Falling Back

It's surprising to me how much I love autumn considering it means winter is just around the corner.  The garden doesn't do much this time of year other than look a little brown and dormant.  Holly bushes will usually look attractive and should have bright red berries that will last through winter.  It's worth having a few evergreens like the holly scattered among the perennials if you still spend some of your time outdoors this time of year.  At least have a few evergreens around the foundation, especially near the front door. 

Ambitious gardeners will be harvesting their last crops before the first frost, but this gardener is tired by the end of summer.  If the leaves are rakes and the lawn mowed, I consider my obligations done.  Fall is a great time to rearrange those plants that need to be moved.  You can also move plants in the spring, which some gardeners prefer, but you need to be diligent with the watering if you move them in nicer weather.  Moving plants in the fall means not having to water them after transplanting unless it's an usually warm fall and the ground dries out. 

Despite my lazy autumn asperations, I will take the time to clean and wash the bird feeders so that they can be kept filled through the winter.  Not only for the birds, but for the clever chipmunks and crafty squirrels as well.  This year I noticed a remarkable lack of acorns despite the many oaks in the neighborhood.  And while some consider squirrels as just another city rodent, I do worry about them in the winter and whether they can find enough food.  So if I see no acorns, I will be even more diligent about the bird feeders. 

 

 

Natural sources of food for birds and squirrels is also a really good idea. The flowering crab in front of our house attracts a lot of pretty birds, like the robin pictured here.  By the first snow the branches are most often bare.

Falling into Fall

When I checked the date of my last post, I was a bit disappointed in myself.  It's been almost two months and I haven't thought of a great subject to approach another autumn season of, sigh, raking leaves.  Though it seems a bit late in the year, I did get the better half to build a platform for the two rain barrels so that I can get a bucket under the spigot of each. But as far as gardening plans have been, I've just retained the status quo, weeding here and there, and deadheading where necessary. 

The morning glories are still blooming beautifully, but I did cut them back since they went rogue over the past couple of weeks.  Other flowers still looking good are the marigolds, pansies, and, surprisingly, California poppies.  Of course, all those plants are annuals, but I am hoping they will seed for next year. 


The perennials I have are just about done for.  Some chrysanthemums are still sitting pretty.  One of the tricks to getting chrysanthemum to winter over (most people treat them like annuals) is to cut them back once they have died back and throw a little mulch on top to help protect them.  If they do survive the winter, they may be inclined to bloom mid-summer.  Just pinch the tops as they grow.  You will delay the bloom and make your plants fuller and showier.

This time of year is also good for finding flowers that may dry well for winter decorations.  Hydrangea are usually reliable for a good dried flower.  The color may vary based upon the time you pick the flower, from green to white to pink, and it's nice to bring some of the outdoors in for the winter.  This year, however, I didn't have any real blooms on my hydrangea since I waited too long to prune it.  Poor shrub didn't recover, so I am hopeful next year will be better.  But I am consoled by the fancy grasses in the yard.  Just to see how they would dry, I picked a few and brought them inside.  They dried beautifully.  While they don't share the same colors as the hydrangea, they have a unique texture that sets them apart from other dried flowers.  Look for other flowers that have dried well on the stem at this time of year to see if it would make a good indoor decoration, you might be amazed at what you find. 

Love's Not the Only Battlefield

Sometimes you buy a plant that comes highly recommended as easy to care for and not picky about the soil.  You have high expectations that the plant will look as lovely in the garden as on the plant care tag.  Then you splurge on a nice, healthy plant.  You admire it as it grows, notice buds, and look forward to the day it opens.  You run outside to look at your "beautiful" plant ... and see only knawed stems.  This is my sad story of my doomed love affair with the Harvest Moon Coneflower.

One of the purple coneflowers in my yard.

This a website photo of what I was
hoping to see in my yard.

While I was watching a local gardening segment on TV a few years back, a well known local gardening expert recommended the Harvest Moon Coneflower as a low maintenance garden addition that added color without a lot of work. I began looking for the Harvest Moon Coneflower in the spring (not quite realizing yet that nurseries usually sell perennials just before they are expected to bloom). So I waited and waited, then looked and looked.  I saw other types of coneflower (like the White Swan-which, in my opinion, is one big misnomer) but not the Harvest Moon.  I began to call it my "white whale".

I finally found the Harvest Moon Coneflower at a nursery a couple of years later.  The cost of a medium sized (1 gallon) container was about $17, that seemed steep for this frugal gardener. I gave it a lot of thought, then decided I had waited so patiently for so long, had saved in so many other places, and I brought one home.

Beyond sad, this is the Harvest Moon
Coneflower in my yard this year.

A few years later I am still waiting for this poor plant to do something other than look sad.  At first I had it planted in the side yard.  It was in a protected area and it seemed to like its spot just fine.  It budded up and I was excited to see it in all its glory but it never happened.  I suspected that squirrels or birds at first ate the buds off and though disappointed, hoped for better the following year.  The following year the plant seemed healthy and grew so large it flopped and most of the blooms ended up on the ground.  So I attempted to stake it.  It looked just o.k. but not the same as the purple coneflower that stood up straight and tall even when in full bloom.  So, the next year I moved the Harvest Moon to the front yard thinking it would do better.  Less apt to be eaten, less apt to flop, and I hoped less apt to disappoint. But it's gotten worse with each passing year.

The moral of the story is that you can do everything right (right soil, right amount of sun, right amount of water, etc) and still have a plant that for some reason or another just doesn't return the love.  It's o.k. to let it go.  This a an addendum to the "No Mercy" Rule, knowing when to say good-bye.

A Vacation from Vacationland

Over the past couple of weeks we took a vacation outside of Maine.  While it was good to get away I was in such a hurry to pack and get work (paid not hobby) related items done that I didn't even take the time to mow the lawn.  Fortunately, my sister was kind enough to mow the back yard while she was house and cat sitting so that we didn't have to sickle our way through to the composter when we got home.  However, I didn't realize the extent of my neglect until the first weekend home.  The weeds had taken over throughout the front lawn and most of the flower beds. Yikes!  I knew that weeds like sun and rain as much as any other plant, but I guess I had gotten complacent.

The good news is that it is never too late to get a handle on your yard.  Using scissors to deadhead the plants that blossomed while we were away, a two pronged weed puller (especially useful for large dandelions) and a narrow spade, after a few short (ok, a few more than a few) hours, the yard looks even better than before we left (or maybe it looks that way because it's neat and organized, like cleaning out a clothes closet).  After the next rain and bit of beautiful weather, it will probably be a mess again (like your closet before laundry day) but it's the natural cycle, so go with it and don't get discouraged.

Another good summer activity (besides dead heading and weeding, see, gardening can be fun!) is to take stock of your plants, what works and what doesn't.  For instance, I realize that in my haste to put in plants the last two years I didn't exactly plan their placement as well as I should have.  I currently have an incredibly tall grass plant (a stray my sister dropped off) far too close to a couple of peonies (it casts a shadow over both) plus two daylilies that are side by side (same color) that should be moved to either side of a complimentary red wine weigelia.  There are other adjustments that need to be made and hopefully I will remember to do them all.

Sorry if I am repeating myself repeating myself

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this next pet peeve in an earlier post (possibly two, but I'm old, I forget) but I really dislike it when people plant the exact same perennial and/or shrub in a straight row of multiples.  There is a house in my neighborhood with three white pieris japonica under one window and nothing under the opposing window on the other side of their front door.  I wanted to take a picture of it to demonstrate here, but didn't dare tick off a neighbor.  But it's not unusual.  I think we all know a house that has a walkway lined with hostas of all the same size and color, or a row of lilacs,  or the dreaded yews.  I'm not quite sure why people plant like this.  It seems so very unimaginative.  Hostas come in different colors, and so do lilacs and pieris japonica, but, alas, not the yew, so why limit your yard's appeal?

I feel the same way about trees.  Our neighbors (note, plural) like to plant two of one variety.  One house has two red maples, another two weeping cherries, still another two lindens.  I'm not against any of these trees, in fact I really like them, just one at a time, please.  For perennials and shrubs, mix 'em up a little.  Planting for impact is actually a good idea, repeating colors and blooms flatters your yard, and makes those blooms stand out, whereas planting in straight rows, looks o.k. (and I mean just "o.k.") while blooming, but is blah afterwards.

There are exceptions to every pet peeve, however.  The Audubon Society near us has a beautiful peony garden where peonies have been planted in long rows. They hold a "Peony Social" each year to celebrate the blossoming of the peonies.  I am also all for planting shrubs if you plan to create a garden maze in your own backyard.  And, if you do create a maze, you will find you can ignore my other pet peeve, using electric garden shears to trim your shrubs into straight little boxes.

As my bird seed stealing friend might say, it's variety that makes life nice.

Wee.....ds

I am not a great identifier of weeds.  I have probably only really waged war against crabgrass since it maliciously hides from my lawn mower and seems almost impossible to combat.  One of the best, non-violent, ways is to throw down some pre-emergence in the spring just as the forsythia are budded.  The environmentally friendly pre-emergence is composed mostly of corn gluten.  Because crabgrass is an annual this method is best for the pacifist; however, dandelions are quite another story.

I should have more compassion, really, for the dandelion.  Some people put dandelion leaves in salads or use them to make wine.  We can make wishes with the seed heads, and the blossom to leaf ratio is actually quite good.  But, I am not a fan.  I lie and wait every spring, weed puller in hand for any sign of the yellow invader, then I pounce.  It seems we will have just canvassed the yard, pulled every single weed, and lo and behold the next morning five more will appear.  It's a courtesy that they are easy to spot, unlike crabgrass, so they only have themselves to blame.

Lest you think I am completely heartless.  There do exist weeds I actually like and will allow a little invasion, and not just because I am lazy.  White clover has a pretty little bloom and adds healthful nitrogen to the soil.  I like the clover and will purposely buy grass seed that has clover in it (regardless of what the lawn "experts" say).  I also like johnny jump-ups (they look like baby pansies) but will eventually pull them when they get too uppity.  Lastly, violets often will grow where the grass won't, in both white and purple (yes, more purple!) and are easy to yank if you change your mind.

Purple Haze

Spring in Maine is a beautiful time of year when the white of snow is replaced with fabulous colors, although in my yard it pretty much amounts to many shades of purple.  I think of it as a wonderful "sea of purple" whenever I pull in to the driveway.

The purple is mostly groundcover, ajuga and creeping phlox, but I also have a lion's share of grape hyacinths (muscari) that have spread like crazy.  Because I have lots of shades of purple, I think it looks good.  Once the blossoms have faded, the different shades of green will look pretty, too.  Not far behind the purple will be a sea of yellow, coreopsis and the like will replace the purple by June.

While some might think that the purple is a bit "too much", I don't.  It's fabulous to have color in Spring when all the trees are just finally leafing out and neighbors have only green and brown in their yards. I also have had crocuses and daffodils come and go already, so there has been some color in the yard since early April.  For the low maintenance gardener, bulbs are a great investment.

Some bulbs, like grape hyacinth, crocuses, and daffodils, will multiply year after year and look so pretty in drifts.  Other bulbs, like most tulips, seem to peter out after a couple of years (the flower gets smaller and eventually stops blooming).  I tend to avoid tulips because I haven't had a lot of luck with them.  I do have nine dwarf  "May Wonders", but I am not crazy about the way they bloom, very low to the ground and hard to see.  Also, I started with nine, and still have nine.  I also bought three double flowering tulip bulbs a few years ago, but only now have one that blooms and the blossom is so heavy it usually opens then snaps off.  But I do see tulips in other people's yards that seem to do very well, so it could be that my yard doesn't have the conditions that they like.

I also have problems with doronicum (leopard's bane).  My dad can grow doronicum without even trying just one mile away.  Every year he pulls seedlings out for weeds.  I've taken my fair share of seedlings and planted the pretty yellow spring flower in my yard but it hates it here and tends to die fairly quickly.  I have no idea why.  But sometimes that is just how it happens.  So, I visit my dad, enjoy his blooming doronicum, curse it a little under my breath, but appreciate it anyway.

I suppose I could have a soil sample taken and I could determine the properties of my soil.  But, frankly, I don't have that kind of ambition, I am content to trial and error my gardening.  If something doesn't perform, I simply replace it.

Other purple currently blooming, dwarf iris, vinca minor, and PJM rhododenrons.

Yew Not "Ew"

If I were to list all my gardening pet peeves, 1) this would be a very long post 2) I would run out of adjectives and, 3) I'm certain someone reading would disagree with each and every one of them.  What bothers some, does not bother others.  For instance, when I look at houses with absolutely no landscaping whatsoever, not even so much as an obligatory foundation planting, I get a cold shiver and a creepy uninvited feeling, like vampires are afoot, and the house is just a daytime coffin.  However, others might look at the same house and think, "awesome, low maintenance".

While looking for examples of what I call "crimes against the yew bush", I brought my cell phone along with me on a lunch time walk to take photos of those "yews" that I find to be "ews".  On my first day I saw some great examples, but it was sunny out and a lot of people were home so I was afraid to take photos worried I'd be accosted by someone demanding to know why I was paparazzing their domicile (for all I know these people weren't at work for some other reason besides lunch).  But the next day, I got a little braver and tried to look like I was checking my messages on my cell, while I was actually taking photos.

This first yew pictured here is a victim of bad trimming.  I really dislike the "flat top" method of pruning a shrub like the yew.  Are they planning on having a picnic on it?  There are probably three yew bushes lined up in a row in this image, but you cannot tell where one begins and another ends. I'm sure someone just hauled out an electric or gas powered hedge trimmer and took one pass over the top and said "done".  While I am all for low maintenance, this is just plain lazy and does nothing to enhance the house, the yard, or the people who live there.  I get so disappointed in those who trim in this way, I wonder if we shouldn't require a written test and a permit for use of hedge trimmers, much in the same way we do for the operator of a motor vehicle?   I suppose it could be worse, however...

Here is an image of "worse".  This image shows a couple of poor bushes being attacked by unweeded maples.  Though you may not be able to see it clearly from this photo, there are several small trees growing throughout the yew bushes.  There isn't room for all of them, and the small trees seem quite large already, since maples are fast growing and can seed like wildfire.  Best to mulch under shrubs and keep weeds (like tree seedlings) easy to pull out in the early stages than try to get them when the roots have taken a firm hold.  Now, the roots of both may be too intertwined.

This next photo shows two yew bushes that have not been trimmed, perhaps ever, and while they appear now to be getting a bit leggy, I actually prefer this look to the first image I posted where over trimming is the crime.  This problem, well, I see it as a problem, although the home owners may just like the street privacy, is the easiest to fix.  Thinning a few branches here and there, giving the yew a rounded, more controlled, shape, and allowing the trimmed branches to thicken a little, would make these two shrubs refreshed and quite pretty.

I feel like the above image is a "Where's Waldo?".  If you can easily spot the two yew bushes, then it is because you are really looking.  The rhododendron takes center stage, and really there is no need to distract from it with two badly trimmed yew bushes off to the side, so I would just remove them.  If they are small, they could be relocated, if not, well, less work for the home owner.

Now a very personal example of good yew bushes gone bad.  When we bought our house in 2001, this is what it looked like (this is the city's online tax image, I was in no hurry to take photos of our lackluster exterior). As mentioned in one of my most early posts, the yew bushes probably lasted for one week, maybe two, before I looked at the better half and begged relief from the eyesore.  There were seven badly trimmed yew bushes that added nothing to the charm of the house.  Frankly, I found the house pretty charmless anyway, inside and out, built by the neighborhood contractor in 1972 so that he could live and work in the same area.  He cut every corner, and I actually doubt he planted anything in the yard at all.  These shrubs in the photo were still quite small in 2001 and may have been planted after the house was vinyl sided (sometime, I believe, in the 1980s).

This is our house in 2008.  We have changed the shutters and windows since this photo was taken and the false cypress boulevard is now higher than the gutters, but essentially you get the idea.  With some well thought out landscaping, a house and yard can become a welcoming, colorful playground, where you can enjoy the view inside and out.  (Case and point, that lovely snowdrift flowering crab also looks beautiful when viewed from the living room window, even on a rainy day.)  You may also notice that mulch replaced the grass.  We lost a well fight battle with grubs and decided to plant ground cover and fill in with mulch.  It is far less maintenance than grass and I like the look of "park" in the front more than high maintenance green carpet.  

In closing, if you like yew bushes because they are evergreen and easy to grow, just thin them when needed and resist the urge to make them look like shipping boxes or picnic tables.

Good Example or Horrible Warning

Every day at work I’ve made it a point to walk during my half-hour lunch.  My office has no windows and a lot of my job requires sitting at a desk so I need to move my bones and clear my head at least once a day.  Fortunately my office building is located in a fairly residential area so I get to look at other yards and gardens to see what others have planted and how they regard their use of outdoor space.

 

What disappoints me most in looking at these yards, however, is seeing shrubs and trees poorly placed and struggling to thrive under adverse conditions.  I think the shrub that is most often abused in this way is the rhododendron.  On my walk today I used my cell phone to take a few photos of some rhododendrons improperly placed.  Looking at the right photo, this rhododendron, though hard to tell from this photo, is planted three or four inches from the foundation.  This what I would call major mistake number one.  When planting small shrubs you must always adhere to planting guidelines.  Too often people forget that the little shrub now will soon be big. In my basic gardening book it recommends planting a rhododendron 4-10 feet apart depending upon the variety.  I think a 4 foot minimum is a very good guideline.  

To the left is another example of rhododendrons planted far too close to the foundation.  It's double the tragedy as there are two struggling rhododendrons instead of one.  It is not possible to tell how old these two shrubs are, but it is evident that they are not really thriving in their current location.  It could be that the roots are not established due to their tight quarters, or perhaps the amount and quality of sunshine are not adequate.  They do not appear as healthy as the one pictured above which, despite poor placement, seems to be full and the right shade of green (frequent pruning is most likely the cause, can be used to keep a shrub looking more bushy less leggy).

In this last rhododendron photo I think the problem is fairly clear, the type of rhododendron (they come in dwarf varieties as well as woodland sizes) planted on each side was far too large for the space and have overtaken the house and porch.  If privacy is your desired plan, then I guess it's o.k. But this type of overgrowth makes outside house maintenance difficult and gives your home and porch a very uninviting feel.  Consistent pruning would have helped this early on, but now I believe only removal and replanting of some smaller shrubs to be a viable option.  Also, it's always dangerous to plant symmetrically.  Two shrubs of the same type may not grow at the same rate.  If one thrives and the other does not, or if one blooms and the other doesn't, you may end up with an uneven, lopsided effect.  

In this last photo there are no rhododendrons, but primarily a pieris japonica and a yew bush smooshed against the house foundation.  I don't suppose I need to tell you what bothers me about this photo.  A pieris japonica and a yew, like the rhododendron, need space.  Each one has a beautiful, fairly large shape and planting them at this proximity is just plain wrong.  To make matters worse, a deciduous shrub was planted in front of them (I cannot determine the exact name from the distance at which I took the photo) so that it hides them even in winter when evergreens should be most appreciated.  

In my next blog I hope to discuss crimes against the yew bush.



 

(Don't) Let It Snow

Last weekend our local nursery had an open house with coupons for getting ready for spring. I utilized one of the coupons to buy a bag of pre-emergence for weed control (of our rampant crabgrass).  Sadly, though, pre-emergence is supposed to be spread on your lawn when the forsythias are just budded.  Well, our neighborhood's forsythia seems to be blooming while we have quite a few inches of snow left on the ground.  I was hoping for a warm week with sunny days to melt the remaining snow, but it's still very wintry.  I've begun to believe that we will be swimming in the local lake before I see green grass again, but maybe the snow will keep the ground nice and moist for spring planting.

Sometimes winter in Maine feels like it lasts half a year.  Snow can start in October and in March you are just so sick of looking at it, you feel like taking a hair dryer to your garden to melt it all away, but that would take too long.  My crocuses came up before the last snow storm, and thankfully reappeared.  I have daffodils about 2 inches high, too, but fear for the other spring bulbs that are buried in the deeper piles of snow in the back yard.  But, I really shouldn't worry, nature is pretty good about adjusting to current weather conditions and rarely do perennials, bulbs, trees and shrubs have lasting trauma from an unusually long winter.

This winter has also been especially long because our fence let go in several places.  Considering it's not more than 11 years old, I am disappointed that the rot set in so fast (of course, it could be because the snow was especially wet and heavy this year).  So before we get to "playing" in the yard this spring, we'll be making a list of projects that are most needed (this includes fortifying both sides fences before they fall on some poor unsuspecting shrub, tree, or stray cat).  I have also noticed, despite my diligence, that we do have some split branches on the taller shrubs.  I'll be doing some trimming as soon as possible to give the plant time to recover and fill in by the end of summer.

Last year I threw down some expired marigold seeds
I found for a dime at the local discount store.
Very forgiving, I spent no time or attention on them
and they bloomed all summer into the fall.

If you are planning for annuals or vegetables this year, you may be tempted to buy seed packets that seem to be for sale at home improvements stores year round.  If you do intend to purchase seeds, check the package for an expiration date or recommended season date before you buy.  Some places will sell old seeds at a discount, price is good, but can be unreliable (unless you are just experimenting, than go for it).  I usually only buy seeds for annuals that are foolproof and large enough for my chubby fingers to plant easily directly into the ground.  Morning glories, marigolds, cosmos, sweet peas, etc, all are good seeds for gardeners like me that have no space to start the seedlings indoors.

The seed packet should tell you the best time to plant the seed outdoors (if you start them indoors, first, remember to divide seedlings prior to planting and "harden" them off for the outdoors).  Some seeds should be planted before the last frost, some when the ground is just warm enough to be worked, etc.  If you wait too long, you won't have time for the plant to mature before the first frost hits in fall.  It's a good idea to follow the instructions.

In Maine, gardeners usually heed the Memorial Day weekend rule of thumb.  That is, annuals and vegetables, when purchased as small plants, can go safety into the ground on or about Memorial Day weekend without danger of nighttime frost killing the plant.  Obviously, if the winter was mild that day can be moved to earlier in May, but it is not necessary to move it past Memorial Day.  I will buy my vegetables from local farmers and plant just about this time.  Because I am a low maintenance gardener, I stick with only those that I have had good luck in the past.  Traditionally, we plant cucumbers and cherry tomatoes.  I may also throw in some leeks, radishes, peas, or peppers based upon what looks good at the time, but have not the same consistent success.

For fun we have also tried the strips of seed paper.  That is, when seeds are set in paper or other form that also includes some type of fertilizer built it so all you should have to do is water and wait.  These can be interesting as you don't really know what to expect (I've gotten them as promotions on the sides of Triscuit boxes and in charity mailings) but not usually a good substitute for an actual plant.

Winter Kindness

Over the weekend we had a record snowfall.  I believe the final tally was 30". We haven't had that much snow from one storm in decades.  After the snow had stopped, I noticed a blue jay at our bird feeder.  The feeder was relatively free of snow (it's one that attaches to the window with suction cups for that up close and personal view of feeding birds) and though some of the seeds looked frozen, so did the blue jay.  He had ice on his feathers and on his beak.  It made me glad that we had taken the time to put out feeders for winter and had remained diligent about keeping them full.  He was not the only visitor, over the course of the day we saw cardinals and finches as well.  When all you see in your yard is white landscape, birds not only add interest, but vibrant color as well, so it's nice to entice them in.

If sheltering and feeding your wild neighbors appeals to you as well, the National Federation of Wildlife has a program where you can "certify" your yard as wildlife friendly.  See http://www.nwf.org/How-to-Help/Garden-for-Wildlife/Certify-Your-Wildlife-Garden.aspx.  I even purchased a yard plaque to show my dedication and, hopefully, raise awareness to those passing by.  But providing bird seed is only a small part of the process.  Wildlife also needs shelter, a place to raise young, water, and food from natural sources. 

Last post I mentioned that my complimentary issues of "All Animals" from the Humane Society had useful gardening information about keeping pests out of the yard.  The current issue (January/February 2013) had a simple two page article naming 6 berry producing shrubs for feeding wildlife.  The six they listed were Juniper Tree, Serviceberry Tree, Viburnum Bush, Common Hackberry Tree, Virginia Creeper Vine, and Black Cherry Tree.  Out of these six, I only own one, a viburnum.  If I had read the list prior to planning my yard, I would have been on the lookout for the other five.  But I do have a flowering dogwood that produces berries and a flowering crab apple, and those seem to be popular with the birds and squirrels.

New Year's Resolutions Part II

If you were patient enough to read through "New Year's Resolutions Part I" you already know my stance on pesticides, non-organic fertilizers, and the use of other biochemical warfare in the yard.  It's a sad assumption some people make that without those tools in the arsenal, a beautiful yard is unattainable.  I believe the opposite is true, your yard will be more naturally lovely, more carefree, and less of a burden if you choose plants and shrubs that are naturally pest resistant.

That said, sometimes it's not possible to have a yard completely pest proof, especially if you enjoy growing your own vegetables.  I recently read an article in the September/October 2012 of "All Animals" magazine, which is a publication sent to me courtesy of my membership in the Humane Society of the United States and may seem like an unlikely gardening resource but surprisingly isn't, called "Backyard Harmony".  In this article were many reader suggestions about how to gently discourage pests from eating your yard.  Such suggestions as using soap shavings (Irish Spring soap was mentioned due to its strong scent, but if you are really looking for a humane treatment try picking a strong smelling soap produced by a corporation that doesn't test on animals), dog hair (from a dog's hairbrush), and dirty socks with a human scent to deter animals from their gardens.  Another good suggestion for keeping crows out of the garden is to hang used CDs from tree branches, or mount CDs on stakes, as the birds don't like the glare from the shiny side of the disk.

There are other suggestions, too, such as fencing or netting, over the area which you wish to keep pest free.  It's good to either consult with other gardeners, ask at a local nursery, or thumb through a magazine or two and see what suggestions appeal to you.  I will usually keep a good article in my gardening library in the event I'd like to go back and review it at a later time (usually in winter when Spring doesn't seem to be arriving fast enough!).

New Year's Resolutions Part I

If your New Year's resolutions for 2013 include living a more harmonious lifestyle with your neighbors in nature, then this post is for you.

I've always found it ironic that some people will build a house in the urban outskirts where coyote and deer have always roamed as they enjoy the naturalistic surroundings, then complain when the family cat goes missing or the leaves and buds are eaten off their newly installed shrubbery.  I may be an overly sympathetic animal lover but I do think it's the responsibility of each and every one of us to live like we are caretakers of the earth and its other inhabitants.  I worry that pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals may have long term effects on our health, our pets' health, and the environment in general.

While I intended this post in the blog to be about living with your furry four footed neighbors, I should probably start with a paragraph on living with insects.  In our weekend paper (Maine Sunday Telegram) there is a regular article written by Tom Atwell on Maine Gardening.  I don't usually read it unless the topic grabs my attention (but it's another resource that you may want to use when learning about gardening).  In October, Mr. Atwell wrote an article about the Green Bug Education Program (which was designed to help people find alternate solutions to using pesticides in their landscape).  In this article, he quoted a pest management specialist who stated that "from 1995-2007, the use of lawn pesticides in Maine has gone from 800,000 pounds a year to 6.2 million pounds."

I am floored by that statistic.  Just off the sidewalk curb of my street are intermittent storm drains.  Before we had sewer work done on our street last summer, these drains all lead to the bay.  When we experienced heavy rains, I would think of my next door neighbors who valued  greenness of their lawn above all else, to the point where they overfed it, over treated it for pests, and constantly used their irrigation system (even when it rained).  All that chemical waste going directly into the home of fish, birds, and other living creatures who exist at our mercy.  And I would think to myself, any educated person should be bothered by that scenario, yet it seems not nearly enough are.

And as my neighbors' lawn turned brown (most likely due to the over development of thatch) I felt little satisfaction since the pollution of the local environment was hardly worth it.  Of course, they blamed grubs for the dissolution of the green lawn, but in looking at it closely it was fairly obvious that no grubs could penetrate that thick carpet of roots.  Plus, grub damage is very easy to spot.  Our lawn was eaten by grubs (probably because the neighbors all around us used pesticides, so we were the best meal around) and the first sign that you have a problem is when you spot a murder of crows all dining in your yard on a frequent basis.  Then, you will notice that your grass is all brown in patchy spots.  When you go to pick it up a clump of brown grass to see if it's dead, you'll see that your patches of turf have no roots and is just lying on top of the ground like it was carelessly tossed there.  If you seed over those spots, you may not have any better luck.  Grubs love the young roots, and they reproduce like crazy.  So, if you discover you have a problem, you can try the milky spore (three applications of this bacteria in years one and two, may make a difference from years 3-15, but patience is key) or you can find an attractive ground cover that doesn't taste good to grubs and buy a flat of it.

Another good reason for choosing plants that do not attract the attention of pests is that these plants are easier to care for.  If you select a plant that requires consistent use of bug spray, then it becomes a time and resource consumer.  When choosing a tree for our front yard, I not only wanted one that would mature into the right shape and size and could endure City living, but also one that was japanese beetle resistant.  Japanese beetles (who originate as grubs) love a lot of different trees and shrubs and are prolific in our area.  They will usually eat a plant down so that it looks unattractive, but won't actually kill it.  Still, I didn't want a big tree that looked eaten most of the time.  I found a sterling silver linden at the local nursery and it was recommended as being japanese beetle "resistant".   And in the same way a garment might be labeled as "water resistant" but not "water proof", japanese beetles may be a slight problem in certain beetle-favorable years.  I have noticed a little bite damage on the linden, but not so much that it looks bare or sad.  To the right is a photo of the sterling silver linden.  It was quite small when we planted it, as we could not afford a large tree, but were rewarded with fast growth.  It now provides great shade in summer.  We used no pesticides on it, and even with slight beetle damage each year, it bounces right back the next.

In my next post, I'll address the four footed pests in the yard.