August 21, 2007
What's in this Issue:
#1 Master Gardening Tips#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 Plant Disease
#9 Feedback - Anonymous
#1 Master Gardening Tips
Shade Gardening
Having tall or dense trees on your property does not stop you from having beautiful gardens. It only gives you the opportunity to start a shade garden. Just imagine, on a hot summer day, doing your gardening work in the shade.
NOTE: The best way to cope with low light levels is to choose plants that do well in less light.
Planting the right plants in the right area of your property will ensure beautiful gardens. You’ll need to consider 2 factors in doing this:
1- How well does a particular plant do in your region according to the hardiness growth zone map?
2- Is your garden in the direct sunlight, full shade, or partial shade?
Shade can have a big impact on a plants adaptation to a region. For example, plants that normally won’t grow in a warmer region may do well if planted in the shade. You create a micro-environment that is different than in the open direct sunlight.
Plants need sun to survive. Question: Why are some plants able to do well in low light conditions? Answer: They are genetically adapted to be more efficient in photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process where chlorophyll absorbs light and uses it as energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into nutrition.
The 2 primary types of shade in your yard are full shade and partial shade. Note: Keep in mind that shade patterns change with the seasons. An area that has light shade in the summer may have full sun in the spring or fall. Conversely, an area that has full sun in the summer when the sun is high, might have partial shade in the spring or fall when the sun is at a lower angle in the sky.
Pest Control:
Although you may have fewer weeds because of the poor lighting conditions, you’ll still have to contend with certain pest. Most common pest for shade gardens are slugs, snails, root weevils, and deer.
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#2 Lynne's Backyard Gardening Tips
Newspaper Mulch
If you’re sick of weeds that keep coming back, try newspaper for mulch. Newspaper as mulch helps regulate the temperature of the soil and conserve moisture, so you’ll save time and water. Whether you're growing tomatoes or hollyhocks, pesky weeds often pose problems. If weeds seem to sprout faster than you can pull them, one easy and inexpensive way to keep them at bay is to use newspapers for mulch.
When mulching with newspapers, the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends using a layer of newspapers that’s about a quarter-inch thick. You should use black and white pages, because some of the colored inks may be harmful to your plants.
Using organic ingredients in your mulch combination will help boost the nutrients in your soil. You can be creative with the ingredients you mix on top of your layer of newspapers—just make sure the materials haven’t been treated with herbicides.
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#3 New Gardening Product of-the-Month
Dual-Flo
This is really a cool new product you have to see. Use your search engine and type Dual-Flo to find the web address. Bascially, the Dual-Flo allows you to simultaneously use a sprayer and an open end hose feature (or one at a time without changing nozzles. You simply turn a knob on the Dual-Flo to control it. Now you can seamlessly go from spraying something to soft watering a plant or filling a bucket without the extra effort.
The Dual-Flo is made of a heavy duty cast aluminum so all parts are corrosion resistant. It also allows for a full 1/2 inch of water for faster filling of reciprocals while other nozzles only allow 3/8 inch water flow.
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#4 Odd & Strange Gardening News
Rafflesia arnoldii
The Rafflesia arnoldii is known for producing the largest “individual flower” on earth (3 feet and can weigh 24 pounds). There are some other flowering plants that appear bigger but are actually clusters of many flowers. This unusually large flower occurs in the jungles of Southeast Asia, including the Philippines.Rafflesia arnoldii lives as a parasite on the Testrastigma vine as its host. This flower lacks any observable leaves, roots, or even stems. Likened to fungi, Rafflesia individuals grow as thread-like strands of tissue completely embedded within and in intimate contact with surrounding host cells from which nutrients and water are obtained.
Rafflesia arnoldii attain massive proportions and are usually reddish-brown and stink of rotting flesh. The flower is pollinated by flies attracted by its scent. Rafflesia arnoldii is rare and fairly hard to locate. It is especially difficult to see in flower; the buds take many months to develop and the flower lasts for just a few days.
How many of these strange plants still survive is unknown, but as the remaining primary forests of Borneo and Sumatra disappear, it can only be assumed that their numbers are dwindling. Many are known to be nearing extinction.
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#5 Great Plant of the Month
Sundrops
Sundrops thrive in full sun and can do well in sandy soil including rock gardens. This hardy perennial can take the heat and drought very well but can become aggressive in the garden especially if you have rich soil.Additional Information:
USDA Zones: 3 - 8
Light: sun
Height: 1 to 3 feet
Width: 3 feet
Flower Colors: sunny yellow and soft pink are the most common; also red, white
Bloom Time: late spring - summer
Special Features:
* Easy to Grow
* Fast Growing
* US Native/Wildflower
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#6 Invasive Plant of-the-Month
Common Teasel
An erect biennial with small prickles on the stem and distinctive spiny flower heads. Common teasel may reach 6 1/2 feet in height and is primarily a weed of roadsides, pastures, hayfields, and occasionally rosettes can be found in turfgrass. This weed is found throughout the United States.
Native To: Europe
Date of U.S. Introduction: 1700s
Means of Introduction: Accidentally through contaminated seed
Impact: Crowds out native species
Current U.S. Distribution: Entire U.S.
Teasel is an aggressive exotic species that has the capacity to take over prairies and savannas if it is allowed to become established. Lack of natural enemies allows teasel to proliferate. If left unchecked, teasel quickly can form large monocultures excluding all native vegetation.
A single teasel plant can produce over 2,000 seeds. Depending on conditions, up to 30-80% of the seeds will germinate, so each plant can produce many offspring. Seeds also can remain viable for at least 2 years. Seeds typically don't disperse far; most seedlings will be located around the parent plant.
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#7 Garden Pest of-the-Month
Whiteflies
Whiteflies are tiny, soft bodied insects. They are not true flies. Whiteflies derive their name from white, waxy substances secreted by special glands on their abdomen. The adults coat their bodies, particularly their wings, with this wax-hence the name "whiteflies."
Whiteflies can seriously injure plants by sucking juices from them causing wilting, stunting, or even death. Whiteflies also secrete a sticky substance called honeydew. This material can coat any object, leaves, fruit, windshields, concrete walks, etc. on which it falls. In addition, several molds, collectively called "sooty molds" because of their black appearance, can grow on this honeydew resulting in an unsightly, sticky mess. Sooty mold can make fruit unmarketable and can block sunlight from reaching the leaf surface thus reducing photosynthesis.
Whitefly adults can also transmit several viruses from diseased to healthy plants. These viruses are important mainly in commercial agriculture, but plants in backyard gardens and the landscape can also be effected. Some of the more popular whiteflies include:
-> Greenhouse Whitefly -> Silverleaf Whitefly -> Sweetpotato Whitefly -> Ash Whitefly -> Bandedwinged Whitefly -> Iris Whitefly -> Giant Whitefly
Whiteflies are attacked by a number of predators and parasitoids. Whitefly nymphs are eaten by green lacewings, lady bugs, minute pirate bugs, big eyed bugs, and damsel bugs. In addition, whiteflies are frequently attacked by a number of native and introduced parasites. University of California scientists discovered a tiny parasitic wasp that feeds on the developing nymphs. This wasp has been released throughout the state and ash whitefly is now largely under effective biological control.
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#8 Plant Disease
Nematodes
Nematodes injure lawns & plants by feeding on plant root cells with their needle-like mouth parts (stylets). The root system becomes damaged to the point where the lawn cannot properly absorb water and nutrients. The plants becomes thin and weak, making it much more susceptible to other stresses, such as drought.
Nematodes are the most abundant and ubiquitous multicellular organisms on earth. They are found from the bottom of the deepest ocean to near the tops of the highest mountains, from the tropics to polar regions, and from every conceivable habitat. Nematodes are also found in or on most other types of organisms as parasites, commensals or phoretics: everything from earthworms, insects, molluscs, fish, reptiles birds, mammals to humans.
Nematodes impact on human economies in many ways: from loss of agricultural production, to pasture and turf damage, to invasion of forest trees, to adverse effects on the health of wild and domestic animals and humans. In addition to causing losses, there are many beneficial effects of nematodes: controlling soil nutrient cycling and controlling harmful species.
There are approximately 20,000 known species of roundworms (nematodes). Furthermore, there are many thousands of individual nematodes in just a single handful of garden soil. Some species of roundworm / nematodes may contain more than 27 million eggs and lay more than 200,000 of them in a single day.
Note: It has been estimated by some scientist there may be as many as 500,000 more unknown species of roundworm / nematodes yet to be discovered. Many nematodes are able to suspend their life processes completely when conditions become unfavorable; in these resistant states they can survive extreme drying, heat, or cold, and then return to life when favorable conditions return.
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