Plants I Can’t Grow: Nasturtiums
I’ve been trying to grow nasturtiums for years. From what I hear, they are great in lean dry soils, but that doesn’t seem the be the case here. Perhaps my soil is just too acidic or silty for their liking. I can get them to grow a little and bloom, but they never look as good as these I spotted these beauties growing in containers at the National Garden in D.C. Granted these are probably fed a steady diet of chemical fertilizer.
This year I planted a ton of them on the back hillside where all those tulips were, but they’ve been languishing. There are a few plants that look OK, but most of them are still tiny little things.
A couple weeks ago, I gave them a bit of chicken manure and that seems to have perked them up a bit. They’re still a little thin and don’t bloom very profusely.
Funny thing is that I don’t really like them all that much, I don’t find them all that attractive. I continue to grow them because of the benefits they are said to provide. Perhaps my issues with growing nasturtiums will cease next summer in the new garden in Maine.
What is a plant that you simply can’t seem to grow in your garden?
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Quote of the Day: Bernd Heinrich
“I had not realized how varied and vibrant green, the color of life, could be.”
Bernd Heinrich A Year In The Maine Woods
The longer I garden the more I appreciate texture and what it brings to the garden. I’m starting to move away from plants with blooms in favor of those with different leaf shape, shades of green, texture or other unique features.
‘Hakone’ grass, it tops the list of my favorite green plants. With it’s bright variegated leaves, flowing shape, it almost looks like I have a waterfall flowing into my pond. When I purchased this plant it was a tiny slip with just a few green leaves. Now it’s a focal point at the edge of the pond. You can be this one is coming with me in the moving truck!
What’s your favorite all green plant?
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My Mom’s Potager in Late July
Last week I was over at my mom’s and took a few photos of her edible garden. I often help her with the garden chores, though this year, with the move, I’ve had less time to visit and work in the garden.
She was having trouble with a few baby rabbits getting in and eating her beans and peas, so she decided to put up a traditional scarecrow. I must admit, it looks great and I might have to put one in my garden next year.
My mom’s garden looks better than any garden I’ve seen. She’s reaping the rewards of years of hard work adding organic matter to the soil and avoiding chemicals. As a result, her garden retains moisture better than most do.
For over a month, we’ve been harvesting ‘Early Girl’ tomatoes from a really early planting in a cold frame super early in the spring. You can clearly see where I got my green thumb from!
Do you have any family members that have big beautiful gardens?
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Friday Favorite: the Hand Hoe
One day, on a whim, I added a hand hoe to an on-line purchase. I’ve tried all sorts of hand tools in the garden and have been disappointed almost every time. Like my cobra head weeder, most of them are gathering dust.
Little did I know how much I would love this tool and how often I would use it. In fast, it’s probably my most used garden hand tool. Why do I love it so much?
It has a very sharp edge, which I sharpen a few times each season. This edge allows it to cut through tiny seedlings. You can drag the sharp edge and skim the top of the soil cutting off tiny seedlings as you go. If you get them small enough, they won’t come back.
Thanks Maybelline for asking in the comment section about what I use to sharpen my tools. I have used the Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker for 17 years for all my sharpening needs from garden tools to kitchen knives.
The pointed tip is great for digging up the entire roots of larger weeds. It can also be used as a small maddox for whacking at tough weeds to get them up. The pointed tip also allows enough precision to weed around plants, even if they’re growing fairly close together.
The shape of this tool makes it much easier on the wrist than a regular trowel. Weeding for a couple hours does not result in any wrist pain or strain. It also provides some much needed leverage when trying to “pop” tenacious weeds from their spots.
This is the tool you will find me using most often in the garden, especially when weeding. I will never be without a hand hoe in my tool shed! I noticed there are a variety of hand hoes on Amazon. One of these days I’ll buy another one or two of these other options for my garden toolbox. Now that Mr Chiots is getting more into gardening he might start making mine scarce.
What’s your favorite gardening hand tool?
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Using Burlap in the Garden
A few years ago, I discovered burlap and it’s many uses in the garden. It comes in very handy for a variety of applications and is very inexpensive. Burlap can be found at your local fabric/craft store by the yard.
The best use for burlap is as mulch. When you harvest an area of the garden, lay down a piece of burlap to cover the soil until you plant something else. It will help with moisture retention and to limit erosion of the soil you’ve worked so hard to build. We all know that soil is the most valuable item on our property and we should be doing whatever we can to keep it from eroding away.
Where burlap really shines is for direct seeding in mid-summer. With the heat and lack of rain most gardeners experience this time of year, burlap is a valuable tool to improve germination rates. I have found that laying a piece of burlap over newly sown seeds makes them germinate much faster. Not only does it help keep the area moist by preventing evaporation, it prevents seeds from being washed away when it rains.
I have found burlap to be essential when starting seeds that take a long time to germinate and prefer moist conditions, especially carrots, chervil, dill, and parsley.
To use burlap for seed starting:
- sow your seeds following package directions
- lay burlap over the seeds
- water when the soil gets dry
- check daily for germination
- when seeds germinate remove burlap
Burlap also comes in quite handy for wrapping plants in winter. If you grow things that are on the edge of your hardiness zone, they’ll appreciate a burlap blanket during the cold winter months. Plants like figs, hydrangeas, and boxwood all love a cozy warm wrapping of burlap. The wrapping doesn’t necessarily keep them warmer, it just protects them fro the desiccating cold winter wind. Sometimes plants don’t need wrapped for weather protections but to keep nibbling deer away. I usually wrap my blueberries for this reason. If you’re uncertain about how to wrap plants, here’s my post about it.
Burlap also comes in handy to protect the root balls of plants while you move them, especially if you can’t replant them right away. You can use small pieces of it in the bottoms of pots to keep the soil in. If you keep some in your garden tool area you’ll find that it comes in handy often!
Do you use burlap in the garden? Any great uses to recommend?
