INTRODUCTION TO GARDENING:

 Before you talk yourself out of it because you’re not sure where to begin and you think you might fail, you need to know that you cannot fail. Every attempted garden will yield something; if not fruit, it will give you knowledge and experience—the next garden will be better.

·         What constitutes a garden? Short answer, any piece of soil deliberately hosting a plant or plants. A garden may be as simple as a pot on the deck. It might be raised beds or containers or a designated plot of any dimension.

·         Soil:   regardless of the shape or size of the garden, soil is where it begins. Your garden soil is not a matter of fate. It doesn’t matter how large or small your garden space is, you have the same control of the soil as you do with a pot you fill with garden mix. Soil is the most common garden medium. Plants can thrive without it, but that’s a whole different science—Hydroponics. Soil supports the plants as well as retains and carries nutrients. The quality of the soil determines how effective it is.

o   Balance: The composition of soil is primarily CLAY—SAND—HUMOUS (organics) If your soil is too heavy or sandy, it’s a composition problem, not a divine mandate; change it.

§  Heavy (clay) soil is hard to work with and it is difficult for plants to thrive. Change it by adding sand and compost, generally in equal proportions. A tiller is the most effective way to mix and blend soil, but in small spaces, a shovel will work well.

§  Sandy soil, if it is too sandy, won’t retain water and so plants can struggle. Change it by adding clay and compost. (this is generally not a problem for Riverton)

§  Balanced composition—a quick and easy test for soil composition is the ball test; take a handful of moist soil from the garden spot, squeeze it into a ball. If the ball holds its shape but crumbles easily, the composition is probably good. If the ball will not crumble, it is heavy with clay and needs more sand and compost. If you cannot form a ball, the soil is too much sand and/or compost; add clay

·         Sunlight:

o   Garden vegetables and most other plants need direct sunlight, as much as possible. Your garden spot should be in the yard’s sunniest location (there are plants that love shade)

o   Plantings should be done so that taller plants don’t shade others during the garden season

·         Garden space or plot:

o   Where there is adequate space, a ground level plot works well

o   Limited space—pots, grow bags, containers and raised beds, vertical gardening is also an option

o   Square foot gardening maximizes your available garden space

·         Know your zone:  The USDA has mapped the entire country by climate or hardiness zone, ranging from coldest to hottest, 1 through 10. Gurney's: Find Your USDA Hardiness Zone with our Zone Map (gurneys.com)  It is important to know your zone because that is what determines whether a plant is perennial or annual in your garden. Riverton is in zone 6 or 7, which means that plants that do not tolerate freezing will not grow here without the aid of a greenhouse or other measures. Our growing season is generally from April 15 to October 15 but frost free from May 20 to October 1, approximately 130 days frost free and 180 days total, more or less depending on the weather.

·         What to plant?  Just about anything you want, but check the number of days required from planting to harvest. If the number of days permits, it will likely do well.

·         Timing;   when to plant is as important as what to plant.

o   Cool crops: some vegetables can be planted long before the last frost, like mid March to early April:  Peas, carrots, lettuce, chard, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, and others can be sewn directly in the garden early. Because of light and temperature they will likely not germinate until mid April

o   Corn, tomatoes, potatoes, squash, melons, cucumbers should not be planted until May 20, earlier if you’re sure there won’t be a frost. Most of these plants can handle a light frost, but if they have to come back from a frost they don’t produce as well.

·         Watering

o   Overhead—most plants will tolerate overhead spraying, but it is not the most effective watering method and can contribute to the spread of fungal, pest and other problems.

o   Direct irrigation—either by drip or furrow is effective and efficient and generally speaking, plants prefer it.

·         Fertilizers:

o   Fertilizers are formulations of the 3 to 4 most basic nutrients plants need. Plants use trace elements that are generally available in the soil. The basic elements in commercial fertilizers are: Nitrogen—Phosphorus—Potassium(potash)—Sulfur, each are essential to specific plant needs:

§  Nitrogen—leaf and green growth

§  Phosphorus—roots and stems

§  Potassium—roots, stems and fruit

§  Sulfur—lowers pH—not present in all formulations

o   Formulas:

§  16-16-8  16% nitrogen, 16% phosphorus, 8% potassium (also comes with iron added) This is a good all purpose garden formula applied in the fall or early spring

§  21-0-0 (ammonium sulfate) 21% nitrogen. 24% sulfur;  Good for greening up lawns and giving corn a boost.  The sulfur content also helps to keep the pH down which helps to make other nutrients available to plants

§  34-0-0 (ammonium nitrate) 34% nitrogen,   Good for green lawns

§  12-12-12 (Miracle Grow) a balance formula good for almost all garden plants

§  14-14-14  another balanced formula, just a little stronger

§  Slow release—balanced formulas are available in slow release which means an application can last all season. Osmocote is popular but the brand name makes it pricy. Other brands are just as good and less money. Look for the formulation and “slow release”

§  WATCH THE NITROGEN—fertilizers high in nitrogen should not be used on tomatoes, potatoes and most other garden plants and vegetables. Too much nitrogen will produce huge and beautiful plants with little or zero blossoms and fruit.

·         Tools

o   Shovel—for turning and mixing soil as well as harvesting root crops and clearing the spent garden. A shovel and muscle will do what a tiller does where the space doesn’t warrant the tiller

o   Hoe—for cultivating, planting, aerating, and more cultivating. I have a hoe that is only 2” wide and is my favorite and most used tool. It does everything a common hoe does but is small enough to do it all in tight and crowded plantings.

o   Garden rake—used primarily for fall and spring clean up

o   Leaf rake—fall and spring clean up

o   Garden trowel—for planting and cultivating in pots and container gardens

o   Other tools—there are many and all are optional. 95% of my gardening is done with my shovel and mini hoe.

Help links:

CONTAINER GARDENING for BEGINNERS: 10 Simple Steps - YouTube

Cheap and Easy Container Gardening: Step by Step - YouTube

My Most Beautiful Organic Garden Summer Harvest EVER! 🍅🍆🍓🫑🌶🥒 - Bing video  Cali Kim does a lot with small spaces

3 Clever Ways to GROW MORE in a Small Space - YouTube

VERTICAL GARDENING TIPS & IDEAS: Why and how to add VERTICAL SPACE to your garden for EVERY BUDGET - YouTube

Grow THESE 3 Veggies in Your Vertical Garden - YouTube

SQUARE FOOT Gardening, How to Grow MORE FOOD in LESS SPACE! - YouTube

 

You can find ideas and help on just about any garden question with the help of YouTube

 

If you feel like you need heavy equipment to have a good gardening experience, it's time to do something about it so you can look forward to another growing season rather than dreading it. I can't say enough about soil. It seems there are those that still think their soil is a matter of fate.

People often tell me they wish they had soil like mine; theirs is heavy clay. At one point mine was too.

No one would go to the effort of purchasing a beautiful plant and a pot to grow it in and then fill the pot with clay from the back yard. They would also purchase good potting soil and maybe mix in a little sand for added drainage. We have complete control of the soil conditions in the pot, but for some reason it is not obvious that we can do the same thing on a larger scale in a flowerbed or garden spot.

If the composition of your soil is out of balance, it is okay to change it. Heavy soil is usually nothing more than sand deficiency. I have heard it said that adding sand to soil will turn it to concrete. (Think about that; where's the logic) If it does harden, it is not because sand was added, but because it needs a little more and needs to be watered and cultivated. After all, sandy soil is nothing more than soil with sand in it.

There are those who maintain that compost is all you should add to heavy soil. However, compost does not break up clay and keep it from adhering to itself the way sand does. Compost is always beneficial, but it breaks down where the sand blends with the clay and changes the structure. Once you have the sand to clay ratio corrected, a light dressing of compost becomes an environmental boost for your plants rather than a laborious effort to amend the soil.

With your soil properly balanced, gardening becomes a relaxing and satisfying past time as opposed to the annually dreaded yard work. 

Tomatoes--Don't be intimidated

 TOMATOES    I saw the following post on a popular gardening group page: "Growing your own tomatoes is the best way to devote 3 months of your life to saving $2.17."  I thought it was an odd post for a gardening group and was told it was meant to be a garden joke. Joke or no joke, it says something--that there are those who are intimidated by the thought of growing tomatoes and that's too bad because there is no need to be.

In one respect, tomatoes are like people; adversity is required in order to achieve full potential. When all we need or want is simply handed to us, we never get to know the best version of ourselves, and so it is with tomatoes.

  I THINK THE BIGGEST MISTAKE THAT IS MADE WITH TOMATOES, IS TRYING TOO HARD; with good intentions and hopes, giving the tomato plant the best of everything. For example, water; when someone is having problems, I generally ask about their watering schedule. They usually tell me that they are "giving the plants plenty of water;" as much as a soaking every other day. They are shocked when I tell them that I water my tomatoes every 14 days (after they are established). 

I don't have any kind of horticulture degree, but I do have 50+ years of experience, so let's talk about tomatoes.

PLANTING:  I'm in zone 7, so it's time to start planting

  

If you want to start your own tomato plants, seeds should be planted 6 to 8 weeks before the season's last frost. There are many varieties of tomatoes and many good sources for seed:  Gurney's, Jung Seed, Tomato Growers, Totally Tomatoes, Park Seed     Almost any local garden center will have plants at planting time, but you may not be able to find the particular variety you want. When planting in the garden, the root ball should be buried well below the soil surface and then soaked in to make sure air pockets are removed. Tomatoes like to grow in hot full sun. Don't worry about protecting them from heat. Don't baby them. 

WATERING: Water by flooding with open rows or drip. Soak well once a week until new growth begins to show and then cut the watering back to every other week. When the plant begins to set fruit, the watering can be cut back even more. Tomatoes have strong root systems that go deep and wide. Let them work for their water. A little stress helps them to go into self-preservation mode, which means they set fruit to produce seeds. 

POLLINATION: Sometimes failure to set fruit is due to pollination issues. Tomatoes are pollinated primarily by wind. Plant them in unprotected spaces where the wind can do its thing. If your only available space has no wind access, simulate the wind with a fan.

BLOSSOM END ROT: End rot is common and usually indicates too much water. It should not be a big concern. The first tomatoes to ripen may have a little rot, but the crop that follows will generally be fine.

FERTILIZING: Tomatoes don't need a lot of fertilizing; their root system can find what it needs. If you do use fertilizer, make sure it is formulated for tomatoes and is low in nitrogen. Too much fertilizer, especially nitrogen, will produce beautiful green plants with little or no fruit.

  

 Growing tomatoes is very rewarding--Fresh tomatoes for several months and a harvest of several pounds from each plant.

 

Stewed tomatoes, salsa and sauces from you own tomato crop is hard to beat.

Give them tough love. Let them do the work and they will perform.

Crabgrass or Crap Grass?

 Everyone loves a lush green lawn, but it can be a battle. The beautiful Kentucky Blue is easily invaded by other, more aggressive and less desirable grasses. The most common complaint I hear is that Crabgrass is taking over. Crabgrass has become a generic term for almost all invading grasses and in the grass world, it is what Kleenex is in the facial tissue world. It doesn't matter much if we call facial tissue Kleenex, but in the world of grasses, we need to know what we're talking about if we hope to maintain a lawn we can love. 

Crabgrass doesn't deserve its reputation. I have another generic name for uninvited grasses; I call them Crap-Grass. But they all have a name and their own characteristics; let's talk about grass.

:  Let's start with CRABGRASS. It is spring/early summer and Crap-Grasses are showing in the lawn, but Crabgrass is not one of them. Crabgrass is an annual. It propagates itself by seed; as many as 75,000 from a single plant. Germination occurs when summer is well underway. The plant is low growing and looks like crab legs stretching across the ground. Because it is an annual, it is one of the easiest to control and prevent. If it is not allowed to go to seed, it won't return. A pre-emergent, such as Preen, will kill the emerging plants in the germination process, making Crabgrass control relatively easy.

All the other grasses we will talk about are perennial and that makes them more difficult to deal with.

  ORCHARD GRASS is a term for one of many CLUMP GRASSES. They are denser and faster growing than lawn grass. When a clump appears in the lawn, there are two ways to get rid of it; dig it out or spray it. Both methods will also kill the lawn and require new seed or sod.

 BENT GRASS first shows up as a small patch of fine bladed grass that has a blue-gray tint. When you first see it, that is the time to take care of it; it will only spread and kill all other grasses. I am guessing that it gets its name from its tendency to bend and lay down in a tight mat. The only way to keep it mowed is to cut it less than an inch. This grass is great for putting greens where it is mowed at less than a half inch. 

 NUTSEDGE grows faster and taller than the lawn. It gets its name from the tiny nut-like tubers from which it grows. Where possible, it is best to dig Nutsedge. You may be able to pull up the roots with the plant but pulling will dislodge the small tubers and start a new crop. 

  

 COUCH GRASS has many common local names. I've always known it as Johnson's Grass; possibly named for the person that introduced it to the area. It was brought in to stabilize ditch banks and is now one of the worst and most invasive weeds we contend with. It is almost impossible to remove by chopping and/or pulling. If just a small piece of the root is left, it will grow. The roots are needle pointed rhizomes, capable of piercing through semi-solid objects such as a piece of wood or a potato and can travel several feet in one season. Couch grass is a common lawn invader. Its blades are 3 or 4 times the width of lawn grasses and much more course. Spraying is the only effective defense that I know of.

Garden Help from the garden

Sometimes our garden provides the things we need to help it look its best. Heavy plants, for example, often need staking. If you have Maiden Grass, the stakes will be provided.  Cut the spikes in late fall or early spring. When dry they are like small bamboo poles.

When it is time to stake your Delphinium, Dahlias or whatever, cut the dry canes to the desired length and push them into the soil. If you have Dracaena palms you have all the twine you need. By shredding a palm leaf you will have strings as strong as twine.

 

Maiden Grass canes tied together make a strong tripod for Bougainvillea and Dipladenia in pots.

Growing Irises

May is the month for Iris lovers. Irises are usually reaching their peak right around Memorial Day. The color variety of Irises is almost limitless. This link is just one of many that shows what years of hybridizing has done with the old fashioned "flags," as they were commonly called.
http://irisfarmer.com/coirca.html

The Iris blooms are so spectacular it is disappointing to see them go after only a few weeks and the spent flowers are unsightly. Sadly, for this reason Irises are often passed over. However, if the spent flower stalk is removed, the remaining foliage is actually quite attractive and there are quite a few cultivars that are termed 'twice blooming.'

This one is in full bloom now (May 19) and will bloom almost continuously through the summer and fall. I have another color that does the same. Most Iris catalogs now have a section of "reblooming Iris."


Irises have a vigorous growth habit and benefit from being divided every three to four years. The Iris growers I know are willing and happy to share.

Dividing Irises:

When--After you have cut the spent flower stalks, let the plants grow for a month or so and dig them any time through July and August

Separate the rhizomes--Dig deep enough to keep roots intact, shake off the soil and separate the individual rhizomes. Cut the leaves down to a six inch fan.
Plant and share--Irises are very hardy and don't need to be planted immediately, but the sooner they get into the ground the sooner they establish a root system for the coming year. Given an early start the new plants will generally bloom the following spring. There are always extras when dividing Irises-a good time to give and receive.
Planting--Dig a hole 6 to 8 inches deep; deep enough to allow the roots to extend their full length beneath the rhizome. Back fill to bury the roots and leave the top half of the rhizome exposed above ground and soak well to remove air pockets around the roots and look forward to new blooms in the spring.

Don't be afraid of Irises. Their display in May is worth the minimal effort it takes to grow them.

W. T. Svedin  

Containing Grass Borders

Everyone loves a flowerbed bordered by a neatly trimmed lawn, but it is also a point of aggravation for gardeners; at least until now. The KWIK EDGE makes easy work of flower bed borders, whether grass or concrete. In fact, it is so easy, the word, work, almost does not apply. I have loved using this tool for years and thought it was time to share it with everyone. It will be available for purchase in mid April 2018. Watch for the announcement.