Vegetable Show Planning One of the biggest challenges of growing vegetables for show is harvesting them at peak maturity for the opening day of the vegetable show. Planning is essential to get the timing correct. This begins with picking up an entry book or finding the competition rules and requirements online. Here’s some additional tips to get you started: Read the rules and requirements carefully. Look at the availability of classes and take note of all entry deadlines and requirements....

What is Hairy Bittercress? Hairy bittercress weed (Cardamine hirsuta) is an annual spring or winter pest. The plant springs from a basal rosette and bears 3 to 9 inch (8-23 cm.) long stems. The leaves are alternate and slightly scalloped with the largest at the base of the plant. Tiny white flowers develop at the ends of the stems and then turn into long seedpods. These pods split open explosively when ripe and fling seeds out into the environment....

Hardscape Garden Design Hardscapes can be formal or informal, depending on the style of your home and surrounding landscape. With hardscaping, textural variety is important and should be considered carefully. On the one hand, using only one texture or material can make the area appear dull and lifeless. Yet, using too many textures can make the surrounding area appear unattractive and cluttered. So what do you do? Find balance. It’s generally better to choose no more than two or three textures or hardscape materials....

Success in Harvesting Onions Your success in harvesting onions will depend on proper planting and care throughout the growing season. Plant onions as soon as the garden can be worked. Rich soil, consistent moisture and cool temperatures help bulb development. It’s best to create hills for onions that are to be used for green onions but do not hill those to be used for bulbs. When to Harvest Onions In addition to good planting, you need to know when to harvest onions for the best flavor....

How to Compost Hay Learning how to compost hay is a simple matter of building a square with old hay bales. Lay out a number of bales to create a square outline, then add a second layer of bales to build up the walls on the back and sides. Fill the middle of the square with all the materials to compost. The shorter front allows you to reach into the square to shovel and turn the heap weekly and the higher walls help keep in the heat to make the materials rot faster....

Making hand soap at home is fun, easy, and inexpensive. Check out the following homemade hand soap recipes. Making Natural Hand Soap at Home Here are some easy ways to make your own hand soap: Natural Hand Soap Using Bar Soap Start with a bar of soap. Look for a chemical-free bar soap with 100 percent natural ingredients. Natural bar soaps are available commercially, but you may enjoy using homemade herbal soaps from your local farmers market....

Fertilizer for Native Flowers Do you need to feed native plants? Native plants are adapted to the local environment, and most are accustomed to growing in difficult conditions. Feeding native plants isn’t necessary because the plants take their nutrients from the soil. In fact, when it comes to feeding native plants, fertilizer can be very harmful. The plants have evolved in low fertility native soil and most are sensitive to chemical fertilizers that can burn the plants or make them weak and floppy....

What is Wintercreeper Vine? Euonymus fortunei is also known as climbing or Japanese euonymus and wintercreeper. Native to Japan, euonymus grows as a groundcover, a shrub, and when given something to climb, a vine. Wintercreeper produces rootlets from branches when they hit soil and also in the air. This helps the plant spread rapidly over the ground and up trees and supportive structures. Is Wintercreeper Invasive? Wintercreeper is not native to North America....

How to Grow Tuberose Indoors Fill a container halfway with good quality, well-drained potting soil. The container should be at least 6 inches (15 cm.) across and must have a drainage hole in the bottom. Water the potting soil well and set it aside to drain until it feels moist, but not saturated. Set the tuberose bulb on the potting soil, then add and adjust potting soil until the top of the bulb is about 3 or 4 inches (8-10 cm....

What is Kokedama? What is a Kokedama? It is a form of Japanese garden art that is centuries old and tied into the practice of bonsai. It is an accent to that mode of plant display where a moss ball is the focal and supporting point for a sculpted tree or plant. The moss ball is fixed to a platform or suspended from string with the plant growing out from the sphere....

When to Cut Back Mature Trees Most young tree pruning is done to build a strong, stable branch structure or to create a desired shape or form. On the other hand, the purpose of trimming a mature tree usually involves size control and safety. Trees that were pruned appropriately when young rarely require major structural pruning. Weak branches have been removed and the tree’s shape is balanced and pleasing. You may wonder then, why prune mature trees at all?...

How to Keep Cats Out of My Garden Soil It’s no secret– cats are unpredictable and extremely territorial, so keeping cats out of garden areas can be a bit tricky. They mark their territory by depositing pheromones from scent glands (urinating or otherwise), and will continue to visit as long as their scent remains. Therefore, if an area of your garden has been frequented by a cat, the first thing you must do to keep cats out of the yard is remove any feces along with some of the soil....

How to Thin Grapes Grape thinning is only one of the important tasks to do for a good fruit crop. The grapevine should be pruned in late fall or very early spring depending upon your zone. The plant also needs to be fertilized before flowers arrive to encourage a larger fruiting. Thinning helps keep fruit from rubbing and gives it room to develop and ripen properly. Good thinning practices also create tight clusters of grapes which travel and keep better than loose, thin clusters....

How to Grow Plants in Perlite Adding perlite to your vegetable beds or container garden keeps the soil loose and aids in aeration. Perlite is a lightweight, sterile material that doesn’t harbor pests and diseases. It doesn’t deteriorate and best of all, it’s non-toxic and is approved for organic gardening. The most common method for applying this soil additive to the garden is to top dress the ground with 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm....

Trees take up water through their roots, which are, quite literally, at the bottom of the trunk. From there the water travels up and up. To hear more about how trees absorb water, read on. Where Do Trees Get Water? Trees need sunlight, air and water to thrive, and from the combination, they are able to create their own food. That happens through the process of photosynthesis that takes place in the tree leaves....

Can I Grow Orchids in Water? Orchids can be pretty fussy about their growing environment. Soggy or infected media can cause health deterioration and other issues if improperly maintained. Most growers use a bark mixture especially made for the plants, but there is another method that is even more effective and quite surprising…water culture. While you may wonder, “Can I grow orchids in water,” this technique is simple enough even for a novice and it may help improve the health of your plant....

Iguana Damage Iguanas are plant eating lizards and will eat a great many kinds of plants. In particular, they like flowering shrubs, like hibiscus, and berry fruits and vegetables, like tomatoes, strawberries, and figs. They also dig burrows to live in. These burrows can damage lawns and walkways in the garden. Iguanas may also leave feces that is not only smelly and unsightly, but a health hazard as well– iguanas carry salmonella....

Button Fern Indoor Requirements Bright indirect light to part shade at most is best for these plants. A temperature range of 60 to 75 degrees F. (16-24 C.) is best but avoid any drafts. Cold drafts can be damaging, and dry, hot air can cause browning on the leaves. Although these are more tolerant of low humidity compared to other ferns, they still like high humidity (at least 50 percent humidity)....

Beginning early in March, we northern gardeners begin to eagerly scour our gardens in search of a telltale sprig of green, a sign that spring is on the way and new growth is beginning. Winter aconite plants frequently come up through the snow, don’t mind a small amount of frost, and will open their buttercup-like blooms at the earliest chance. For gardeners who like to plant perennials that greet you in the spring, learning about winter aconite can provide valuable information....

How to Grow Aucuba Shrubs Aucuba plant care is easy if you select a good location. Here is a list of ideal aucuba growing conditions: Shade. Deeper shade means brighter leaf color. Plants tolerate partial shade, but leaves turn black if they get too much sun. Mild temperatures. Japanese aucuba plants survive winters in USDA plant hardiness zones 7b through 10. Well-drained soil. The ideal soil is moist with a high organic content, but the plants tolerate almost any soil, including heavy clay, as long as it is well-drained....