Savvygardener.com


 

Visit Our Website
Previous Issues
Buyer's Guide  
Tell A Friend  

Donations

Send A Postcard!

Bookstore  
Magazines 
Gardening Catalogs

Site Search
Contact Us
Submit A Tip

Feature Articles

~ Houseplant Care
~ When to Start
Seeds Indoors
~ Seed Starting Indoors
~ Vegetable Garden Calendar
~ Seed Starting Tomatoes

~

Shrub Pruning Calendar
~ Pruning Clematis 
~ Gardening in the Shade
~ Summer-Flowering Bulb Care
~ Drought-Tolerant Flowers for KC
~ Preparing for a Soil Test
~ Changing the pH of Your Soil
~ Growing Herbs
~ All About Composting
~ All About Mulch
~ Worm Composting
~ When to Harvest Vegetables
~ Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
~ Organic Pesticides & Biopesticides
~ Cold Frames & Hot Beds
~ When to Divide Perennials
~ Dividing Spring Blooming Perennials
~ Forcing Bulbs Indoors
~ Overseeding A Lawn
~ Pruning Trees
~ Pruning Shrubs
~ More...

Rose Tips
What's Hot... 
Nuisance of the Week
Turf Tips...
Winter Wisdom
Gardener's Glossary 

SavvyChat
~ On-Line Gardening Forum

Books We Love
Great Products
Web Resources
Event Calendar

Local Sponsors

~ Bradfield Industries
~ Family Tree Nursery
~ The Kelly Gallery
~ The Lawn Ranger
~ Missouri Organic Recycling
~ The Sweet Onion

Subscribe

Tell A Friend

Privacy Pledge

 

 

 

Click Here for Great Soil and Compost!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click Here for Bradfield Industries

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

October 15, 2003

Speaking, Surprises, Scares...
I had the privilege of speaking at the Westwood Women's Club monthly meeting today. What a great group of women! There were close to twenty women who attended and the hospitality was delightful. It was great chatting with them individually as well as listening to them tell me and their friends of many years about things that have gone on in our wonderful community. Needless to say they were all a breath of fresh air! Gardening was the main topic. Imagine? I talked about how Savvygardener.com came to be and how it has evolved over the past 4 years. We also discussed how one's own style of gardening is important and how it OK to share your successes as well as failures. Thank you ladies for sharing part of your day with me!

I surprised Kevin on Sunday and met up with him in Los Angeles. He was there for an Industry trade show and I saw an opportunity to get away for 24 hours. Boy, it sure would be easy to warm-up to the weather there. (No pun intended). It was beautiful! Right at about 75° - perfect 'make you feel good' weather. If it weren't for the smog and millions of people living there I might consider moving. I guess at this juncture in my life I will settle now for an occasional visit.

Hopefully we can hang on to this mild weather for a couple of weeks longer. I would like to see my little goblins have a chance to get around the neighborhood without winter parkas on. Did anyone else hear the horrible rumor about the chance of a snow shower late next week?  Ooooo, speaking of goblins, that scares me!

~ Shelly  

Bedtime For Gardens?
We are often asked how and when to "put the garden to bed."  The term "putting the garden to bed" means preparing the garden for winter and the weather will dictate when that date is.  Our first frost is normally in mid-October (any time now).  How "hard" that first frost is will help you decide whether or not it is time to cut back all perennials and rid the garden of all annuals.  We always like to squeeze as much time as possible out of my fall garden knowing that once that hard frost hits winter is well on its way. We'll keep you posted on the weather and when that first hard frost is coming.

Moving The Mums...
Your potted mums can be transplanted into the garden for many years of enjoyment.  For best results, transplant them into well-drained soil as winter injury is most common when mums are planted in poorly-drained soils.  Potted mums are often grown in a mix that is very high in organic matter.  If these are planted in very heavy clay soil without first amending it, the difference between the two soil situations often prevents good root establishment and increases the chance of winter kill.  

After the leaves have turned brown, cut back the tops and apply a loose airy mulch several inches thick allowing light to get to the small basal shoots during the winter. The purpose of this mulch is to provide wind protection and keep the soil shaded and frozen so that frost heaving is minimized.  This protective mulch may be removed or pulled away from the crown by early to mid-April after danger of severe cold is past.

Source

Oak Galls?
What are those round bumpy lesions that are appearing on some local oak trees?  Very possibly Oak Galls.  A number of tiny non-stinging wasps, mites and flies are the culprits behind abnormal growths that develop on the leaves of twigs of oak trees.  These galls can include growths that are round, spiny, flattened, elongated or star-shaped.

Generally, these gall insects do not cause significant damage to their hosts though some of the leaf galls can cause deformity to make a tree unsightly.  Also, severe infestations of twig galls can cause twig dieback or, in rare cases, death.  However, just because a twig is covered with galls does not mean that it is dead.  Twigs that otherwise look like a solid mass of galls may still leaf out in the spring.  More details and a photo are available here...

 


What Are You Reading
When You're Not Reading
Savvygardener.com
?

Great Gardening Magazines
Are Only A Click Away!

 

 

Why Isn't My Red Maple Red?
Why do some red maple trees have yellow fall foliage instead of brilliant red? Although fall color will vary with different environmental conditions, in many cases the yellow foliage of these red maples is simply due to the genetics of the individual tree. Unnamed red maple trees grown from seed are not always brilliant red. They have highly variable fall color. If you want a red maple with red foliage in the fall, choose named, vegetatively propagated red maple cultivars such as Red Sunset, Magnificent Magenta or Autumn Flame. October Glory has outstanding foliage color but is late in acclimating for winter and can be damaged by early cold snaps. However, even these "good" cultivars will vary in the level of "redness" from year to year. A number of things can reduce the intensity of color including extreme heat or drought during the summer and cloudy days and warm nights in the fall.

Chemical Container Care...
Temperatures have been mild lately but they will be dropping again before too long.  When they do be sure to check for any lawn and garden chemicals that might freeze in their containers.  Frozen liquids can break jars and split plastic containers, spreading concentrated chemicals within reach of children or pets.  Move them to a safe storage place where temperatures will not reach freezing.  

 


Tell Your Friends About
Savvygardener.com!

You Could Win A $50 Gift Certificate

Click Here For Details...

 

 

What's Hot On The Hotline...
Mid-October already?!  Yikes!  Time to start thinking about winter.  It's hard to get in that mode - especially when the weather has been so nice.  But we need to plan ahead.  You'll find help in this week's What's Hot On the Hotline...

Squash Storage...
Pumpkins, butternut, and Hubbard squash need curing after harvest.  Cure them at temperatures between 70° to 80°F for two to three weeks immediately after harvest.  After curing, store them in a dry place at 55° to 60°F.  If stored at 50°F or below, pumpkins and squashes are subject to damage by chilling.  At temperatures above 60F, they gradually lose moisture and become stringy.

Source

If It's Growing We're Mowing...
When do Savvygardeners stop mowing their lawns? When the grass stops growing of course. As long as it continues to grow keep bluegrass cut to 2 inches and tall fescue to 2½ inches.  

Don't forget to keep the leaves from piling up and smothering the grass below!

Finally...
"The philosopher who said that work well done never needs doing over, never weeded a garden."

~ Ray D. Everson, Author

To change your e-mail address, delivery method, or to stop delivery please follow the "Update Your Profile"  link at the bottom of your e-mailed newsletter.

Click Here for Organic Gardening Magazine!

© 1999-2003 Savvygardener.com, Inc. All rights reserved.  If you wish to copy, transmit, or otherwise duplicate any of the material from our website please ask us first.  Thank you.