Snapdragon Garden Design

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For many reasons I’ve been focused on using more native plants these past two years. I wish I had known this when I stared my garden 10 years ago.

Picking Plants for Pollinators: The Cultivar Conundrum | Xerces Society What are cultivars, and do they have the same benefits to pollinators as non-cultivars? The answer depends—not all cultivars are created equally.

Hummingbirds love this wildflower in my yard: Red Deadnettle, Lamium purpureum. From the Brooklyn Botanical Garden:
A member of the mint family and not a true stinging nettle (hence “dead” nettle). A very important early spring food source for pollinators but self pollinating. Easily pulled up and removed. Edible to humans as well, but I’ll pass for now.

Cows don’t just stop making milk. When the news reported farmers dumping it in their fields I thought “that should be good for their soil”. Wrong. Simply, too much Calcium reduces Mangnesium (used in chlorophyll and photosynthesis) and Boron ( helps in flower and seed formation). Worse, the Biological Oxygen Demand, which measure the oxygen required by microorganisms to breakdown organic matter, is off the charts. Oxygen starvation and fish kills can occur, etc. The presentation is quick and informative. Worth a listen:

Considerations of Landspreading Milk News and Resources for Wisconsin Agriculture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison

My Kwanza Cherry. It has developed fire blight (can eventually kill the tree), bacterial infection (unidentified), scale and, possibly, borers. I started feeding it tree spikes two years ago. It’s uses at least 24. Because trees need more acidic soil than grass to be able to access nutrients, I’ve replaced a good deal of the competition with wood chips, which last longer than mulch. I covered the targeted turf with cardboard and thick bunches of newspaper, then chips. Most oxygen and water are absorbed within the first foot or so of soil. Ideally, the diameter of the chipped area should be about two feet past the drip line of the tree where I have found its roots. But...I don’t want a forest floor in my front yard. I’ll come up with something else.

that overwintered in my garden. Tastes great roasted at 375 with olive oil and salt. live on the underside of leaves and then eat them in the summer. Easier to do the winter thing.

This had a rough start. I bought it at least 7 years ago, placed it in full sun, moved it twice more in later years only to land it in full shade with a touch of blazing afternoon sun. It’s growth has been delayed and it has had , a piercing, sucking insect that will eventually kill the plant. Last year I massaged the leaves with oil. Add the abundant rainfall and it’s on fire! You can see the absence of fly eggs under the leaf in the second photo, and the piercing scars atop the leaf on the third. @ Madison, Connecticut

Our physical offices may be closed, but Master Gardeners are ready to help with all your gardening questions! You can reach us online, either through each individual office's email or through our statewide access point at https://mastergardener.uconn.edu/. Click on "Ask Us A Question" to submit your question and any pertinent photos.

Grubs, insecticide (neocontinids) and bees: you wouldn’t think how you treat grubs would affect bees-

This will be unpopular but I will share anyway: moles burrow under your lawn looking for grubs and other insects. It makes your lawn look crappy. I have the luxuries of a curious streak and a tolerant husband, so I decided to let nature take its course. Moles tore through my back yard. The next spring the grubs we’re gone where the tunnels formed. Bugleweed (native to Europe, easily removed and crowded out), common blue violet (native to North America), and some fescue replaced the damage. Another patch of grubs formed last fall because I have not been applying milky spore or parasitic nematodes. Skunks, raccoons and possums have been feasting through there. The robins have been attacking the area but I suspect these larva are too deep for them as of yet. Maybe the moles will be back. In the end, I’m experimenting away from the lawn monoculture toward floral diversity. I realize I may not like some plants or pests, but in the long run they may help the cycle of life in my back yard.

Grub Control in Lawns: Neonicotinoids and Bees A disturbing trend observed the last several years is the rapid and dramatic decline of honeybee populations. While most enjoy honey and are familiar with beekeeping as a hobby, it may be less well known that healthy honeybees along with various native bee species are an essential part of agricultur...

You want bees...

Protecting Bees and Pollinators from Pesticides in Home Gardens and Landscapes The Importance of Bees and Pollinators

As we begin lawn season...

Lawn Mowing Mowing is the most basic and frequently practiced of all lawn care operations. Proper mowing is essential in the maintenance of quality turf. Cutting Height Turfgrasses, like all other green plants, must carry on the process of photosynthesis in order to survive and grow. Close mowing reduces the am...

Behold the disgusting wet cedar rust gall. Those are the spores. 🤮