What's in this Issue:

#2 Lynne's Backyard Gardening Tips

#3 New Gardening Product of-the-Month

#4 Odd & Strange Gardening News

#5 Great Plant of the Month

#6 Invasive Plant of-the-Month

#7 Garden Pest of-the-Month

#8 Feedback - Anonymous

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Option #2:---> Read a {Text with Photos} version and Full articles

#1 Master Gardening Tips

Fall Gardening

As fall draws near it is time to begin thinking about what needs to be done to your plants, flowers, tress and shrubs to make sure they are winter ready. This is when you plan for the next spring by preparing your garden, protecting plants, maintaining gardening equipment, among other things.

There are different reasons for interest in Fall Gardening.

{1} You really want to grow some veggies, plants or flowers in the fall.

{2} You are preparing bulbs, seeds and perennials for the spring.

{3} You are buttoning down the garden to protect things over the winter.

{4} You are cleaning up & setting the stage for a fresh start next spring.

Depending on what country you live in (and what specific region within your country) changes in seasons occur at different times, rates, and manners. You can consult such maps as the USDA Pant Hardiness Zones Maps, or other worldwide reference guides to determine your exact climatic conditions.

The great thing about treating your gardens on a regional basis is that you can know what to plant when. It all varies and eventually you’ll reach the time of the year to “Put Your Gardens to Bed”.

#2 Lynne's Backyard Gardening Tips

Perennial Hanging Baskets

Use a variety of perennials to create a hanging basket that you can use from year to year. Last year I used Lamb’s ears, Lantana, Johnny Jump-Ups and added an asparagus fern in the spring when I was ready to hang up my baskets for immediate impact.

Try to vary the flowers bloom time so that you can have instant color and then color all summer. You can add whatever annuals you like once you have the basic perennials established.

In the winter, I just put the baskets right in my flower garden so that they would be in their natural environment. In the spring, I just picked off the dead leaves, pulled out what soil I could, added new soil, planted a few annuals and hung them up. The Lamb’s ears were already nice, as well as the Johnny Jump-Ups.

By the end of the second season, you will probably need to remove some of the plants and plant elsewhere (maybe a perennial flower box). Make sure you fertilize as usual during the growing season. I found that because they were perennials, I did not have to water my baskets everyday because they were already adapted to dry conditions. I tried to choose ones that were basically drought tolerant.

#3 New Gardening Product of-the-Month

Ultimate Digging Tool

We recently attended a gardening trade show in Atlanta, GA and came across this amazing tool and company. W.W. Manufacturing Company (www.wwmfg.com) makes several tools of uncommon high quality. The particular tool featured “the Lesche Digging Tool” has an interesting success story from 9-11-2001 in New York City.

New York Firemen and other clean-up personnel were using a variety of imported hand tools to help dig but had poor results with tools breaking and bending. A local Fireman from Long Island was having great success with the Lesche Digging Tool which did not break or bend under the heavy stress loads. The result was the eventual order of over 1,200 tools.

The ultimate digging tool...does the job of trowel, knife and tiller. It is used for landscaping, metal detecting, camping and nursery use. The list could go on for users of this well-designed tool. Razor-sharp serrated teeth along edge of blade quickly cuts through roots, weeds, vines and sod. Use the knife blade on the other side for cutting burlap, weed mat or twine. Blade is welded to the handle at a right angle to give you better leverage when prying and digging up hard packed soil. An alloy steel blade is heat treated and tempered for long edge life and resists rust. Included with this great product is a Cordurra nylon belt holster to safely carry the tool at your side. It also has a very comfortable vinyl handle for a sure grip.

#4 Odd & Strange Gardening News

Giant Corpse Flower

The Corpse Flower is native to Sumatra, an island in the Indonesia. It thrives at the edges of rainforest near open grassland. This flower grows well under a thin canopy to get both the benefits of the rainforest as well as sunlight. Also, there is enough space for the plant portion to grow 20 feet high, 15 feet across, and 170 pounds in weight.

For all its grandeur, the actual flower only stays for 2 days on average and then disappears for another 1-3 years.

#5 Great Plant of the Month

Lantana Flowers

There are many colors of Lantana including white, yellow, purple, pink and orange and even red. Because Lantana is so vigorous and drought tolerant, it makes it an ideal plant for containers.

For those of you looking for a flower to add to your butterfly garden, this festive plant is a must, it will be covered all day long with butterflies, bees, and even hummingbirds.

#6 Invasive Plant of-the-Month

Purple Loosestrife

Purple Loosestrife is one of those flowers that is considered a “Weed” because it is so invasive everywhere it gets established. It is actually a wetland (perennial) herb that grows from 6-8 feet in height. It does best in the following places:

• Sunny wetlands
• Around ponds and ditches
• Wet prairies
• Along streams
• Moist fields and pastures

Purple Loosestrife is a problem because of it’s aggressive growth ability. A single plant can produce up to 300,000 seeds which are distributed by animals, water, and wind.

This plant is so aggressive that it crowds out native plants that are used as food for wildlife. To make matters worse, it can destroy marshes and wet prairies and completely choke off waterways.

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#7 Garden Pest of-the-Month

Slugs - Garden Pest

Slugs are really pretty disgusting little creatures that love to feed on the plants in your yard or gardens. They eat large ragged holes in the leaves of your plants and can also completely consume young seedlings. Slugs go into action and begin feeding early in the spring and will continue to do so throughout the growing season until the first frost.

Slugs have both the male & female sex organs and each carry eggs in their own bodies. They can lay up to 300 eggs at any time but do so mostly in the spring or fall. The eggs come in clusters of 25 and hatch in about 30 days. If conditions are not just right the eggs will remain unhatched until conditions are just right.

In little time these slimy creatures can multiply and become a real problem. Slugs reach adult size in 3-12 months and can live for several years. Although they need substantial moisture, they are survivors and can burrow as deep as 3 feet into the soil to make it through a drought period.

There are many methods for controlling slugs. One popular slug buster is the use of beer. Really, they love the fermentation and will drink, become intoxicated, and drown. And believe it or not, they have a preference in their beers. The top 3 according to a study by Colorado State University are: #1- Kingsbury Malt Beverage; #2- Michelob; #3- Budweiser.

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