Be ready for slugs as they appear. Let’s make it a goal to have a slug free hosta garden!!
Weed your hosta bed and coat the top surface with lime as the hostas emerge in the spring. slugs prefer acid conditions and lime is alkaline. Diatomaceous earth will also keep slugs away. Sprinkle it around the plants. They dislike crawling over rough surfaces.
We were thrilled to learn last night that New York Governor David Paterson signed the bill into law that bans pesticide applications on school playgrounds and playing fields. We need everyone to spread the word about this. Write Letters to the Editors and call your TV and radio stations. Call your local and state officials and the offices of your U.S. Senators and members of Congress. With New York and Connecticut now having laws protecting children from pesticides at school, this should become a national movement.
This note came to me from Paul Tukey’s safelawns website.
Yesterday I went to a third grade class to talk about composting. They seemed very excited to think that they could layer their scarps of healthy foods and debris from the garden into a bin and turn it into soil.
IMPORTANT POINTS
Make layers of ingredients. BE SURE to put regular layers of garden soil in to introduce microorganisms that help the compost break down and keep down the smell.
YOU WILL NEED some BROWN ( dried leaves . dead plants, sawdust. pine needles and some shredded newspaper.
Some GREEN (grass clippings and kitchen vegetable scraps)
Some SPRINKLES OF WATER to keep it damp
Some AIR CIRCULATION to help decomposition
A great website for kids to get more details
www.aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/kindergarten/kidscompost/compostingforkids.pdf
This is a great summer recycling project for families to start and it will encourage all to eat more of the fruits and veggies that can go into the compost pile.
DO NOT USE: meat, fat, pet droppings,bones,milk products, diseased plants , oils, or wheat products.
unpruned forsythia
Who would want to prune the forsythia in a tight ball when its natural beauty is so alluring. An unpruned hedge like this is the greatest place for the kids to hide. The children have already created their own forsythia house.
When the forsythia blooms it is time to fertilize your lawn for the first time.
Wow! The rainbow color selection of pansies at Broadway Gardens was breathtaking. Of course I had to buy more to plant in several extra containers. It certainly gives a gardener a real boost. The blooms last well into June. The wood violets are spreading everywhere.
I celebrated the birthday of the first day of spring with my 4 year old grandaughter and she decided that the candles on earth’s cake were the tiny green sprouts of the bulbs that were just emerging from the ground. The spirit of spring is so strong that I strewed some SHIRLEY POPPY seeds in a raised bed with the vision of a pastel July splash. Is it too early? We shall see. the rain for the next two days should encourage them . I shall plant AJUGA around the perimeter of the new patio near the children’s sand box. From experience with this ground cover it can be walked on and still stay green all summer. It also spreads with great vigor. It even can be used in place of a lawn in troubled spots. I plan to give it a couple of doses liquid fertilizer to get the plants off to a proper start. The blue flowers in late spring are a special bonus.
Recycling has been taken to a new height! My dryer lint is hanging on a leafless branch hoping that the birds will use it for part of their nesting material.
