Sara's Garden: 3 Reasons to Interplant Flowers with Your Veggies

techniques , pests , bees , Sara's Garden , vegetables

Hello Gardeners! How are your veggies doing? Spring is in full swing and my garden has been growing like crazy! I just harvested tons of lettuce and beets from my raised beds, and I’m making room for my next round of crops. This is a great time to look at my garden and figure out what I want to do next.

I just wanted to share a helpful tip for new gardeners – interplanting flowers with your veggies! Has anyone tried this in their garden? I planted up a little wagon at Hoerr Nursery that has lettuce, onions and flowers!

Are you convinced yet? Here are some great reasons to plant flowers among your veggies and herbs:

1 - Attract Pollinators - Veggies don’t always have the showiest flowers. Make sure the bees can find your vegetable plants by interplanting flowers that have lots of nectar or petals in shades of blue, yellow or white.

2 - Attract Beneficial Insects – Certain insects are good to have in your garden, like ladybugs, lacewings, parasitic wasps and ground beetles. They help control insect pests like aphids, caterpillars and leafhoppers.

3 – Confuse Garden Pests – When you interplant a variety of plants together, you mask the smell and shapes of plants that pests use to locate their favorite foods. The greater variety of herbs and flowers you have growing in your veggie garden, the fewer insect problems you'll have. Some plants even repel garden pests!

Here are some diagrams I made that can help you remember which plants are great for your veggie garden:

Sara's Garden: Planting My Salsa Garden!

techniques , gardening , Sara's Garden , vegetables

Well it feels like summer has arrived early this year! All this hot weather has gotten me inspired to plant my salsa garden! Yesterday I picked out all my veggies and herbs and planted them in my little garden patch at Hoerr Nursery.

I used a combination of a raised garden bed and two trough containers to fit everything. They already had great quality topsoil, but I mixed in some Better Earth compost to make sure I get the most production out of my plants!

In one trough I planted organic cilantro from Hoerr Nursery and basil that I grew from seed. I can’t wait to chop these up and throw them in my salsa for some fresh flavor!

My other trough is filled with the best little cherry tomato plants! This variety is called ‘Red Robin’ and it’s made to stay small and bushy – perfect for container planting!

In the raised bed I planted these varieties:

Tomatoes ‘Black Cherry’ ‘Brandywine’ Heirloom ‘Fresh Salsa Hybrid’ ‘Green Zebra’ Heirloom ‘Lemon Boy’ ‘Red Robin’ ‘Yellow Pear’

Peppers ‘Chocolate’ ‘Golden Bell’ ‘Lady Bell’ ‘Red Beauty’ Sweet Bell ‘Salsarific’ Habanero ‘Salsarific’ Jalapeno ‘Salsarific’ Poblano ‘Valencia Orange’

I also planted gazanias and marigolds to add some color and attract beneficial insects!

I’m so excited to finally have this bed planted up! Be sure to check out the progress next time you’re at Hoerr Nursery!

So…anyone have a favorite salsa recipe to share? I’ve got lots of ingredients growing!

Ella's Advice: Top Five Gardening Mistakes

techniques , gardening , Ella's Advice

5. Too Much Mulch!
Mulching is great for plants – it reduces water loss from the soil, minimizes weed competition, and improves soil structure. Unfortunately, many landscapes fall victim to a plague of overmulching, leading to excess moisture and root rot. Avoid creating a “mulch volcano” around the base of your shrubs and trees. Piling mulch around the trunks can create a habitat for rodents that chew the bark. Make sure your mulch is no more than 2 to 4 inches deep.

4. Ignoring the Roots
If your new plant or shrub has been growing in a container, you’ll need to pay a little attention to the roots before you plant. Using your hands or a trowel, tease apart and loosen the root ball. Roots often become pot-bound and circling in containers and need encouragement to grow out and down when transplanted. If you skip this step, the plant’s roots may never spread into the surrounding soil.

3. Forgetting About Soil
In a perfect world every garden would have an abundance of nutrient-rich soil. Even seasoned gardeners can forget to add organic matter to their soil when planting. Take a little time to enrich your soil with compost at planting, and it will pay dividends for the entire life of the plant!

2. Full Sun, Full Shade, Does it Even Matter?
Yes it matters! Plants appreciate an environment that has been carefully selected for their needs. Check the label on your plants for light requirements before you buy them! At Hoerr Nursery you can find all sun-loving perennials out in the open, and all shade-loving plants under a protective awning. Even if your plant survives in an inappropriate environment, it will never perform as well as it would under the proper conditions.

1. Planting Too Close Together
We’ve all seen landscapes that start out looking full, only to become overgrown and out of control in a couple of years. Before you place your plants, consider how big they will be at maturity. As a rule of thumb, shrubs should be planted 3 to 4 feet apart, and 2.5 to 3 feet away from the wall of a house or building. Spacing your plants appropriately will help maintain a tidy landscape and reduce your time spent pruning.

Ella's Advice: Japanese Beetle Tips

techniques , pests , japanese beetle , Ella's Advice

Quick Facts about Japanese Beetles:

• They feed for 6 to 8 weeks from late June through August.
• They eat between the veins of a leaf, leaving it dried and lacey.
• They can stress plant material but rarely inflict enough damage to kill it.

Japanese Beetles do have favorite plants, but they feed on a large variety of trees, shrubs, and flowers - especially on yellow colored rose flowers or ripening fruits like raspberries and grapes.

Favorite plants:

• Linden, birch, cherry and plum trees
• Plants in the rose family
• Grapes and red raspberries
• Virginia creeper
• Porcelain berry vine
• Rose of Sharon and other mallow
• Onethera and many others

Prevention
One way to control Japanese Beetles is to replace favored plants with those they tend to avoid, including boxwood, hydrangea, lilac, euonymus, holly and forsythia. Another prevention strategy is to physically cover plants with a floating row cover. This is a lightweight spun polyester fabric that lets light and moisture through but excludes the beetles from feeding. This is especially helpful for vegetables or raspberries where sprays may be undesirable.

Control
If Japanese Beetles are already present in your landscape you have a few options for controlling the damage they inflict.

1. Physical Removal
   The least invasive method of control is to physically remove the insects from your plants. Japanese Beetles are fairly clumsy and will fall off a branch when it is shaken. Hold a bucket of soapy water under the branch while you shake it to collect the beetles. Use liquid dish soap, as plain water doesn't quite do the trick - the beetles can survive and swim around in it for days.
2. Japanese Beetle Traps
   You can also hang traps that lure beetles using a pheromone scent. These traps have replaceable collection bags or containers to dispose of trapped beetles. You should only use the traps if there is a heavy infestation. Be sure not to place them near the desirable plants - hang them in a nearby area to draw them away.
3. Chemical Control
   Another method of control is with the use of a chemical product. This option may be necessary for large infestations that cause serious plant damage. All general use insecticides will control beetles, and most require direct contact to kill the beetle. Be sure to follow label instructions when spraying.
   
   Spray insecticides later in the day when adult beetles are less likely to fly off and bees may not be working. Apply carbaryl sold as “Sevin” or permethrin or other pyrethroid sprays. You may also apply imidacloprid as a drench in early spring to prevent damage to a favored tree.

For more advice on dealing with Japanese Beetles, call or stop by the Garden Center to speak with one of our horticulturists.

Click here to see our Growing Guide on Japanese Beetles.

Ella Maxwell

Ps. Be sure to watch my talk on Japanese Beetles on the Mid-day Gardener tomorrow! Tune to the WEEK noon news cast and watch for the program around 12:20pm after Mr. Food.

Ella's Advice: Top Tips for Mosquito Control

gardening tips , techniques , pests , Ella's Advice

Few things can put a damper on your outdoor summer activities like mosquitoes! These pesky critters roam our landscapes from May to September, just looking for their next meal!

Follow these simple steps to put mosquitoes in their place and start enjoying your landscape again!

Standing Water – Dump it or Treat it!
Mosquito larvae can develop in even the tiniest pools of standing water. Make sure you turn over garbage can lids and unblock your rain gutters to keep the breeding grounds to a minimum.

For water features such as ponds, rainbarrels and birdbaths, drop in some Mosquito Dunks. The dunks are round discs that contain micro-organisms to eradicate the larvae. Each dunk can treat up to 100 square feet of water for a month, and they can be broken into pieces to treat smaller areas.

Bite Back!
To deal with major mosquito problems, apply an insecticide like Bonide Mosquito Beater Ready-to-Spray. The spray container can be attached to a garden hose to treat the entire yard. This water-based product contains Permethrin and will help control other insects as well.

No More Party Crashers!
The grill is hot and the pool is ready – now make sure your party guests are comfortable and bite-free all evening! Apply Bonide Mosquito Beater Ready-to-Use Preventative to your recreation areas to reduce the presence of mosquitoes and other flies. The shaker-top container makes it easy to distribute the granules in your desired area. Best of all – mosquitoes are driven away in about an hour, and won’t come back for 24 hours!

All of these mosquito-treating products can be found in the Plant Pharmacy at Hoerr Nursery. And for a limited time, Bonide Mosquito Beater products are half off!

Enjoy your summer and live at peace with your landscape!

Ella

Sara's Garden: Watering in the Heat of Summer

techniques , Sara's Garden , vegetables

As August arrives, we begin to wind into the hottest and driest days of the summer. Now is the time to consider different ways to supplement rainwater and keep your veggies growing!

You can water by hand if you have a few containers or a small plot, or you can hook your hose up to a good old-fashioned sprinkler for larger areas. Use the water saved in your rain barrel to supplement if you have one.

For my garden, I have installed drip hoses in the beds so that I don’t have to water everything by hand. This is a great time saving method, because I can just attach my garden hose to the drip hose in the beds, turn on the water and leave it for a while until the soil has had a good soaking. In the meantime, I can pull weeds, scout for pests, or snack on the tomatoes ripening on the vine!

Keep an eye open for my next post on scouting for and managing garden pests!

Get a Leg Up on your Lawn

techniques , lawn , Think Spring

Spring will be here before you know it and we’re as excited as you are. Spread out your early spring to-do list and take the first steps to a fantastic lawn today. Then you’ll be free to focus on the fun, colorful plants when the time comes.

TO DO #1: OVERSEEDING

Take a look at your lawn. If it looks great, congrats, you can skip this part. But if it’s looking thin or riddled with bare spots, we’re here to help you turn it around. Cool temps this time of year make it a terrific time to spot seed or overseed your lawn. SOME RULES FROM THE GREEN THUMB:

1. CHOOSE THE RIGHT SEED

A superior lawn starts with fresh, quality seed customized for Central Illinois lawns and blended to resist fungus and disease. Selections include: Professional Blend (sod quality, Kentucky bluegrass blend), Emerald Mix (most popular – for active outdoor families) and Shady Super Fine Mix (tolerates shade to part shade conditions).

2. PREPARE SOIL

Break up soil at least two to three inches deep with a hoe or shovel. Adding a little water to the soil the day before will make it easier to work.

3. SPREAD THE SEED

Sprinkle the seed like salt and pepper into the bare spots and the surrounding area. Lightly press the seed into the soil to ensure good contact. For best results, we recommend adding Ferti-lome New Lawn Starter fertilizer to the seeded area.

4. WATER!

Water gently initially, taking care not to displace seeds. Do not let seeds or sprouts dry out or they will die. Water every morning until you see slight puddling and, depending upon weather conditions, you may need to water twice a day. Seeds will not germinate at the same time. Until the planted area is showing a dense, green growth, do not allow it to dry out.

The best time to spot seed is typically the end of August through September, but early spring is also one of the best times to renovate as needed. Plus, doing it early leaves you plenty of time to enjoy it this summer.

**If you have a lawn care company fertilize your lawn, please notify them that you planted grass seed! The chemicals used will prevent the seed from germinating.

TO DO #2: START THE 4-STEP DIY LAWN PROGRAM

FERTI-LOME CRABGRASS PREVENTER PLUS LAWN FOOD**

** If you seeded your lawn, apply Scott’s Step 1 for Seeding. This product is formulated for crabgrass control and safe for grass seedlings. Other Step 1 products will prevent seed from germinating!

The ideal time to begin the 4-Step DIY Lawn Program is March through mid-April. You’re generally safe to start once the weather breaks and the forsythia is in bloom.

1. STEP ONE IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT

The first step provides a critical boost of fertilizer on the heels of winter and includes pre-emergent Crabgrass Control that can save a lot of time and trouble down the line. Hoerr Nursery recommends Ferti-lome Crabgrass Preventer plus Lawn Food to get you started.

2. STEP TWO

The next lawn application date is around Memorial Day.

Growing fantastic, green grass can be easy with the right tools and timing. And please let us know if you need any advice along the way. Of course, if you’d like to focus on other outdoor projects, our lawn and landscape teams are always available to tackle the job and leave you with one less To Do.

Don't Be Afraid of Pruning

gardening tips , techniques , trees

"...the greatest sin when it comes to pruning is simple: 'Not Pruning.'"   Many thanks to the Peoria Journal Star for helping me spread the word about the importance of pruning and to NEVER top your trees!  

Here's the link to the full article   

PS - it even made it in the Beauregard Daily News down in DeRidder, LA!  Thought that was fun!

If you have any questions on pruning, don't hesitate to ask. 

Giving Pots Your Personal Touch

spring , techniques , containers

Container gardening keeps things manageable for busy people, people with limited space or budget, and those of us who want to experiment with new plants or color combinations.

Symmetry isn't all-important, but here's an easy 3-step guide to get you going.

Start with Your Thriller

This is the focal point- place this bold, upright scene-stealer in the center or toward the back to provide strong, distinctive architectural structure.  It's often helpful to add the biggest plant first so you don't have to squeeze it in later.

We love :: Angelonia, Caladium or Salvia

Add Your Filler

Designed to cover the base of the Thriller and to mound or billow in the container, filling in the extra space. 

We love :: ‘Diamond Frost’ Euphorbia, Coleus or Lantana

Finish with the Spiller

Extend the boundaries of your container with plants that cascade over the edges, adding softness and shape to the overall look.

We love :: Bacopa, Calibrachoa or Sweet Potato Vine

Reclaim Your Lawn

gardening tips , techniques , lawn

Hot, dry summers can wreak havoc on lawns - leaving them dry, thin and spotty. But here’s the good news: right now is the best time to rejuvenate stressed and struggling lawns. Here’s your chance!

Introduce Great Quality Grass Seed

According to the University of Illinois, the ideal seed time is Aug 21 - Sept 21; although it can be safely stretched to the end of September.

With three specially formulated Hoerr Nursery seed selections to choose from, we’ll help you choose the one that’s right for you:  a five-star, sure-to-make-your-neighbor-jealous lawn; a tough, all-purpose lawn for active outdoor families or for those hard-to-grow shady areas.

Start the New Grass Off Right

1. Loosen or till your soil before seeding - make sure the seed comes in contact with the soil.
2. Apply a starter fertilizer like Ferti-lome® New Lawn Starter
3. Water! Keep the soil surface moist is key; water at least once per day until the seed begins to germinate.

Aeration is One of the Best Things You Can Do for Your Lawn

Aerating in the fall will loosen soil, aid in root development, and control thatch. If you’re interested in aeration, give us a call at 309-689-2544 for a free consultation.