Garden hacks, Landscaping

Ugly Areas Around the Home or Yard

Everyone has ugly areas around the home or yard. Instead of living with them, hide them. Whether garbage cans, AC units, utility boxes, or an unsightly garden shed, here are some ideas.

If you are cramped for space, there are plastic or wooden garden chest that you can quickly throw in the hoses, sprinklers, or garden tools. Larger units will hide the garbage containers so they do not blow down the street. An old antique basin is an excellent place to rolled a hose into.

For the central air units, a simple privacy screen place in front of it also will cut down on the noise. You can build a fence around it or like in my instance, plant shrubs around the unit. Better to look at spring blooms and fall foliage than the unit itself. Just make sure your air conditioner has enough air circulation area.

As for the utility meters, you can paint them the same color as your home. Place a fence or trellis up and grow a vine on it like honeysuckle or clematis.

Now for those disgusting PVC pipes or water heads, place a garden sculpture or fake rock over them. There are hollow birdbaths that will improve this problem.

If you do not want someone to notice an area of your backyard like a clothesline, create a barrier of 6 to 8-foot shrubs or a line of planter boxes. Maybe a fenced screen is a way to go.

Garden sheds are hard to hide. You can makeover the shed by putting in some annual or perennial beds. Try placing planter boxes under the windows, if no windows, put up a fake one.

Flowers (annual and perennial)

Marshmallow Plant

A new plant this year, the marshmallow plant which is related to the hollyhock. Grown as an annual reaching 4 to 5 feet with hollyhock-like blooms. The candy origin comes from this plant. The ancient Egyptians boiled the root to extract the sweet jelly. Europeans took the plant for cottage gardens. They took the sap from the roots, added eggs and sugar to make the cany marshmallow. The marshmallows you can buy now are not made of this plant, however, go can buy ground marshmallow roots.

Easy to grow if I can grow it but does like moist soil. They like full sun but are tolerant of some shade. Once growing, very little care is needed.

Garden Pests

Three “Bugs” in Gardens this Week

Larva of the Cabbage Butterfly on Brocoli

Three “bugs” are showing up in gardens this week. One is the cabbage butterfly. It is a white butterfly with a couple of black spots on the wings. The butterfly is harmless; however, they lay eggs on cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower plants. These eggs hatch and now you have the cabbage looper (caterpillar) which can ruin plants of your cabbage family of plants in a few days. Also, you have their green poop all over. A routine of Sevin spray controls these pests. You can use a biological spray called Thuricide which is a spray of bacteria that will kill the caterpillar and not harm other insects. I have not found this in town, so you will have to order it from a garden center. You can also crush the little yellow eggs beneath the leaves.

Nymphs (young adults) of the Squash Bug

The other is the squash bug. These are the little grey soft-bellied bugs you find around the base of squash plants. They suck the plant juices out stunting the plant. Early detection of critical. If you see them, use a spray of Sevin or Malathion. If you have a problem, varieties like Butternut and Royal Acorn are resistant.

Striped Cucumber Beetle

Lastly the cucumber beetle. These black and yellow striped or spotted beetles will eat most vining crops but like blossoms of watermelon, muskmelon, and cucumbers the best. They carry a disease called cucumber wilt, which will kill a cucumber vine overnight. The plant will wilt and turn brown. If this happens remove the vine immediately. Use Sevin when you first notice the beetles. There are some traps that lure the beetles to it.