background preloader

Garden and Landscaping

Facebook Twitter

Plants for Your Butterfly Garden. Slime flux wet wood trees oak shade tree. Slime flux or Wet Wood is a foul-smelling and unsightly seepage of sap from the trunk of shade trees. It occurs in apple, birch, elm, hemlock, maple, mulberry, oak, poplar and willow. In North Carolina slime flux is very common in large, mature, landscape oaks, tulip poplar and elms. This disease is not normally a serious problem if the tree is otherwise healthy. Slime flux is a bacterial disease. There is no curative or preventive measures for slime flux except to maintain trees in a general good state of vigor and minimize wounds and injuries. Vines - List of Vine Types. Plant Encyclopedia - BHG.com. Plant gourds if for no other reason than because they're fun. They come in a delightful, wacky array of shapes, colors, and sizes and are sure to bring a smile when you harvest them.

Some gourds are used for functional items or to eat, but all of these fast, easy growers are great project go do to with kids. Many will grow up fences and trellises, which makes them even more interesting and dramatic. The term gourd is a catch-all for several closely related plants. The term gourd is a catch-all for several closely related plants. Read less. Consider Vines for Your Landscape. Vines are useful in the landscape as groundcovers, as a covering for a fence or blank wall, or as shading on an arbor or trellis to cool a patio or deck. Just remember that they can be very vigorous and sprawl over, twine around, climb up, or attach to whatever gets in their way.

As long as you keep them within bounds and under control, they can be effective. Like other plant groups (trees, shrubs, and so on), vines offer a variety of ornamental characteristics, including seasonal flower color, bright berries, and autumn color. Because most grow vertically, you can use them in tight spots where few other plants would fit. And they are versatile — they can create privacy, provide shade, and conceal unattractive landscape features. Types of climbing vines Vines are grouped into several types, according to the way they climb, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: A look at the different ways vines attach.Clinging vines. Should vines grow on walls or fences? Supporting vines in your garden annuals pH. Forum | Vegetable Garden Blog. How to grow grapes organically. Every summer when I was a kid, my mother took me to visit her parents, who lived on the shores of a lake in east Texas. When we arrived, we always headed straight to their grapevines to pick and eat the fresh, juicy fruit. This was not a fancy grape-growing enterprise—just a couple purple 'Concord' grapevines climbing a metal trellis in a vacant lot.

These grapes got very little attention between our visits. My grandparents pruned them and tied on new strips of flash tape to keep the birds away, but apart from that, the grapes were on their own. A local mix of weeds and wildflowers served as cover crops. A diverse population of insects pollinated the flowers. As a gardener now, I know that the secret to growing grapes (or anything else) without a lot of fuss or toxic treatments is to grow plants that will flourish in my climate, just as those grapes did in east Texas.

Air circulation is vital to preventing disease. How to Grow 100 Pounds of Potatoes in 4 Square Feet | Apartment Therapy Re-Nest. On many occasions, we've been tempted to grow our own potatoes. They're fairly low maintenance, can be grown in a pot or in the ground, last a fairly long time if stored properly, and can be very nutritious (high in potassium and vitamin C). Here's more incentive: according to this article, you can grow 100 pounds of potatoes in 4 sq. feet. Learn how after the jump... According to this article from the Seattle Times, potatoes planted inside a box with this method can grow up to 100 pounds of potatoes in just 4 square feet.

All that is required: Lumber Seed potatoes Soil Careful attention to watering The Times' guide for building a potato growing box yields up to a 100 lbs. of potatoes in a mere 4 square feet is shown below: Plant as early as April or as late as August 1, with an approximated 3 month till harvest turnaround time. Here are some pointers from the article: Cut apart larger seed potatoes, making sure there are at least two eyes in each piece you plant.