3 Eco-Friendly Weed Killers While We Wait for the Weed-Killing Lasers. © MrBrownThumb Recently, Christine Lepisto blogged about the weed-killing lasers being developed by researchers in Germany, but while we wait for them: here are three ways you can kill weeds in your garden without reaching for toxic herbicides. 1. Boiling Water I learned about the boiling water trick to kill weeds from the Portland garden blog Lelo in Nopo. It is simple, effect and safe provided you don’t accidentally pour it all over yourself. 2. Maybe it’s just all the food blogs I read but it seems like everyone has a propane torch in their kitchen. 3. This video actually has several tips for dealing with garden pests using household items, but the vinegar weed spray recipe and example is in the first 30 seconds of the video. Take all necessary safety precautions when using any of these weed killers in your garden.
A Garden Table That Doubles as a Rain Barrel. Photo: Design by Davies More and more people are harvesting rainwater in their gardens and a new eco-inspired garden table by Simon Davies can help stylish gardeners do just that. Rain water that lands on the outdoor table flows directly into a tank located below the table top. Read on to learn what inspired Davies to create the table.A new garden table created by Simon Davies harvests rainwater through the tabletop. The table, made of mixed recycled polymers, uses the top surface to channel water into a holding tank below. It's practical, light weight, and perfect for those that want to begin to harvest rainwater and save on water use in their gardens. The top surface is detachable and the tank is located just below the surface. Davies was inspired to create the designer table by the growing interest in urban gardening and reducing urban heat islands. Harvest the Rain with these Four Homemade Rain Barrels.
© Ramon Gonzalez Rainwater harvesting relieves our aging sewer systems from the stress of heavy storms while lessening the impact of our garden on our water bills. Whether your interest in rain barrels is because of frugality, or they are environmental, making your own rain barrel is easy. Here are four examples and instructions for making your own rain barrel. 1. Rubberneck Rain Barrel Donnie Dillon/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Instructables user, Donnie Dillon, hacked a trashcan he had in the garage into a rain barrel after a trip to the hardware store that only cost him $38.22 for the materials. 2. Stylnpzzalvr/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 This blue barrel is the most common item converted into a rain barrel. 3. Chouf/CC BY-SA 2.0 While functional, blue plastic is not very attractive, and if your rain barrels face the street (or annoying neighbors) something that looks more natural may suit your needs. 4.
If a 55 gallon drum is too small for your needs, perhaps these 330 gallon drums will be more to your liking. Test Your Potting Soil Quality Before Planting Your Container Garden. © MrBrownThumb All potting soil blends are not created equal. The quality of your container gardening mix can fluctuate from bag to bag even among the best brands. To ensure that my container gardening soil is what I expect it to be, I like to test it before using the whole batch. After a few years of container gardening you’ll become an expert at analyzing how good the mix is just by lifting the bag off of the ground. If the bag is heavy you’ll know that it may contain too much organic material. Here’s a simple test you can do at home before planting and finding out the hard way that your potting soil mix stays too wet or too dry for your plants. Step 1. Take some of your potting soil and fill a medium-sized pot with your soil straight out of the bag.
Step 2. Give the soil a good watering. Step 3. After a couple of days come back to the container and examine the soil by digging around in it with your fingers. Questions and Observations Is the soil soggy after a couple of warm days? 6 First Aid Tips to Help Trees After a Storm. Kwbridge/CC BY 2.0 Nothing against Secretary's Day or National Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day, but the last Friday of every April, Arbor Day? A day devoted to planting and caring for trees? This is a day that deserves some fanfare. The first Arbor Day was held in Nebraska City, Nebraska in 1872 thanks to the efforts of J.
Sterling Morton. More than one million trees were planted in Nebraska on that first Arbor Day. According to the National Arbor Day Foundation, in the aftermath of a major storm, the initial impulse of property owners is generally along the lines of “let’s get this mess cleaned up.” Doing the right things after trees have been damaged can make the difference between giving your trees a good chance of survival and losing them unnecessarily. CJ Sorg/CC BY 2.0 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Also, the tree will need all its resources to recover from the stress of storm damage. 7 Ways to Give New Life to Dead Trees in Your Backyard. © MrBrownThumb. Magnolia tree in downtown Chicago.
Growing up, the property neighboring me had a young pear tree that served many functions to the neighborhood kids. That particular pear tree was the center of life for many of the kids I grew up with. When the new owners of the property paved over the yard to create a parking lot I was happy to see that the tree had been spared. Then one day, a new set of owners cut the tree down entirely to keep the tree's fruit from damaging the hoods of the cars parked below it. The day I noticed the tree was gone I was devastated. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option, but if you lose a tree in your landscape here are seven ways you can give it new life and preserve some of the memories you associate with it. 1.
. © MrBrownThumb A couple colors of paint and a brush can turn a sad-looking dead tree into an artistic statement in your landscape. 2. 3. 4. Years later and I still want to remove the concrete pavers and replace them with wooden ones. 5. 6. 7.
10 Great Gardening Websites You Must Read. © Ramon Gonzalez The Internet is chock-full of websites about gardening that you can turn to if you’re looking for garden inspiration or a solution to a problem you’re having with your plants. Unfortunately, the search engine results can be gamed and the best gardening websites aren’t always at the top of search results. Here are 10 great gardening websites, in no particular order, that you can turn to when looking for knowledgeable gardening information. 1. An online community for people who love food that’s seeking to empower them to practice self-reliance through the advancement of kitchen gardens, and sustainable food systems. 2 Chiot's Run Chiot's Run, named after the family's dog, is a garden journal of a small organic garden in north eastern Ohio. 3.
The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK's leading gardening charity whose purpose is to promote horticulture and gardening. 4. Before garden blogs were even a thing author Gayla Trail blogged about her gardening pursuits. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Flower.