Wheel Bug (Arilus cristatus). Photo: Johnny N. Dell, Bugwood.org
In my college entomology class, I was required to put together an insect collection. At that time, I had no idea how handy that insect collection would be! I use it regularly now to show children in schools cool insect critters and also to share with Master Gardeners!
Luckily, at the time, I had two younger cousins who absolutely LOVED helping me gather insects. One of the critters they found for my collection was a wheel bug, which is a type of assassin bug. Have you ever seen this awesome predator?
Just as the name states, it has spikes on its thorax which, to me, resemble dinosaur armor or maybe for the less creative thinker, spokes of a half-wheel. The saliva of the wheel bug contains venom that paralyzes the victim when pumped through the wheel bug’s beak after it silently stalks its prey and sticks the beak into them. The insect world can be a little gruesome! The digested body fluids of the prey are then sucked into the wheel bug’s stomach through another channel in the beak.
A wheel bug feeding on its prey. Photo: Ward Upham, Kansas State University, Bugwood.org
Wheel bugs are active during both the daytime and nighttime and are often considered shy and hide under leaves, so it is not too surprising to hear that most gardeners have never encountered this amazing insect!
According to the Maryland Home and Garden Information Center, there are over 160 species of assassin bugs in North America, most of which survive the winter as adults in sheltered locations. All species of assassin bugs (family Reduviidae) are general predators that attack anything that comes across their path. This includes a wide variety of insect pests in our gardens, such as caterpillars, beetles, true bugs (e.g., stink bugs), sawflies, and aphids. Unfortunately, they could feed on beneficial insects such as ladybird beetles, spiders, and honey bees too, if the opportunity presents itself.
Assassin bugs have a distinct “neck” that connects a small head with large eyes and sturdy beak that they use to pierce into their prey. They are considered true bugs, so they have 6 legs, three body parts, four wings, piercing-sucking mouthparts, and go through incomplete metamorphosis. That means the young bugs or nymphs look similar in shape to the adult, but they can be a different color. Sometimes the nymphs are mistaken for spiders because of their long legs.
Wheel bug nymphs emerging from eggs. Photo: Johnny N. Dell, Bugwood.org
Assassin bugs are good for our gardens so no control is necessary, althoughthey can bite humans, so care should be taken to avoid picking them up or handling them. Usually they are not found in large numbers, just a few here and there. If you are lucky enough to find one in your yard or garden this year, take a picture and share it with a friend or family member! Let everyone know how awesome gardening is and how there is always a new “friend” to discover!
By Ashley Bodkins, Senior Agent Associate and Master Gardener Coordinator, Garrett County, Maryland, edited by Christa Carignan, Coordinator, Home & Garden Information Center, University of Maryland Extension. See more posts by Ashley and Christa.
Concerns over food security have triggered memories of Victory Gardens and inspired people to revive the tradition to help feed their families.
U.S. Department of Agriculture
During WWI and WWII, governments here and abroad encouraged people to grow their own food to boost morale, safeguard against shortages, supplement rationed food and support the war effort.
Just before the U.S. entered WWI in 1917, the U.S. National War Garden Commission was formed to urge Americans to grow their own fruits and vegetables so more food could be sent to our troops and hard-hit European allies.
As the tide of the war turned, these gardens became Victory Gardens. Some credit agricultural innovator George Washington Carver with coining the term.
The idea bubbled up again during WWII. Labor and transportation shortages, rationing and the need to feed and support troops inspired the U.S. once again to call on its citizenry to grow their own food.
It was considered a patriotic duty. Eleanor Roosevelt planted a Victory Garden on the White House lawn. Covers of Life magazine and the Saturday Evening Post featured gardeners proudly planting and harvesting.
Posters used themes such as “Sow the seeds of victory” and “Dig on for victory” to link patriotism to planting.
It worked. By May of 1943, there were 20 million Victory Gardens in the United States. Over a third of all vegetables produced in the U.S. came from Victory Gardens.
Any available space was recruited. Victory Gardens sprouted in schoolyards, parks, rooftops, fire escapes, window boxes and vacant lots. Neighbors pooled resources. Communities came together to garden.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture distributed thousands of booklets to teach food gardening basics and later, preservation and canning.
U.S. Department of Agriculture
As a USDA partner, Extension was in the game early. And we continue to be a player, sharing free, research-based information on growing your own food. We can help you get started and troubleshoot problems along the way.
Visit the University of Maryland’s Home and Garden Information Center websiteto find how-to videos, over 500 free publications, a searchable database and an Ask an Expert feature.
Or contact your local Extension office’s gardening specialist. Just click on your county at https://extension.umd.edu/locationsand look under the “home gardening” tab.
At their peak, there was one Victory Garden for every seven people in the U.S., proving that during difficult times, nothing is more valuable than self-sufficiency. Perhaps that time has come again.
Victory Gardens grew out of the idea that we can all do our part to help. Help history repeat itself by growing some of your own food for yourself, your family. It’s satisfying, feeding body and soul.
I call that a personal victory.
By Annette Cormany, Principal Agent Associate and Master Gardener Coordinator, Washington County, University of Maryland Extension. This article was previously published by Herald-Mail Media. Read more by Annette.
Special thanks to Washington County Master Gardener Marie Bikle for sharing photos for this article.
Joyce Browning, Horticulturist and Master Gardener Coordinator from Harford county has been putting together multiple fun and interesting videos most days for the past month. Topics include poison ivy, strawberries, sheet mulching, pruning various shrubs, microgreens, propagation, aeroponics, and more. Take a look at our playlist of her videos on YouTube above, or follow the Harford County Master Gardeners on Facebook to see more of her videos as she posts them.
You’re getting ready to plant vegetable seeds and transplants for the first time and trying to make sense of the conflicting advice you’ve been getting from HGIC, a neighbor, and your brother-in-law. You want to grow your vegetables organically but now realize that you don’t have a clue about fertilizing. Are there enough nutrients in the not-so-great soil or in the “potting media” used to fill a raised bed? What type of fertilizer should you use? How much and when? Take a deep breath and relax. You and your plants are going to get through this together.
Step 1: Test your soil
Your plants will get most of the nutrients they need from air and water, and the minerals and organic matter in the soil. Soils vary quite a bit, and soil testing is the surest way to get important baseline data on soil pH (affects nutrient availability), nutrient levels, organic matter content, and the amount of lead (Pb) present. After carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, the nutrients needed in the greatest amounts are nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (the primary macro-nutrients), and calcium, magnesium, and sulfur (the secondary macro-nutrients). Basic soil tests also include some micro-nutrients required in very small quantities, such as molybdenum, copper, zinc, and boron.
The lab sends you a report showing which nutrients are in the medium-excessive range (no worries) and which are deficient (you’ll get fertilizer recommendations). Labs don’t test for nitrogen because it changes quickly, moving between organic forms (immobilized inside living organisms) and inorganic forms (mineralized as ammonium and nitrate).
It’s okay to start gardening if you missed Step 1, but try to test your soil sometime between now and the fall.
Step 2: Feed the soil to feed your plants
Soil organic matter is made up of living and dead organisms- plants, bacteria, fungi, earthworms, and countless others. Nutrients, like the nitrogen needed to build proteins, are locked up in organic compounds in living organisms. When plants and animals decompose, these nutrients are transformed into inorganic forms, available for use by plants and soil microbes.
So, soils really do feed plants. Adding organic matter in the form of plant residues, compost, organic mulches, and cover crops will increase soil organic matter levels and ensure a slow and steady supply of plant-available nutrients. Organic matter also improves the structure of the soil, allowing for better movement of air and water, and a better home for plant roots and soil critters.
Vegetable crops, as a group, are “heavy feeders” compared to annual flowers and perennials and compete poorly against scrappy weed species for soil nutrients. They need our help to ensure strong, continuous growth. After carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, nitrogen is the nutrient required by plants in the greatest amount. For each 1% of soil organic matter, about 0.4 lbs. of nitrogen/1,000 sq. ft. is available for plants (conservative estimate). A soil with a 5% level would release about 2 lbs. of nitrogen/1,000 sq. ft. which is a typical nitrogen recommendation for vegetable gardens. The problem is that organic matter may not be able to supply sufficient nutrients at particular times of the season and at particular stages of plant development. Nevertheless, many people with well-established, high organic matter gardens, forego supplemental fertilizers and get large harvests.
Compost is mixed with soil before planting chile pepper. The compost will supply a portion of the nutrients needed for high yields.
Step 3: Types of organic fertilizers
Fertilizers are regulated materials that contain at least one plant nutrient. The nutrient content is guaranteed by the three numbers (e.g., 3-4-3) found on a fertilizer bag or container. Also known as the nutrient analysis, the numbers represent the percentage, by weight, of nitrogen (N), phosphate (P205), and potash (K2O), respectively.
A complete fertilizer contains all three of the primary macro-nutrients. Some fertilizers contain only one or two of the three major nutrients, such as nitrate of soda (16-0-0), a good choice when your soil test indicates high levels of P and K.
Commercial organic fertilizers are relatively low and variable in nutrient content, and typically release nutrients more slowly than synthetic fertilizers. They are also more expensive to buy on a per pound of nutrient basis. Many are made from composted or processed animal and plant waste products, such as fish fertilizers, composted manure, and cottonseed meal. A number of products are blends of several organic ingredients. Some organic fertilizers are inorganic materials (lack a carbon backbone), such as rock phosphate, and sodium nitrate.
Vegetarian or vegan fertilizers are all plant-based, like alfalfa meal and yard waste compost. Some organic fertilizers sold to home gardeners carry OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) certification. Farmers participating in the USDA’s National Organic Program can only use OMRI-certified fertilizers. Gardeners are not restricted in this way.
Some Organic fertilizersNutrient analysisNutrient release rate
Fish emulsion 5-1-1 fast
Bloodmeal 15-1-0 med-fast
Cottonseed meal 6-2-1 med
Alfalfa meal 3-1-2 med
Nitrate of soda 16-0-0 med-fast
Dried poultry litter 4-3-3 med-fast
Mushroom compost 2.5-1.5-1.5 slow
Rock phosphate 0-14-0 very slow
Muriate of potash 0-0-60 med-fast
Nitrate of soda is a mined mineral. Organic farmers can use this particular, single-nutrient fertilizer because it’s OMRI-certified.
This is a complete liquid organic fertilizer that is not OMRI-certified but is safe and effective for organic gardeners.
Step 4: Let’s fertilize!
How much?
Use test results, crop conditions, and product instructions to guide your decisions on how much fertilizer to apply. For example, a new garden with only a moderate amount of organic matter and without the benefit of a soil test report, should be fertilized according to the label directions. You could reduce the amount somewhat if you added a large amount (>2 inches) of compost.
When factoring in nitrogen contributions from compost take into account that only 5-10% of the N is available the first year following application.
In a relatively small garden with just a few plants of several vegetables it is fine to fertilize all crops the same.
Sweet potato, Southern peas, cucumber, okra, squash, and beans need less nitrogen than crops like tomato, pepper, eggplant, broccoli, leafy greens, lettuce, spinach, and sweet corn.
Raised beds and containers, filled with soilless growing media and/or compost, need to be fertilized more regularly depending on the crop and growing conditions.
Experiment with reducing fertilizer amounts and the number of applications once you reach a 5% soil organic matter level.
Think before fertilizing
Excess nitrogen can reduce flowering and fruiting and cause plants to be overly succulent and more vulnerable to sucking insect pests.
Organic gardeners contribute to water pollution when they use excessive amounts of fertilizer and don’t prevent stormwater run-off and soil erosion.
The nutrients in synthetic and organic fertilizers come in the form of salts. If a large amount of any fertilizer remains in direct contact with plant roots, leaves, or stems, you may see some injury symptoms. This “burning” is known as phytotoxicity.
Fertilizer can’t bring a sick plant back to health if the problem is not a nutrient deficiency. Symptoms such as slow growth and low productivity could be caused by many factors including, lack of light, poor soil conditions, limited root system, and weather extremes.
When?
For long-season crops that produce fruits (tomato, pepper) or heads (cabbage, broccoli) you can apply half of the recommended amount of fertilizer right before planting and the other half when fruits start to form.
Early season crops benefit from complete, quick-acting liquid fertilizers, or compost tea. “Starter fertilizers” high in phosphorus (P) are not beneficial because most plants need 4X more nitrogen than phosphorus.
Perennial crops, like asparagus and rhubarb, are fertilized in early spring and after harvest.
Where and how?
Sprinkle dry fertilizer evenly over the area where plants will be growing and not in walkways. Mix it into the top 4 inches of soil.
For vegetables that are spaced far apart, like eggplant, tomato, and squash, mix the fertilizer into the planting hole soil or the area where seeds are planted.
Water the area after fertilizing, especially when fertilizing during hot, dry weather.
“Side-dressing” is applying fertilizer around or alongside established plants (pull back organic mulches first). If possible, gently incorporate the fertilizer into the top 1-2 inches of soil.
Step 5: Fertilizer recommendations from soil test reports
Labs will often recommend urea (46-0-0) as a nitrogen source when phosphorus and potassium levels are high. You can select an organic fertilizer that only contains N (nitrate of soda) or one with an N content much higher than the P and K content (bloodmeal, cottonseed meal).
This U. of DEL soil test report recommends only nitrogen for a vegetable garden that tested “excessive” for other macro-nutrients. Note the very high % of soil organic matter. Labs do not credit the expected nitrogen release from soil organic matter when making fertilizer recommendations.
The soil test report above recommends 1 lbs. of N/1,000 sq. ft. which equals about 2.5 lbs. of urea.
If you decide to use bloodmeal you will need 7.6 lbs. (46% divided by 15% X 2.5).
Cottonseed meal, soybean meal, and alfalfa meal are dry, organic fertilizers with a relatively high N content.
Use simple algebra to convert a synthetic fertilizer recommendation to an organic recommendation.
Example: the recommendation is to apply 20 lbs. of 10-10-10/1,000 sq. ft. and you wish to substitute cottonseed meal (6-2-1).
Divide the percentage of N in the synthetic fertilizer by the percentage of N in the organic fertilizer and multiply by 20:
0.10/0.06 (or 10%/6%) X 20 = 33.3 lbs. of cottonseed meal
Without the benefit of a soil test how do you fertilize a 100 sq. ft. garden with cottonseed meal, a complete organic fertilizer (6-2-1)?
Calculate the amount of the fertilizer product needed by dividing the pounds of N needed by the percentage of N in the product.
Let’s assume we need 2 lbs. of nitrogen per 1,000 sq. ft. or 0.2 lbs. of nitrogen per 100 sq. ft.
0.2 (lbs. of N) divided by 0.06 (% of N in cottonseed meal) = 3.33 lbs./100 sq. ft.
Having a soil very low in P can be a challenge for a strict organic gardener. Rock phosphate (the primary organic P source) has a low P content and is very slow to break down. Superphosphate (0-20-0) and triple superphosphate (0-46-0) fertilizers are made by treating rock phosphate with sulfuric acid and are much faster-acting. These products are available for gardeners but are not allowed for use by organic farmers.
Step 6: Observe, engage, enjoy!
Take notes on your garden this year and record your successes, failures, and ideas.
Other than because I think they are pretty, I love looking at plants and their flowers. In fact, one of my pastimes has become figuring where and what is the reward that pollinators get out of their visits to their favorite flowers. You may be now thinking that my pastime is a bit nonsensical, since it is pretty clear that pollinators get pollen and nectar from flowers, so why bother checking? Well, actually, that is only partially true; did you know there’s a myriad of rewards that pollinators can get from their flower visits?
In today’s post I want to tell you a bit about some of those other rewards; the ones that fascinate me so much. Let’s talk about special floral pollination rewards and where you can see them in real life!
We like essential oils, some pollinators like floral oils!
The first time I heard about floral oils my mind was blown in such a way that I became obsessed with them, to the point that now a large part of my research programfocuses on them. Floral oils are a reward that many types of plants offer to their favorite pollinators: oil-bees.
But don’t let me get ahead of myself! Floral oils are a special type of oil – different from essential oils – that are produced and presented to pollinators on different parts of the flowers of some plants. Independently of what exactly they look like, all these plants are visited and pollinated in a very specialized way by oil-bees. Unlike honeybees, these oil-bees are solitary and make their nests in the ground. These oils help these bees line their nests to waterproof (!!) and strengthen them. Along with that, they also mix the oils with pollen and feed that ‘pollen ball’ to their larvae.
The whorled yellow loosestrife (left; photo: Eli Sagor) is one of Maryland’s native plants that offers floral oils to their Macropis oil-bees (right; photo: Don Harvey). Note the shiny load of oils and pollen on the hind legs of this Macropis!
Oil flowers are present all around the globe. In our region, they are represented by several species of the yellow loosetrife plant genus Lysimachia. With their floral oil rewards, these loosestrifes sustain the rare oil-bees of the genus Macropis. At the level of the country, most oil-flowers (and their specialized pollinators) are restricted to the Southern USA, where they are visited by the large bee genus Centris. Some of these plants are the wild crapemyrtle, the prairie bur, and the purple pleatleaf.
Hungry? Please, help yourself!
Along with nectar, pollen, and floral oils, food for pollinators can come in many different shapes and forms. In fact, some flowers even offer parts of their flowers to their pollinators. In cases like this, flowers develop special structures – usually around their petals – with the only function of becoming food for pollinators. Flowers providing this type of reward are usually pollinated by beetles, who can use their strong mandibles to chew on and eat the special structures.
Sweet shrubs display nutritious structures to their pollinators, small sap-feeding beetles of the family Nitidulidae. Photo: Wikipedia commons.
One of the coolest examples of the use of this type of reward is our very own sweet shrub, Calycanthus floridus. This spring flowering plant (flowering right now in Maryland!) attracts small beetles that enter the flower and stay there for quite some time. To maintain and support them while they are helping the plant reproduce, the sweet shrub flowers englobes them during parts of their flowering (this is why sometimes these flowers seem to be opening and closing throughout the day) and present small extremely nutritious structures at the base of their petals. It is on these structures that the beetles can feed on to stay strong and healthy while they are on the flowers. If you have one of these flowers in your yard, or happen to see them in one of your walks, take a second to stop and check them; you may get to meet their little beetle friends!
Need a hand taking care of the kids? Here I am!
Some other flowers have established even more intricate relationships with their pollinators, and what they provide is not just food, but also a house! Because in these plants the offered reward is a place for the larvae of these pollinators, these interactions are called ‘nursery pollination’. Here, the pollinator visits the plants, collects pollen, and sometimes even actively places pollen on the flower tip. By doing so, the pollinator makes sure that the plant seeds develop. This is important, because their larvae will need some of them to feed on throughout their development.
Joshua trees (left; photo: Shawn Kinkade) are some of the most iconic plants of the US Southwest. These plants offer a brood site to their super-specialized small moth pollinators (right; photo: Judy Gallagher).
Along with this being the reward we see in a plant we love to eat (figs!), one of the most spectacular examples of the use of this reward is found in an iconic plant of the deserts of the US Southwest, the Joshua tree. Indeed, Joshua trees produce flowers that are visited by a group of moths, the Yucca moths. These moths visit the flowers, collect their pollen, and then literally push it into the flower tip to actively pollinate it. Because the moths lay eggs on the flowers, this assures that the flower develops seeds so the larvae have something to feed on. What is fascinating, though, is that these larvae never eat all the seeds, so this really is a win-win relationship between the plant and the moth.
Larvae of the Yucca moths feed on a Joshua tree’s seeds. To make sure that there is something for their larvae to eat, these moths actively pollinate the plants, exchanging a brood site for pollination, and in the process display some of the most fascinating behaviors one can see in pollinators. Check out the video to see it for yourself! Video: University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
By Anahí Espíndola, Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park. See more posts by Anahí.
While it seems that everything in our world is different today than it was two months ago, one thing hasn’t changed — nature! Maryland’s stay-at-home order has given everyone the opportunity to explore their natural surroundings and given them the itch to garden to relieve tension and do something productive.
So what do University of Maryland Extension horticulturists do to stay grounded during ‘gardentine?’ Just like you, we take pictures of our flowers, gardening projects, and all things nature and send them to each other, natch!
Stephanie got us started by wishing us a happy Earth Day!
Stephanie and I went on a socially distant walk, participating in the City Nature Challenge iNaturalist project for the Baltimore area. Here are a few of the 53 species we identified for the project. Not too shabby!
Scroll over or click on the images to see the plant names.
Bloodroot with seed pod (Sanguinaria canadensis)
Dame’s rocket (Hesperis matronalis)
Blackhaw viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium)
Yellow morel (Morchella esculenta)
Sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis)
Sassafras in flower (Sassafras albidum)
One of my neighbors really upped the game by providing informational signs along the sidewalk for everyone’s enjoyment! Thanks, Kathy!
Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
Golden ragwort (Packera aurea)
Christa started her “Sketches from the Yard” journal on the 10th day of quarantine. She says drawing, painting, and writing about her observations around the yard and garden is a creative thing she can do at home and is something that helps her relax during these strange times.
“When I look at the details of a plant and try to document it, it gets my mind off the coronavirus news for a while and helps me focus on what is still normal and beautiful around me. I have appreciated my garden harvests of fresh greens, herbs, and even a few carrots that survived our mild winter. And the new tulips I planted last fall were delightful to see in bloom! At the end of this project, I will have a record of my garden and how meaningful it was to me as a place of serenity during this quarantine time.”
Two tulips in watercolor
Carrots in watercolor
Ranunculus in watercolor
She is quite the garden journalist! You can follow her on Instagram @mrscarignan.
Debbie is growing microgreens in a salad box on her balcony.
Half of the box is arugula and half is lettuce that has just started to germinate. Proving that you don’t need a lot of space to grow some of your own food! Photo: D. Ricigliano
This is what a salad box can look like when it’s ready for the first harvest. Yes, you can get multiple harvests from salad greens. Photo: HGIC
Miri has quite the impressive indoor garden! The ridiculous volume of houseplants keeps her sane! (Her words, not mine!) Maybe Miri will write a blog post featuring her various mini orchids and Tillandsias and include the routine she uses to keep them all so happy! (Hint hint!) She also entertains herself by secretly diagnosing plant problems on walks through the neighborhood. No photo evidence of that here!
Miri’s basement set up including a 40 year old wooden plant stand.
Tillandsia funckiana (Ya gotta love that name!)
Tillandsia ionantha ‘Druid’
Bulbophyllum pumilio, a type of orchid
Haraella odorata, an orchid with a slight citrus scent
Marian is helping her daughter plant a salad box from a distance by sharing the Home & Garden Information Center’s salad box instructions. See how you can build and plant a salad box or a salad table too!
I can see that Marian is also using a floating row cover to protect those seedlings from frost and/or marauding squirrels and chipmunks! Photo: M. Hengemihle
Jon has a huge and very productive garden every year! He always gets his garlic planted in the fall.
This spring the garlic tips have turned yellow either from the cold or the beginning of his perennial problems with white rot and bulb mites. Oh no! Photo: J. Traunfeld
Jon also grows his own seedlings every year and generously supplies the office with baby plants! Thanks, Jon!
Here is Jon’s light stand setup. He’s growing downy mildew resistant ‘Prospera’ basil, many varieties of pepper, tomato, eggplant, zinnia, and tithonia. Photo: J. Traunfeld
Wanda enjoys tending her orchids indoors.
She soaks them in a container of water for about 10 minutes every 2 weeks in the winter and once a week when it gets warm. Photo: W. MacLachlan
Wanda has lovely gardens outdoors too.
Here she and her husband are revamping their raised garden beds in an attempt to exclude deer, raccoons, groundhogs, rabbits and (fingers crossed) chipmunks! When finished, these 3 raised beds will be in a closed cage. Stay tuned for a progress report! Note from Wanda: The dark piles in the 2 beds are castings from her indoor vermicomposting project. Wow! Photo: W. MacLachlan
Jean has a passion for pink and her houseplants prove it!
Luckily, she has a south-facing window so she gets a lot of light. For the succulents, she mixes potting soil with some perlite and avoids overwatering. High sun exposure and good drainage is key to her healthy and happy houseplants! Photo: J. Burchfield
Prayer plant (Maranta leuconeura)
‘Pink Princess’ Philodendron cutting
Hoya carnosa ‘Krimson Princess’
Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema sp.)
Ria – I sheltered in place for part of the last 6 weeks at the home where I grew up in Virginia. I went on several walks taking photos of things in bloom, but I needed to get my hands in the dirt! I had assured Jon in February that I was absolutely not going to create another garden to manage there. He had a good laugh when he saw the photos of my new garden! So much for my resolve, I needed to garden!
For the last 40 years, only daffodils and a perennial hibiscus have grown in the small triangle of space bordered by the split rail fencing, if you don’t count that sneaky Bermuda grass. If you look closely, you might be able to see the pomegranate that I got in Colonial Williamsburg about 5 years ago. It has never even bloomed, let alone produced fruit!
To create the new 24’ x 12’ kitchen garden, I killed the grass (mostly Bermuda grass and various other weeds), spread thick layers of newspaper over the area and covered it with soil that had been excavated to install French drains. Photo: R. Malloy
Then I spread ten bags (2 cu. ft. each) of media labeled for raised beds in 3 rows each about 2.5’ wide, leaving room for a path between each row. I mulched between the rows and around the perimeter of the garden with wood chips from 3 tree stumps that we ground up last summer. I made sure not to incorporate the wood chips into the soil with the plants. Photo: R. Malloy
I planted a variety of herbs, sweet cherry and grape tomatoes, salad greens, and flowers to attract pollinators. Photo: R. Malloy
My husband extended the split rail border. I surrounded the garden with green plastic covered wire mesh fencing to deter the rabbits and groundhogs. I am under no illusions that it will really prevent them from getting in! At some point I will need to add a solar powered electric fence like the one I have in Maryland. Photo: R. Malloy
Please join us by taking time each day to connect in some way with nature and stay grounded during ‘gardentine’ and beyond!
By Ria Malloy, Program Coordinator, Home & Garden Information Center, University of Maryland Extension
If your azaleas, rhododendrons, and other spring-flowering shrubs are growing too large, prune them after they bloom.
Thin out interior boxwood branches to improve air circulation and reduce disease problems such as volutella canker. Also, look out for boxwood blight.
Move houseplants outdoors after the danger of frost has passed. To avoid sunscald, first place them in a shady location and over a period of two weeks or so to gradually introduce them to more sunlight.
Pinch the blooms from flower and vegetable transplants before you set them out. This will help direct the plants’ energies to root development and will result in more productive plants. Gently break up the roots of root-bound transplants before planting.
