with Teri Knight
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Lawn spots from Fido or snow mold
We love our dogs but not so much what they do to our lawns over the winter. Spot may have left some dead spots around the yard.
You can buy a lawn repair kit at most garden centers or you can mix your own. After the soil has warmed up and isn’t wet, you can lift out the dead grass, loosen the soil and mix a handful of seed with a … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Low mow/no mow grass choice
If mowing is not your thing or you’re looking at being more environmentally friendly, consider Eco-grass. A low mow or no mow lawn option.
Prairie Moon Nursery offers a blend of fine-leaved fescue grasses as an alternative to an energy-intensive conventional turf lawn. This blend is hardy from Zone 2 – 7. It is not native to our region, however, due to the other benefits it offers, it’s worth it even if you … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite: Best planting practices for trees and shrubs
We discussed planting bare-root trees and shrubs last week, today we’ll talk about planting container grown. Conventional wisdom was to plant at the same depth your plant came in but studies have shown that sometimes our plants have been placed in their containers too deeply. That means you need to pull the plant out of the container and remove the soil to the trunk flare or graft.
Experts recommend planting this about an … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Pre-sown seed tapes and discs
During the pandemic, the U.S. has seen more than 18 million people get into gardening! Wahoo and welcome!
If you feel a bit daunted by planting a vegetable garden and think it might be costly, try pre-sown seed tape and/or discs. I just learned about these through the National Garden Bureau and had to share!
They’re great for any level of gardener. These seed tapes are for direct sow when the soil is … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: When to prune your hydrangea
Hydrangeas are one of the most popular flowering shrubs.
A big question is when to prune them. Prune back stems to just above a fat bud — called a heading cut — in fall, late winter or spring. These plants have conical-shaped flower heads.
The above diagram is from the University of MN Ext. Read more here.
Prune paniculata in fall, late winter or early spring. … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Assessing wildlife damage on plants
The weather was cold, windy, snowy, rainy and then some sun came out. You may have also gone out and took a look at your small trees, shrubs and even perennials. Assessing wildlife damage.
Rabbits, voles and squirrels can all strip bark. They may also leave small tooth marks on the wood. University of Minnesota Extension wildlife specialist, John Loegering, says if the bark is stripped all the way around a branch, that … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: April Fools Day and busting garden myths
It’s April Fools day! To celebrate, let’s pull some tall tales out of the Garden Myth bucket.
Wound dressing is one of the top myths.
We used to think that trees, like humans, needed some sort of “bandaid” after they’ve been cut. Not so, in fact, there are times that those wound dressings may even inhibit the plant’s ability to heal itself. Tars, emulsions and waxes can dry and crack. … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Tomato and Pepper seed start time
For those of us in cold climates, we get itchy to get into gardens or do SOMETHING gardeny… and then something like this happens…
The AVERAGE last official frost date for Zone 3 and 4 is May 15th while zone 5 and 6 is looking at about April 15th. But, as mentioned on Monday, that’s changing. Still, it’s best to plan for it.
Warm season crops such as tomatoes … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Soil structure and drainage
Nothin’ sexier than soil structure and drainage! HA…
If you peruse descriptions of a particular plant’s needs, they almost all say, prefers “well-drained soil”. That is soil that contains enough pores, the gaps between soil particles, to allow air and water to flow freely. Ideally, the sand, silt and clay particles are arranged so they occupy only half of the space, leaving the other half as pore space. A 50/50 split is primo.
Most … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Time to turn on the tap – Maple syruping
It’s time to turn on the tap, if you haven’t already. The sap is running.
Maple Syrup season is here and that golden goodness is the best thing EVER.
Sugar Maples are best but it’s not just maple trees. I’ve told you before that you can even tap boxelder trees. The caveat to tapping these other trees is that the sugar content is lower than a Sugar maple … [Continue reading]