Extension Spring Garden Packet II
Published: Feb. 27, 2008
NOTE TO EDITORS: This is the second installment of University of Illinois Extension's Spring Gardening Packet. The third and final section will be sent this Friday, Feb. 29. Thank you for your consideration. Bob Sampson, Extension Communications Specialist
February 27, 2008
Source: Jennifer Fishburn (217) 782-4617 Contact: Bob Sampson Extension Communications Specialist Phone (217) 244-0225; rsampson@uiuc.edu
Successful Container Gardens
One great thing about container gardens is that they can add color to otherwise dull areas such as patios, decks, balconies, and walkways, said a University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator.
"A pair of old boots planted with purple petunias can add a conversation piece to a home's front entrance," said Jennifer Fishburn. "In addition, container gardens can be used as a focal point in a flower garden."
Fishburn offered some tips to ensure a successful container gardening experience.
"Containers are available in a wide range of sizes, styles, materials, and colors," she said. "Anything that will hold soil and mature plants, and will drain, will make a good container--even an old tin bucket.
"No matter what container you use, it should have adequate drainage holes. Containers without drainage holes will create water-logged soil, which will cause root rot. If using a decorative container without drainage holes, put plants in a pot with drainage holes and nest it inside the decorative container."
Select containers that will blend with the surroundings. They should also be in visual proportion to the setting and match the style of your house or structure where placed.
"Also take into consideration what you plan to plant in the container," she said. "Containers should be at least six inches deep to allow room for root growth. Larger containers allow for plant combinations but also require a large amount of potting soil mix to fill the container. To decrease the amount of growing media needed, fill the bottom of the container with sweet gum balls."
It is also important to select a good quality growing media. The purpose of a growing media is to provide nutrients, water, and support to the plants. The media should be well-aerated and drain well, yet retain moisture. A sterile, soilless media is lightweight and works well for growing flowering annuals. A good mix should wet relatively easily, and should not compact excessively when wet.
"The possibilities of plant combinations are endless," Fishburn said. "Select plants that will complement one another in size, texture, and bloom color. Provide visual interest by using combinations of tall, upright plants with rounded plants and trailing plants.
"Be sure to group plants with the same light and moisture needs. Avoid mixing slow-growing and vigorous plants together. For visual impact, combine flowering plants with foliage plants."
Proper watering is essential to the success of a container garden. In the hot summer months, some containers will need daily watering.
"Water by inspection and don't put your plants on a watering schedule," she said. "Water needs will vary due to size of plants, size and type of container, and temperature.
"Gauge moisture by sticking your finger in the soil. If soil sticks to your finger, the soil is moist enough and doesn't need water. Plants given too much or too little water will die. When watering, apply enough water so that water comes out the drainage holes. If you use a saucer below the pot, be sure to drain the excess water."
Water-holding polymers can be used to extend the time between watering, however, they need to be used according to label directions. Water-holding polymers absorb water and then slowly release water back to the soil. Add water-holding polymers to the growing media prior to planting.
"Frequent watering causes a depletion of nutrients from the growing media," Fishburn said. "Water-soluble fertilizers and timed released fertilizers are good choices for providing additional nutrients to the plants.
"Timed-release, also called slow-release, fertilizers are incorporated into the growing media at planting time; some growing media include timed-released fertilizers. As the name implies, the fertilizer is released over a period of time."
Most growing media don't retain nutrients very well, and watering leaches nutrients from the soil. Water-soluble fertilizers add needed nutrients to the soil.
"Read and follow label directions when using fertilizers," she said. "For flowering plants, select a fertilizer higher in phosphorus, the second number. For foliage plants, choose a balanced fertilizer or one slightly higher in nitrogen, the first number. The brand of fertilizer is not important."
Container gardening, she concluded, can be as simple or as elaborate as space, imagination, and funds permit.
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Source: Martha Smith (309) 836-2363 Contact: Bob Sampson (217) 244-0225 Extension Communications Specialist e-mail: rsampson@uiuc.edu
Garden the Pounds Away
One activity not only provides exercise, cardiovascular training, and improved flexibility, but helps relieve stress and put food on the table, said a University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator.
"All of this and you don't even have to leave home or fight your way to the Stairmaster at a crowded gym," said Martha Smith. "Yes, gardening helps melt away the pounds and inches. Even better, we don't regard this as exercise because we have so much fun doing it."
As spring arrives and the days get longer, gardening season is just around the corner. And if those New Year's resolutions to eat better, lose weight, and exercise more have gone by the wayside, the onset of the gardening season provides a second chance.
"Gardening is a great way to combine a hobby and physical exercise. You bend, you squat, you walk, and you carry weights," she said. "The health benefits of gardening are impressive."
Gardening, she added, uses all the major muscle groups--the muscles that do most of the calorie burning in the human body.
"If you are a relatively inactive person, you should start slow," Smith said. "Strenuous activity too fast and all at once can lead to injuries. Start out with light gardening activities and take frequent breaks. Set one daily gardening goal for the first week or two and increase garden activities over time."
Numerous resources list the benefits of gardening. Most agree with the following list of how many calories a 180-pound person will burn in three hours:
--watering a lawn or garden, 61 --mowing a lawn with a riding mower, 101 --trimming shrubs with power tools, 142 --bagging or raking leaves, 162 --planting trees, 182 --weeding, 182 --digging/spading, 202 --general gardening, 202 --mowing with a push mower, 243 --double digging, 244.
"We garden because we enjoy it. Share this love with others. Get yourself and your kids off the couch and in the garden planting seeds, watching plants grow, and enjoying the reward of harvest," she said. "For children, a garden mentor can make all the difference. Show them you care and they will begin to care as well.
"Yes, you can garden excess pounds away. You will feel better, your clothes will fit once again, you will sleep better, and you will be rewarded with beautiful gardens that your family can enjoy."
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February 27, 2008
Source: Anne Gachuhi (847) 437-6449 Contact: Bob Sampson (217) 244-0226 Extension Communications Specialist e-mail: rsampson@uiuc.edu
Spring Makeover for Your Landscape
Creating areas outside in the garden that are similar to areas inside your house is the essence of extending your living area to the outdoors, said a University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator.
"That's what is meant by the often-heard phrase, 'landscaping extends the indoor living spaces to the outdoors,'" said Anne Gachuhi. "As the economy changes, people are traveling less and, instead, are opting to stay at home. Gardening is gaining more popularity as an alternative leisure activity.
"People are also spending more time outdoors, enjoying their gardens sometimes late into the evening. Homeowners are starting to understand that the areas around their homes can be utilized as extra outdoor living spaces for relaxing/sitting, cooking, dining, entertaining, gardening, or quiet, private areas for reading a book or just meditating."
Spring, she added, is a good time to start looking at how the unused areas around the home landscape can be turned to more functional uses.
The use of garden accessories (statuary, birdbaths, gazing globes, wind chimes, or decorative rocks), water features, great plant combinations, and creative garden designs are becoming popular as the homeowner becomes more sophisticated.
"Landscape lighting is gaining popularity as homeowners extend the use of their landscape late into the evening," she said. "Spring is also a good time to look at how the traditional flower borders, vegetable gardens, child play areas, and service areas can be upgraded or added into the landscape if they are not present."
The service areas include the garden shed, composting site, cut-flower garden, the clothesline, and even the dog kennel.
"Homeowners are becoming more environmentally conscious consumers and are, therefore, looking for more sustainability in their landscape," she said. "The terms 'going green,' 'green-roofs,' 'recycling,' 'biodegradable pots,' 'renewable energy,' 'rain gardens,' 'permeable pavers,' or 'native plants' are becoming familiar.
"These concepts can become part of the spring landscape makeover if they have not already been implemented. A sustainable landscape will be functional, easy to maintain, environmentally viable, cost effective, and aesthetically pleasing."
Where space is limited, homeowners can consider the use of planter boxes, container gardens, raised beds, or even window boxes.
Vertical spaces such as walls, fences, and retaining walls can be utilized more creatively to give an illusion of greater space by strategically placing mirrors along the walls, using vines and trellises, hanging baskets, sculptures or artwork.
"The use of different pavement patterns in the various outdoor rooms--sitting, eating, and entertaining areas--using garden ornaments as focal points, and creating intimate spaces gives an illusion of greater space," said Gachuhi. "Ensure that the front entry is the focal point for the front yard. Avoid the use of too many landscape elements that would compete for attention here--it should be unified and balanced.
"The backyard is where the family spends most of their time. Upgrade the backyard to be functional, orderly, and beautiful. The backyard can be divided into sub-spaces which are comfortable, convenient, and aesthetically pleasing."
All of these ideas, she added, will require practical considerations such as an expense budget (how much money is available), maintenance (how much labor and time is available), and materials needed.
"It is a good idea to plan ahead, possibly taking one project at a time," she said. "Keep it simple, have fun, and enjoy your gardening adventure."
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Source: Maurice Ogutu (708) 352-0109 Contact: Bob Sampson Extension Communications Specialist Phone (217) 244-0225; rsampson@uiuc.edu
Starting Vegetable Seeds Indoors
Vegetables grown in areas with short growing seasons or ones that take too long to mature need to be started indoors in order to get a good head start before moving outside, said a University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator.
"Planting time for vegetable seeds started indoors depends on when the seedling needs to be transplanted in the garden," said Maurice Ogutu. "This time may vary from four to 14 weeks."
For example, if the indoor start is done in relation to the last frost, the times are as follow: 10 weeks--broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and head lettuce; Seven weeks--tomato, eggplant, and pepper; and Four weeks--cucumber, muskmelon, squash, and watermelon.
"Starting vegetable seeds indoors ensures that high percent germination is achieved through provision of optimal conditions for seed germination," he said. "Some vegetable seeds are very expensive particularly hybrid varieties, so starting them indoors ensures that seed loss due to rodents or poor weather is minimal.
"Vegetables established from transplants tend to mature much earlier than direct-seeded ones."
To start, select the vegetables you want to launch indoors and buy treated seeds. Such treatments as damping off control fungal diseases that attack seedlings.
"Test the germination percentage of the seeds by placing some of the seeds on a moist paper towel, and setting it in a warm environment with plenty of light," he said. "Check after six to seven days, depending on how long the seed of a particular type takes to germinate and count the germinated seeds and express it as a percentage of the total number of seeds tested.
"You need to plant seeds based on a germination percentage so that you can get the required number of plants for transplanting in the garden."
It is important also to read the information on the seed packet for each variety or type of vegetable. Follow directions on the seed packet about when to start the seeds, light requirements, relative humidity requirements, and temperature requirements.
"Get materials such as pots, trays, plastic flats, peat pots, and potting mix for starting the seeds ready or buy seed starter kits from local garden centers or catalogues," he said. "Containers or trays for starting seeds need to have drainage holes on the bottom.
"When starting vegetable seeds in a tray or pot, cover the holes on the trays with peat moss before filling with potting mix or soil. A good potting mix or soil for starting vegetable seeds needs to be light, loose, disease-free, insect-free, weed-seed-free, have good water-holding capacity, and well-drained."
Fill trays, flats, and pots with potting mix or starting media and level gently. Place the filled-up tray, flat, or pot on a pan of water overnight so that water can soak into the potting mix from the bottom. If trays are used, make shallow rows about one to two inches apart when starting different kinds or varieties of vegetables and label each row after seeding. Broadcast when starting one type of vegetable in a seed tray.
"Plant the seeds uniformly by pressing them gently into the starting media according to the planting depth recommended on the seed packet," he said. "Cover the container with plastic film or a piece of window glass to retain the moisture until the seeds germinate.
"Do not place covered containers in direct sunlight. Place the containers in a warm location with optimum temperature range of 65 to 75 degrees F for most vegetables. Some cool-season vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and peas tend to do well when started at temperatures of about 55 degrees F. After germination, remove the plastic film or glass cover and move the cool-loving plants to a cooler location."
Inspect the plants for damping off disease and remove infected plants and drench the media with recommended fungicides. Incidences of damping off can be minimized by sanitation and avoiding overwatering of the plants.
Place the seedlings where there is bright light, particularly a bright south-facing window, or use two fluorescent light bulbs (one cool and one warm white bulb) and place the seedlings three to four inches from the tubes for 14 to 16 hours per day. Adjust the space between the fluorescent bulbs and the seedlings as the plants become larger.
"Good air humidity is an asset in starting plants, and a humidifier may be put closer to the area where plants are being started," he said. "Do not overwater plants but ensure that plants are not wilting.
"Feed the plants with water-soluble house plant fertilizers at half the recommended rate once every two weeks. After the appearance of true leaves, if the seeds were planted in individual containers or flats, then thin the plants to the desired number per pot or cell by removing weaker plants."
At this stage, you can transplant seedlings into individual pots or larger containers or transfer to a hotbed, if one is available.
Vegetables that can easily be transplanted from one container to another are broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, lettuce, and tomatoes. Some vegetables such as cauliflower, celery, eggplant, onion, and pepper have slower root development and are not as easily transferred.
"Most of the warm-loving vegetables such as cucumbers, muskmelon, squash, and watermelon do not transplant well so they are seeded directly into larger cells or pots where they grow until reaching a size that can be transplanted in the garden," said Ogutu.
Before transplanting seedlings in the garden, it is important to make the plants ready for outdoor conditions.
"This is achieved by hardening the plants," he said. "Harden the plants two weeks before transplanting by moving them to a shaded area outdoors or by placing them in a cold frame. Then, move them gradually to sunlight for a short time during the day. Increase the length of exposure with time.
"Do not expose seedlings to freezing temperatures or strong winds. Reduce watering and after proper hardening, plant them in the garden by carefully removing them from the containers."
-30- February 27, 200
Source: Greg Stack (708) 720-7520 Contact: Bob Sampson Extension Communications Specialist Phone (217) 244-0225; rsampson@uiuc.edu
Climbers and Twiners, Vines for the Garden
Vines are the upwardly mobile members of the garden community, said a University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator.
"They are versatile plants that can cover the sides of structures, ramble over fences, decorate trellises and even be used as groundcovers," said Greg Stack.
"Vines are exciting because of their diversity of leaves, flowers, fruit, and structure. They can be considered an integral part of the landscape and in small space gardens where there is plenty of room to 'grow up', they can bring much needed color and interest without using up a lot of space on the ground."
Vines can be your garden friend if chosen with some thought as to how big they grow, what type of site you have and what type of structure you are trying to cover.
"Vines need to be chosen based upon more than looking pretty," he said. "While many vines are good landscape plants, the wrong vine in the wrong place can soon become a landscape nightmare. Trumpet vine is a good example. While it may sound like all that you are looking for in a vine, fast growth and colorful flowers, one needs to keep in mind that it can consume a structure with its growth and may soon start to pop up all over the yard with its habit of producing underground shoots."
Because many vines are opportunistic with long flexible stems that are often not self-supporting, they need help to get off the ground. This might come in the form of a neighboring plant or some type of structure. To be sure you get the most enjoyment from the vine you choose, you need to match the way a vine climbs to the structure you have or are going to purchase.
Some vines climb by using aerial rootlets or tiny disk-like structures at the ends of tendrils. These rootlets and disks don't penetrate surfaces but instead secrete a cementlike substance that helps them adhere to the surface. Vines with this type of attachment do best on brick, stone, block, bark, or rough wood surfaces. Some examples include English ivy, climbing hydrangea, and Boston ivy.
"Vines with tendrils have thin, wire-like appendages that wrap around supports," Stack said. "Tendrils reach out straight and when they contact the support they start to wrap around it. Interestingly enough tendrils tend to wrap around supports in one direction and then will reverse themselves and wrap around the other direction with an equal number of turns. This is thought to prevent snarling. Oh, the wonders of horticulture."
Clematis is a plant with leaf stalks (petioles) that act like tendrils. Other vines with tendrils include grape and sweet pea. Vines with tendrils do best on supports such as chain link fence, metal supports and trellises.
The twiners round out the group. These vines have stems that spiral around supports. They do best on supports such as chain link fence, poles, tripods, and trellises. Vines such as wisteria, honeysuckle, bittersweet and Dutchman's pipe are twiners.
"Once you match the right vine for the support you have, the rest is pretty straight forward," Stack said. "Most vines prefer a full sun location in well-drained soil.
"While vines will survive in a shady site, they tend not to thrive. Fertilization is based upon annual growth. A vine that produces exceptional annual growth may not need much supplemental fertilization and will do better if left on its own. If fertilization is needed, use a general purpose fertilizer at about ½ to 1 cup spread around the root zone of the plant."
Vines also do best with regular pruning. Annual pruning should be done to remove dead or diseased wood. After that, pruning is done to reduce the size and direct growth. As a general rule, vines that bloom in the spring (on old wood) should be pruned within a week after flowering. If the vine blooms in the summer, they can be pruned in late winter or early spring as they bloom on new wood.
The choice of vines can be overwhelming as there are many on the market, Stack noted. Here are a few that are dependable and offer interest.
Self fertile hardy kiwi 'Issai' (Actinidia arguta) grows to about 60 feet and is a twiner. It has attractive oval shiny green leaves and white flowers in early summer followed by small green edible fruit. Great for screening.
Five-leaf Adebia 'Fruitful Combo' (Akebia quinata) is a truly unique vine. It grows to 40 feet by twining and has leaves that resemble the houseplant schefflera. It produces purple flowers in late summer followed by spectacular bratwurst-shaped fruit in the fall. Also tolerates light shade.
Clematis as a group are spectacular vines for their flowers. There are many cultivars on the market. They climb by means of tendril-like leaf petioles and must have a well-prepared site to do well. Some dependable cultivars include 'Jackmanii', 'Arctic Queen', 'General Sikirski', and 'Warsaw Nike'. All are vigorous growers and bloom June through September. Also consider planting species clematis. Though the flowers tend to be smaller, they offer the advantage of being more drought and heat tolerant and have resistance to stem rot. Look for 'Bluebird', 'Sweet Autumn Clematis' and 'Golden Clematis.'
Boston ivy is a reliable vine for covering rough-textured surfaces. It is a vigorous vine with medium green leaves that turn a shiny red-purple in the fall. In addition to the standard Boston ivy, there is 'Fenway Park', a golden-leaved selection and 'Lowes,' a very small-leaved selection good for smaller spaces.
Climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala petiolaris) is considered to be the Cadillac of vines. It is a vigorous grower to 50 feet and climbs by means of aerial rootlets. The foliage is a light green, and very large panicles of white flowers are produced in the summer. The foliage turns yellow in the fall, and the stems have attractive cinnamon-colored exfoliating bark.
"If vines are on your list of plants to add to the garden, be sure to choose the one that matches the conditions you have, the area you want to cover and that it's suited for the type of structure you want to cover," Stack said. "Once that decision is made, then you can be assured of adding a plant that will offer interest and often flowers to your garden and that both you and your upwardly mobile garden resident will be happy."
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