Flowers: Gardening Q & A

Caroline Spray
Q I have a camellia in a pot which should be in flower by now. It looks healthy but has only one bud. What could be wrong?

A Camellias like light shade and must be planted in an ericaceous compost if in a pot and fed with an acid plant food. They are happy in a container but I suspect the lack of flowers may be due to lack of water or feed, so make sure the soil doesn't dry out. Use water-retaining granules to keep moisture in.

Q You advised me to use lawn sand on my grass but it has turned black.

What do I do now?

A Keep calm. The lawn sand has killed the moss as it is supposed to and this is what has turned black, not the grass. If the lawn is mostly moss it will look awful so rake the dead moss out then feed the grass to rejuvenate it.

Q I bought two Rosa de Jericho - how and where should I plant them and care for them?

A The Rose of Jericho or dinosaur plant as it is sometimes known is an amazing variety which supposedly pre-dates the jurassic age. You place it in water and it quickly hydrates itself and becomes green. When it dries out it hibernates until wet again and the process can be repeated hundreds of times.

Q I have a long bed full of winter-flowering heathers and conifers. Should I prune the heathers?

A With heathers that flower in the winter and early spring, all you need is a light prune to remove the dead flower heads.

Q I only have a patio as my garden and would love to grow strawberries. Can they go in a pot?

A Strawberries will grow very well in a container or a hanging basket. Buy strawberry barrels with holes in the sides so you can plant in the sides and the top. This way the fruit will hang down. Remember to water, feed and protect them from the birds with a net.

Deciding whether you need professional help

Valves, risers, timers, controllers, moisture sensors, and pipes, oh my! If all these parts and how they should go together makes your head spin, hire someone. Hire someone who’s done it hundreds of times; find such a contractor via your local garden center, in the yellow pages, or through a reference from a friend or neighbor. (Get a written estimate for the work, labor, and parts, and check references.)
However, if you’re an affirmed do-it-yourselfer, handy, and confident, by all means, install your watering system yourself. Check with your local utility companies — gas, water, and electric —
(if the system’s underground) before doing any digging to avoid costly and potentially dangerous accidents.

Cutting back on watering

Even if you don’t live in an area experiencing drought, you don’t want to waste water, no matter what you pay for it or how much you have to use. Remember that for most efficient delivery, water in early to mid-morning —after the dew has dried but before the heat of the day sets in and much of the water evaporates. And mulch, mulch, mulch individual plants and entire beds to hold in the water right by the roots, where plants most need and appreciate it.

Wherever possible, build up a basin of mounded-up dirt or mulch around the edge of the rootball of each plant at planting time. Water goes right in the basin and soaks directly down into the root system instead of running off onto the lawn or driveway or elsewhere where it isn’t needed. The method of delivery can also save water: In-ground irrigation systems are wonderfully efficient, as I mention earlier in the chapter, and soaker hoses are also good. Drip systems shouldn’t produce any appreciable runoff on slopes. And although some sprinklers are good, others are very wasteful. Check out mail-order catalogs that specialize in types of sprinklers. They’re filled with good information on how to choose the right ones. Depending on what kind of soil you have and how well it absorbs, you may find it worthwhile to run the water slowly rather than fast, and perhaps ten minutes on, ten minutes off — either or both of these techniques often drenches an area quite efficiently with little waste.

Rain gauges are useful for measuring water when you apply it with overhead sprinklers. For drip systems, run them for an hour or two and then dig down into the soil around the plant to see how far down and wide the moisture has penetrated. Run the system longer if it hasn’t yet penetrated deep enough to reach the root zone. After you do this exercise a few times, you should know how long to run the system each time you water. Another way to cut back on the amount of watering you need to do is to use drought-tolerant plants in your garden. Gardeners in the Southwestern portion of the United States are particularly good at this type of gardening, largely through necessity. Drought-tolerant plants include cacti, succulents, ceanothus, rock rose, native dryland plants and their cultivars (such as penstemon and gaura), and deep-rooted perennials like prairie natives and their cultivars (such as baptisia, liatris, black-eyed Susans, and purple coneflowers).

Vegetable gardening popular again

EILEEN FISCHER
Environmental concerns, high food costs make vegetable gardening popular again -
There isn't any hard data on how many of us in Connecticut are raising our own vegetables. In fact, it's not a statistic the state's Department of Agriculture can even hazard a guess on. But with the growing concern over the environment, the increased demand for organic, locally farmed produce and increasing food costs, anecdotally, it seems, more of us are interested in planting home gardens. Bill Duesing, executive director of Connecticut's Northeast Organic Farming Association (www.nofa.org) in Oxford, which has about 800 members, has been gardening since 1969. While gardening is the No. 1 hobby, according to the National Gardening Association, over the years, Duesing said he's seen the popularity of vegetable gardening wax and wane. It was growing in the 1970s, he said, but slacked off in the '80s and '90s. Today, he said, "I think we're approaching a perfect storm of problems with climate change and high food prices" that is resulting in people once again returning to the earth.

This time, he said, "this may be a trend that lasts for a longer time."

"Edible gardening is going to continue to grow," said Charlie Nardozzi, a senior horticulturist with the National Gardening Association in South Burlington, Vt. Traditionally, he said, it's people in their 50s or older who garden, but he predicts younger people will pick up on the trend. In 2007, he said, 25 million, or 22 percent, of
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American households had a vegetable garden. That number has held steady for about five years, he added, but what did increase, by 22 percent, is the amount of money spent on the gardens. Next year, he believes, there will be an increase in their number, too.

"What happens in the edible gardening category is when the economy gets rough, people want more control in their lives and one way to do that is to grow their own food," he said. "The bigger picture is concerns about the safety and quality of foods and [people] are concerned about their carbon footprint."

But, planting a vegetable garden can seem intimidating — Where to start? What to plant? How can I keep the deer from eating everything? If you're concerned that you don't have all the answers, or the space, joining a community garden may be one solution. "The wonderful thing about a community garden is there's someone who knows what they're doing," said Cordalie Benoit, president of the Connecticut Community Garden Association. "You don't have to be friends to do a community garden; it's a true cross-section of society that's arbitrary.

"And people learn from each other," she said. "It's not that hard. Kids can do it. Old people can do it. [Gardening alone] in your own backyard can be discouraging."

In Connecticut, there are 80 community gardens, she said. Some are located in urban areas where you'd expect to see them, such as Bridgeport and New Haven, but they're also in upscale communities, such as Darien and Westport.

"They're everywhere," Benoit said.

A plot can be large or small, ranging in size from 8- by 4-feet to 10- by 20-feet. Generally, families work a plot together, she said. But, there are many ways to run a community garden.

In New Haven, where Benoit lives, she gardens at the Williams Street Community Garden. The maintenance is done as a group and the harvest is divided among the members, which includes about 30 families. In Bridgeport, there are 20 community gardens with 200 families involved, said Robert Halstead, president of the Bridgeport Community Land Trust. Over the last two years, the number of participants has increased by about 50 percent, he said. Halstead attributes the rise to better maintenance of the gardens, which has given them better visibility in the community and improved people's impression of them. Lynn Pritchard, a Land Trust board member and captain of the Burroughs Community Garden in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport, has been gardening for 18 years and prefers gardening with others. "You can garden alone, but you're getting to know your neighbors and know who's around. It makes the neighborhood safer," she said.

About 18 families and children who go to the Burroughs Community Center are involved with the garden. Pritchard's two children garden, too, and thinks it's a great idea for youngsters for many reasons: They learn about nature, where their food comes from, and watching something grow that they planted is a great source of pride, she said.

The garden's main crops are tomatoes, kale, collard greens and beans, said Pritchard, who started hundreds of heirloom vegetable seeds in her home for planting in the city gardens. There are plans, she said, to expand the Burroughs' garden.

"We are seeing more interest because of the cost of fresh food," she said. Before the recent opening of a Stop & Shop supermarket nearby, the garden was the only source of fresh vegetables for some families, she added.

In Milford, Linda Ball works for the Park and Recreation department supervising the Bensen-Crump Community Garden in Eisenhower Park, a job she's had for 17 years. There are 135 plots on three acres, said Ball.

"Interest in the garden has been pretty steady," she said, but in the last few years people have been calling earlier and earlier to get on the waiting list, which this year swelled to 25 people. Seniors, especially, are concerned with the high cost of food, she said, and want to keep their plots and more people are even planting winter crops, she said. They are even talking about canning, which seems to be on the rise again after being almost nonexistent for years, she said.

"Last year about 25 gardeners grew for themselves and also participated in Plant a Row, or PAR," an initiative to help feed the hungry, she said. "We set aside two plots for PAR that volunteers took care of.

"We totaled 716 pounds of food that was donated" to local soup kitchens and shelters, she said, proudly. The National Gardening Association has a free, monthly e-mail newsletter on edible gardening. For details, visit www.garden.org.

BEGINNER'S GARDEN

• Start small. Horticulturist Charlie Nardozzi from the National Gardening Association said plant a 3- by 5-foot bed that's in full sun in an area that you'll pass by frequently.
• What to grow? Bush beans, summer squashes, tomatoes, any greens, swiss chard and peppers are good first choices, said Nardozzi.
• Keep the garden low maintenance. Mulch around beds and plants. Visit the garden every other day and spend 10 minutes weeding instead of once a week.
• Get the children involved with planting seeds, harvesting carrots, fun stuff, not just pulling weeds. Once they're invested in the garden, they'll discover how great-tasting fresh veggies are.
• Container gardening is easier than ever with the new self-watering containers and specially mixed potting soil — don't use garden soil in containers, said Nardozzi.

Determining which watering system to use

The amount of water your garden needs depends on what kind of soil you’re using, what your climate is like, and what kinds of plants you have. Shallow rooted plants, for example, need more water than deep-rooted ones for the simple reason that they’re closer to the soil surface, which dries out more quickly in the heat of the sun. Deep roots can reach the more consistently damp lower soil layers.
For many gardeners, getting enough water to their gardens is the biggest gardening challenge. If you’re crunched for time or have a large area to water, installing in-ground sprinklers and irrigation systems may be a good idea. Employing the use of a regular watering system, such as drip irrigation or an in-ground system, is the best approach to ensuring a consistent moisture cycle to grow happy, healthy plants. However, in-ground watering systems tend to be expensive and should be installed by professionals. If you’re looking for suppliers of irrigation systems, the companies in the Appendix may be a good starting point.
Of course, you can always water your garden yourself, by hand, and really that’s a great way to do it, because you can personally inspect each plant. Whether you water by hand or use a system, here are some things you may want to keep in mind:

• Watering your garden early in the morning, before the sun is fully overhead, is usually best. Watering at night can make plants susceptible to diseases that cause them to rot.
• Some plants in your garden, such as melons, may require more water than others, in which case watering by hand is probably best. _ If you don’t have an outdoor spigot close to your garden for convenient hose hookup and watering, a rain barrel may be a good substitute for keeping water close to your garden. Various mail-order suppliers sell rain barrels.
• Make sure you get a barrel that’s tall enough so pets can’t get in, or put on covers to reduce drowning risks to pets and children. To keep mosquitoes out, use products like Mosquito Dunks, which are donuts of a type of bacteria that’s harmless to humans but deadly to mosquito larvae.
• Usually, watering the soil rather than the leaves is best because the roots are what absorb water, and they’re in the soil. Also, wetting the leaves can result in more disease problems. Still, on a very hot or windy day, watering the leaves can reduce wilt and lower leaf temperatures.
  
• Unless you have a very large garden, sprinkler heads that you attach to garden hoses are usually better suited for lawns than gardens. If you decide to use one, make sure the sprinkler covers the entire garden area evenly and doesn’t water things you don’t want watered, like your lawn furniture or windows.
• No matter what kind of garden you have or which watering system you use, infrequent deep soakings are better than frequent shallow waterings.

Overwatered Plant

Telling when a plant doesn’t have enough water may seem to be a snap, but keep in mind that there’s definitely such a thing as too much water. If puddles form in your garden or an area of it’s quite soggy, all the pores in the soil fill. When this happens, no free oxygen, which needs to get to the roots, is in the. Meanwhile, some plant diseases (like mildew and blight) travel via water and can easily develop and spread in soaked conditions. Sodden roots blacken and rot, and all the aboveground growth subsequently dies. Garden plants in these circumstances, of course, need less water.

Unfortunately, an overwatered plant looks the same as one that’s underwatered! The reason is that an overwatered plant is actually suffering from dehydration because the roots have been damaged by too much water (actually, too little oxygen, because the water has displaced the oxygen); the roots can’t absorb water, so the plant wilts. One difference is that overwatered plants don’t recover from wilt when you apply additional water, but underwatered ones generally do.

Gardening Australia Expo opens in Brisbane

If there is magic to be found at the bottom of the garden, one would be sure to find it at the Gardening Australia Expo this weekend.

The Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre abounded with wonders botanical, innovative and sustainable, with everything from water tanks, boutique compost and specialist plants for the dedicated gardener.

The most unusual plant on display was without a doubt the hybrid Aloes.

A cousin of the humble Aloe Vera found in most gardens, these unique blooms can go for six months without water and have an other-worldly names like Gemini, Topaz and Aries.

Breeder of the plants, Michael Dent said the blooms were complex, some having up to eight parent breeds.

"We launched them here in Queensland and hope to take them to other states soon," he said.

But not all the interesting plants at the show were botanical, as the brisbanetimes.com.au discovered talking to Mr Paul Plant.

Mr Plant, editor of subTropical Gardening Magazine, said his name was indeed the one he was born with.

Appearing keenly aware of the irony of having the name Mr. Plant and being a well-known figure in the horticultural community, he said he didn't have an especially keen affinity with greenery as kid.

"I just was the only one in my family that didn't instantly mow over everything my mother planted."

The expo runs from 9.30am - 4.30pm today and tomorrow.

5 tips for drought-smart gardening

By Tina Mast, Correspondent
The garden year is defined by many words and, as circumstances change, they change, too. This year's garden word, it pretty much goes without saying, is "drought."

At this point, that's no revelation, but as the buds burst on the dogwoods and green tips push up through the soil, many of us are considering how we want to garden in this year of water restrictions and drought-weakened gardens. Here are a few ideas for getting by when the going gets dry.

First, find some way to collect rain water. You have options at all price points. Whether you piggy back a bunch of retrofitted garbage cans together, buy pre-fabricated rain barrels, or have an above or below ground cistern installed, you can and should try to collect water. Even if you don't plan on doing a lot of planting, your existing plants may be quite weakened from the drought last year and will be much more susceptible to giving up the ghost this year.

In your container gardens, use water-holding granules or mats. The mats can be cut to fit containers, placed in the bottom, and planted over. During the heat of summer, it's helpful to keep saucers under your containers so that when it rains or you water, you have a little reservoir of water for the plants to draw from over the coming days. Deep saucers are even better than the standard shallow ones for this. This is a temporary technique, however. Do this in winter or during a wet season and you could have plants rot out on you if you don't dump the excess water periodically.

Many people are asking about drought-tolerant plants, and with good reason. Just bear in mind that, with few exceptions, drought-tolerant plants are not drought-tolerant the first year in the ground. If you plant them this year, make plans to water them regularly, too. Next year they'll reward you with their toughness and durability (probably just in time for a record wet year).

Make sure you get a nice 3-inch layer of mulch layered over your garden beds, as well. Mulch isn't just a nice way to pretty up the garden; no, mulch is your friend. It will help keep water from evaporating from the soil. It will smother emerging weeds. It will help keep soil and soil-borne diseases from splashing back up onto plants during what we hope will be frequent rainstorms. It will keep plant roots cooler in the heat of summer and nice 'n' toasty during winter.

It won't keep you from accidentally digging up your heirloom snowdrops as you try to find a place to squeeze in another plant or tell you where you last left your pruning shears, but other than that it's got you, dare we say it, covered.

Finally, don't hang up the trowel because we're having a drought. Gardens feed the soul, exercise the body, delight the senses, provide a place of respite, and give sustenance and shelter to the local wildlife (OK, so that includes voles and snakes). It's a fact, not a maybe, that there will always be some obstacle to overcome. So, as spring dons her rainbow attire, don't resist the urge the get out in your garden and get dirty. Go forth and dig!

On the dry side

If you know what to look for, you can figure out your plants’ watering needs. Plants actually prioritize when water-stressed, so look for the early warning signs:

1. If a plant isn’t getting enough water, flower petals and buds are the first things to be jettisoned (or fruit if it has developed), because making and maintaining them takes so much energy and water.
2. Next to go are the leaves, which shrivel.
3. Then the stems flop.
4. Underground, the roots go limp.

Obviously, if your garden is in this condition, it needs more water.

Tackling Watering Issues

Sure, without moisture, plants die. Everyone knows that. But you may not know why water is so incredibly vital. The answer is threefold, actually:

• Sufficient water pressure within plant tissues creates turgor, or rigidity, so the plant can stand up. A plant without turgor pressure collapses.
  
• Water keeps nutrients flowing through the soil, the roots, and the plant parts as they should; it keeps the show going.
  
• The show is the chemical process of photosynthesis, which you no doubt remember from biology class in school. The plant uses light, carbon dioxide, and water to make sugar (a pretty impressive trick).

Without photosynthesis, plants can’t grow or develop flowers or fruit. Keeping a close eye on your plants is easier said than done, of course, but the following sections tell you what you need to know, to keep in mind, and to watch out for when evaluating just how much moisture your garden needs.

How to apply mulch — and how much

If you’re ready to start applying mulch to your garden, here’s what you need to know to ensure you get the best possible use of your mulch:

• When you plant: Applying mulch right after planting something is easy. Use a shovel or scoop with a trowel. Spread the mulch over the rootzone area but not flush up against a plant’s base or main stem (which can smother it or invite pests or disease).
• Depth depends on the sort of plant. Annuals and perennials are fine with an inch or so of mulch; shrubs, roses, and trees need 3 or 4 inches or more.
• During the growing season: Add more mulch midway through the growing season or whenever you notice it’s depleted. You may have to get down on your knees or wriggle around a bit as you try to deliver it where it’s needed without harming the plant or its neighbors. Again, use less for smaller plants, more for bigger ones.
• In the fall or for winter protection: Depending on the severity of your winters and the amount of snow cover you expect (a blanket of snow can act as a protective mulch, actually), you want to cover an overwintering plant well. You can cut down perennials first and then practically bury them under several inches of mulch. You shouldn’t trim back shrubs and rosebushes at this time, but you don’t have to be as careful as you were with midsummer mulching because the plant is no longer growing actively. For freezing winters, 6 or more inches around the base of these is good.

These amounts are guidelines only. You have to tailor them to your climate, growing season, and specific plants.
To limit erosion, don’t excavate large areas that are on a slope without planting or at least mulching soon, especially during the spring, when rainy weather can cause washouts.

Understanding Mulch

Mulch is a good gardening habit but not mandatory. But, ooh boy, do the benefits make it worth the effort! A really good job of mulching your garden usually

• Inhibits weed germination and growth (and not only are weeds unsightly, but they also they steal resources from your plants!)
• Holds in soil moisture, protecting your plants from drying out so fast
• Moderates soil-temperature fluctuations (this benefit is especially valuable during that turbulent-weather period in spring when you don’t want your plants to be stressed)
• In cold-winter areas, protects plant roots from winter cold and helps prevent frost-heaving, in which plants are literally pushed out of the ground by the natural expansion and contraction of the soil as it cools off and heats up
• In hot-summer areas, helps keep plant roots cooler
• Depending on what you use, adds a bit of welcome nutrition to your garden as it breaks down Sound like good enough reasons to use mulch? Yeah, I thought I’d convince you.

How to Adjust your Soil’s pH?

Of course you can adjust your soil’s pH! Gardeners do it all the time when they know their lot in life is extreme soil, or even when they’re just trying to please some special fussy plant. It’s not a big deal. You just dig in something that nudges the pH in the direction you want it to go:

• If your soil is too acidic: To raise the pH, dig in dolomitic limestone, bonemeal, or wood ashes. How much? I knew you were going to ask that! The answer has to do with how much ground you want to alter or improve. If you really need to adjust the pH, I strongly recommend you get that lab-analyzed soil test, because the lab can give you good, tailored directions on what to do and how much amendment(s) to add. Just so you know, though, the general rule of thumb for adding granulated limestone is between 5 and 10 pounds per 100 square feet of garden area.
• If your soil is too alkaline: To lower the pH, dig in some acidic organic matter such as peat moss, sawdust, well-chopped leaves from oak trees, or pine needles. Alternatively, you can add calcium sulfate, iron sulfate, aluminum sulfate, or powdered sulfur. If you don’t let the sawdust, leaves, or pine needles decompose somewhat before adding them to the soil, they can leach nitrogen from the soil as they break down. And too much peat moss can waterlog the soil as well as make it quite acidic. Consider adding no more than one part of organic amendment to three parts soil. You need professional advice on application rates if you decide to go with powdered sulfur or other additives.

How to Find out your soil’s pH?

You can do a little detective work by observing which native plants are thriving and then confirming that they have a preference one way or another. Or you can run a soil test — use either an inexpensive kit or arrange one of those more-intense tests where you take soil samples from various parts of your yard and mail the dirt in to a lab. The nice thing about doing this more intense test is that the lab report not only tells you the pH (and a few other useful things, like the nutrient levels in your soil) but also gives you specific recommendations on how to improve or alter your soil. Check with your local Cooperative Extension Service — workers there may be able to run the tests for you at a minimal cost.

Demystifying Soil pH

The pH (and you can find various arguments about exactly what pH stands for) is the measure of your soil’s acidity, and it’s often a huge area of debate among gardeners. I try to keep this discussion simple so I don’t make your head spin, especially if you have little or no acquaintance with chemistry. Too low of a soil pH means the soil’s too acidic, and too high of a pH means the soil is alkaline. Generally speaking, you want your soil pH to be on the slightly acidic side for the vast majority of garden plants. Extremes are rarely good.

The pH scale ranges from acidic to alkaline — 0 to 14, with 7.0 as neutral. The really good news is that many soils are fairly close to neutral. Acidic or alkaline soil isn’t bad soil or bad for plant growth per se. But the minerals in the soil that are important to plant growth and health have a tough time getting to the plants when the pH isn’t right for the particular plant. Scientists have discovered that beneficial soil bacteria don’t function well unless the soil pH is relatively close to neutral. These bacteria are important because they break down organic matter and make sure nutrients are in forms that plants can use.

Of course, some plants prefer or are well-adapted to pH levels that are a little more acidic or a little more alkaline. And some soils are naturally so; when in doubt, you can take your cue from the native plants. Examples of plants that like acidic soil include blueberries, azaleas, rhododendrons, most other broadleaf evergreens, and heather. So in the New England states, where many soils are acidic, you see native blueberry plants. And if gardeners in that region want to grow blueberry bushes (albeit improved, bigger-sized fruit varieties), they should have good luck.

Examples of plants that like alkaline soil include penstemon, dianthus, baby’s breath, and beets. So in the Southwest, where many soils are more alkaline, you see native penstemons. And if gardeners in that region want to grow these flowers (native species or improved selections), they should have good luck.

Compost: More than Just a Fertilizer

Yeah, I also talk about compost in the fertilizer section, but compost is useful and necessary to your garden in so many ways other than as plain fertilizer. Because it’s organically rich, with good texture, compost is just about the best thing you can add to soil. What works best really depends on the type and fertility of your native soil, but you can’t go wrong digging in quite a lot of compost. Compost lightens heavy clay soil and gives needed substance to sandy soil. Less-extreme soils can still benefit.

In any event, half-compost and half-native soil isn’t excessive. Some really keen vegetable gardeners forgo native soil altogether and use 100 percent compost to grow incredible crops. Using solely compost is most feasible in raised beds. Roots relish it. You can get healthier, happier plants. Don’t use soggy or overly dry compost. Compost should be fully decayed, dark in color and crumbly in texture. This issue is more significant with homemade compost than the bagged, store-bought sort. For homemade, you’re fine if you take it from the bottom of the pile (most store-bought composters have a convenient hatch there).

Whether you’re planting a new rose, a young perennial, a handful of bulbs, or a bunch of annuals, always dig a hole both deeper and wider than the root ball. This practice gives you an opportunity to make a great new home for the plant, an area the roots can eagerly expand into. Either scoop some compost into the bottom of the hole (where a lot of root growth should occur) or mix compost with the native soil (try a 50-50 mix).
Skip this step of mixing in organic matter for trees and shrubs. The latest studies show that trees and most shrubs do better in the long run if you keep the plants in native soil; in amended soil, they may not grow past the planting hole. However, if you plant them in native soil, they can easily grow beyond the planting hole. In general, potted plants like a lighter medium. Go ahead and put a handful or two of compost in along with the potting soil, but don’t be heavy-handed.

Quite a few gardeners make their own compost, a process that can take three months to a year to complete. Many gardeners also use a compost bin for this process, though you can just pile the compost in an isolated and sectioned-off portion of your yard. Your compost pile should be kept slightly damp but not soggy. Stirring or turning the material every few weeks can speed up the decomposition process. When the compost is dark brown, is cool to the touch, and has a pleasant “earthy” smell, it’s ready to use.

Good material choices for mixing and making your own compost include

• Chopped-up leaves (smaller pieces decompose more quickly)
• Any young weeds that have not gone to seed
• Old lettuce or other salad greens
• Prunings from healthy plants

Don’t compost weeds that have gone to seed, any diseased plants, or any plants that have been sprayed with herbicides. Also, animal fats or spoiled meat are not recommended and often attract rodents.

When is the right time to feed your garden?

Whether you’re using store-bought or natural fertilizer, such as compost or manure, most plants like to be fertilized at planting time, just to get off to a good start. Thereafter, you may fertilize again on a monthly basis. Reduce or stop when fall’s cooler weather arrives. Fertilizer inspires fresh new growth, and you don’t want that then — fall is a time for plants to slow down and approach dormancy, and cold weather can damage new growth. (You should, however, feed the lawn in autumn to stimulate root growth; feeding grass in the spring pushes excess leaf growth that the roots can’t support ).
If you’re using store-bought or chemical fertilizer, read the label to figure out how to deliver the fertilizer and how much to use. Some fertilizers work best if you dig them right into the soil; others are better delivered in dilute form when you water. The label can also tell you how much to use per square foot of garden area and how often to apply. For bagged organic fertilizer, read the label; otherwise, do some research on your own.
More is not better! (Though if you’re fertilizing with compost, using too much is almost impossible — see the next section.) Plant fertilizer is like aspirin. The right amount is beneficial; too much is harmful. So don’t get carried away. Remember that some fertilizers are types of salt, and high concentrations of any salt can kill plants. Always read the label and follow the directions carefully. To get the amounts right, you may have to pull out the tape measure and figure out how many square feet of lawn or garden you need to cover. Some gardeners like to fertilize their plants half as much, twice as often. That’s perfectly okay. Just make sure you dilute properly and get your measurements right. (Gardeners often use this technique with roses and many houseplants.)

Tips on adding organic matter with cover crops

If you have a large flower bed or big vegetable garden, one fairly easy and undeniably efficient way to give it a dose of organic matter is to plant a cover crop at season’s end: You grow plants just to maintain and improve the land during the off-season to prepare the garden for next year. Sow the cover crop according to the directions on the bag and let the plants grow. It should hog the area to sufficiently thwart weeds. And of course, a cover crop provides plentiful organic matter and limits erosion. Good choices include annual rye, buckwheat, clover, winter barley, and winter rye. Here are some tips based on your region:

• In mild-climate areas: Sow the cover crop in mid-fall. When the plants are about a foot high and are still soft and green, dig them in (if practical) or till with a rear-mounted rotary tiller. Then let the plants decompose or meld for a month or more.
• In cold-climate areas: Just plant the cover crop in fall and let winter kill it. The stuff will decompose at least somewhat, with or without snow cover. Till the area in spring, when the ground is workable again. Wait a few weeks before planting the area.