Overabundance of produce?


Mon. Sep. 20, 2021

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Overabundance of produce?

 Got a problem with too much produce? Neighbors done accepting more cucumbers and zucchini from you? What do you do? Preserving, canning, drying and even fermenting are great options.

Comprehensive information on varied ways to safely preserve your harvests [Univ. of MN Ext.]

When harvesting vegetables, be careful not to break, nick or bruise them. The less you handle your vegetables, the longer they’ll last in storage. And only harvest the best stuff! Rotting produce  … [Continue reading]

It’s not too early to prepare your plants for winter


Fri. Sep. 17, 2021

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: It’s not too early to prepare your plants for Winter

This year it is especially important to continue to water our plants, trees and shrubs till the ground freezes, which means likely through November and perhaps into December!

For newly planted trees, they can use 10 to 20 gallons of water a week when they’re getting established! The crabapple above was planted just last year.

Fall watering is especially important for evergreens as they continue to lose moisture  … [Continue reading]

Permeable pavers


Wed. Sep. 15, 2021

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Permeable pavers

Beautify and preserve. It’s possible with permeable pavers.

When most of our neighborhoods were built, the idea was to get the water off our paved surfaces as quickly as possible, neglecting the fact that that water has to go somewhere. It goes into our storm drains and directly into our lakes and streams.

Storm water runoff creates a litany of issues including contaminants and pollutants that enter our waterways. 

Stormwater runoff continues to collect pollutants along  … [Continue reading]

Soil potpourri


Wed. Sep. 15, 2021

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Soil potpourri

There’s still harvesting to do, perennial, tree, shrub and bulb planting; but this is also a good time to start preparing a new garden bed. Maybe you want to expand your vegetable garden or start a new perennial bed, add some shrubs.  Whatever your plan is, make sure you mix in plenty of organic matter.

Fallen leaves are usually abundant and certainly cheap. Run your lawn mower over the pile of leaves a couple of times  … [Continue reading]

Uncommon trees for Fall color


Tue. Sep. 14, 2021

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Uncommon trees for Fall color

Fall is such a pretty time of year. This red maple is not uncommon, I’ll get to those!

Honey locust! This isn’t the messy one, but a beautiful cultivar called ‘Sunburst’ that is thornless and seedless.

The leaves emerge golden yellow in Spring, turn green in Summer and then golden yellow with a touch of green in Fall. It’s also a good street tree, tolerant of drought, road salt, and pollution. ‘Sunburst’ grows  … [Continue reading]

Planting garlic


Mon. Sep. 13, 2021

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Planting garlic

I LOVE garlic!

For the first time, I planted garlic last October. For zone 4 folks, the middle of October is a good time, after the first killing frost. If you live in Zone 3 then a couple of weeks earlier is sufficient.

There are a LOT of varieties of garlic but the best type for our cold zones is a ‘Hardneck’ variety. They tolerate our climate conditions much better than the softneck type.  Don’t plant  … [Continue reading]

Fall plant picks – perennials


Fri. Sep. 10, 2021

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Fall plant picks – perennials

As we work our way into Fall there are some plants that we all associate with that time of year.  I talked about some Fall picks last week, in particular, mums – the annual kind and the hardy mums! 

But what about other perennials. There are a number of Asters. I have Sky Blue Aster, Smooth Blue and New England! All natives, all growing at various heights and delivering blooms from  … [Continue reading]

Top 3 Garden Topics for 2021


Thu. Sep. 9, 2021

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Top 3 Garden Topics for 2021

The University of Minnesota Extension, as all state university extensions do, answer a LOT of gardener questions. This year, the U identifies three top topics of 2021, so far.

Sick maples and stressed evergreens topped the list. I just snapped a photo of a maple that is overproducing seed (called masting), dropping leaves and changing color. This really started last year. Sunscald also caused issues due to our winter weather and  … [Continue reading]

Fall lawn seeding and care


Wed. Sep. 8, 2021

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Fall lawn seeding and care

2021 for Minnesota has meant drought. While we’ve had some glorious rain, we are still in a drought and our lawns, plants and trees & shrubs have suffered. That said, now is the time to seed your lawn (if it needs it). Many lawns have gone dormant so, before you start raking up that brown stuff, be sure grass is truly dead. If there’s been some greening up, it’s not dead. Still brown?  … [Continue reading]

Getting rid of poison ivy


Tue. Sep. 7, 2021

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Getting rid of poison ivy

Recently someone I know had a nasty run-in with poison ivy. It’s nothing to be trifled with! Poison ivy is native to Minnesota and is also on the noxious weed list. Learn more from MinnesotaWildflowers,  the UofMN Ext. and the U of Wis. Ext.

Not everyone has a major reaction but once you have, you will continue to have a bad reaction.  If your skin comes in contact, use water only  … [Continue reading]