Danny Lipford » Soil & Fertilizer

How to Recycle Leaves in Your Yard

Julie Day — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:55:02 +0000

Leaves are nature’s perfect mulch.

Every year, our friendly neighborhood shade trees remind us that Mother Nature has a mind of her own, as the leaves begin to flutter down and cover the ground like a crunchy snowstorm. Left to their own devices, those leaves would form a dense mat under the tree, choking out competing plants and breaking down to provide nutrients back to the tree. It’s a brilliant system—if you’re a tree! But we homeowners—with our driveways, lawns, and gardens—find all those fallen leaves quite a nuisance.

Instead of sending your leaves to the landfill, consider recycling them to feed the plants in your garden. Leaves are a great, free source of nutrients and insulation for your garden if used correctly, and you can keep your lawn neat while still allowing nature to work its magic. Here’s how to make use of fallen leaves in your garden.

Mulch small amounts of leaves directly into your lawn.

Mulch Mowing

The easiest way to recycle fallen leaves is simply to leave them alone. Up to an inch or two of leaves can be mowed and left to break down in your lawn, adding nutrients and a bit of mulch to your lawn grass. Make sure your lawn mower has a mulching function and sharp blade, so that the leaves are thoroughly shredded and spread thinly.

Shredding Leaves

If you have large amounts of leaves, you can use them for other purposes in the garden, but they must first be shredded. Whole leaves (especially large ones) form an impenetrable, moldy mat that will suffocate nearby plants and make a mess. There are several ways to shred leaves:

Lawn Mower: Mow over leaves while on the ground with the lawn mower and either pick them up with the bag attachment or rake up after shredding.
String Trimmer: Rake up leaves and put them in a garbage can. Crank up your string trimmer and use it to shred the leaves while in the can.
Leaf Blower: Use the shred and vacuum feature on some leaf blowers.
Shredder: Run leaves through a commercial shredder.

Shredded leaves break down much faster.

Uses for Shredded Leaves

Once you’ve got a nice pile of shredded leaves, there are many great uses for them:

Compost Pile: Add shredded leaves to a compost pile. Shredded leaves are a great source of carbon for the compost pile. Layer them with nitrogen-rich waste such as leaf clippings, and keep some extra on hand to sprinkle over messy kitchen scraps.
Leaf Mold: Some gardeners like to process leaf compost separately to produce a super-rich mulch and soil additive called leaf mold.
Container booster: Fill your planting containers about half-full of tightly-packed leaves, then add regular potting soil and plants. The leaves will break down slowly and feed the plant, saving on the cost of potting soil.
Instant bulb bed: To create a bed of spring woodland bulbs such as daffodils, first layer shredded leaves and topsoil, then place a layer of bulbs, then cover with layers of leaves and topsoil to about 8”- 10” deep.

Leaves are great for suppressing weeds under shrubs.

Mulch: Spread shredded leaves around shrubs, trees, flowers, and vegetable gardens to use as Mulch. I like to use leaves in areas that need deep mulch, such as back behind large shrubs where it’s hard to keep weeds under control. Since leaves tend to blow in the wind, you may find that your mulch migrates back into the lawn on windy days! If this is a problem in your yard, try sprinkling the mulch with water or adding a thin layer of regular wood mulch, pine straw, or topsoil on top.

Gardening Tip

Many tree leaves (including black walnut, eucalyptus, and sycamore) beat the competition by releasing chemicals that inhibit the sprouting and growth of seeds. If you’re planting new seeds or transplanting seedlings, hold off on the leaf mulch until the plants are established.

Garden blanket: Mound leaves around and over tender perennials and shrubs to provide extra winter insulation. In the spring, gradually remove the leaves to allow the soil to warm. You can also move containers of perennials and shrubs to a sheltered area and bank with leaves for the winter. Keep some extra leaves on hand to cover plants in case of a surprise spring freeze.
Amend soil: Leaves are full of nutrients and very beneficial additives to both clay and sandy soil. Use leaf compost, or simply spread a thick layer of shredded leaves on your vegetable garden to be tilled into the soil. The leaves will break down slowly in the ground and substantially improve the quality of your garden soil.

Some gardeners even raid their neighbors’ leaf piles!

Leaf Recycling Tips

A few parting thoughts as you go to work recycling those leaves:

Leaves are often acidic. Check your soil pH and amend with lime, if necessary, to keep the pH neutral.
Avoid mulching with tree seeds, such as maple tree “helicopters” and oak tags. You’ll end up with a lot of sprouts to pull!
Tougher leaves, such as oak leaves, are slower to break down. For this reason, you may choose to compost them separately or mix them in with other types, keeping in mind that some will break down faster than others.

Further Information

Leaf Shredding (video)
Leaf Compost (video)
Tip for Bagging Leaves (video)
How to Make Compost For Your Garden (video)
How To Build a Compost Bin (article)
Using Mulch In Your Garden (article)
Allelopathic Plants: Nature’s Weedkillers (Earth Friendly Gardening)

Organic Sources of Potassium for Your Lawn or Garden

Julie Day — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:12:21 +0000

Hardwood ashes are a popular “home-made” source of potassium.

Potassium is a very important nutrient for overall plant health. It’s involved in protein synthesis and in the flow of nutrients and water up and down the plant. Potassium strengthens plants against cold, heat, disease, and pests, and it’s the key ingredient in fertilizers labeled as “winterizers.”

If you’re looking to go organic, there are many ways to supplement your lawn or garden with potassium without using chemical fertilizers. Here are the most common sources of organic potassium:

Compost: Compost is full of nutrients, including potassium, especially if it is beefed up with banana peels and other fruit and vegetable waste. The potassium compounds in compost are water-soluble, which makes them readily available to plants but also likely to leach out of your compost pile over time.

Wood Ash: The original source of “potash” fertilizers, hardwood ashes can be used directly as a fertilizer (about a 5-gallon bucket per 1000 square feet) or added to your compost pile to increase the potassium content. Wood ash also raises soil pH, so be sure to do regular soil testing to make sure it stays balanced.
Kelp Meal: Available dried or liquid, kelp and seaweed offer potassium to the soil in a fairly quick-release form.
Greensand: Mined from ancient former sea beds and is rich in a number of minerals including potassium. It’s used both as a fertilizer and a soil conditioner, or it can be mixed with compost.
Muriate of Potash (potassium chloride): Mined from ancient deposits, this commercially available product can be used as natural sources of potassium, though the chlorine found in it can harm soil microbes.
Sulfate of Potash (potassium sulfate): More expensive than muriate of potash but safer, since it doesn’t contain chlorine. Not all potash products are considered organic, so make sure the product you use is approved by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI).
Sul-Po-Mag: A variation of potash, Sul-Po-Mag is actually a naturally-occurring mineral called langbeinite (sulfate of potash-magnesia). Sul-Po-Mag is water soluble and convenient, although it shouldn’t be used unless your soil also needs sulfur and/or magnesium.
Granite Dust: Available from granite quarries, granite dust is a relatively inexpensive way to add potassium and tract minerals to your soil. Since it’s ground-up rock, this product is very slow to release its minerals and is not a quick fix.

Further Information

Fertilizer 101
The Debate over Organic vs. Chemical Fertilizers
Organic Sources of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium (Plants to Grow)
Planet Natural (organic fertilizers available online)

How to Winterize the Grass in Your Lawn

Julie Day — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:00:09 +0000

If all the conflicting advice about whether or not to winterize your lawn has left you confused, you’re not alone! But figuring out what to do may not be as hard as it seems. Here’s what you need to know about how to prepare your lawn for winter.

What Is a Winterizer?

Your lawn’s nutrient needs change in the fall in preparation for the cold weather ahead. Winterizing fertilizers are high in potassium (chemical symbol: K), the third number listed on the fertilizer label.

Winterizers have a higher potassium content than other lawn fertilizers.

Potassium is a very important nutrient in overall plant health. It works at the cellular level to strengthen and harden plants from top to bottom, making them more tolerant of cold and stress. Potassium also helps a plant absorb other nutrients, making it an important component of balanced feeding for your lawn.

The other two nutrients in fertilizer are nitrogen, the first number (chemical symbol: N), which promotes leaf and stem growth; and phosphorus, the middle number (chemical symbol: P), to enhance root growth and fruit production.

Commercial winterizer fertilizers usually contain higher levels of potassium and lower levels of nitrogen than early-season “turf building” type fertilizers. For example, Scotts WinterGuard fertilizer has an N-P-K number of 24-2-14 while their standard Turf Builder is 29-2-4.

Winterizers Are for Cool-Season Grasses

Most commercial winterizers are formulated for cool-season grasses such as fescue and bluegrass. These type of lawns:

Have their peak growing season in the fall, so that’s a great time to feed them.
Need increased potassium and decreased nitrogen as the season progresses.

Some lawn care professionals believe that a fall application of winterizer is the single most beneficial thing you can do for cool-season lawns, and the best choice if you’re only fertilizing once. Among the main commercial fertilizers, winterizers are more balanced than turf-builders, so they’re a better choice for once-a-year feeding.

Warm-Season Grasses Beware

Winterizers should not be used with warm-season grasses (Bermuda, St. Augustine, zoysia, centipede) because they:

Go dormant in the winter while an application of fertilizer spurs new growth.
Grow in warmer climates where winterizing is less of an issue.
While warm-season grasses need potassium, it should be applied during spring and summer instead of fall.

The nutrient ratio is more important than the name on the label.

What’s All The Hype?

If you follow the seasonal parade of fertilizer products, winterizers are last in the lineup of recommended summer and fall fertilizers. But look closely and you’ll notice that the earlier feedings are almost pure nitrogen, because nitrogen is what makes your grass green and thick.

Winterizers appear on shelves in the fall to provide the potassium that was left out of the earlier products. It’s quite a clever marketing plan, but it can cost you a fortune! If you substitute a slow-release fertilizer with more balanced nutrients for the typical summer blend, you can cut down on the number of applications needed.

For established lawns, turf experts recommend feeding with at least three parts nitrogen for every one part potassium to provide maximum green-up and overall health, with at least half of the nitrogen in a slow-release form. Many commercial fertilizers now contain little or no phosphorus due to pollution concerns.

Lawn fertilizer should be applied during the peak growing season (spring for warm-season grass, fall for cool-season). While you may find fertilizers with these ratios labeled as “winterizers,” they can be applied anytime that’s right for your lawn.

Fall is a great time to feed cool-season lawns.

Do I Need to Winterize My Lawn?

Conduct a soil test. If it shows adequate levels of potassium in your soil, you don’t need winterizer.
If you’ve been feeding your lawn with balanced nutrients all season (such as organic fertilizer or compost), you shouldn’t need to worry about winterizing, as there will still be plenty of potassium available in the soil during fall.
Cool-season grass will benefit from fall feeding. You can use a winterizer or another fertilizer as long as it contains both nitrogen and potassium. Or supplement your lawn throughout the season with potassium from organic sources.
For warm-season grasses, wait until late spring to fertilize and feed with balanced nutrients.

Winterizers, like other chemical fertilizers, are commercial products designed for repeated use. Chemical fertilizers do not improve your soil and need to be applied again the next season.

For a low-maintenance, low-budget, healthy lawn, consider switching to organic lawn practices such as top-dressing, mulch mowing, core aeration, and slow-release organic fertilizers. Over time, these practices will condition and enrich your soil, giving a healthier lawn that requires less maintenance.

Further Information

The Myth of “Winterizer” Fertilizer (Colorado State University Extension)
Why You SHOULD NOT Winterize Your Lawn (Alabama Extension)
Winterizing Lawns (Clemson University Extension)
Winterizing Lawns Not Good for Warm-Season Grasses (Auburn University)

Phosphorus Fertilizer in Your Lawn or Garden

Julie Day — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:39:26 +0000

Most fertilizers no longer contain phosphorus.

“Why are many fertilizer bags labeled ‘phosphorus free’? I thought phosphorus was one of the three important nutrients for plants?” -Madison

You’re right that phosphorus is an important nutrient, but fertilizers containing phosphorus are a major source of groundwater contamination. Did you know that phosphate fertilizers:

Run off into streams and lakes to create algae blooms that are toxic to humans and kill fish.
End up in the ocean, where they contribute to oceanic “dead zones.”
The methods to process rock phosphate cause the release of radioactive waste!

Many states now have regulations limiting fertilizers, detergents, and other products made with phosphates in an attempt to control pollution. That’s why the phosphorus number (the middle number) on your fertilizer bag is usually zero. The exception to this is so-called “starter” fertilizer, which contains higher phosphorus levels specifically to help new seeds to sprout.

If you test the soil in your lawn or garden, you’ll probably find you don’t need to add phosphorus, since most soil contains enough naturally.

I use bone meal and/or compost when planting new shrubs.

There are only two times when I want extra phosphorus for my garden:

When planting shrubs and trees, especially if I’m transplanting something with lots of broken roots. Phosphorus helps with root growth and establishment of new plants.
Mixed into the vegetable garden. Phosphorus helps with the production of fruits and vegetables, particularly root crops.

Here are some lawn and garden tips for protecting the environment:

Use compost! Composted fruits and vegetables provide plenty of natural phosphorus for your garden in a slow-release, organic form.
Adding organic matter helps the soil release natural phosphorus to your plants, making it (and other nutrients) more absorbable.
When you need additional phosphorus, use an organic source such as bone meal, soy meal, manure, or bat guano. While rock phosphate is considered an organic source of phosphorus, the radioactive byproducts formed during production can be detrimental to the environment.
Avoid fertilizers, dish detergents, and laundry detergents that contain phosphate. Manufacturers are catching on, and many products are now clearly labeled phosphate-free.
Educate your community about the need for reducing fertilizer runoff.

Always choose phosphate-free products.

Further Information

Use Phosphorus-Free Lawn Fertilizer (EPA)
Phosphorus Pollution (State Environmental Research Center)
Fertilizer and Fertilizer Production Wastes (EPA)

Does Sand Improve Clay Soil?

Julie Day — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:32:30 +0000

Can I use sand to break up clay soil and improve my lawn? -Gary

Sand is an important ingredient in the composition of soil (see What Is Dirt, Anyway?), but it needs to be balanced with organic matter in order to be of any benefit. Despite popular advice, you shouldn’t use sand by itself – that misguided practice is a cheap shortcut rather than a problem-solver.

When mixed together, sand and clay form a substance very similar to concrete, which will make your problem worse! Your soil would have to be more than 50% sand before it would start behaving like sandy soil – and sandy soil has drainage problems of its own.

You’re better off mixing your sand with compost or humus, at a 50-50 ratio, before incorporating it into your soil. Use the coarsest sand you can find (not play sand), with the largest particles, and mix it with well-rotted organic matter. If you aren’t able to do this step, you’re better off using compost alone.

How to Mulch with Grass Clippings

Julie Day — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:27:57 +0000

If I have clippings, I sprinkle them thinly in naturalized areas.

Is it a good idea to use grass clippings as mulch? -Henry

Grass clippings can make great mulch, though using them has advantages and disadvantages. To begin with, if you are mowing properly – with a nice sharp mulching blade set high, cutting no more than 1/3 of the grass blade at a time – you shouldn’t HAVE any grass clippings. The small chopped-up snippets are best left where they are, to quickly decompose and feed your lawn.

However, if you’re mowing an overgrown area, or prefer to bag your clippings, here’s what you need to know about using them as mulch.

Dry grass clippings: If applied too thickly, fresh green grass clippings turn into a smelly, gooey mess, smothering your garden with a hot, moldy blanket. The heat of decomposition can damage plants and invite diseases, and the matted, decomposing grass blocks air and water circulation.
Build clippings gradually: Spread your clippings in a 1” layer, and allow them to completely dry and turn brown (a week or two) before adding more. Or, you can dry your clippings elsewhere and spread them when they’re ready.
Beware of contamination: Keep in mind that clippings will be contaminated with any chemicals you have applied to your lawn. Any fertilizers, insecticides, or weed killers you used will then be filtered into the soil around your garden plants.
Watch out for weeds: Most lawns have at least a few weeds, so there’s a good chance your clippings will contain weed seeds which may germinate in your garden.

As an alternative, add grass clippings to your compost pile, mixed with at least an equal amount of brown stuff (such as dead leaves) to balance out the composting process.

How to Fertilize Plants with Epsom Salts

Julie Day — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:38:29 +0000

I’ve heard of people adding Epsom salts to their garden, especially for growing peppers. Is this good for plants? And how do you apply it? -Gabby

Epsom salts are made up of a chemical salt called magnesium sulfate. As the name suggests, this compound contains both magnesium and sulfur, which are two important elements in plant growth.

Most often, Epsom salts are used in the garden as a natural source of magnesium, particularly for roses, tomatoes, and peppers, because these plants seem to benefit from an additional helping of this nutrient. The extra magnesium is believed to make the plants bushier and greener, with more blooms and abundant veggie yields.

Unless your soil is deficient in magnesium or sulfur, Epsom salts are generally used as an extra boost applied to specific plants, rather than broadcast generally throughout the landscape.

Here are some ways to use Epsom salts in the garden:

When you plant your vegetables or roses, sprinkle about one tablespoon of Epsom salts into the planting hole.
Mix one tablespoon of Epsom salts in a gallon of water, and apply to the root zone after planting.
Reapply the liquid solution when your veggies are in bloom, and do it again when you see small vegetables starting to grow.

Enthusiasts give Epsom salt credit for boosting everything from seed germination and chlorophyll production to nutrient uptake, but it’s important to pay attention to your plant’s needs without subscribing to “miracle cures,” particularly if you’re thinking of widespread applications.

Do a soil test before apply Epsom salt to lawns or large areas, to make sure it’s needed. Summer veggies, such as tomatoes and peppers, indicate a magnesium deficiency with yellowing or curling leaves, or by producing less (or smaller) fruit.

How to Build a Compost Bin

Danny Lipford — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:46:55 +0000

Composting lawn and garden waste is a great way to obtain organic material for your garden while reducing the environmentally negative aspects of trucking yard waste to the landfill. This DIY compost bin is easy to build and made from pressure treated wood so it will last for many years to come. It has a removable top along with a hinged door on one end for easy access when filling the bin and removing compost.

While you can make your compost bin any size desired, the one we built was 2’ wide by 3’ long by 30” high. Pressure treated 4” x 4” posts were used for the corners and 5/4” by 6” treated lumber for the sides and top. Be sure to leave gaps between the boards to allow for air to circulate in the bin. Here’s how to go about building a compost bin for your garden.

Tools:

Tape measure and pencil
Square
Safety glasses and ear plugs
Level
Circular saw
Drill/driver (drill and screwdriver bits)
Post hole digger

Materials:

2 – 4” x 4” x 8’ pressure treated pine
9 – 5/4” x 6” x 8’ pressure treated pine
1 – pair hinges
1 – screen door latch or barrel bolt
Corrosion resistant deck screws

Cutting List:

Corner Posts: 2 – 3½” x 3½” x 42”
Top Boards: 4 – 1” x 5½” x 38”
Top Cleats: 2 – 1” x 2” x 22”
Side Boards: 10 – 1” x 5½” x 36”
End Boards: 10 – 1” x 5½” x 24”
Door Cleats: 2 – 1” x 2” x 17½”

Building Note:

Pressure treated wood is often slightly thicker and wider than standard dimension lumber and may require minor adjustments to the lengths on the cutting list.

Building the Compost Bin

Start by cutting the posts square and to length.

Next, cut the side, end, and top boards square and to length.

Attach a side board flush with the end and edges of two of the posts using screws. Check to see that the board is square with the posts.

Position each of the other four side boards, using 5/8” spacer blocks, and attach them to the posts with screws. Repeat this process to assemble the other side.

Dig four holes with a post hole digger for the corner posts.

Set the side units in the holes so the outside of the boards are 2’ apart at each end. Check to be sure the sides are level and plumb, then loosely fill the holes with dirt.

Screw the top end boards to the posts, positioning them flush with the top of the post and aligned with the outside of the sides. Use the spacer blocks to position the remaining boards on the back end of the compost bin, and attach them with screws.

Rip the cleats from a piece of leftover 5/4” lumber and screw three of the end boards together to form the door. Use the spacer blocks to position the boards the correct distance apart.

Attach the hinges to the door and mount the door on the end board of the compost bin. Attach the bottom end board below the door using a screen door latch or barrel bolt to hold it closed. Pack down the dirt in the holes.

Assemble the top of the bin by screwing the top boards to cleats so that the outside boards are spaced 24” apart with an even gap between each of the other boards.

Finally, fill the compost bin with leaves, grass clippings, and other lawn and garden waste. The amount of time it takes to turn the waste into compost will vary depending on the materials used, the outside temperature, and the humidity. To speed up decomposition, turn the pile with a pitch fork from time to time and keep the mix damp by wetting it down if it dries out. Remove the compost from the door on the end of the bin when it is ready.

Further Information

Vegetable Garden: Crop Rotation Made Easy

Julie Day — Fri, 29 May 2009 19:24:12 +0000

Divide your garden into sections to make crop rotation easier.

You don’t have to be a farmer to use the age-old practice of rotating crop families – in fact, for the home gardener, the process is vitally important to the health and productivity of your garden. From disease prevention to nutrient balancing, the benefits of crop rotation make it worth the extra planning required to put the system in place. Here’s an easy way to plan a four-step crop rotation in a home garden regardless of the size.

Reasons to Rotate Crops

Disease Prevention: The main reason to rotate crops is to prevent the spread of plant disease. Disease organisms can build up over time, resulting in eventual crop failure. Rotating crops keeps these organisms in check.
Insect Control: Crop rotation also helps reduce insect infestations.
Nutrient Balance: Different families of plants require different nutrients. By rotating your crops, you keep the soil from being depleted and can target soil amendments to keep your garden balanced.
Nutrient Enhancement: Some plants actually enhance the soil, so rotating them through the garden can produce free organic soil conditioning.

Crop rotation helps prevent diseases, especially for tomatoes.

Principles of Crop Rotation

Simply put, crop rotation involves dividing the garden into sections, and planting a different plant family in each section every year. A systematic rotating schedule ensures that every section eventually receives each plant family. Most crop rotation systems have at least four sections, with four rotating plant groups.

Gardening Tip

You can develop your own rotation system based on the veggies you like to grow – for instance, if you love onions, you might dedicate a whole section of your crop rotation just to onion varieties. Or if you grow just tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots, you can rotate those three. The main idea is that you keep things moving around.

The Four-Step System

To get started in the home garden, you can use a simple four-step system that requires little more than a basic understanding of what part of the plant you’re planning to eat. Divide your garden into four simple groups:

Group 1: Plants grown for Leaves or Flowers, such as:

Salad greens
Broccoli
Cabbage
Spinach
Brussels Sprouts

Group 2: Plants grown for Fruits, such as:

Tomatoes
Peppers
Eggplant
Squash
Corn
Cucumber
Potatoes

Group 3: Plants grown for Roots, such as:

Carrots
Turnips
Onions
Beets

Group 4: Legumes that Feed the Soil, such as:

Beans
Peas
Peanuts
Cover crops (such as alfalfa or clover)

Gardening Tip

Legumes are called “nitrogen fixing” plants. They have nodules along their roots, with specialized bacteria called rhizobia, that allow them to absorb nitrogen from the air, then release it into the soil.

Sample Crop Rotation Plan

Tips for Successful Crop Rotation

Even small gardens can be rotated—the four areas can simply be sections of planting beds— although with smaller gardens, it’s harder to keep diseases from spreading from one section to another.
Potatoes and tomatoes are actually related, and they’re susceptible to the same diseases – that’s why they’re grouped together. If you have problems with early blight, you may need to separate them and not follow one with the other.
Since legumes add nitrogen to the soil, they’re followed by nitrogen-loving leafy crops, which reduce the need for fertilizer.
Root crops break up the soil, so they’re followed by legumes that like the loose soil texture.
Some veggies—such as lettuce, cucumbers, melons, and squash—aren’t as susceptible to diseases and can go pretty much anywhere you have the space, but it’s often easier to plan your garden by including and rotating everything.

You can practice crop rotation in a garden of any size.

Getting More Advanced

There are almost as many crop rotation systems as there are gardeners! If you’ve mastered the basics and would like to get more advanced with your crop rotation, the next step is to group plants according to their botanical family, which gives you more specific groups, and more sections of crop rotation. Here are some of the common plant families in vegetable gardening:

Chenopodiaceae: beets, Swiss chard, spinach
Compositae: artichoke, endive, lettuce
Convolvulaceae: sweet potatoes
Cruciferae: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, turnips, arugula, and rutabaga
Cucurbitaceae: cucumbers, squash, pumpkin, melons
Gramineae: corn
Leguminosae: beans, peas
Liliaceae: onions, leeks, shallots
Malvaceae: okra
Solanaceae: (Nightshades) tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, peppers
Umbelliferae: carrots, celery, fennel

Gardening Tip

Try to dedicate at least one section each year to a “green manure” cover crop—such as alfalfa or clover—that you can till into the soil, or mix in plenty of organic matter and allow the soil to rest.

Further Information

Crop Rotation (downsizer.net)
Crop Rotation in the Vegetable Garden (University of Illinois)
Planning the Vegetable Garden (PDF 240kb) (University of Tennessee)

Earthworms Taking Over Driveway

Julie Day — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:52:23 +0000

“We have what seems to be hundreds of earthworms that appear on our driveway, either dead or still living, throughout the day. Why does this happen, and how do we control them?” -Brenda

After a rain, or when humidity is high, it’s very common to see earthworms making their way to the surface of the earth, including driveways and sidewalks. Earthworms breathe through their skin (they don’t have lungs), and they require a balanced level of moisture in order to survive. When the soil is too dry, they burrow deeper to find moisture. When the soil is wet, they move closer to the surface. When there is adequate surface moisture or humidity, they venture out aboveground and look for new places to burrow. The wet weather of spring and fall seems to bring them out in droves.

Earthworms are one of those mixed blessings in the yard and garden. One acre of healthy soil can have as many as a million earthworms! It’s GOOD to have earthworms – they aerate and enrich the soil, move nutrients around, digest and break down organic matter, and improve drainage and soil texture. In fact, earthworms do a better job than any farm or garden practice, and the gardener gets to reap the benefits. However, the downside of having a healthy earthworm population is that they are constantly underfoot during wet weather.

Because earthworms are considered beneficial creatures, most pest-control products have been designed not to harm them. There are currently no products specifically for controlling earthworms, and it’s really not recommended to try to kill them at all. So, the problem of earthworms on the driveway is one that we have to learn to live with (by stepping over them, or sweeping or rinsing them off), rather than control. Inviting more birds to your yard may help – I have several large robins in my yard that are constantly gorging at the earthworm buffet, and I’ve never seen a worm left behind.