to the ground.
3. Many shrubs can be propagated from cuttings in July and August. Most will take five or more years to reach the size of the plants you usually find in nurseries, however, producing your own plants can be very satisfying.
4. Remove dead, dying, or hazardous tree limbs.
5. Remove sucker growth from trees.
6. Keep plants mulched to conserve water and keep the soil cool
7. A report from Michigan State University indicated that in 50 years a healthy tree can produce $31,250 worth of oxygen, recycle $37,500 in water, provide $62,000 in air pollution control, and $31,250 in soil erosion control. Consider adding a tree to your landscape this fall.

Compost:
Keep the compost pile moist, but not wet. Comfrey is an excellent compost addition. The large succulent leaves help break down "browns".

If you've kept up with your gardening chores so far, you'll have earned a chance to relax just as the weather starts to heat up. Take some lemonade into the garden and take mental or written notes of what to change or do differently next year. Relax, stay cool and drink of plenty of water. Have a great summer of gardening and remember all the fun plans you have for your landscape this fall when the weather cools off.

Do you have a gardening question? In Delaware County, call our Master Gardeners hortline at 610-690-2671 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 AM-12 NOON.

UPCOMING MASTER GARDENERS EVENTS

Registration required for all events. Please call 610-690-2655 for more information or visit our website for a registration form.

When we Americans decide an issue is important, we go whole hog! For instance--growing some of our own food. There’s a real trend going on—more and more people are tearing out part of a perennial bed to make room for a kitchen garden or growing veggies in containers and raised beds—even in the city!

Why are we turning into backyard farmers? A number of factors have come together to create a growing interest in fruit and veggie gardening: the increasing price of food, the desire to eat organic produce, the occasional salmonella contamination of our food supply, concern over climate change (which is turning people on to the importance of “going green”) and the locavore phenomenon.

So what’s a locavore? Locavores are people who commit to eating local food as much as possible—even if it means growing their own fruits and veggies. Why the desire for local or home-grown food? Because locavores realize how much fossil fuel is used to deliver food from across the country or around the globe. (Our food travels an average of 1,500 miles before it ends up on our plates!) Locavores also want to live sustainably, support local organic farmers and eat fresher food that tastes really good.

But not all locavores have kitchen gardens. Other options are shopping at a local Farmers Market, joining a CSA (community-supported agriculture), and lobbying supermarkets to carry locally produced food.

If you choose to have a kitchen garden, you’ll enjoy many advantages. Growing your own fruits and veggies saves money, provides needed exercise and offers a pleasurable connection with nature. Home-grown fruits and vegetables are fresher and taste infinitely better than their mass-marketed commercially grown counterparts. After you’ve tasted how delicious home-grown vegetables are, you’ll never want to settle for ordinary store-bought produce again!

If you decide to try a small home veggie garden and need advice, be sure to call a Master Gardener. We have all the information you’ll need.

For more information on Locavores, read Barbara Kingsolver's delightful book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Check out Garden Girl, who grows veggies in the city of Boston. What an inspiration!

For a really easy way to have a veggie garden, check out Square Foot Gardening.

UPCOMING MASTER GARDENERS EVENTS

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Seventy percent of the US population has a garden. That’s a lot of gardeners! Home Gardeners play a very important role in helping to protect the environment. Let’s all do our part by being environmental stewards of our land. Here are five environmentally friendly gardening practices to get you started:

(1) Use shredded leaves as a mulching agent and a soil enricher. If you can’t shred the leaves on your property, put them in a pile and let them turn to composted material. If you don’t have enough leaves for your needs, ask your neighbors for theirs.
Why? Shredded leaf mulch is the best way to retain moisture, prevent evaporation and enrich your soil. It contains no harmful ingredients to contaminate the earth or our water supply.
Benefits to you: Save money. No need to buy commercial mulch.

(2) Make your own compost from kitchen and yard waste. Use compost as both a mulching agent and a soil feeder. If you don’t have enough, check with your township to see if they offer free compost. To find out where your local compost pick-up site is located, .go to Compost Directory.
Why? Recycling kitchen and yard waste keeps these materials out of our landfills and puts them to good use. Compost is an excellent soil feeder.
Benefits to you: Save money. No need to buy chemical fertilizers and commercial mulch.

(3) Practice IPM (integrated pest management). If you must use pest control products, always use the least toxic product. Be sure to identify the pest you want to control so you can use the appropriate product. Read labels to be sure that application is applied at the correct time and in the correct way.
Why? Many pest control products end up in the soil and water. Using the wrong product for a particular pest will be ineffective. Products applied in the wrong way or at the wrong time will be ineffective.
Benefits to you: Save time and money, live in a healthier environment

(4) Conserve water by planting drought resistant plants and native plants, using soaker hoses or drip irrigation with a timer, installing a rain barrel, and placing water-loving plants in the wet areas of your yard.
Why? Our entire country is facing a water shortage in the near future due to climate changes from global warming (the West and the South are already having problems). Water bills are increasing astronomically.
Benefits to you: Save money on your water bill, help conserve a precious resource.

(5) Help reduce flooding and water contamination by installing a driveway of pervious material. Then plant a water garden to capture run-off and allow rainwater to percolate through the soil instead of running into overloaded storm drains and carrying contaminants with it.
Why? Excessive run-off into overloaded storm drains-- especially during heavy rainfalls—is caused by the increase in impervious surfaces (houses, driveways, walkways, patios, roads). This produces a double whammy of flooding and contamination as overloaded storm drains flow into sewage drains.

In PA, we have both combined sewer overflow and sanitary sewer overflow systems. In combined sewer overflow, “sanitary and storm sewer contents flow into common pipes which carry the total flow to sewage treatment plants. Sanitary Sewer Overflow involves sanitary sewer systems with old pipes that are not water-tight, allowing storm water to enter the system and be carried to the treatment plant.

In both instances, wastewater treatment plants become overloaded during heavy rains, reducing their ability to provide adequate treatment. This results in the discharge of waste directly to our streams. This is a major source of contamination in many parts of Pennsylvania and particularly affects older communities with deteriorated and inadequate facilities.”*
Benefits to you: Clean water and less flooding.

*from PA Dept of Environmental Protection website

UPCOMING MASTER GARDENERS EVENTS

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Continuing our discussion from the last post, here are five more environmentally friendly gardening practices for home gardeners:

(1) Reduce, reuse, recycle Think before you buy. Do you really need it? Find a way to reuse items instead of throwing them out. Don’t send anything to a landfill unless you have to. Recycle everything you can. Give items you no longer want to Free Cycle Network, a grassroots nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reusing and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Membership is free.
Why? There are many environmental benefits to the three “R’s”…. they reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce pollutants, save energy, conserve resources, supply valuable raw materials to industry, create jobs, stimulate the development of greener technologies, conserve resources for our children's future, and reduce the need for new landfills.
Benefits to you: a cleaner environment, save money, clear your house of items you no longer need without sending them to a landfill. For more information, go to US Environmental Protection Agency

(2) Reduce the size of your lawn by planting more shrubs, trees and native plants.
Why? Lawns require mowing, watering, fertilizing, weed control and reseeding. A lawnmower pollutes as much in one hour as a car driven for 350 miles! Buy a cordless electric mower for the lawn you decide to keep.
Benefits to you: Save money and time. Increase the value and beauty of your property. Help prevent flooding from storm water. Enjoy a cleaner environment.

(3) Add native plants to your garden
Why? Natives are easy to grow because they are already adapted to the area. Natives take care of themselves—they don’t require fertilizer or extra water. They promote biodiversity, provide food and shelter for wildlife and they’re beautiful!
Benefits to You: Save time and money, increased enjoyment of nature, contribute to the protection of biodiversity.

(4) Remove invasive plants from your property.
Why? Invasives destroy native plants and wildlife habitat as they run rampant over the landscape. They are one of the greatest threats to our natural ecosystems. Invasives disrupt the ecology of natural ecosystems, displace native plant and animal species, and degrade our nation's unique and diverse biological resources. Go to Alien Plant Invaders for more information.
Benefits to you: Protect your garden from being taken over by invasives, feel good about helping to preserve and protect our planet.

(5) Protect biodiversity by planting native plants, installing a birdbath and birdfeeder, abstaining from pesticides and installing a small pond.
Why? Every single species has an important role to play in life on Earth. Biodiversity is our foundation. It’s essential for our very life. The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat all depends on the Earth’s biodiversity. Trees play an important role in absorbing greenhouse gases and cleaning the air we breathe. Rivers and watersheds provide the clean water that we drink. Plants and animals provide us with food and medicine.

Biodiversity is necessary for a healthy planet. It allows the ecosystem to prevent and recover from a variety of disasters. Rich soil, clean air, clean water, abundant forests and the rich biodiversity of species on our planet are essential for our life.
Benefits to you: Save money by using less water, fertilizer and chemical pesticides. A healthier environment. For more information go to Investigate Biodiversity

UPCOMING MASTER GARDENERS EVENTS

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Is Japanese Stiltgrass lurking on your property with plans to take over the world? This obnoxious invasive started its journey in Tennessee, sauntered into the Eastern states and is now galloping into the Midwest.

Keep an eagle eye out for this persistent and highly invasive annual weed. It flowers around the end of August and then produces seeds--tons of them. One plant can produce up to 1,000 seeds that live in the soil for five years. It can also spread by rooting from stem nodes that touch the ground. Do not let this plant go to seed or you’ll be battling it for the rest of your life.

Not only does stiltgrass spread rapidly and totally blanket the ground, it chokes out grass (got your attention now, don’t I, guys?) and almost anything else in its way. Here's the rest of the bad news: it’s highly flammable and deer won’t eat it.

Stiltgrass grows two to three and a half feet tall and looks like a miniature bamboo. You can recognize it from the silvery stripe down the center of its leaves. Luckily, it’s shallow-rooted and easy to pull up.

In addition to hand pulling, I’ve used Weed-Aside (an herbicidal soap from Gardens Alive) with great success. I spray in spring, when stiltgrass is still a baby. In my experience, Weed-aside kills stiltgrass as long as it's no taller than five inches in height. When it grows taller, I have to hand-pull it--and I have to keep after it all season. It’s like the energy bunny.

For information on stiltgrass and other invasive plants, go to Plant Conservation Alliance’s least wanted list of invasive plants.

UPCOMING MASTER GARDENERS EVENTS

Registration required for all events. Please call 610-690-2655 for more information or visit our website for a registration form.