garden Archives - Page 12 of 13

Going Native

An enthusiastic gardenerd writes in:

"Where can I get a variety of CA native plants are cheap or free? I've got a 30 X 25 foot area that has been cleared of weeds, etc and is screaming to go native!"

Congratulations on the weeding, first of all, and secondly your decision to go native. There are a lot of ways to get native plants for your area, not all of them are legal. It really depends on how quickly you want to your garden to take shape. Here are a few suggestions:

Let's start with Free. The most free way ...

Post author:Christy
Post published:May 3, 2008
Post category:Sage Advice
Post comments:3 Comments

Need a lawn alternative? Buffalo grass works in many circumstances

Grass Growing for Beachside Folks

We got a new question in this week:

"I live 1 mile from the beach and have very sandy soil and a very sunny yard. I can't grow grass, keep grass or prevent grass from burning. Help!"

Is it safe to assume that you've tried out different watering schedules, primarily avoiding watering between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m? If not, try that first. You may need to water more often for shorter periods of time, depending on the type of grass you have, so that the water stays near the root zones, instead of washing out past them. You would also ...

Post author:Christy
Post published:March 26, 2008
Post category:Sage Advice
Post comments:0 Comments

Growing Tomatoes in Florida

A Florida gardenerd wrote in recently:

"I live in Orlando, Florida and I know that every place has its season to grow vegetables. I am interested in growing tomatoes and green peppers to start. Don't know anything about it, and want to know how to grow them organically. Thank you for your help."

You're smack in the middle of the ever changing Zone 9 over there in Orlando. According to several sources, that area has been shifting between zone 10, 9a, and 9b for the last 50 years. Sandy soil, tropical heat and sudden frosts, right?

I did some research and ...

Post author:Christy
Post published:March 26, 2008
Post category:Sage Advice
Post comments:6 Comments

Pruning, Tools and Tool Care Class Review

On Saturday, we rounded out the Gardenerd Organic Gardening Series with the final class on Pruning, Tools and Tool Care.

Post author:Christy
Post published:March 22, 2008
Post category:What's Growin' On
Post comments:0 Comments

Tool Talk for Spring Gardening

The newest Gardenerd Tip of the Week Podcast is available online. We probably won't be posting these on this blog for much longer, now that iTunes is podcasting them. For help with subscribing, visit the home page of Gardenerd.com. Or you can search for Gardenerd under Podcasts on iTunes.

Tool Talk for Spring Gardening
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Post author:Christy
Post published:March 22, 2008
Post category:Sage Advice
Post comments:0 Comments

A Nursery Full of Babies

Shhhhhh... they're sleeping. Actually, they're not sleeping, they're growing big and strong.

Post author:Christy
Post published:March 22, 2008
Post category:What's Growin' On
Post comments:0 Comments

Upside-Down Tomatoes

Recently some students in the Gardenerd Organic Gardening Series asked about growing tomatoes upside-down. I can happily say that I've done that without any special equipment - and it works!

One year, on the patio of our apartment, my husband and I decided to take a regular hanging planter and plant a tomato in it. Instead of staking it up, we let the vines hang down. It flowered, it set fruit, the fruit ripened and we ate well. There are a couple of caveats, however, to be aware of when using a regular hanging planter:

1) The branches do bend or crease at the ...

Post author:Christy
Post published:March 19, 2008
Post category:Sage Advice
Post comments:8 Comments

Gardenerd Tip of the Week Podcast

This week's Tip of the week is our first that is broadcasting on iTunes. You can subscribe by going to iTunes (which is downloadable for free) or you can visit our home page and click on the Podcast icon under the Latest Gardenerd News. For those with less inclination in the ways of the computer. Just click below and listen. Enjoy!

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Post author:Christy
Post published:March 15, 2008
Post category:What's Growin' On
Post comments:0 Comments

A Rocky Start in Paso Robles

A new gardenerd wrote in recently with a couple of questions. We've broken it up into two blog entries so we can address both issues separately:

"My biggest challenge is being a novice gardener with terrible soil. We moved to Paso Robles, CA (45 minutes north of San Luis Obispo), about 3 years ago. We have this rock hard soil, which is almost impossible to dig around in, and it doesn't drain at all. To top it off, we live in an area with temperature extremes. It gets over 100 degrees here in the summer and have frequent frost and temperatures routinely below freezing ...

Post author:Christy
Post published:February 29, 2008
Post category:Sage Advice
Post comments:1 Comment

Picking in the Rain

I don't like being cold and wet. I'm pretty clear about that. There is one time, however, when I actually go out of my way to lose all feeling in my hands and soak myself to the bone - harvesting in the rain.

There's nothing quite like the smell of wet soil and ozone mixing together as you tromp through the mud. Sticking your hands into an overgrowth of leaves to pick plump peas is somehow more satisfying than when all is dry. Seeing leaves weighed down with rain, they emit a dark green that only comes to ...

Post author:Christy
Post published:January 6, 2008
Post category:What's Growin' On
Post comments:0 Comments