Use Palmolive detergent on powdery mildew

Palmolive Detergent vs. Powdery Mildew on Fruit Plants

Here’s a tip you might find interesting. Researchers in Canada have discovered that household Palmolive detergent both prevents and fights powdery mildew symptoms on fruit.

It was as good as the registered chemical product for commercial control with one important exception. It caused fruit damage at the rates tested (russeting on apples and grapes, premature dropping of cherries).

If you want to test this – start with .05% of detergent in water and increase the concentration until you see control or damage. There are simply too many variables here to judge what’s going to work and what’s going to damage plants.

There are reports that some gardeners have combined sodium bicarbonate (baking soda which is often recommended for pm control) with the detergent to give a broader spectrum of control at lower doses. Again, this is a test and trial kind of thing.

What is clear is that if you go and spray at heavier concentrations, you run the risk of burning or damaging plants.

There is room here for experimentation but like all things, do take precautions to avoid breathing the small droplets of spray (wear appropriate masks)

Reference: Peter L. Sholberg (Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Summerland, British Columbia, CANADA V0H 1Z0), Palmolive Detergent Controls Apple, Cherry, and Grape Powdery Milidew,Canadian Journal of Plant Science 89(6), November 2009, 1139-1147.

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• Landscaping

Lawn care requires a reasonably high amount of attention. While not the single most labor- or time-intensive aspect of the landscapes around our homes, lawn care does require some attention to detail. Regimes concerning lawn mowing, fertilizing and watering face us all with the necessity to try and wrestle with something usually enjoyable, yet often challenging, time wise. I know that from the perspective of one who installs entire lawn and garden systems, from grass to irrigation, seeing my product taken good care of means I will have a sense of pride and design ownership for long years

Generally, I install places and then leave. I acquaint clients with the systems of course and generally leave a sheet with instructions and tips. I also recommend certain lawn care professionals. For me, I generally recommend Tru Green – who have provided great services for me over a long period of years. I realize the actual amount of time couples and families have for the work. Installing the landscape itself is a chore some folks take on by themselves. Obviously, I make my living with those who are reluctant to take on such high-energy, high labor tasks, especially in newer homes. In this day and age when everyone is necessarily busy making a living, it can be a delight watching someone else provide your lawn care services at reasonable rates.

And, before I pound the lawn notion into the ground, businesses who provide lawn care also provide analyses of tree and plant issues. Being the professionals they are, they have a professional interest in seeing every growing thing in a landscape do well. It is not only a reflection on them, it is just good business. These lawn care pros can analyze issues such as diseases, pests, and over- or under-watering issues in the midst of their daily routines and recommend some easy cures.

My interest is in seeing a home owner’s investment pay off in beauty and natural enjoyment of their landscapes. Lawn care and what good attention to detail and progress can provide is the real secret behind good-looking and long-lasting landscapes.

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• For a Healthy Lawn, Go Organic!

Research says that chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides used in lawns can be carcinogenic, and increase the presence of harmful nitrates in drinking water wells. An easier healthy alternative is to go organic.

To get the lushest lawn possible, research well on the varieties of grasses that do well in your climate before planting the lawn, and select the right mixture of grasses. Also figure out the watering time required, so that the roots are strong and less vulnerable to disease. Aerate the lawn so that compacted soil is loosened and water does not run off, but soaks into the ground, this will eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers.

Ensure that you do not have a layer of clippings and dead grass more than an inch thick by regular but controlled de-thatching, so that you do not get fungus, and the water reaches the roots. Apply organic fertilizer containing bonemeal, fish emulsion and manure early in summer so that the grass gets time to harden for winter.

Make sure you mow properly using a sharp blade, because dull blades tear the grass leaving them vulnerable to disease, and do not mow down to less than 3 inches in summer. Let the occasional weed hang in there, because going for bust will mean using chemicals.

Use weed control products containing corn gluten meal to prevent weeds. In short, going organic is all about growing wiser, trying to prevent damage before it happens, and growing a healthy lawn without risking family health.

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• Landscaping
• Home

As the temperatures warm up in some parts of the country (OK, Atlanteans, I know you just got socked with half a foot of snow yesterday), weeds in the landscape may be the first to signal its time to garden again.  Garden centers are starting to bring their best spring flowers out and dead-looking plants in your landscape are starting to shoot out some green buds.  A quick way to get a little bit of gardening done while temperatures warm up a bit more is to fix up one of your landscape’s flower beds.  You know that mass of brown material by your mailbox or front door; that’s what I’m going to help you fix up.

These Pelargoniums have damage from too many sub-freezing nights. New growth can be seen emerging from the center of the plant. Image by Gardenipedia.

STEP 1:  CLEAN-UP YOUR ACT

The first step is to clean up the garden bed.  Remove any weeds that may already have emerged, throw out any rocks you see lying around (unless you want them there), clean-up debris, and use your trusty pruning shears to remove all dead growth from plants.  But hold on!  If you see any green on any of the “dead” growth you’re cutting, you may just be pruning dormant branches so be careful.   It is vital that you clean up all the dead growth as this can harbor diseases and insects that may affect the new, green growth emerging from plants.

The Pelargonium cleaned up. Notice I left the dead leaves in there. They will eventually break down and add much needed organic matter into the soil. Image by Gardenipedia.com

STEP 2: ADDING THE GOOD STUFF.

Whenever I work in a garden bed; whether its cleaning up or adding a plant or something else, I like to take the opportunity to add compost to the area.  You can add compost that you made yourself or go to your local garden center and buy the stuff in bags.  If your flowers all died in winter, till the compost into the soil to a depth of about one to two feet.  This will give a good growing medium to new plants.  If some of your perennials are still ticking, however, you may want to top dress instead, as tilling the compost into the soil is bound to damage the roots of the plants.  Compost helps add nutrients to the soil, but more importantly, it helps to give the soil a good structure (I’ll be going into this in a future post).

The flower bed with a compost top-dressing. Make sure not to cover new growth as this may suffocate the crown of the plant, killing it. Image by Gardenipedia.com

STEP 3: INDULGE IN A LITTLE SHOPPING SPREE.

This is the time to add the new flowers.  If you’re doing this when it is still cold outside, make sure that the plants you choose can withstand the wide temperature fluctuations of late-winter and early-spring.  I won’t be going into planting specifics in this post as each plant has its own requirements, but you can ask your local garden center for help when you buy the plants.  If your flower bed still has last year’s survivors and they are coming along slowly, you can still indulge in a little shopping by giving them some companions in the new year (assuming that there is still space in the garden bed, you don’t want to suffocate the plants).   The new companions will give a little show while last years plants come back to full force.

I added Osteospermum to the garden bed to grow in some of the bigger gaps between some of last year’s Pelargonium. Make sure not to harm the roots of the established plants. Image by Gardenipedia.com

STEP 4: MUCLH AWAY

Add landscape mulch to your beds for a clean look, to help retain moisture in the ground, to add nutrients over time to the ground, and to to control weeds.  Try to stay away from synthetic mulches, such as rubber, as it does not offer much nutritional benefits to plants.  Also, stay away from mulches like Cypress mulch which are made from slow growing trees, pick mulches from tree farms or fast growing tree varieties.  A 1-2″ layer of mulch is generally good.  Be carefull not to suffocate new growth under the mulch.  After your finish muclhing clean up your tools, put yard trash away, and enjoy your refurbished landscape bed.  They should look like winter was never here.

The finished mailbox flower bed. The Pelargoniums, still barely visible in between newer plants, will take over the show in a month or two. Image by Gardenipedia.com

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments.

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Maintaining A Compost Heap

Many people who maintain gardens have a large amount of organic waste, from grass clippings to leaves and dead plants. Unfortunately, many waste money and time having these wastes transported to a landfill. It isn’t just a waste of good compost; it’s a waste of everything that goes into the process of transporting it (the garbage man’s time, the money you pay for the removal, etc). It is truly a travesty.

All this garbage that people are trying to get rid of can be a better supplement for your garden than any fertilizer or chemical. If you properly facilitate the decomposition of all of the garbage, it will alter chemically until it is in such a state that it can be nothing but beneficial nutrition for other plants. Therefore you can turn all the stuff you would have thrown away into top grade fertilizer for your garden.

Usually compost is maintained in a pile somewhere in your backyard. Usually the thought of a compost heap brings disturbing images to ones mind; heaps of rotten garbage emitting a horrid odor. However, if you maintain it correctly you’ll be able to produce great compost without producing an offensive odor. When I first began my compost pile in an effort to improve environmental health, I made several major errors. These included preventing the pile from the oxygen it truly needed, and keeping it to dry. It ended up decomposing in a very non-beneficial way, and producing an odor so foul that I had government agents knocking at my door.

When you are choosing your spot where you will be putting all of these materials, you should aim for a higher square footage. Having a really deep pile of compost is not a good idea, because generally the deeper sections won’t be exposed to anything that is required for the process to work. It is better to spread it all out over a large area. If you have a shed or a tool shack of some sort, it is a possibility to spread it over the roof (with boards to keep it from falling off, of course). I have seen this done several times, and it helps keep the pile out of the way while still maintaining a large square footage.

A compost heap can consist of any organic garbage from your yard, garden or kitchen. This includes leaves, grass, any leftover food that won’t be eaten, or newspaper (no more than a fifth of your pile should consist of newspaper, due to it having a harder time composting with the rest of the materials). Usually if you have a barrel devoted to storing all of these things, it will fill up within several weeks. It is quite easy to obtain compost, but the hard part truly comes in getting it to compost.

After you have begun to get a large assortment of materials in your compost heap, you should moisten the whole pile. This encourages the process of composting. Also chop every element of the pile into the smallest pieces possible. As the materials start to compress and meld together as they decompose, frequently head outside and aerate the pile. You can use a shovel to mix it all up, or an aeration tool to poke dozens of tiny holes into it. Doing this will increase the oxygen flow to each part of the pile, and oxygen is required for any decomposition to take place.

If maintaining a compost pile sounds like something that would interest you, start considering the different placement options. The hardest part about maintaining a pile is choosing a spot that provides enough square footage without intruding on the rest of your yard or garden. While usually you can prevent the horrible odors that most people associate with compost heaps, it’s still not a pleasant thing to have to look at whenever you go for a walk in your garden.

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By Morgan Hamilton

Have you ever seen a Japanese Garden before? The first thing that would probably come into your mind when you hear about these gardens are bonsai trees. This Japanese art of making miniature trees has recently become popular. You might also associate these gardens with the art of Zen. This type of garden is usually based on a Zen related theme and the tranquil atmosphere that it projects is supposed to help bring people into a meditative state.

My fascination with this type of garden started when I came across the first Japanese Garden I ever saw. My father works in a language school and one of his colleagues is a Japanese professor.

This professor had lived for several years in Japan and in that time he has mastered the language and has adopted much of the Japanese culture. One of the elements of Japanese culture he likes and continues to practice was the art of maintaining a Japanese Garden.

He invited us and all his other colleagues and their families to a party to celebrate the birth of his third son. It was my first time to visit his home. I was fascinated when I saw his miniature Japanese Garden.

I have never seen anything like it before. His garden was beautiful, neat, clean, and seemed so delicate. I was hesitant to walk along the stones because I felt that my footsteps would disturb the garden’s tranquil atmosphere.

The professor must have noticed my fascination because he stood beside me and explained what his garden was all about. The host told me that it was a Japanese Garden. He showed me all of his wonderful bonsai specimens and patiently explained their unique features to me.

He also showed me the lovely Koi fish that were swimming in the pond in his garden. He explained to me that although these fish are endemic to China, the Japanese use them to add the element of prosperity to their gardens.

That experience transformed me into an instant Japanese Garden admirer. I was in total awe of this oriental garden’s beauty, simplicity, and tranquility. After that party, I began to research about this type of garden and today I have manged to create my own Japanese Garden.

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In herb gardening, the most important aspect of having an indoor herb garden is to have access to a sunny window. Grow an herb garden inside a house that has a lot of natural light with tips from an experienced gardener in this free video on gardening and growing herbs.

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