by Leslie Cox; Monday; February 8, 2021

Are your lovely clay pots streaked with white and green deposits all over the outside?

The white is caused by an accumulation of salt which has leeched out from the fertilizer you used to keep your potted plant, or plants, healthy as well as the salt which is in the clay itself. The green is naturally occurring algae which forms on damp surfaces.

Don’t despair! There is an easy way to clean up your clay pots for the new gardening season. Just combine equal amounts of water, white vinegar and rubbing alcohol in a suitable spray bottle.

Spray the cleaning mixture on the outside of your clay pot and scrub with a handled bristle brush. Allow the clay pot to dry thoroughly before you fill it with soil and a plant…or plants.

NOTE: LABEL THE BOTTLE IMMEDIATELY!
You do not want to accidently spray your young seedlings with this mixture.

Do not burn those leaves! They are a very necessary part of building soil. Their composition adds rich humus as they break down and the nutrients they contain are released back into the soil to feed plants.

Leaves are composted naturally in all wild and neglected environments. Just look at what happens in a forest.

And we can do the same in our own gardens…even speed up the process a little by shredding the leaves first with a leaf shredder, a mulching lawn mower, or a rotary push mower.

Step 1: Prepare an area to compost your leaves. Lay a tarp or piece of heavy plastic on the ground or in the bottom of one of your compost bins.

Step 2: Add nitrogen. This can be lawn clippings, manure, seaweed, or a nitrogen supplement. (See list below.)

• If using lawn clippings: lay down roughly three inches of leaves first, then sprinkle the clippings evenly over top until this layer measures an inch.
• If using manure: lay down roughly four inches of leaves first, then sprinkle the manure evenly over top until this layer measures an inch.
• If using seaweed: lay down roughly three inches of leaves first, then sprinkle the seaweed evenly over top until this layer measures an inch.
• If using a nitrogen supplement: add a dusting to one wheelbarrow load of leaves. Lay down wheelbarrow load of leaves first, then sprinkle the nitrogen supplement sparingly over top.

Step 3: Build up your heap of leaves in increments following the amounts noted in Step 2. Cover the heap with plastic to keep warmth in and the moisture constant.

Step 4: Remove the plastic and turn the heap every now and then. This will re-generate heat within the pile which aids in composting. How frequently you turn the pile will determine how fast your heap of leaves will compost down into rich humus material.

Nitrogen supplements: use any one of these if you do not have enough grass clippings on hand or easy access to a manure or seaweed source. Follow directions in Step 2.

Plant-based:

• Alfalfa meal
• Coffee grounds
• Cottonseed meal
• Soybean meal

by Leslie Cox; Thursday; August 17, 2017

This project is specifically for creating a small space in your garden bed to help a water-loving plant survive the current run of drought conditions we have been experiencing in our normally rainforest-like conditions here in the Pacific Northwest. If you want to group a few plants together in one spot which require more water than your local water restrictions allow, these instructions are easily expanded.

You will need:

• a shovel
• plastic bag from purchased soil or manure or suitable piece of plastic from another source
• compost and/or aged manure
• Organic Complete Fertilizer (click here for recipe)

Directions:

1. Dig a hole 12 – 24 inches (30 – 60 cm) deep and wide, depending on the size of your plant. For a small- to medium-sized hosta, for instance, you only need a hole 12 to 18 inches (30 – 45 cm), depending on the hosta. For plants which have a tap root, such as lupins, hollyhocks, and some poppies, you will need to dig a deeper hole but can likely keep your hole narrow unless you are planting an acanthus (bear’s breeches).

2. Line the hole with the plastic, keeping the edges above the surface of the soil. You want to use a plastic liner which does not have any holes where the water can leak out. This would defeat the purpose of making a mini bog. I know some, or most, DYI mini bog directions say to make several holes in the plastic about 4 inches (10 cm) below the soil surface to protect against crown rot. I do not recommend punching the holes as, again, it rather defeats the purpose of keeping your water-loving plants adequately hydrated. There is a way of protecting your plants from getting crown rot, which I will explain further on in the Directions.

3. Fill the plastic-lined hole about two-thirds full with a 50/50 mix of garden soil and compost (or well-aged manure if you do not have any homemade compost).

4. Thoroughly mix one to two cups of Organic Complete Fertilizer into the soil/compost mixture. Amount of fertilizer will depend on the size of your hole and size of your plant.

5. Position your plant in the hole so the crown of the plant is slightly raised up from the surrounding soil surface by 2 – 3 inches (5 – 7.5 cm). This is important as this step is what will ensure your plant does not succumb to crown rot.

6. Fill in the rest of the hole with your 50/50 mix of soil and compost, making sure the plant’s crown remains at least 2 inches (5 cm) above the soil’s surface.

7. Trim the plastic and fold cut edge over so you can neatly bury all signs of plastic just below the soil surface.

And voilá! You have a neat little bog which will keep your plant well hydrated all through the worst of the drought. Believe me, the mini bogs I have installed in various spots in my landscape have definitely helped my plants weather fifty-five days of no rain this summer. I also have a couple of plants which have thrived in their bog spot for three years now.

In the back garden, we have two much larger bogs which we installed at least ten years ago to house about six different plant species in each. Both are roughly 24 inches (60 cm) deep and 36 – 40 inches (90 – 100 cm) in diameter. They have thrived beautifully…only needing some divisional attention once so far to combat over-crowding. Have not had any succumb to crown rot.

by Leslie Cox; Friday; March 31, 2017

Bumble bees are very important pollinators in our gardens. They are often the first to appear in spring…even when the temperatures are still hovering at only 6 °C (43 °C).

It is the queens who appears first, fresh from winter hibernation. Once she has sated her depleted reserves, she begins looking for a suitable nesting site to lay her developing eggs conceived when she mated in the fall. What she is searching for is an abandoned rodent nest…a place already set up with suitable nesting materials which is warm and snug.

But preferred nesting sites can be in short supply because of urban encroachment and agriculture practices, such as ploughing. This is where we can help. We can build adequate substitute nest sites for the bumblebees in our own gardens…using materials which are easily accessible.

Here’s how:

Materials:

• a terracotta pot larger than 8 in (20 cm) in diameter
• 12 – 20 in (30 – 50 cm) length of ¾ in (2 cm) diameter hose or flexible tubing
• some chicken wire
• a tile or shard from a broken terra cotta pot
• nesting material*

Note: * Ideal nesting material for a bumble bee nest is what can be found in a rodent’s nest. But since you likely do not have this material close to hand…nor hope to…you can substitute clean, dry straw and bits of dry moss. If your kids or grandkids have a pet rat, gerbil, hamster, or guinea pig, you can use some of their bedding for your bumblebee nest. It is the smell of the nesting material which lures the queen bumble bee to the nest.

Procedure:

1. Locate a quiet, shady spot in your garden. Dig a hole wide enough for the pot and deep enough to submerge the pot a third of its height into the hole.

2. Cut a piece of chicken wire large enough to make a loose crumpled ball to fit in the mouth of the pot. This is to support the nesting material and keep it dry.

3. Punch some holes along the length of the hose or pipe using a darning needle or small awl.

4. Push the hose up into the wire ball so the end sits slightly above the wire ball and at a slight angle. This will allow the bumble bees to climb in and out of the nest easily.

5. Loosely pack the nesting material into the wire ball, being careful not to plug up the end of the hose.

6. Carefully place the wire nest and hose in the hole. Position the hose on the ground, making sure the hose end in the nest is still showing slightly above the nesting material.

7. Place the pot carefully upside down in the hole over top of the nest. If your pot is heavy, support the edge where the hose protrudes with a piece of wood or small branch. You do not want to crimp the hose.

8. Fill in the hole around the pot, being careful not to get any soil or debris in the entrance end of the hose. Make sure the hose entrance is visible just a little above the level of the soil.

9. Place the tile, or shard of terra cotta pot over the drainage hole, making sure it is cocked just a little to allow air flow, but not so much as to allow too much light into the nest. The bumble bees like their nests on the dark side.

10. You can leave this nest in place for a few years. It may take a year or two for a bumble bee queen to decide your nest meets her requirements. In the meantime, time and weather conditions will erase your human scent from the nest. Once it is accepted, the nest will be suitable for raising future generations of bumble bees for a few years.