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Anyone into gardening here?
- Thread starter shanekingsley
- Start date
Matthew.Tremayne
Well-known member
Keep your wife in the garden and get back on the bike!
She only takes care of the plants inside the house - my job to take care of the outside plants. Easily my favourite hobby when I'm not riding.
That appears to be magnolia scale which is a softer scale than some of the harder ones commonly found on euonymous shrubs. Right now they are looking like the soft bodied stage - later they will likely turn brown and harden up. They excrete the honey dew like many other pests. The white fungus looking stuff is similar to the wax emitted by mealybugs which are another very common pest..
Here is a good resource for control methods: http://www.missouribotanicalgarden....sects/scale/magnolia-and-tuliptree-scale.aspx
Here is a good resource for control methods: http://www.missouribotanicalgarden....sects/scale/magnolia-and-tuliptree-scale.aspx
Weeds can be a mixed bag if they get out of hand and go to seed. So while they are still small, I try to at least top them and remove the green growth, but not fuss over getting all the roots out. I remove & compost the weeds provided they haven't gone to seed. If you keep topping most weeds before they flower - even many perennial weeds like dandelions with deep roots, they will eventually starve to the point that the roots no longer have stored food energy to create new vegetative shoots (there are a few weedy exceptions to this approach - like bindweed).
Don't forget, many weeds are edible too, so knowing the life cycles and benefits of the plants you are removing really helps. There's a good number of weeds I keep around because they offer something good, and deadhead after flowering or remove just before they go to seed so they don't spread to much. I try to spend no more than 1 hour a week weeding the whole front and back gardens.
I'm not a big fan of the gimmicky gardening tools, so I have two I use a lot. While standing, a good one for the type of weeding I'm talking about is called a stirrup hoe. They are really fast to use and cover a lot of ground quick. Something like: http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-5973-7-stirrup-hoe.aspx
While bending down lower I use a Japanese Hand Weeder (from Lee Valley) which is an awesome tool and super sharp and quick. http://www.leevalley.com/en/garden/page.aspx?cat=2,2300,44822&p=62038
Once the weeds are gone, you could try using a thin layer of mulch to shade or cover the soil, preventing the weed seeds from getting sunlight + germinating and it will also reduce water loss. If you decide to do this, some basic points - make sure the mulch does not touch your desired plants at the base and no more than a few inches thick. I use hemlock mulch and mulch all my garden pathways too.
Don't forget, many weeds are edible too, so knowing the life cycles and benefits of the plants you are removing really helps. There's a good number of weeds I keep around because they offer something good, and deadhead after flowering or remove just before they go to seed so they don't spread to much. I try to spend no more than 1 hour a week weeding the whole front and back gardens.
I'm not a big fan of the gimmicky gardening tools, so I have two I use a lot. While standing, a good one for the type of weeding I'm talking about is called a stirrup hoe. They are really fast to use and cover a lot of ground quick. Something like: http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-5973-7-stirrup-hoe.aspx
While bending down lower I use a Japanese Hand Weeder (from Lee Valley) which is an awesome tool and super sharp and quick. http://www.leevalley.com/en/garden/page.aspx?cat=2,2300,44822&p=62038
Once the weeds are gone, you could try using a thin layer of mulch to shade or cover the soil, preventing the weed seeds from getting sunlight + germinating and it will also reduce water loss. If you decide to do this, some basic points - make sure the mulch does not touch your desired plants at the base and no more than a few inches thick. I use hemlock mulch and mulch all my garden pathways too.
Thank you Shane. I have a gift card for Lee Valley, will pick up the Japanese weeder.
Not a fan of mulch in the veggie garden, so I will continue to weed.
One question, what do you mean by "top the weeds"? Does that mean just pull off the top, and not worry about uprooting?
Not a fan of mulch in the veggie garden, so I will continue to weed.
One question, what do you mean by "top the weeds"? Does that mean just pull off the top, and not worry about uprooting?
Yes topping is just removing the leaves and leaving the roots. This is good for most weeds, especially annual weeds in a veggie garden. A weed like a dandelion will regrow, and if it does just keep topping it. I would not advise that approach for weeds with underground creeping roots because often topping the upper growth can cause the underground root to produce two shoots instead. I don't like mulch in the veggie garden either and only use it in my perennial gardens. The Japanese weeder is a great too for the size of space you posted earlier.
Bump! How's the veggies coming?
Last fall we bought some pumpkins for Halloween and I threw them in the outdoor compost bin when they were done. Now I have a huge pumpkin plant swallowing up the backyard. I have about 7 varieties of tomatoes and harvest every 2 days more than we can eat. The Kale was planted in too shady a spot and is really small and same goes for the Swiss Chard and Okra. Despite all the mistakes made, it's nice to finally grow my own and I'm learning lots along the way.
Backyard:
Front:
Last fall we bought some pumpkins for Halloween and I threw them in the outdoor compost bin when they were done. Now I have a huge pumpkin plant swallowing up the backyard. I have about 7 varieties of tomatoes and harvest every 2 days more than we can eat. The Kale was planted in too shady a spot and is really small and same goes for the Swiss Chard and Okra. Despite all the mistakes made, it's nice to finally grow my own and I'm learning lots along the way.
Backyard:
Front:
Planted summer squash which turned out ok, peas which didn't amount to much and hot peppers which we never saw. Some how ended up with some tiny radish that went to seed and was planted too close together.
Mmmmm,love the summer squash (yellow zuchinni) We have been getting about 4/week.But they are done now.Bbq'd with maple syrup on em,Sliced in half and made pizza on em and grated to make fritters.Soooo tasty!
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This year has been good for the garden. At the start of the season we trimmed a load of trees and got more light into the yard. Had a massive plum harvest...plum pie, plum tart, plum jam...and just plums on their ****ing own too. Sick of plums now. Now we have a massive tomato harvest..planted 4 different varieties and they're all doing incredibly well in raised beds I built in sunny areas. The only thing that's not working well are the squash. Started off great but the plants seem to be dying with powdery looking leaves and the squashes aren't swelling like they should.
Is that a banana plant in your front yard Shane? Mine are doing well, I have about 10 of them and they keep sprouting new ones we pot up and give away as presents. Some grow to about 5ft or so before we bring them in for the winter. There's a winter hardy banana plant I tried once that supposedly can handle an Ontario winter...mine didn't though. I also used the leaves for cooking Mexican food on the BBQ this summer, that worked really well when I cooked pork in orange sauce wrapped in banana leaves.
I love my garden...it's our extra "room" of the house.
Is that a banana plant in your front yard Shane? Mine are doing well, I have about 10 of them and they keep sprouting new ones we pot up and give away as presents. Some grow to about 5ft or so before we bring them in for the winter. There's a winter hardy banana plant I tried once that supposedly can handle an Ontario winter...mine didn't though. I also used the leaves for cooking Mexican food on the BBQ this summer, that worked really well when I cooked pork in orange sauce wrapped in banana leaves.
I love my garden...it's our extra "room" of the house.
We planted 2 types of summer squash, yellow and orange. Didn't get a lot but what I did get was good grilled. Next year we'll mix in some better soil and composting along with spreading stuff out farther.
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