Danny Lipford » Soil & Fertilizer

How to Top-Dress Houseplants

Julie Day — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:00:10 +0000

This mixed planting doesn’t need a bigger pot, so I’ll just top-dress it this year.

As I inspect and repot my houseplants in early spring, I often find plants that seem to fall “in the middle.” Perhaps they’re very large or sensitive plants, making repotting difficult. Or they may be happy in their pots, but the soil is looking a little old. Finally, there might not be anything actually wrong with the plant, but I might want to give some extra TLC.

In cases like this, top-dressing is a great solution, and it’s quite easy. Here’s how:

Step 1: Water your plants lightly to loosen any hard-packed soil.
Step 2: Using your fingers or a small trowel or spoon, very gently scrape away the top 1”- 2” of potting soil, until you begin to see the top of the root ball. Try not to damage or tear any roots!
Step 3: Add fresh compost to refill your pot. Make sure to keep the plant at the same depth – don’t pile more soil than was in there before. If you like, you can mix in some slow release organic fertilizer, following package instructions to get the correct dose.

Gardening Tip

If you don’t have a compost pile, you can purchase bags of compost at your local garden center. You can also use organic potting mix in a pinch, but compost will add a much more potent boost of nutrients. As the compost breaks down, the organic matter and beneficial microbes will filter throughout the pot and improve your soil.

Step 4: Water again to settle the new soil. Don’t leave water sitting in the plant drainage tray.
Step 5: While you’re at it, gently clean the dust off your plant’s foliage, trim away any dead parts, and pinch back the ends of leggy branches.
Step 6: Finally, toss the old potting soil on your compost pile, where it will mix with other goodies and get its own second chance!

Further Information

How to Dress Up Your Houseplants with Mulch

Julie Day — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:54:13 +0000

Mulch can even make this potted cutting look elegant!

We’re all familiar with the idea of mulching our flower gardens, so why not also mulch your indoor houseplants? A well planted, healthy container garden can be the focal point of a room, so it’s important to put a little extra attention into design and overall appeal. A nice layer of mulch is a very simply finishing touch that transforms your houseplants from shabby to chic!

Why Mulch Houseplants?

I love to add mulch to my houseplants in order to:

Sparkly glass marbles.

Give a clean appearance by hiding the soil. This is especially important for plants in the kitchen and those used as decorative focal points. Plants may be growing in dirt, but they don’t have to look dirty.
Dress up leggy plants and make the container look “finished.”
Prop up drooping stems and hold plants upright.
Discourage pets from digging in the soil, especially if you put a layer of mesh underneath the mulch.
Retain moisture so you will not need to water your plants as often.
Prevent weeds from germinating in the pot.
Keep soil from splashing out when watering plants.

Types of Mulch for Houseplants

Regular garden mulch is usually too heavy for indoor plants, but you can use all sorts of creative alternatives, such as:

Dress up a plant . . .

Moss: Spanish moss (gray) or sheet moss (green) are popular choices for florist’s arrangements because they’re inexpensive, lightweight, and easy to use.
Stones: Decorative stones, pebbles, or marbles make attractive and clean looking mulch.
Nut Shells: Hulls from nuts, such as pistachio or pecan, can be crushed and recycled as mulch.
Coconut mulch: Available in blocks that are moistened before spreading. Can be used both indoors and out.
Living mulch: Tiny groundcovers, such as dwarf sedum or living mosses, make great mulches for houseplants.

How to Care for Mulched Houseplants

When adding mulch to houseplants, remember not to:

. . . with river stones and moss.

Overwater: The biggest problem with mulching houseplants is that it’s easy to overwater. The water filters right through the mulch and the plant looks dry, but underneath you might have soggy or moldy garden soil. Don’t let the mulch make you lazy – pull it back and check the moisture level of the actual soil before watering.
Over Mulch: Just as with garden plants, don’t pile mulch up against the stems of your plants as it can cause them to rot.
Instead, keep it thin and mostly decorative.

Further Information

How to Lay Sod and Plant Grass Seed in Your Yard

Tricia Craven Worley — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:24:06 +0000

Sod is great for an instant lawn, but it can cost 10 times as much as grass seed and require more labor to install. Watch this video for some helpful tips on how to go about planting grass seed or laying sod in your yard.

What Can I Compost?

Julie Day — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:26:19 +0000

What can I put in my compost pile? -Beth

If your compost pile is heating up properly, you can put all kinds of things in there. Be sure that everything you put in your compost pile is in pieces smaller than 1-2 inches. Shredded and chopped items break down must faster than whole pieces.

Here’s a list of compostable items, including a few that might surprise you.

Yard and Garden Debris

Dead plants
Extra potting soil
Grass clippings
Leaves
Old cotton or leather gloves
Peat moss
Pine needles
Pruning debris, limbs, and branches
Rock dust
Sawdust
Seaweed
Straw and hay
Wood chips

Kitchen Scraps

Fresh or rotten produce including peelings, rinds, cores, stems, and leaves
Breads, grains, cereals, and flours
Canned fruits and veggies
Coffee grounds and paper filters
Corn cobs
Crackers and pasta
Egg shells
Fish bones and skins (if well buried)
Freezer-burned fruits and veggies
Ground-up animal bones
Herbs and spices
Gelatin
Jams and preserves
Milk, yogurt, and ice cream (although these may attract hungry animals)
Nut shells and husks

Paperboard (such as cereal and pasta boxes)
Popcorn
Rice
Seafood shells
Shredded paper towels and napkins
Soy products
Tea bags and loose tea
Toothpicks
Wine and beer
Cork wine corks
Wooden skewers

Household Waste

Compostable forks, cups, plates, etc (look for these in the store!)
Cotton balls
Cotton swabs (if made of paper)
Crumbs and dustpan contents
Crushed seashells
Dead bugs
Dried flowers and potpourri
Dryer lint
Dust bunnies
Felt
Fireplace ashes (in small amounts)
Floral arrangements
Hair clippings (also good in the garden as critter repellent)
Houseplant trimmings and old potting soil
Tissue

Leather
Loofah sponges
Matches
Nail clippings
Rope (natural fiber)
Shavings from your pencil sharpener
Vacuum bag dust
White glue and paste
Wool, linen and cotton
Wreaths, garland, and Christmas trees (real, not artificial)

Paper

Shred these paper items and add to your compost pile or recycle bin.

Business cards
Cardboard
Egg cartons
Envelopes (remove plastic windows)
Muffin cups
Newspaper
Office paper
Paper plates (unwaxed)
Paperboard (such as cereal boxes, toilet paper rolls, etc.)
Post-It Notes
Ticket stubs

Pet and Animal Waste

Dry pet food
Feathers
Manure from herbivores (cows, horses, rabbits, etc)
Pet hair
Wood chips from pet cages

Compost Cautions

These items should NOT be added to your compost pile:

Aluminum foil, plastic bags, and other inorganic packaging
Chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, bleach, gasoline, and oils
Cooked foods

Bread, yes – package, no.

Diapers
Diseased plants
Glossy or heavily dyed paper
Grease and fat
Kitty litter
Manure from meat-eating animals (dogs, cats, humans)
Mayonnaise and peanut butter
Meat scraps
Particle board
Treated lumber
Whole bones

Further Information

How to Measure Soil Temperature for Planting

Julie Day — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:51:55 +0000

Different veggies germinate at different temperatures.

Whether you’re planting seeds or targeting weeds, it’s important to check your soil temperature before beginning. Even the best-planned garden project can fall flat if temperatures are not appropriate for the occasion! For example, did you know that you should:

Plant spring bulbs when the soil temperature drops below 60° F.
Apply crabgrass control in spring, when soil temperatures reach 55° F for 4-5 days in a row.
Plant cool-season grass seed once soil temperatures are in the 50s F.
Give your new shrubs time to grow roots before soil temperatures fall below 40° F.
Be very careful when starting vegetable seeds, since germination temperature is vital to the seeds’ success and every vegetable is different.

A soil thermometer is a budget-friendly addition to your garden toolbox.

Soil Thermometers

You can purchase a simple soil thermometer at your local garden center for just a few dollars. The most economical ones are glass bulb thermometers with a strong metal point. However, any thermometer will do, as long as it measures temperatures down to freezing (medical thermometers usually don’t go low enough).

How to Measure Your Soil Temperature

Measure the Right Depth: If you are planting seeds or new plants, take your measurement at the recommended planting depth. If you’re measuring for a mixed garden, check at least 5-6 inches deep.
Make a Pilot Hole: Use a screwdriver to make a pilot hole so that you don’t break your thermometer by pushing it into hard soil.
Follow Directions: Refer to your thermometer package for specific instructions. With most glass bulb thermometers, make sure it is firmly touching the soil, and allow a few minutes for the temperature to register.
Provide Shade: If the sun is bright, shade the thermometer with your hand to keep the reading accurate.
Multiple Measurements: Take a reading in the morning and late afternoon, then average the two numbers. If you’re seeding a lawn, take readings on all four sides of your house, since some areas warm more quickly than others.
Check Reading: To double-check, refer to these handy Soil Temperature Maps from Greencast for a comparison with your soil reading.

Make a pilot hole with a screwdriver to measure the right depth.

Garden Vegetable Seed Germination Temperatures

The soil temperature for planting vegetables should be:

40° F or warmer: Lettuce, kale, peas, spinach.
50° F or warmer: Onions, leeks, turnips, Swiss chard.
60° F or warmer: Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, beans, beets.
70° F or warmer: Tomatoes, squash, corn, cucumbers, melons, peppers.

The seed germination temperature is often much warmer than the plant’s growing temperature. Once established, many veggies can handle much cooler air temperatures as long as the soil is warm enough. To get a head start on spring planting, plant seeds indoors or use plastic row covers to warm the soil more quickly.

Further Information

Check out these charts for vegetable seed germination:

When Is It Warm Enough to Plant? (Gardener’s Supply Company)
Soil Temperatures for Vegetable Seed Germination (Alabama Extension)

Organic Gardening 101

Julie Day — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:07:13 +0000

If you ask a group of gardeners for a definition of “organic gardening,” you’ll likely get many different answers. Instead of using synthetic or toxic chemicals, organic gardeners create a garden ecosystem that sustains itself. Some will use only commercial products approved as USDA Organic or listed by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI).

Others will go a step further and not use any commercial or manufactured products at all, choosing only natural composts, manures, and plant oils. Still other organic gardeners embrace the idea of permaculture, bringing in nothing from outside and cultivating a garden using only the resources of their own land.

In short, regardless of the degree to which it’s taken, organic gardens give more to the earth than they take away. More than anything else, organic gardening requires altering your mindset about gardening. Once you change the way you approach gardening, it will be easy to change what you do. Here are three basic concepts to get you started on the path to organic gardening.

Rich soil is the key to organic gardening.

Rule #1: Feed the Soil

If you only take away one idea on organic gardening, it should be: Feed the soil, not the plants. Chemical fertilizers are like having a candy bar for breakfast; it delivers a fast boost but quickly fades to leave you feeling worse than you did before.

Instead, enrich your soil with organic matter, which improves the texture, water retention, nutrient content, and beneficial microbes to create a virtual plant paradise. If you put your energy into enriching your soil instead of feeding your plants, your thumb will turn so green you’ll think you dipped it in paint!

Instead of reaching for fertilizer or chemicals, consider:

Add Organic Matter: Spread compost, manure, and other organic matter on your garden before tilling it.
Enrich Your Lawn: Aerate and top-dress your lawn. Mulch your grass when you cut to leave the grass clippings to decompose.
Dig It Up: Deeply dig a new planting bed and work in a rich helping of organic matter before planting.
Plant Cover Crops: Green manure cover crops (such as alfalfa or peas) increase nitrogen in the soil during the off-season and can be tilled under for extra compost.
Add Mulch: Deep mulches around plants break down slowly to improve the soil.
Avoid Losing Battles: Avoid cultivating areas that have notoriously poor soil or erosion problems.

Recycling is nature’s way of saying, “Life goes on.”

Rule #2: Recycle the Nutrients

Embrace the cycle of life by feeding your garden with nutrients recycled from other living things. Whether you recycle your shredded leaves or purchase an organic garden product, be sure the nutrients are coming from decaying organic matter or natural sources. Many commercial garden chemicals are manufactured from fossil fuels while others consist of highly processed mineral salts or synthetic compounds.

Here are some great ways to recycle nutrients:

Start a compost pile to recycle plant debris and kitchen waste.
Feed your garden with manure.
Make your own nutritious mulch out of grass clippings, leaves, and wood chips.

When shopping for garden products, look for:

Fertilizers made from manure, worm castings, seaweed, or other organic materials.
Soil amendments such as kelp meal, cottonseed meal, bone meal, or blood meal. Make sure you understand (and are comfortable with) the manufacturing process of whatever you’re using – some are byproducts of the meat processing industry while other products can contain preservatives or involve additional processing.
Mineral supplements from naturally occurring sources, such as greensand, wood ash, and granite dust.
Fungicides, insecticides, and herbicides made from plant oils and natural elements.
Products certified by OMRI (Organic Materials Research Institute).

Beneficial insects are affected by pesticides, too.

Rule #3: Embrace the Ecosystem

Our gardens were naturally full of life long before we started digging in them! Nature has quite an effective system for maintaining itself which is often destroyed when we use chemicals and sprays to try and create an unnatural, artificial environment. Organic gardens restore this balance by encouraging a wide range of plant and animal life, which in turn creates a self-sustaining ecosystem.

Ways to boost your garden’s ecosystem include:

Plant Smart: Practice companion planting and crop rotation to reduce disease and pests. For instance, lining the perimeter of your garden with garlic and onions will help discourage nibbling critters. Moving tomato plants from year to year will keep early blight on the run.
Encourage Pollinators: Include a variety of flowering plants in your vegetable garden to attract birds, bees, and wasps. They in turn will pollinate your plants and feast on the grubs and insects that threaten fruits and vegetables.
Tend the “Microherd:” Healthy soil is full of beneficial microbes that break down and transfer nutrients to the roots of your plants. Those microbes also serve as an underground immune system against plant diseases. Soil rich in organic matter and free of chemicals promotes a healthy microherd that is naturally disease-resistant.
Go Native: Grow native plants that are well suited to your climate, rainfall, and soil type. They’re also more disease resistant and will be more attractive to beneficial insects.

Natural insecticidal oil.

Outsmart Pests: Practice organic insect control using row covers, plant collars, natural predators, plant oils, and natural soaps – not to mention old fashioned trapping and squishing! If a particular insect threatens your harvest, choose an organic control product that specifically targets that pest, rather than applying chemicals that kill indiscriminately.
Reduce Weeds: Keep weeds under control using organic mulches and regular cultivation. Choose natural weed killers such as vinegar, boiling water, and solarization.
Welcome Creepy-Crawlies: Make peace with frogs, snakes, praying mantises, wasps, and spiders – they’re feasting on a buffet of plant destroying pests!
Stay Vigilant: Many insect and disease problems can be nipped in the bud if caught early.
Embrace Imperfection: Organic gardens don’t have to be messy, but they’re often less pristine than a chemically altered landscape. However, the occasional worm in your tomato, dead leaf, or nibbled plant are only a small nuisance if your ecosystem is functioning properly.

Think of your garden as an interconnected web of life that sustains itself.

Further Information

How to Identify the Cause of Brown Spots In Your Lawn

Julie Day — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:50:28 +0000

Brown spots in lawns are frustrating to deal with! Just when you think you’ve done everything right, suddenly there’s a patch of grass that’s dead or dying. There are a number of causes of brown spots in lawns, from insects to disease to human error.

To get to the bottom of the situation, you’ll have to do a little old-fashioned investigating. Here’s a checklist to help you determine the cause of brown spots in your yard.

Human and Animal Damage

Unfortunately, it’s very easy for us (and our pets) to damage lawns. Some common causes of brown spots include:

Dull Mower: Dull mower blades tear your grass, causing damage and gradual death to the grass.

Remedy: Sharpen your blades in fall and spring. After mowing, examine your grass to see if the mower is cutting cleanly.
Scalping: If your mower blade is set too low or there are lumps in the lawn, it can cut the grass too short and cause damage.

Remedy: Practice proper mowing techniques by raising your mower blades, and smooth out high spots by digging up the sod, removing some of the soil underneath, and replacing the sod.

Chemicals: Gasoline, fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides can cause dead spots if spilled. If fertilizer is applied unevenly or incorrectly, it can burn the grass. Even insect repellents can burn your lawn when sprayed on the grass blades.

Remedy: Pour chemicals, fuels, and sprays on your driveway, not on your lawn, and follow application directions.
Animal Urine: Dogs are the most common culprit, but large birds and other animals can cause urine spots, too. Urine usually causes your lawn to turn yellow in spots, sometimes with a bright green ring around the edges where the diluted nitrogen in the urine acts as a fertilizer.

Remedy: Check out our article on How to Keep Dogs From Damaging Your Lawn for tips.

Take a sample of stems, roots, and soil for analysis.

Poor Growing Conditions

The conditions in your yard may be unfavorable for grass to grow:

Poor Soil: Soil quality can vary in your lawn, and poor soil can occur in patches, causing brown, bare areas or moss.

Remedy: Take a screwdriver and push it into the soil. If it doesn’t go easily, your soil is likely compacted. Try aerating and top-dressing to incorporate organic matter in the soil. When you aerate, take a look at the plugs, to see how the quality and texture of your lawn varies in different spots. Keep this in mind as you amend and improve your soil.
Buried Debris: I once puzzled over a brown patch for weeks before finding an old piece of buried lumber under the grass.

Remedy: While you’ve got that screwdriver handy, poke around a little to see if anything is underneath the sod.

Compacted soil.

Erosion: Water tends to run off slopes, taking grass seeds and young shoots with it, and leaving bare ground or dried out areas behind.

Remedy: Aerate your lawn to increase water absorption. If the slope is steep, consider building terraces or planting groundcover.
Roots: Large trees or shrubs usually win the battle for water and nutrients. The area under trees is notoriously difficult for growing grass.

Remedy: Consider mulching or naturalizing areas under trees and shrubs.
Drought: Lawns need one inch of water per week, either from rainfall or irrigation. Dry, compacted spots are more easily drought-damaged.

Remedy: Keep an eye on dry, sunny spots, especially if your soil drains poorly. If you irrigate, make sure your entire lawn is watered evenly.
Dormancy: Cool-season lawns can go dormant during the heat of summer while warm-season lawns go dormant during the winter. If your lawn has a mix of grasses, you’ll have curious brown patches as some areas go dormant while others stay green.

Remedy: Seasonal dormancy is normal, but make sure your lawn is healthy and strong to prevent unnecessary browning.

Brown spots caused by dormant Bermuda grass mixed with green fescue.

Common Lawn Diseases and Pests

If you’ve eliminated all the above causes, it’s time to move on to some of the more serious diseases and pests that plague lawn grasses. Some of the most common culprits are:

Thatch: Thatch is a buildup of decaying grass blades that can build up so thick that it chokes out healthy grass.

Remedy: Remove thatch if it is more than ½” thick.
Grubs: Grubs are a common problem in mid to late summer, and most easily identified when your sod easily pulls back from the ground like a carpet.

Remedy: Pull back a section of sod and inspect for fat, white curved worms. More than ten per square foot can cause lawn damage. Grub control products are available at your garden center.
Chinch bugs: Chinch bugs are a common summer pest in warm-season lawns, especially in hot sunny patches beside driveways and sidewalks.

Remedy: Inspect your lawn closely, and look at your shoes as you walk through the grass – you should be able to spot the small black and white adults. They’re resistant to many pesticides, but there are products available to target them.

Other insects: Caterpillars and other pests can live part of their life cycle in lawns.

Remedy: Watch your lawn closely – look for crawling and munching insects and for grass blades that look eaten. Also watch for birds and wasps feeding on these pests in your lawn.
Fungal Diseases: Brown patch and other fungal diseases thrive in moist conditions, most often in midsummer (when nights and days are hot and humid) and spring (as snow melts). They may show up as circular or irregular brown spots, or you may notice a spotting or infected pattern on the blades or a generally dying/thinning out.

Remedy: Increase air circulation and sunlight as much as you can, to make your lawn less inviting to fungus. Note the size and shape of the damage as well as the frequency of watering, fertilizer, mowing habits, and sunlight in order to diagnose the disease correctly. Take a sample of the affected grass (blades, roots, and soil) to your local cooperative extension office for analysis.

Further Information

Lawn Diseases (North Dakota State University)
Common Lawn Diseases (Cornell University)
What Kind of Lawn Diseases May I Have? (All About Lawns)
Fall Lawn Care Guide
Spring Lawn Care Guide
Summer Lawn Care Guide

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)