GreenWords Newsletter Fall 2011
In this issue: Restore Your Flood Damaged-Landscape & Great Reasons to Schedule Winter Work Now!
Posts Tagged ‘Garden’
Raising Worms… and Loving It!
I am a rehabilitated worm murderer. A couple of years ago I was swept up in a tsunami of kitchen composting. Being big vegetable eaters, the amount of vegetable waste I was hauling out to the compost bin was in my opinion – overly huge. Here in Vermont, winter puts a halt to active compost processes. So I figured vermicomposting would be a logical way to deal with the mountain of scraps that I was arduously snowshoeing out to the bin.
The next thing I knew I was ordering a worm farm. I also ordered a couple pounds of red wigglers, Eisenia foetida, which are the best composters. I followed the instructions and figured it was a simple process. I gave the worms all of our kitchen scraps. Each time I opened the worm bin and looked in I was tickled to see activity. Things went well for a while, until the worm bin started to smell all wrong. My worms had died or were in the process of dying. I was instantly indicted as a murderer “Mommy the worm killer!!” was heard at every outing for some time afterward. Everybody laughed but me. The guilt and the shame was unbearable.
I was left with a big multi-tiered worm farm, resplendent, yet empty. I kept eying it in the barn for a year. My Yankee headset would not allow me to toss it or give it away. I researched vermiculture and learned that I had overfed my worms. The abundant food scraps had super-heated and, um, parboiled them. Not only had I over fed the worms, but the scraps were rather large for them to actually eat (hence I was also starving them). I have since learned that using a food processor to grind down the waste, making it easier for the worms to slurp, is a kinder way to administer to their culinary needs.
This spring I gave vermiculture a new try. I now farm the little devils, and my population has grown splendidly. The worm farm sits right in the kitchen next to the waste bin. It is an odorless and tidy affair. This convenient location allows me to care for them easily. I also love to show them off – it amuses me how some people feel icky about them.They are tiny pets of mine, all 30,000 of the little toothless darlings. I have even been heard talking to them. The new refrain has become “Mommy’s got worms!” Not much of an improvement as a descriptive, but it is at least guilt free. I use shredded moistened newspaper, another burgeoning commodity of our household, for their bedding material. They not only eat kitchen scraps, but they eat the newspaper too!
Sometimes food can get away from us in the refrigerator. Mold is not a bad thing for worms, as it is one step closer to an easily digestible meal for them. I collect clean kitchen scraps, all vegetative (no citrus or onion family members). Eggshells are a good additive, but no animal proteins ever!
I grind them all together and keep them in a large canning jar which is placed in the fridge. As my dear husband found out with horror one morning while making his lunch for the work day, the nicely chopped worm food can be mistaken for human food. So a label is a good idea. I have discovered that worms have a sweet tooth and they love fruit. Melon skins and over soft berries and bananas are particular favorites. What isn’t to love about worms!? No more guilt about the fruit that got away! They like to live in nice even frost free temperatures. They would never make it through a Vermont winter.
I am looking forward to using the worm compost to make compost tea for fertilizing. The great thing about this method is that it maximizes the active biological bacteria of the worm castings by increasing exponentially in amount overnight in solution. It only takes about a pound (under 2 cups) of worm castings to make 5 gallons of basic tea. Five gallons of tea has beneficial organisms and plant health benefits equal to a yard of compost. From a very small amount of compost, a great amount of fertilizer for plants can arise.
Vermiculture has become very specialized. The use of compost tea is a science that has grown into huge service modalities for the green industry. Most compost teas are aerated while they are being brewed. It only takes about 18 hours to develop a good compost tea. Bacterial and fungal teas can be made to exacting standards for the actual plant species that is being fed. Fungal teas are best suited to trees and bacterial teas are favored by grasses and vegetables. I met a man who feeds his trees a concoction that is made with compost tea with added ground up tree stem tips of the species being fed, and to great advantage.
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The Art of Watering Gardens & Containers
Many people water their plants by spraying a mist over the leaf surfaces. This process is usually done as an afterthought and is rather quick. They say they water every day and their plants act like they are dying of thirst. I am sure this is true. While a light washing off of the leaves is nice for the plants, they would really rather be watered at their base.
Soils need to be saturated with water so that the moisture gets to the roots. The best way to do this is to stand there for a really long time holding a watering wand, or to run a sprinkler. The use of a rain gauge helps to determine whether it has rained enough to get you off of the hook for watering. Use a rain gauge with the sprinkler and time how long it takes to get 1”- 2” of water in the beaker. One to two inches of water per week (including rain) will be sufficient for most plants. Turn the sprinkler off and dig down into the soil to see how deep the water has penetrated. If you have mulch, the water may be held in the mulch with little actually reaching the soil. In this case, your watering will need to last longer.
If you have sandy soil with low organic matter, the water goes straight down pretty rapidly. Plants in soil like this will need to be watered every other day. Clay and silt soils tend to need more water to get the saturation depth that plants need, but they also tend to hold water longer as well. Hence, less frequent watering needed. Organic matter will add friability to the soil so it is more aerated. Conversely, the same organic matter helps sandy soils hold onto water.
Container plants do better in larger pots and window boxes. The more soil you have the less watering needed. Fill the entire pot with potting soil – top to bottom. The capillary action of water in the soil needs unbroken up and down movement top to bottom. Water also moves side to side within the soil media creating a sort of reserve of water. Using packing peanuts and other debris to reduce the soil needed to fill a container only makes it necessary to water more frequently. Additionally, plants will not grow huge with shallow soil.
I am not an advocate of self-watering containers. This gives the gardener false security. Of course there is no such thing as self-watering, as there invariably is always a gardener involved somewhere along the way. Frankly, if one is going to garden – then garden! I have seen many planting disasters in self-watering containers that have become waterlogged. That said, if you use fertilizer in your self-watering units, you need to monitor the solution for toxic build up. Totally emptying the container at least once a season isn’t a bad idea at all.
For more information, contact gardens@chippersinc.com.
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Hummingbirds Are Back In Town….
I’m a complete nut for ruby throated hummingbirds. They are fleeting tiny jewels that bring utter delight to the viewer. I could spend hours watching them. Surely, it would be a cliché to say that they are my favorite bird. That aside, I know I am in good company to say that I anxiously awaited their arrival this spring. The return of the hummingbirds means rebirth and utter joy to me. They make me happy. Even though they only live 3 or 4 years, my hummingbirds are the same genetic family that I have known since I have lived in my house. Studies have shown that these tiny birds return to the place from where they hatched. We have a “heart thing” going on (fact: a hummingbird heart beat 21 times per second). Last year, a mother hummingbird lined all of her chicks out on a line right over my head for me to admire. I leaned back in my chair and just watched them – agog with wonder. They were the size of my baby finger, and they pushed and pecked at each other, as children will.
Ruby throated hummingbirds spend their winters in southern Mexico and northern Panama. Most make the arduous journey across the Gulf of Mexico to make it back to their summer feeding ranges. This over water trip is 500 miles long, and can take 18-22 hours. Sometimes they travel with other larger birds, but do not, as lore tells, travel in the armpits of geese. Hummingbirds have too much dignity for such travel accommodation, and I suspect their accumulated frequent travel miles suffice.
This mild season that we have had has brought hummingbirds sooner than usual this year. They arrived a full week earlier than last year. And when they got here, I was ready! My favorite hummingbird migration site on the internet is www.hummingbirds.net. I saw that someone sighted them on April 4th in the Boston area. My old records show them arriving the first week of May, or thereabouts. But as years have gone by, they have been arriving earlier and earlier. The males arrive a couple of weeks ahead of the females and will search for a summer residence. Most people don’t know that hummingbirds eat soft-bodied bugs like flies and mosquitoes, as well as sap from certain trees, and flower nectar. Since there are not many nectariferous flowers or bugs available, this early in the season, feeders will help them establish their territory.
Hummingbirds are protein eating machines and the nectar is the fuel they use to power their enterprise. They do like a little rest as they sip, so I like to use the feeders that have perches. I also prefer the feeders that are easy to clean. The ones I use look like flying saucers. They have shallow, easy to clean bowls, with a wide flat screw-on red top, complete with perches and holes. Red coloring on the feeder itself will help to attract them initially. Later in the season, the nectar can get moldy, due to the bacteria that is introduced from the bird’s beaks. The bothersome skinny necked bottle feeders make clean-up a difficult chore.
Hummingbirds do not need the red colored hummingbird powder bought from stores, which is mixed with water and poured into the feeders. A 1 to 4 mixture of table sugar (cane or beet sugar) to water is perfect. I usually mix 1/2 cup sugar to 2 cups of water to fill a couple of feeders at a time. The hummingbird does not need red food dye to attract it to feeders. Some people think that feeding with sugar water is ‘unnatural’ but the 21% sucrose content is consistent with natural flower nectar.
My gardens are filled with plants that attract nectar feeders (I love butterflies also).
Plants to Attract and Feed Hummingbirds
Trees and Shrubs
• Azalea
• Butterfly Bush (Buddleia)
• Flowering Quince
• Lantana
• Red Buckeye
• Weigela
Vines
• Morning Glory
• Scarlet Runner Bean
• Trumpet Creeper
Perennials
• Agastache
• Bee Balm
• Cardinal Flower
• Columbine
• Coral Bells
• Foxglove
• Hosta
• Hummingbird Mint
• Lupine
• Penstemon
• Yucca
Annuals
• Fuchsia
• Impatiens
• Petunia
• Various Salvia species
Last year I rescued a few from barns and sheds. They thanked me, as I was weeding in the flower beds, by hovering within a foot of my face, welcoming me to the garden. I have rescued perhaps 12 hummingbirds in my life. The first one was trapped in an interior window of a shed. It was frantic. I got real close and held my hand near it as it fluttered up and down the window pane…patience…patience. It got exhausted very quickly, and when it came to rest, I quickly – but ever so gently, pinned its wings at its shoulders between my thumb and index finger. As I held this tiny bird I could see the little wrinkled folds of its eyelids, and every iridescent pin sized feather shone in the light…amazing. Ever since then, I have considered myself somewhat of a specialist in hummingbird rescue. I have imagined having a business doing nothing but answering the call of hummingbird rescue. This would the sweetest of jobs in my estimation.
I am very exacting, as it would be easy to injure their wings if they try to take flight. Their wings can flutter up to 50 odd beats per second in flight. I suppose I should be reported, for this is an offense, as it is against the law (Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.) I think this law was made to keep people from collecting birds to stick on their hats, or for whatever other purposes people touch birds. But if the bird police show up, and I must do the time for this extreme action, then I will gladly suffer the prison food. I cannot, under any circumstances, just stand back and watch them expire if I can be of help. The pleasure that I derive from hummingbirds is certainly one of my greatest joys in life, and administering to their needs is a chief ambition.
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What the Heuchera?!
The genus Heuchera, or Coral Bells (AKA American Alumroot) is a major contender for dream plant, in my opinion. Twenty years ago I was inspired by the Perennial Plant Association’s “Plant of the Year” Heuchera micrantha ‘Palace Purple.’ I had green coral bells in my gardens and enjoyed their panicles of clean little cerise bells. But ‘Palace Purple’ leaves were, well, purple! There was at that time, nothing like it. It became all the rage. I went wild using it with silver leaved companion plants and soft pink flowering perennials.
Coral bells were never the main act in gardens in those years. Soon I got bored with them. Even worse, I grew aggravated because the Heuchera would heave out of the ground over the winter, looking like big silly elephants standing on balls. Little did I know that they had fine shallow, fibrous roots. It never occurred to me to lift and bury them deeper – Ah, youth! Hence, heuchera fell out of favor with me.
Six years ago, I was entrenched in my long quest to know more about native plant species. I was surprised to learn that Heuchera villosa, and H. americana were natives and that ‘Amethyst Myst,’ a new purple leaved cultivar, had exceptional attributes compared to ‘Palace Purple.’ I fell in love all over again. The villosa species was being used extensively as an intercross breeder for new varieties of heuchera, which made for larger leaves and colors. ‘Dale’s Strain’ was an americana species with better heat tolerance and fabulous veining. Both species can be grown from seed easily, but hybridization using their gene pool has opened a cornucopia of new cultivars that has the gardening world agog.
Native heucheras span habitats from alpine mountainous regions to low-land forests, and all share common traits: gorgeous leaves, long bloom times, excellent hardiness, rotund mounded form, salt tolerance, longevity, non-invasive, plays well with others, competes well with tree roots and have persistent leaves during the winter. They are virtually indestructible – I know this because I still have my Palace Purple from twenty years ago, even though at times, I wished them dead.
With the use of these two species, numerous leaf colors have evolved. One could garden exclusively with heuchera, and I dare say no color would be missed. A garden of heuchera would be an easy care display. I have yet to meet a coral bell not hardy to at least -30 degrees F. They like to be in moderately dry soil, usually in full sun. The lime or chartreuse varieties do better in part sun – but this would be the case for most spring green colored leaf plants. Heuchera leaves can range in color from the darkest almost black, ‘Obsidian,’ lime colored varieties, ‘Citronelle’ and ‘Key Lime Pie,’ orange toned, ‘Caramel’ and ‘Southern Comfort,’ purple shades like ‘Frosted Violet,’ bi-colored like the amber leaf edged in chartreuse, ‘Tiramisu.’ Certain cultivars change color in the cool of fall. ‘Green Spice’ is a lovely green with purple veins and it turns pumpkin orange in the fall. All are to-die-for cultivars.
H. villosa ‘Autumn Bride’ has enjoyed my high favor for a while. It has giant green leaves and blooms in late summer with big white foxtails, it is utterly spectacular. But, two years ago, as I innocently perused the isles of a nursery, I was gobsmacked by a new heuchera called ‘Georgia Peach.’ I went slack-jawed – and my bubble gum landed in the gravel path at my feet. This peachy colored leaf is veined in a darker red. It is BIG and beautiful and I have managed to obtain several. Now I must change the color vignette of my entire perennial border to accommodate this new pet of mine. I envision it with purple, blue, gold and white companions. It is not that I am fickle, but that I do know love when I see it.
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Finally, the Growing Degree Days Begin…
Yesterday, April 12, 2011, we finally had degree days! 6.6 per our Chippers weather station, and it was probably over 10 at lower elevations.
Growing degree days are used to predict the hatch/vulnerability of insects – in our case on woody plants. They are calculated by taking the high and low (in Fahrenheit) of each day, taking their average, and deducting 50. Negative numbers are thrown out, as happens all winter.
Insects that make an early appearance are White pine weevil (mostly a problem for spruce) and pear thrip (a problem for Sugar maples).
Today, April 13th, we had a GDD of 7.3 today. Some of what you will see up to GDD 50: Red maple, magnolia, some rhododendron, pieris and forsythia will all bloom. White pine weevil may be seen doing its dirty deeds at 60 degrees and above, and we are treating for these this week.
These insects are all vulnerable to dormant oil spray up until gdd 50: Scales, Aphids, Mealybugs, Psyllids, Aphids + Mites.
For more information on this topic, please visit our website, www.chippersinc.com.
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From Firewood Pile to Greenhouse in a Weekend!
Those driving the Pomfret Road in Pomfret, Vermont this past week may have noticed the disappearance of the giant firewood pile at our Chippers headquarters… and the subsequent appearance of a production greenhouse.
With the advent of our gardening division and the hiring of Greenhouse Manager and Garden Designer Liz Krieg, formerly of Rising Sun Landscape Company, we plan to grow for the wholesale market, and to offer educational opportunities to the community.
Liz is a NOFA Accredited Land Care Professional and plans to focus on growing native and organic woody and herbaceous ornamentals and edibles, for the enjoyment of both humans and wildlife.
On Friday, May 20 from 5-7pm there will be a community open house and mem0rial dedication ceremony at 6pm for our company’s founder, Will Russell, 1241 Pomfret Road, Woodstock, VT 05091. Please RSVP to Danielle if you plan to attend at 457-5100 or danielle@chippersinc.com.
We are ready for the green season!
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Triple Treat Blueberries
We all know by now that if we eat loads of blueberries, we will live forever, right?
This native American plant is one of many in the genus Vaccinium that also includes the cranberry, huckleberry, bilberry, deerberry and partridgeberry. These berries are highly favored by wildlife and the spring blossoms are very attractive to numerous indigenous nectar seeking butterflies, moths, wasps and bees (and humans). Hence the trio of horticultural benefits from our point of view: they are ornamental, edible and wildlife friendly.
Blueberry is a natural and rich source of antioxidants that include flavonoids (catechin, epicatechin), anthocyanin (which gives the blue pigment to the fruit), beta-carotene, phenolic compounds, and ellagic acid (ellagitannin). Blueberry is also high in antioxidant vitamins such as vitamin E, A and C and is an excellent source of fiber, no matter what life form eats them!
Highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) or the low bush (Vaccinium angustifolium) are the fruits of which we humans are particularly fond. These well-behaved plants make extraordinary edible landscape shrubs that yield phenomenal fall color. The species angustifolium are the typical little Maine blueberry, and they make lovely ground cover or low hedging material. The corymbosum species can grow as tall as five to six feet and more with an equal width, and are the type of berry (for the most part) that we buy at the store.
Considering all of the obvious benefits of blueberries it is a mystery why every home does not have a few, if not several, of these plants tucked in and around the landscape. It is not necessary to have a ‘patch’. These plants are quite forgiving about location as long as they have six hours of sun. Bloom time for the plants spans from early to late spring. In northern zones, mid to late bloomers may insure that the blossoms are not killed by late frost. One should have more than one of each bush by bloom time (early, mid, late) for cross-pollination.
Blueberries prefer an acid soil in the 4.6 – 5.1 pH range. Fortunately, Vermont and New Hampshire have naturally acidic soil. The more organic matter added to the soil, and methods of organic care given, the more forgiving the plants are of any pH discrepancies. Composted coffee grounds, leaf mold, sawdust and cottonseed meal can keep the pH within range nicely. Once established all they need is an annual organic fertilizing treatment and two inches of water per week (especially for plumping up the set fruit). Once the shrubs are well established and growing for a few years, annual pruning is crucial to encourage new growth and a large berry harvest the next year.
One highbush blueberry plant, at maturity, can yield around two gallons of berries in a season. Berries are easy to freeze – no fuss required – just pop them into containers and freeze. Frozen berries have the same nutritional benefits of fresh berries and are incredibly easy to use.
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What’s a Gardener to Do: Garden or Visit Gardens?
What is better for a gardener’s soul than a warm, sunny Saturday out in the garden for early spring clean up? The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Directory of course! Mine arrived this past weekend and I immediately dropped my Felco’s and rake sat down to explore the gardens I want to visit on June 26. It’s a tough one to think abut now I know. For those of us who are passionate about gardening but who also work during the week, right now while the days are warming it’s hard to fathom leaving your own garden on a Saturday …. but I think by June I’ll be OK with it…. I hope!
Especially since I won’t have to travel very far afield: the Upper Valley is a featured area this year, with open gardens in Hanover, Hartland, Quechee and Windsor on the tour. The Open Days gardens are always chosen for their unique qualities and offer visitors the best of American regional gardens. Some of the gardens are designed by landscape designers and architects, and others are the work of passionate and talented amateurs.
Check out the Garden Conservancy website for more information and to request a copy of the Open Days Directory if you want to plan your visits now. Closer to the Open Days dates some gardens will be listed online.
I always come away inspired by these gardens, and bring with me ideas for a project or two to try in my own garden – or maybe ten projects if you ask my husband or co-workers at Chippers!
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