- Author: Harold Mc Donald
I don't know if it's an American thing or a universal trait, but we all seem to love an underdog, and I've always had a special place in my heart for the perennially underappreciated ornamental grasses. Like Rodney Dangerfield, they just don't get the respect they deserve!
Every day of the winter I am reminded that these stalwart members provide much of the interest in my garden during the offseason. In our climate, nearly nothing besides conifers stays green year round. Many bushes that retain their leaves in milder climes lose them in the Eastern Sierra. Though these skeletons can have their own subdued appeal, a landscape of endless gray is not terribly exciting. Dried grasses provide touches of yellow, orange, and even red to an otherwise drab winter landscape. The setting sun sparkles through their golden inflorescences, and nothing is quite as beautiful as a new carpet of snow lying at their feet.
They provide a unique vertical element in the garden. A mass planting of grasses makes a great backdrop for flowers and other forbs in the warmer season. Their green luxuriance is the very essence of summer. And they come in all sizes, so there's a place for ornamental grasses in any garden area.
Grasses provide more year-round interest in the garden than anything else I can think of, and yet they are relatively carefree. When most people think of grass, they picture a lawn. What could require more work than turf grass? Endless hours of watering, fertilizing, and mowing. Ugh! But unlike their thirsty cousins, many ornamental grasses are relatively xeric, and during the growing season all you have to do is give them a bit of water, step back and let ‘em grow. And grow they do, once things heat up! We all know about the prodigious growth rate of bamboo, like the rest of the grasses, a member of the family Poacaeae.
The only downside to ornamental grasses is their very considerable upside—they can be too successful! Most ornamental grasses grow in clumps, from the inside out, so the centers tend to die off after a few years. By digging them up and dividing them, you are rejuvenating the plant. Give your grasses a “hair cut” once new growth begins in the spring. Every few years, dig up the plants, divide them, discard the dead bits, and you'll have dozens of new grasses to plant or share with friends. With smaller grasses like Festuca glauca (blue fescue), this is a relatively minor task.
On the other hand, dividing something like Miscanthus sinensis is not for the faint of heart, and special tools may be required. Just getting the root ball out of the ground may be a two-person job! After many years of backbreaking work, I've found that the best way to divide these monsters is with a reciprocating saw (sometimes called a Sawzall). I bought a corded one last year for less than $50 and it was a lifesaver. If you already have a chain saw, you could even use that! Here's a video that illustrates how power tools can be used to transform a previously impenetrable mass of roots into dozens of healthy new plants.
Next time we'll cover some of the best ornamental grasses for the Eastern Sierra. Stay tuned!
- Author: Jan Rhoades
To provide a good home for our plants we need to incorporate some organic matter, usually compost – but not an overload – just the right amounts over time contribute to long term soil fertility, good soil structure and increase the soil's capacity to hold water and air.
All those amendments have their place and their purpose. What are you looking for? How much do you need? How is this product applied? What's in it? Keep in mind that this is an annual event, or even a seasonal event if your gardening season is long and you plant crops successively. Someone once said, “Begin with the end in mind.”
There are organic fertilizers such as compost, aged manure, rock phosphate, soybean meal, and fish meal, and there are inorganic fertilizers that are available either as a single nutrient or multi-nutrient product. These fertilizers can be slow release providing nutrition over time or soluble like an athlete's energy drink, providing quick nutritional value.
Most soil has some residual nutrients, however, only a soil test can assess what is there. Fertilizing without the results of a soil test is like eating everything in the pantry hoping to get the nutrition you need. Additionally, this practice can exacerbate an existing problem or imbalance. A soil test will also tell you the pH which, if too high or too low, can affect the uptake of nutrients present in the soil.
A soil test is a good place to begin to understand what kind of amendments might be needed to build your soil. Generally, DIY kits are not as reliable as sending a soil sample to be analyzed by professionals.
We all want to be thrifty, however, there are a few things you should never add to your garden soil:
- Un-decomposed wood chips or sawdust – these materials are high in carbon but lack enough nitrogen to decompose quickly – so they use up nitrogen that plants want and need.
- Fresh manure can harm plants due to elevated ammonia levels. – Use only aged, composted manure that has reached at least two heating cycles (130-140 degrees F) Also, know that nitrogen levels in composted manure are low and phosphorus and potassium levels are higher – so adjustments will have to be made. Also, salt levels will be higher.
A good way to remember all this is that fertilizers feed plants and compost feeds the soil. Nutrients alone cannot keep plants healthy if they are living in poor soil. Compost improves the mobility of air, water in the soil, and makes nutrients more available to plants.
Finally, there is such a thing as too much compost and too much fertilizer. Armed with the results of your soil test, you will be able to make wise choices about what to buy, how much to use, and when to apply it. When in doubt, a good quality all purpose composted soil amendment and an all purpose fertilizer are probably a reasonable way to get started. Of course, be sure to use them as directed on the bag.
For more in depth information on soil and composting be sure to use the links on the website. This year, biggest tomatoes ever – right??
Harvesting Castings from your Worm Bin
After about three to six months of being fed, compost worms will have created enough compost to harvest. In this two bin system, when your bin is getting full you are ready to add the next layer of bin, nesting it on top. This works because you will stop feeding in the lower bin, and add food to the top bin. As a result, many worms migrate to the top bin through the air holes in the bottom of that bin.
To Start The Second Bin:
- Remove bedding and any uneaten food scraps you find and place in the upper bin. If you are using a system with only one bin, reserve the bedding and uneaten food to put back into the original bin.
- Many worms will be in the top third of the bin with compost. You can also take some of this compost with worms and transfer to the upper bin.
- Ensure a one inch layer of bedding in the upper bin, as before.
- Start feeding in the top bin. After about a week or so, many of the remaining worms in the lower bin will have moved to the upper bin. Some worms, however, don't like change and will stay in the lower bin reworking the compost.
To Harvest Compost:
- Dump the contents of the lower bin onto newspaper or plastic.
- From the pile you have dumped out, separate the compost into sections, making cone shaped piles.
- Worms do not want to be in the light: worms left in this compost will move away from the light, toward the bottom of each pile.
- Gently remove the top layer of compost from each pile, until you start to see worms.
- Let the worms continue to move to the bottom of the pile, and gently remove more compost from each pile.
- Working in about 20 minute increments, you will be left with piles that are mostly compost worms.
- Put your compost worms back into the bin, with the reserved paper and food.
- There may still be some worms in the compost you've harvested. In most environments they will not last long in the garden, but you will have retained the majority of worms to keep your bin working.
Using Worm Compost
Now that you have harvested the castings you have a nutrient rich soil amendment to feed to your plants. By adding this compost to your garden or to house plants you will help your plants thrive. These castings will help condition your soil and also add nutrients and beneficial microorganisms. When first harvested, the compost is damp, lumpy and clay like. This can be added to the garden right away or you can let it dry out to store. When dry it becomes a fine grained product that you can sprinkle at the base of plants. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind:
- Add up to 20% vermicompost into potting mix or garden soil.
- Sprinkle a layer at the base of plants; do not pile up against plant stems.
- Cover with soil or mulch to keep from blowing away.
I hope you enjoy the process of creating this healthy, rich soil amendment from scraps. Using compost worms is very easy, the process a wonderful way to dispose of garbage, and a great way to create compost, it is a beautiful dark soil conditioner that will help feed and nurture your plants.
References
Cheap & Easy Worm bin. http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Easywormbin.htm.
Cornell Composting http://compost.css.cornell.edu/worms/steps.html
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Note: Part 1 published February 12, 2016.
Vermicomposting, Bin Set Up
Washington State University Whatcom County Extension ”Cheap and Easy Worm Bin.” See references for the website. I spent sixteen dollars on these two bins. They are super easy to create by drilling holes for air in the two bins and one of the lids. Many other containers will work, just keep in mind that the worms need air, and darkness; don't pick clear containers.
Compost worms live in leaf litter, as opposed to earthworms that burrow in the soil. There are many suppliers of compost worms (see references) and to start, about 1000 worms, roughly a pound will work fine in this size bin. The worms will reproduce to the capacity of the bin. If you've tried the bait shops, likely you found only night crawlers for sale. Night crawlers cannot survive on vegetable waste and will not thrive in your bin.
To create good conditions for the worms, shredded newspaper, or other paper will work as the bedding for compost worms. Follow these steps to set up your bin:
Rinse bin, to ensure the bin is clean.
Tear newspaper into strips about 1” wide. Avoid colored print, which may have ink that is toxic to the worms.
Dampen newspaper strips by placing in a large plastic bag and adding water until the bedding feels like a wrung out damp sponge. If the strips get too wet, add more paper.
Add the paper strips to the bin and fluff up. Do not pack down; you want to provide air for the worms to live in the bedding. Add enough fluffed up paper to fill the bin up to 3/4 full.
Sprinkle about 2 cups of soil into the bin. Worms use the soil grit to grind up their food, and the soil adds useful micro organisms.
Add compost worms: put in under the paper shreds.
Bury food scraps under the bedding. See food list. Smaller pieces are more readily eaten by the worms.
Start slow, generally worms can consume about 3 times their weight, per week. If you start with a pound of worms, then you can feed about 3 pounds of food scraps per week.
Cover the bin with the lid that has air holes.
The other lid can be used under the bin to catch any drips.
Place bin away from windows and heaters. Temperatures around 55 to 70 degrees work well. If the temperature is ok for you, it's ok for the compost worms. If outside, secure from animals digging in the bin.
Feeding: feed compost worms scraps from your food preparation; vegetable scraps, rinds, non-greasy leftovers.
Do feed:
Vegetable scraps
Fruit scraps, and peels. Apple cores, skins etc.
Tea & teabags, if paper.
Coffee grounds and filters.
Crushed egg shells.
Paper napkins and towels
Bread and grains, careful not to bury grains they may heat up if covered.
Do not feed:
Be careful of too much citrus, no more than 1/5 th of feed.
Onions, garlic, both considered too pungent for compost worms.
Meats, fish.
Dairy foods.
Bin maintenance:
Compost worms also consume the paper bedding. After the initial set up, keep a 1” layer of bedding on top, adding more as needed.
If the contents seem too wet, add more dry paper.
If the contents seem too dry, mist with water.
Fluff up the bedding once a week to keep the bedding from becoming dense.
If the bin begins to have a bad odor, you may be adding too much food. Fluff up again, and stop feeding for a while to let the worms catch up on their eating.
Check each week to see how well the worms are going through the amount of food you are giving and adjust accordingly.
Worm composting is a wonderful environmentally friendly way to dispose of garbage; it is especially suited to processing kitchen scraps. Worm compost is rich in nutrients and is an excellent soil conditioner. Offices and schools may also use worm bins to reduce paper waste and turn garbage into garden gold.
For further information, check the next article on Harvesting Worm Compost.
References:
Cheap & Easy Worm bin. http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Easywormbin.htm.
Cornell Composting http://compost.css.cornell.edu/worms/steps.html
To get an idea of worm suppliers check:
http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/organics/worms/WormSupply.htm
We have all fought the squash bug and lost the battle. This bug is the most serious enemy of our growing successful squash and pumpkin in the USA. The squash bug is only found from Canada to South America. Both adults and nymphs damage plants by sucking juices out of the leaves. The leaves then lose nutrients and water, become speckled, then yellow, then brown, and finally, the plant totally wilts. The squash bug also injects a toxin that expedites the plant's withering and death.
The squash bug has an ongoing life cycle. The adults we failed to eliminate last season will pass the winter under whatever shelter they can find - leaves, boards, stones, or debris. They will re-emerge as soon as the weather warms up (yes, just about the time those vulnerable baby squash plants are emerging). The adults mate soon after re-emerging and begin laying eggs in groups of a dozen or more. These eggs hatch in 10-14 days, and it only takes these new nymphs 4-6 weeks to reach maturity. So, all stages can be observed simultaneously throughout the season. How in the world do we control these multiplying monsters?
Let's just say that planning for control begins way before you plant the first seed. The very first line of defense includes several Systemic Strategies. Sanitation is a key measure. If adults over-winter under debris, get rid of all those hiding places. Next, plan to plant this year's crop where no squash or pumpkin grew last year; rotate your crops. While the bugs are quite capable of traveling, rotating and planting a little later will delay a bug population build-up. Companion planting is also worth a try, using repellent plants that deter the squash bug. They include catnip, tansy, radishes, nasturtiums, marigolds, bee balm and mint.
The second line of defense is Mechanical and Physical Strategies. The use of tightly secured barriers, such as floating row covers physically exclude the pests and prevent them from reaching the squash plants in large numbers. The covers can stay on until just before the female flowers appear. This is not labor intensive, and starts you out ahead of the war games. Another physical strategy is the use of kaolin clay products. Sprayed on the plants regularly at least every two weeks it forms a light-colored protective coating believed to deter the squash bug. Last season, I gave it a try. I sprayed half of my squash crop (both summer and winter) with kaolin and left the other half unsprayed. The results were measured daily by inspecting all leaves and counting (and removing) the number of squash bugs found in each area. While the method is definitely labor intensive (mixing and spraying every two weeks to cover new growth), I found 2/3 less squash bugs inhabiting the Kaolin covered plants. However, if I hadn't found and removed them by vigilant inspections, how much would they have multiplied?
The third line of defense is the Material Strategy. This includes biologicals and botanicals, such as sabodella, insecticide soaps and neem oil. Success with these is most effective on the nymphs. Once the adult bug emerges, this line of defense is not very effective.
Let me add my own suggestion to what all the experts have suggested: Vigilance. Checking under all the leaves each day will reward you with finding and removing the first line of adults, busily mating. Get rid of these, and their life's production cycle is interrupted,. With all these defense options to be tried, I wish you a great squash growing season!