Aphids are becoming a problem this week. If the plants (vegetables or flowers) are becoming deformed, look underneath the leaf and see if you have tiny green, black, or reddish “bugs”. If so, use Neem oil or insecticide soap to…
Tag: Garden almanac
This Week in the Garden
This week in the garden. There have been questions about why my vine crops like cucumbers and summer squash are blooming but not setting fruit. Vine crops have male and female flowers and only the female flower produces fruit after…
This Week in the Landscape
Where to look out for this week in the landscape: deadhead your spent flower heads, especially the ones in containers to keep them bushy and flowering. Fertilize every couple of weeks in those containers because of the limited root area.…
Garden Catalogs
Sunday I looked out the window and saw the ground in the southwest corner of the garden. Granted the rest of the garden is covered with 2 feet of snow, but there is a promise that spring will come. Time…
Success and Failures in the flowerbeds.
Success and Failures in the flowerbeds. Success: the tulips out bloomed the daffodils. The daffodils seem to be more prone to early heat and late freezes than tulips. The crocus and allium (flowering onion) did great. The mainstays like four…
Spring is Tough for Gardeners
Spring is tough for gardeners in South Dakota. We get the twitch when temperatures get to the upper 70’s and think it could not possibly freeze now. But how wrong we are forgetting the last frost date is usually May…
Growing Season Ended
The growing season ended for the flowers and vegetables, what were you pleased to see that? was surprised to see? was disappointed to see? I’ll go first. I was pleased to see my new asparagus plants grew like crazy! By…
Putting the Garden to Bed
Gardening in the fall is a great time to look back on your garden successes and disappointments, but there’s still plenty of time left for most of us to do some last-minute garden maintenance. Fall gardening takes advantage of cooler…
Gardening by the Moon
The basic idea behind Gardening by the Moon is that the cycles of the Moon affect plant growth. Just as the Moon’s gravitational pull causes tides to rise and fall, it also affects moisture in the soil. Therefore, it’s said that seeds will…