Lemon tree with curled leaf
Ask Gardenerd: Curling Leaves on Lemon Tree
Tee wrote in to Ask Gardenerd this week with a common problem. "Why are the leaves on my lemon tree/bush curling inward?"
Cosmos are beneficial insectaries for bees and other pollinators.
YouTube: Beneficial Insectaries
Our latest YouTube video gives you the what, how, and why you should grow beneficial insectaries, that is, plants that attract beneficial insects to the garden.
Ask Gardenerd: Green Worms on My Brassicas
We get questions like this one from Jody all the time: "Last year I ripped everything out of my garden, put fresh soil in and decided rather last minute to do an edible landscape. It was beyond anything I could have expected or hoped for, but what really was trouble was the white butterflies infesting/laying eggs/green worms in my cabbage, broccoli and kale.
Aphids are the major reason why our kale meets its end in March. Time for something new.
YouTube: Battling Aphids without Bug Spray
Our latest video is timely as the winter gardening season winds down. Some crops grow tired at the end of the season, as indicated by massive aphid infestations on greens like kale, chard, and spinach.
Rose
Ask Gardenerd: Caterpillars on my Roses
A question from Bettina came in to Ask Gardenerd this week about green caterpillars on her roses: "My rose gets eaten by green caterpillar, I try to pick them off as well as I can but am wondering if there is something I can use that makes the moth stay away? The rose is in a large clay pot." Bettina, sorry to hear these pests are eating your roses. What you have is probably Sawfly larvae (which is technically not…
Mittens is enjoying her cat grass.
Ask Gardenerd: Cats in my Garden
A great question came in from Michele this week about trouble with cats in the garden: "My next door neighbor has several cats and she insists on letting them run loose. One of them has been digging in my raised beds, destroying some young seedlings - and what's worse, defecating in them. Do you know of any non-toxic products that will keep him out??" Hi Michele, we are quite familiar with cat issues in the garden. We find cat poop…
Organic Pest Control
We write a lot about pest control from an organic perspective, but you might not notice. You might expect us to talk about which USDA organic sprays to use, but we don't do that lately here at Gardenerd (our older posts include sprays and powders that are OMRI and USDA approved). Instead, we focus on soil health, physical barriers, using microbiology to build a healthier garden with less work, and a few traps to catch critters that won't go away…
Fig Beetles are green and iridescent. They lay eggs in garden soils, compost bins and lawns.
Ask Gardenerd: Grubs and Raccoons
A question came into Ask Gardenerd over the holidays: "How do I discourage the raccoons digging in my raised veggie beds?? They don’t dig on the hillside, where their efforts would be appreciated! :) So far vinegar; cayenne pepper hasn’t worked! I know they are looking for grubs. I read that BT will kill the grubs, but not sure that I want to do that since (I think) the grubs may be beneficial for the soil.-- Cynthia" You're right, those…
Acorn squash (or maybe not?) flowers and sets fruit.
Ask Gardenerd: Squash Vine Borers
A troubling question came into Ask Gardenerd this week from Jennifer: "I'm a new gardener (4 years), and EVERY SINGLE YEAR, vine borers eat my zucchini plants. But I keep planting them because they are my favorite!! None of my friends have this problem. I don't understand. I've moved them in the garden, planted marigolds, used DE, used foil at the bases, done "surgery" on my plants...and nothing works. Every June they all die and I am devastated. What else…
Our sad corn after a rat attack.
Corn Fail – Rats Again!
We're growing Glass Gem popping corn this year, but we may not get to see the results because we've got rats again. They're more aggressive than ever this year, probably because we gave them an in. In dealing with the corn worms that burrowed into each ear, we went digging for each one, found them, and destroyed them. But that left behind an opening: loose husks to entice rats. By pulling open each ear, we undid nature's protection and exposed…