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Read more about the article Planting Bulbs: a primer
Minnie and Moon hand-crafted dibber.

Planting Bulbs: a primer

As a companion piece to the Thanksgiving Tip of the
Week, it seems appropriate to dedicate a little bit of time to the subject of
planting bulbs.  When I first started gardening with flowers, I didn't know
anything about inedible plants.  I loved color and fragrance, but was too
intimidated to try roses or climbing vines.  So I started with
bulbs.  

Growing bulbs really couldn't be easier, or less
of a commitment.  Basically you dig a hole, you drop in a bulb and you bury
it.  Then you wait for spring.  There are more ...

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Pruning Roses

A gardener recently wrote in:

"When is the best time to prune
roses?"

The answer I'm providing is geared towards west coast
gardeners in mild winter climates.  According to a workshop
I attended several years ago with Nina Rumely, Ocean View Farms'
resident rose expert, we should stop cutting our roses in October and cut
watering to once a week.  This encourages your roses into
dormancy. 
...

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Dirty soil

A new member of the Gardenerd community writes in:

"I just recently moved into a newly constructed house and would love to have a garden in the backyard. However, the soil around the house is filled with chemicals from the construction process. I plan on removing about 2 and a half feet of dirt, covering it with organic compost, and letting the sun (heat) and oxygen do its thing so I can plant in march.  Is this enough? Should I be doing something else?"

Firstly, congratulations on your new house!  I think a garden is a perfect choice (but then again, ...

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Read more about the article A Sentimental Tree

A Sentimental Tree

"[My daughter] has a tree she planted from seed.  I'm not sure what it is, at one point thought it was a Chinese Elm.  It has completely outgrown the huge pot it was in (cracked it in half wide open), and is much too large for us to keep in the pot, and no where to plant it.  The tree is somewhat sentimental (if trees can be that - it is to us, we're weird).  Is there anyway I can keep part ...

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Oops, I overwatered!

A gardener writes in:

"I left my soaker hose on in my garden for two days straight and everything got way too much water. Will it be ok? I have squash, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, onions and lettuce."
 
Well, in this hot weather, you should be okay.  In the summer, up to 60% of the moisture from overhead watering can be lost to evaporation.  You've been using a soaker hose, so your evaporation is going to be less.  If you have sandy soil, drainage and evaporation will happen faster than with clay soil.  If your soil is covered with mulch, clear it out for the time ...

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Read more about the article Flies in My Soil

Flies in My Soil

A gardener writes in:

"We used 5 gallon buckets for our 3 tomatoes, 2 squash, and lemon cucumber plants this summer. I seem to have flies in the dirt! Am I over watering? What natural ways can I get rid of them?"

I'm going to take a stab and assume that the flies in question are gnats rather than house flies or white flies.  Given that, yes, over watering contributes to this problem.  It sounds like you have Fungus Gnats - little flies that lay eggs in the soil where it's nice and moist, then the eggs develop into larvae and new ...

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