What to Prune When

Take the mystery out of when to prune your plants by following our quick-and-easy guide.

By: Denny Schrock

Getting Started

A good starting point for pruning any plant is to remove dead, diseased, or damaged stems as soon as you see them. Dead stems attract insects and invite diseases to develop.

Also remove crossing branches, water sprouts (vigorous upright growing shoots that form on trunks or side branches), and suckers (vigorous shoots that develop near or from below ground).

Spring-Flowering Trees and Shrubs

Early-spring bloomers, such as lilac, forsythia, and rhododendron, bear flowers on wood formed the previous year. The best time to prune them is late spring -- immediately after they finish blooming. If you prune them later in the growing season or during winter, you'll remove flower buds and decrease the amount of spring bloom.

Test Garden Tip: To keep spring bloomers flowering vigorously, remove some of the oldest shoots all the way to the ground. This allows younger stems to grow and bloom.

Summer-Blooming Trees and Shrubs

   Plants that bloom in summer, such as potentilla, butterfly bush, and crape myrtle, produce their flowers on new growth from the current season. Prune them in winter while they're dormant, or in early spring just before they push out their new growth. You can even cut them all the way to the ground in late winter, and they'll still bloom that same summer.

   Test Garden Tip: Save time by using a pole pruner with a rotating head to remove stems all the way to the base of the plant. That way, you don't have to bend over for each cut, saving not only time, but also wear and tear on your back!

Hydrangeas

   Most hydrangea types -- pink, blue, or white mopheads and lacecaps, or oakleaf forms -- bloom on old wood. Prune these types of hydrangeas before midsummer. If you prune them in winter or early spring, you'll be removing flower buds.
   With newer reblooming types, such as the Endless Summer Series or Let's Dance Series, which bloom on new growth as well as old wood, timing of pruning is less critical. Even if you cut off some of the flower buds by pruning the old stems, the plant will bloom on the new growth.
   White-flowered paniculata (such as the varieties 'PeeGee' and 'Limelight') and arborescens (including 'Annabelle') types flower on new wood, so they can be pruned any time other than just before they bloom.

Shrubs Without Showy Blooms

   Cut back shrubs grown primarily for their foliage, such as barberry and burning bush, almost anytime except in late autumn. New growth that starts after late-season pruning won't harden off properly before winter. If you want to do major pruning, it's best to cut the shrub back when it is dormant in winter.

 

 

 

Prune Fruit Trees

Late Winter or Early Spring

   Most fruit trees, including apples, pears, cherries, and peaches, benefit from being thinned every year. This encourages a more open habit that keeps the trees healthy and makes it easier to harvest the produce. The best time to prune is before new growth develops

Prune Roses
Early Spring
   In most regions, you'll want to prune your roses just as or before new growth emerges from the canes. Cutting your roses back encourages strong, healthy shoots that will produce lots of blooms. A trim also gives the plants a more open habit, which helps them resist diseases such as black spot.
   Treat climbers and old garden roses that bloom only once per year the same as other spring-blooming shrubs: Pruning after they finish blooming.
   Repeat bloomers, including hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, miniatures, and modern shrub roses are pruned mostly to shape the plant or to remove winter-damaged canes. If they become overgrown, cut them back in early spring.

 Ornamental Grasses

Cut Back Early Spring

   Cut back ornamental grasses to about 4 inches tall before or just as they put out new growth. This is also the time to divide ornamental grasses, if you wish to do so.

   Test Garden Tip: Leave spent grass leaves on top of your compost pile so birds can easily access them to make nests.

Clipped Hedges

   Shrubs such as boxwood and privet are often sheared to form a hedge. To maintain a solid wall of green, shear the new growth frequently during the early part of the growing season. Keep the top narrower than the base so that the upper branches don't shade the lower ones. Stop shearing the hedge approximately six weeks before your area's average first frost.
   Test Garden Tip: If you're growing a privacy hedge, reduce the amount of pruning maintenance needed by selecting shrubs that grow only as tall and wide as necessary to provide screening. Allow them to grow into their natural form, and little, if any, pruning will be required.

Deciduous Shade Trees


   Prune shade trees such as oak, linden, and ash when they are dormant in winter. It's easiest to see the branching structure at this time of year, and you're less likely to spread diseases through the pruning wounds. As with nonblooming shrubs, avoid pruning them late in summer.
   Test Garden Tip: Trees that produce a heavy sap flow when pruned in winter -- maples, birches, elms, and dogwoods -- are known as "bleeders." The sap flow may be unsightly, but it doesn't harm the tree. To avoid the bleeding, you can wait until the leaves have fully expanded in summer to prune these species.

Deciduous Fruit Trees

   Apples (including crabapples), peaches, pears, plums, and cherries should be pruned in midwinter. Although winter pruning removes some of their flower buds, the goal in pruning fruit trees is to open up the tree to allow in more light for a better crop of fruit, rather than to get maximum bloom.
   Dormant pruning is especially important for apples, pears, and crabapples because pruning wounds during the growing season expose the trees to a bacterial disease called fireblight.
   Test Garden Tip: To control the spread of diseases while pruning, dip your pruning shears in rubbing alcohol or a solution of one part bleach to nine parts water.

Broadleaf Evergreens

   Most broadleaf evergreens, including holly, mahonia, and some types of magnolias, need little pruning. The best time to prune them is in early spring, just before they put on their growth spurt. You can do minor shaping and pruning at other times of year, too.
   Test Garden Tip: Save on holiday decorations by snipping a few branches for winter holiday greenery.


Needle-Leaf Evergreens

   Most trees and shrubs with needlelike or scalelike foliage (spruce, juniper, cypress, arborvitae, fir, yew, Douglas fir, and false cypress) are best pruned early in the growing season.
   Avoid cutting back into wood that has no green needles; it may not sprout new growth. As with broadleaf evergreens, you can trim a few branch tips in midwinter to take some greenery indoors.




Pines

   True pines are more particular about their pruning needs than other needle-leaf evergreens. Pines form buds only at branch tips before the stem becomes woody.

   For best results, prune pines only in the candle stage -- before the new shoots turn woody and before the needles have fully expanded. Prune only a portion of the new growth, removing up to half of the expanding candle.

Perennial Flowers

   Most perennial flowers look best if you remove faded flowers. This is called deadheading. As a bonus, many perennials will push out another cycle of blooms after deadheading.

   If your perennial flowers become too tall and leggy, or flop open in the middle, try shearing them back to 6-12 inches above the ground. This type of haircut causes them to branch and become stockier.

     
Bush Berries

   The most productive portions of blueberry, gooseberry, and currant bushes are stems that are three years old or less. To maintain a constant supply of productive wood, prune out about a third of the oldest stems on these shrubs each winter. Cut the old stems off at ground level.

Cane Berries

   Raspberries and blackberries grow on long stems called canes. On most types, the cane doesn't fruit until its second year of growth. After bearing fruit, that cane dies. But new first-year canes develop at the same time, and will bear fruit the following year.
   Remove two-year-old canes soon after they finish bearing. They won't fruit again, and they can otherwise spread disease. Pinch back the tips of first-year canes when they reach about 3-4 feet to cause the cane to branch.
   Everbearing types of raspberries are an exception. They form a late-summer crop on the tips of first-year canes. Don't pinch them back in midsummer. Instead, allow the canes to flower and fruit for a fall crop. Remove the stem tips that have borne fruit in winter. The following summer the lower portion of the stem will fruit. After it finishes bearing, completely remove the fruited cane.

Grape Vines


   Grapes grow vigorously and require extensive pruning each year to keep them productive. Most training systems for grapes involve developing a main stem or trunk with several lateral stems or arms. Grapes fruit on lateral shoots from the current season's woody growth.
   Prune all grapes close to the lateral arms each year during the dormant season to produce the best fruit. The degree of pruning depends on the vigor of the variety. Prune vigorous varieties more heavily than weak growers.

How to Plant a Tree

How to Plant a Tree
A tree is one of the best landscaping investments you can make. Get tips for planting a tree to get it off to the best possible start.



Click on link below for educational video:
http://www.bhg.com/videos/m/59982136/how-to-plant-a-tree.htm?sssdmh=dm17.655946&esrc=nwgn030713ne

Why are Honeybees Disappearing?

Loss of honeybees could have devastating effect on agriculture and food supply.

From Earth Talk

Q: What is causing the dramatic decline in honeybee populations in the U.S. and elsewhere in recent years, and what is being done about it?

Kids everywhere may revel in the fact that bees are no longer stinging them as frequently on playgrounds and in backyards, but the decline in honeybee populations in the U.S. and elsewhere signals a major environmental imbalance that could have far-reaching implications for our agricultural food supply.

The Importance of Honeybees
Brought here from Europe in the 1600s, honeybees have become widespread across North America and are bred commercially for their abilities to produce honey and pollinate crops—90 different farm-grown foods, including many fruits and nuts, depend on honeybees. But in recent years honeybee populations across the continent have plummeted by as much as 70 percent, and biologists are still scratching their heads as to why and what to do about the problem which they have termed “colony collapse disorder” (CCD).

Chemicals May Be Killing the Honeybees
Many believe that our increasing use of chemical pesticides and herbicides, which honeybees ingest during their daily pollination rounds, are largely to blame. Commercial beehives are also subjected to direct chemical fumigation at regular intervals to ward off destructive mites. Another leading suspect is genetically modified crops, which may generate pollen with compromised nutritional value.
It may be that the build-up of both synthetic chemicals and genetically modified crop pollen has reached a “tipping point,” stressing bee populations to the point of collapse. Lending credence to this theory is that organic bee colonies, where chemicals and genetically modified crops are avoided, are not experiencing the same kind of catastrophic collapses, according to the non-profit Organic Consumers Association.

Radiation May Push Honeybees Off Course
Bee populations may also be vulnerable to other factors, such as the recent increase in atmospheric electromagnetic radiation as a result of growing numbers of cell phones and wireless communication towers. The increased radiation given off by such devices may interfere with bees’ ability to navigate. A small study at Germany’s Landau University found that bees would not return to their hives when mobile phones were placed nearby. Further research is currently underway in the U.S. to determine the extent of such radiation-related phenomena on bees and other insect populations.

Scientists Still Searching for Cause of Honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder
A recent gathering of leading bee biologists yielded no consensus, but most agree that a combination of factors is likely to blame. “We’re going to see a lot of money poured into this problem,” says University of Maryland entomologist Galen Dively, one of the nation’s leading bee researchers. He reports that the federal government plans an allocation of $80 million to fund research in connection with CCD. “What we’re looking for,” Dively says, “is some commonality which can lead us to a cause.”

Please consider the effects when swatting your next honeybee.

BY: NHGC
  If you've always yearned for your own home greenhouse, or if you're considering purchasing one in the future, there are a few things you need to know. Pick the right greenhouse, with the right features for your particular needs, and you'll find your gardening takes on a whole new rhythm, with the garden moving from outside to inside in response to the season.

What is a greenhouse?
   A greenhouse is basically an enclosed environment that has been designed with plants in mind. In the marketplace, greenhouses run the gamut from lower-end, lower-cost structures to elegant but expensive permanent buildings with architectural detailing.
   In the case of greenhouses, both from a standpoint of useful lifespan and looks, you get what you pay for. Extremely inexpensive, limited-use, entry-level kits start under a couple of hundred dollars. Small, entry-level permanent greenhouses that you create from a kit can be had for under $1,000. Top-of-the-line, year-round greenhouses with electric hookups, water, automatic venting, and so on can run from $5,000 to $10,000 or even more, depending on size.
   Greenhouses are a uniquely accessible product for home gardeners. A large number of hobby greenhouse manufacturers provide "kits" that allow you to construct your own greenhouse, using the manufacturer's modular components. Many kits can be upgraded, as well, if you choose to improve your basic greenhouse at a later date.

How to get growing
   One of the keys in selecting a greenhouse that is right for your style of gardening is to identify what you want to accomplish. If you simply want to extend your season a bit in either spring or fall, you may be most content with a "temporary" greenhouse that employs coverings made of "greenhouse film" or "poly film," which are flexible sheetings much like a shower curtain. These sheets are difficult to rip or tear, and provide some protection from cold and wind. Sometimes this type of greenhouse is constructed with two layers of plastic with an airspace in between that is kept inflated with a fan to provide additional insulation. However, this type of greenhouse will generally not provide year-round protection for plants in areas where winters are cold.
   When purchasing this type of greenhouse, pay attention to the warranty. The manufacturer's guarantee is your key to the product's useful life. Look for coverings that are UV treated, meaning that they have been specially made to resist the damaging effect of the sun. Frames for these structures can consist of anything from PVC pipe to aluminum to wood and many are semi-portable. Because of this portability, however, these structures may not be able to withstand strong winds or severe weather. Take that into account when deciding whether this will work for you.
   For hobbyists who want to care for specialty plants not hardy in their areas, or who want a spot in which to start plants for next season, a higher-end, more flexible structure is needed. However, these structures do share a few key features in common. Evaluating these features and their importance to you will help you find a greenhouse that meets both your needs and your pocketbook.

The frame
   First is the frame construction. Some greenhouses offer a "skeletal" frame, where the glazing materials (the coverings that let in light) extend all the way to the base of the structure. Others consist of a frame attached to a basewall that runs around the structure with glazing above it. The choice is up to you, but remember that any solid material, such as the basewall, will restrict the amount of light that enters. However, the basewall may improve the building's stability or insulating ability. Redwood and aluminum are two common framing materials found in greenhouse kits, but frames can also be found which are made of treated wood, galvanized steel, or reinforced PVC. Some manufacturers do not provide actual framing materials, but instead specify a list of materials that you purchase separately from your local lumber store. You then use your frame with the manufacturer's glazing materials. This can reduce costs, but you'll need to be fairly handy to construct the frame itself.
   Of these framing options, redwood is elegant, naturally rot resistant, and long lasting. However, manufacturers often encourage homeowners to stain redwood so it is higher maintenance. It is also among the more expensive framing options. Aluminum is strong and light, but it does not insulate as well as wood and it can also be expensive. Treated wood needs to be stained to improve its appearance and preserve its life, but it is less expensive. Reinforced PVC can be a reliable option, providing the structure is installed correctly, but some people don't care for its appearance. The choice is yours.

The glazing
   While frames may affect the aesthetics of a greenhouse, by far the most important feature is the glazing. This is the covering that lets light into the greenhouse, and yet retains heat to protect the plants inside. All glazings admit varying amounts of available light. Glass transmits the most, and it looks elegant. However, clear glass is among the more expensive glazing materials, and in areas of the country where snowfall is heavy, or weather is uncertain or quite cold, glass can be easily damaged. Single-pane glass also provides little insulation so the greenhouse will require additional insulation. In hot or sunny weather, plant scorching can be an issue unless the glass is carefully shaded to minimize light transmission.
   One note here: Some do-it-yourselfers who have built their own greenhouses using insulated windows designed for houses have discovered to their dismay that warm, wet greenhouse conditions caused the windows to deteriorate quickly. Good greenhouses are specially built to accommodate extra humidity and heat and the glazing materials available for them reflect that. Some greenhouse manufacturers offer clear acrylic as an alternative glazing material to glass. This has the benefit of being stronger than glass, while still offering a clear view through the structure.
   Flat or corrugated fiberglass is another glazing choice. It is much stronger than glass, but it also is more opaque or cloudy, so it transmits less light. This can be useful in areas with the possibility of hail or where summer sun is relentlesss. However, fiberglass also usually requires additional insulation to be used in cold areas. Look for fiberglass that carries a good guarantee against sun damage. If you notice structures from years ago that employed fiberglass, you may notice some serious discoloration or hazing. UV treatments available today can minimize this problem.
   Yet another choice for glazing is a material commonly known as polycarbonate. This plastic-like material typically consists of two thin sheets of nearly clear wall with honeycombed channels extending throughout the sheets. This construction creates trapped air space inside the chamber which provides excellent insulation. Polycarbonate transmits light well, is usually UV treated to insure long life, stands up to much harsher conditions than glass, is lighter than glass, is impact resistant, and is a good insulating material. However, it is also among the more expensive greenhouse glazing options.
   Other manufacturers offer similar double-walled glazing products, made of different base products, that mimic many of the good qualities of polycarbonate, only with less expense.

Heating and cooling
   Because greenhouses trap heat efficiently, in summer you'll find this is too much of a good thing. All greenhouses need some type of venting to exchange the hotter air inside with the cooler air outside. On the least expensive type of greenhouse, these vents may be as low-tech as screened openings on either side of the shelter.
   On higher-end models, a more efficient system employs roof vents. Since hot air tends to collect near the roof of any structure, these vents allow the heat to drift out of the top of the building, while vents nearer the floor draw cooler air back in. This passive air exchange is very efficient.
   One note: Some vents are manually operated, meaning you'll need to open and close them as needed. That may mean twice a day, morning and night. Forget once and a suddenly sunny day will fry your plants, or an unexpectedly cool night will freeze them. A much more convenient system employs a self-powered roof vent opener which works on a spring system. As a waxy material within the opener heats up, it expands, gradually opening the vent as the temperature rises. When the material cools, it contracts, thereby closing the vent. Thermostats are also available which will automatically open your vents or turn on a system of exhaust fans when the temperature hits a predetermined level. These vents flush hot air out while drawing cooler air in at floor level.
   Although vents will help cool a greenhouse, in summer preventing heat is critical. Shading a greenhouse is one of the best ways to minimize heat build-up. For some greenhouses, you can apply a special removable "paint" to your glazing that is somewhat opaque when dry. This restricts the amount of light that enters. There are also shade cloths, aluminum roll-up walls, fiberglass panels, and so on that will all provide some shade and therefore cooling.
   These passive measures will not be enough in greenhouses in very hot areas. Some greenhouses may need evaporative coolers, sometimes called "swamp coolers," in order to be used year-round. In these systems, fans are used to evaporate water, which draws heat from the air thereby cooling the structure.
   While keeping a greenhouse cool is important in summer, keeping it warm is key in winter. Correct siting is important to insure that your greenhouse will take advantage of all available winter light. (Any greenhouse manufacturer will be able to help you find the best siting for your particular area.)
   Even with good siting, if you use your greenhouse only to overwinter marginally hardy plants, some supplemental heat will probably be necessary in cold areas. However, if your dream is to raise tropical plants or heat-loving orchids, you'll need to keep the greenhouse much warmer (and you may need to supply supplemental light, as well.) Again, a manufacturer can offer you more specifics.
   The most efficient greenhouse heaters are generally either electric or propane-based. Other forms of heaters are usually discouraged either because they are not safe, or not good for the plants. Since heat rises, you may need a fan near the ceiling to force warm air back down when you are heating the greenhouse. Special recirculating fans are available that keep air moving gently around your plants, insuring a proper distribution of carbon dioxide and moisture.

Recycle Your Christmas Tree

Get creative in reusing your tree



POSTED BY: NHGC

December 17, 2009

 Your holiday tree doesn’t have to end up at the local landfill at the end of the season—make the most of your tree by recycling it. Follow these tips:

-Give it to the birds. Stand your tree about 10 feet from the bird feeder or in a corner of your garden as a shelter for the birds. Decorate branches with fruit slices, pine cones smeared with peanut butter, seed cakes, and suet bags. To prevent the tree from blowing away in the winter winds, attach it to a stable support with wire or twine.

-Create winter mulch. Cut the boughs off and use them as protective mulch around perennials and small shrubs. Remove brnches in the spring.

-Compost or chip it. Many communities pick up discarded holiday trees, then compost or grind trees into wood chips for mulch. Contact your local government office.

-Make potpourri. Dry the branches, then remove and crumble the needles. Mix needles with cinnamon sticks or whole close, place in a bowl, and enjoy?

-Create a winter display. Arrange branches in a large container near your door, porch or other focal point. Add other decorations, such as dried grasses, bright dogwood, barberry, cones, and berries.

-Make a windbreak. Use the tree to shield newly planted evergreens or young broadleaf evergreens like rhododendrons.

-Use as a trellis. In the spring, convert the trunk into a trellis for climbing vines or tomatoes.

Contemporary Twist

Brighten up your porch, front steps, or entryway with this cheerful container
By: Amy Sitze



If you’re drawn more toward contemporary designs than traditional decor, here’s a modern twist on a holiday container.

Materials:

• Colorful twigs such as yellow-twig dogwood and redtwig dogwood
• Florist’s wire and 6-inch florist’s pick, both available at craft stores
• Pine cones
• Arborvitae branches (or other evergreens with a feathery texture)

Method:

First, add tall redtwig dogwood branches to the center of the container. They should be about twice the height of the container.

Next, add arborvitae branches (or other evergreens with a feathery texture) evenly around the sides of the container, hiding the soil or sand. (See Photo to the right)

For an even more dramatic look, hide white holiday lights deep in the arborvitae, where individual light bulbs can’t be seen but produce a pretty glow.

Plan for More Garden Space


During winter, a lot of us make a plan for the next gardening season, and chances are, that plan involves making more space to garden.


If you've thought about increasing your garden space but you're not sure where to start, we can help with a few ideas on how to downsize your lawn and turn it into space for planting. Follow these tips for getting started.

   Develop an overall plan. Decide how much lawn you really need, and for what purposes. A landscape designer can be helpful and can offer advice on replacement plants suitable for your soil and climate.

   Phase in the changes. Set up a season-by-season schedule for your lawn conversion, arranged in order of importance. For example, shade trees should get high priority, since they require years to mature.

Tired of Turf?

   Once a week, my town sends an 18-ton sanitation truck rumbling down my road to collect yard waste. As the crew gathers up bag after bag of lawn clippings from my neighbors, I can’t help feeling that robbery is afoot. But far more is at stake with a lawn than what happens when grass clippings are trucked away instead of being left to return their rich nutrients to the soil.
   Lawns are a 20th-century import from northern Europe. Most lawn grasses are better suited to English gardens than to the varied soils and climates in our North American yards. So maintaining a traditional “putting green” lawn often requires extreme measures that have profound effects on your yard’s ecosystem. Consequently, they’ve been called “green deserts.”
   According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, American lawns guzzle up to 60 percent of our cities’ clean water annually, plus 67 million pounds of pesticides and $5 billion in fertilizers (more fertilizer per acre than farmers use). Conventional lawns account for an estimated 90 percent of landscaping costs. In addition, 10 percent of the air pollution caused by gasoline engines comes from lawn-care equipment.
   Overuse of pesticides, weed killers, and chemical fertilizers destroys the soil’s natural ecology by eradicating most earthworms, insects, spiders, and millions of other beneficial organisms necessary for your garden’s health. Surviving pests can develop resistance to chemicals, leaving lawns dependent on even stronger chemicals. In addition, the shallow, dense root systems of lawn grass prevent moisture from penetrating deeply into the soil, causing run-off of precious rainwater.
   To birds, frogs, bees, and other wildlife, a conventional lawn has all the appeal of a sun-blasted concrete parking lot. As with concrete, a large expanse of clipped lawn reflects more heat than do natural plantings, resulting in higher summer cooling costs for nearby houses.
   Lawns do have their uses, (playing areas for young children for example), and it’s understandable that most people aren’t willing to give them up completely. Still, many gardeners have decided to replace their lawns (or parts of their lawns) with more natural, earth-friendly plantings. Shrinking or eliminating a lawn can be a formidable undertaking, so you may opt to tackle the conversion in stages over several years.
   Develop an overall plan. Decide how much lawn you really need, and for what purposes. A landscape designer can be helpful  and can offer advice on replacement plants suitable for your soil and climate. Besides trees, shrubs, ground covers, and nonlawn grasses, your master plan might include vegetable gardens, mulched walkways, bird-feeding stations, and ponds.
   Phase in the changes. Set up a season-by-season schedule for your lawn conversion, arranged in order of importance. Shade trees should get high priority, since they require years to mature. And if you’re replacing lawn grass with drought-tolerant native plants, put them in areas farthest from water outlets—this will substantially reduce watering chores as soon as the new plants become established.
   Kill unwanted grass. Using herbicides to eradicate grass can harm beneficial soil organisms. Instead, I’ve had good results using two or three layers of newspaper covered with grass clippings, shredded leaves, or wood chips. This starves grass of light while allowing rainwater to penetrate the soil. In small areas, you can simply dig out lawn grass by hand.

Tips for Growing Non-Toxic Lawns:

If you still want to grow some grass, you can minimize your use of chemicals and water by following these tips:
   • Mow with a sharp blade. Dull blades tear the grass, providing openings for disease organisms.
   • Cut only one third of the grass blade at each mowing. Taller grass suppresses weeds and develops deep, drought-tolerant root systems. I leave my lawn at 2" all year long.
   • Leave grass clippings on the lawn. They supply at least a third of your lawn’s yearly nitrogen requirement. Use a mulching blade if you can and rake up only the thick grasses that may damage the lawn if not removed.
   • Water deeply and infrequently. Frequent, light watering encourages shallow roots and reduces drought tolerance. To reduce evaporation, water in the early morning. Never water at night; this could cause other grass deseases to develope. By watering deeper you are training the roots to grow downward into the soil and this makes for a more drought tolarant lawn.

Prepare Water Gardens for Winter

 By: NHGC


As frost begins to nip at our gardens, it's time to think about winterizing ponds and other water features. The experts at TetraPond, a water-garden supplier in Blacksburg, Virginia, offer the following tips:

Cut back lilies and other deep-water plants to about one inch above the tip. Replace soil and gravel, as needed. To prevent rot, be sure not to cover the plants' crowns.

Move plants to deeper water if you live in a climate where ponds freeze.

■Cut back all growth on bog plants surrounding your pond and mulch with 6 inches of straw.

■Place tender floating plants like water hyacinth in a 3-inch water-filled tray and move them to a frost-free shed or greenhouse.

■When temperatures drop and fish spend most of their time on the bottom of the pond, stop feeding them.

■To reduce next spring's chores, clean out leaves and twigs that fall into the pond and remove as much duckweed as possible. You may want to buy a pond netting to aid in the leaf removal.

■If you don't already have a de-icer or bubble airater, buy one now to keep a small area of the pond ice-free. This will help your fish survive by creating a spot for harmful gasses to escape.

■Turn off filters, (other than fall boxes and skimmers; these can remain running.), then clean them and store them inside.

*Check out Ken's Landscape Designs website store for products.

Awesome Autumn Container

Create a colorful autumn container
By: Michelle Leise
 
Follow our steps to create a colorful and vibrant autumn container.
 Materials
• Drill with 5/8- to 1/2-inch bit
• Pot, about 24 inches high with a diameter of 24 inches at the top
• Plastic saucer with a diameter of about 18 inches
• Trowel
• Potting soil
• Assorted fall perennials and annuals
Tips
• Put in more plants than you think you’ll need. You’ll be surprised by how many will fit and still flourish, and it’s really the only way to get a spectacular-looking container.
• Fertilize once a month and water as needed, depending on the weather and amount of rain.
• For cold climates, use pots made of fiberglass, which withstand freezing temperatures better than plastic and terra cotta.
• Protect your potted perennials during winter if you live in a cold climate. In late fall, carry the pot to an out-of-the-way location and tip it upside down with the plants and soil left in the pot. Don’t bother trimming anything—even the grasses—because the extra foliage will provide warmth and protection during the winter. The foliage will get crushed when you tip the pot over, which is fine. The plants and soil will stay secure because the roots will have combined into a single root ball. Pile plenty of straw around the pot to insulate the plants during the winter.
• When danger of frost has passed in spring, tip the pot back over, trim back the perennials, discard the old annuals, and plant new annuals in their place.
• After a perennial grows for two to three years in the container, divide it so it stays healthy.

Method

-Step 1: Drill drainage holes. Drill three to five drainage holes into the plastic saucer. If the pot doesn’t have drainage holes, drill several of them.

-Step 2: Choose pot and placement. Use a pot that’s sturdy enough to hold large plants and big enough to look visually balanced when you add tall grasses. Place the pot close to its permanent location so you won’t

have to carry it far when it’s full.

-Step 3: Fill with soil. Set the saucer into the pot (see step 3 photo) so it rests about 6 to 8 inches into the pot—that way, you won’t have to fill the entire container with soil, which saves money. Fill with potting soil until the soil is 2 to 3 inches from the top. Don’t fill to the brim or soil will spill out as you add plants.

-Step 4: Group plants. Group together the plants you’re considering so you can look at the overall color scheme and see how their textures and heights work together (see step 4 photo).

For a fall planting, purples, grays, silvers, and burgundies combine beautifully, especially when they have diverse textures. Think of plants such as kale, purple fountain grass, miniature asters, mums, sedum, and licorice plant. Look to recycle summer container plants—we reused Lamium maculatum ‘White Nancy’ and Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ from a summer pot we took apart.

-Step 5: Plant selections. After you remove plants from their nursery pots, use your hand or a trowel to gently spread out roots that appear root-bound (growing in a tight circle). Mums are especially prone to this.

To get lots of color and size right away, put in healthy potted plants from a nursery and some well-established perennials that you (or a friend) have grown for at least a year or two. Ornamental grasses, for instance, will be taller and more lush if you divide them from a mature plant.

How to Preserve Your Harvest

Learn how to store and preserve your favorite fruits and veggies
By: Veronica Lorson Fowler


Got tomatoes coming out of your ears? Running out of room on the countertop for all that squash? Just served green beans for the fifth night in a row? It’s time to “put up” all that bounty, as our grandmothers might say. But don’t panic—you don’t need a big country kitchen, a pressure-cooker, or even a pantry. Preserving food these days is faster and easier than ever.

Stash it

One of the easiest ways to preserve garden produce is to keep it at plain old room temperature. Onions, garlic, dried herbs, and winter squashes (such as butternut and acorn) will stay good for weeks. Just harvest, brush off any dirt, and “cure” them for a few days by spreading them out on newspaper in a cool, breezy place out of direct light.

Dry it out

Drying and dehydrating is another time-tested way to store foods. For example, you can cut herbs from the garden, gather their stems together with rubber bands, and hang them upside down in a cool, dry place (such as a closet) for a few weeks.

Apples and tomatoes can be dried in the oven. Wash them thoroughly, slice them up, and treat fruits as needed with ascorbic-acid color keeper (such as Fruit Fresh) to prevent discoloration. Spread out on multiple cookie sheets and bake in a 250°F oven for several hours, turning once or twice, until leathery. Since it’s difficult to get the produce dry enough with this method to prevent any spoilage, store in plastic bags in the freezer.

A food dehydrator is a more efficient way to dry food. It allows you to process large amounts of fruit and vegetables. A dehydrator, which starts atabout $60, dries food so well that you can keep the dehydrated produce at room temperature for several months.

The big chill

Freezing food is one of the easiest methods around. It preserves the flavor, color, and texture of foods extremely well. Deep freezers are surprisingly affordable—they start at just $150.

Freezing is ideal for most fruits and berries. No method preserves their taste and texture better. Wash thoroughly. Cut up larger fruits. Treat apples, pears, peaches, and other produce that might brown with ascorbic-acid color keeper. Freeze on cookie sheets until frozen solid. Store in plastic bags or rigid plastic containers for up to one year.

Or, go ahead and prepare some of your favorite desserts and freeze them unbaked. Fruit pies and fruit crisps freeze unbaked very well. (Some pie aficionados argue that fruit pies actually bake better this way.) Then bake as usual, still frozen, but allowing extra time. Freeze up to three months.

Soups and sauces made with homegrown produce also freeze easily. Tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, tomato soup, vegetable soup, and squash soup freeze beautifully. Dishes containing pasta, rice, or potatoes, however, don’t freeze well. They absorb too much liquid and get mushy or mealy. Pack into rigid plastic containers and keep for up to a year.

Can you can?

Canning strikes terror in the soul of some cooks. It seems old-fashioned, difficult, and rife with the danger of food poisoning. But as long as you follow a reliable recipe and take the specified precautions, you’ll be fine.

Canning is divided into two basic methods. The easiest—boiling-water canning—requires a special canner pot or a big stockpot with a lid. Just boil filled jars for a specified period of time to sterilize the food and seal the jar. (Times vary; check canning recipes for details.) This simple method works for pickles, jams, jellies, salsas, plain tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, most fruits, and many other foods.

Pressure-cooker canning is used for foods with lower acid levels, in which more types of harmful microorganisms can thrive. The pressure canner (which starts at about $60) heats food to a hotter temperature than a boiling-water canner. Forget the horror stories you’ve heard about exploding pressure cookers—today’s pressure cookers are safer than ever. Just follow directions. Pressure cookers are required to safely process green beans and other vegetables (except most tomato recipes), most soups, and anything containing meat.

If traditional canning sounds a little daunting, start out by doing some “cheater” canning. Make refrigerator pickles, refrigerator pickled garlic, pickled hot peppers, and other pickled vegetables that don’t require heat processing. Just cut up fresh cucumbers and other fresh produce, pack in jars with a vinegar-based brine (often prepared with no cooking), and store in the fridge for at least a week or up to several weeks, depending on the recipe.

Or you can make freezer jam—just mash up fruit, sugar, and pectin. It’s softer than traditional jam, but with a delicious, fresh flavor. It will keep for up to six months in a freezer.

Other preserving methods

There are other delicious ways to preserve the bounty from your garden, too. Try preserving in alcohol. Brandied peaches or pears are wonderful topped with ice cream. Or make a fruit cordial—a combination of fruit, alcohol, and syrups. Some recipes are more about preserving the fruit to eat and some are more about creating a memorable after-dinner sipping beverage. To make brandied fruit or other fruit preserved in alcohol, simply submerge washed fruit (either whole or cut up) in brandy to which some sugar has been added. Use a plate or other clean weight to hold the fruit under the liquid. Look for recipes online, including ones that include a variety of fruits, spices, and other sweeteners. Food preserved in alcohol will last several months and often years.

You can also preserve foods in vinegar or create flavored vinegars with produce from your garden. Make herb vinegar (tarragon is a favorite) or fruit vinegar (raspberry is classic).

Oil is also a centuries-old way of preserving food, though these days food scientists recommend that it be stored in the fridge to prevent spoilage. Try dried tomatoes preserved in olive oil, or make your own garlic oil.

Few things are more satisfying than lining a shelf with neat rows ofhomemade preserves, salsas, and sauces to enjoy for months to come. Or, on a wintry day, enjoying toast topped with raspberry jam you made back in July. You’ll savor the food—and a true sense of accomplishment.

Mulch......One of my pet peeves.

That's right, it's one of my pet peeves because I see way to many people, (including contractors), just wasting their money when applying mulch to their landscape beds. That's not to say that mulch shouldn't be used around shrubbery, I believe that quality mulch is one of the best ground covers for plants. It provides cooling from the suns heat, retains moister for the plants, ads an attractive color, and gives some weed protection. Where I see the waste of money is in the weed barrier fabric that everyone seems to want to put under the mulch. This is not necessary because of the for mentioned factors. Because mulch can hold moister and with the small grains of dust and dirt that can naturally blow into the mulch; weed seeds that can also blow in with the wind will root themselves right into the mulch. The mulch will provide enough cover as to kill the weeds under it so, you do not need the weed fabric. Fabric can also stop a good amount of water from getting to the roots of your plants. Many of the available fabrics have a run-off factor, more so on hills. It also makes it very difficult to add new plants to your beds later, and can stop perennials from growing larger or expanding. Here is what I do for new beds:

Preparation of a new planting bed.

1) Outline your bed area with some form of marking system. I use field marking paint.

2) Spray inner area with Vegetation contact killer. Be careful not to go outside of your lines or over spray were you don't want to kill vegetation. Be very careful around plants in that area. Remember, Vegetation killer is just that, it will kill what it lands on. Allow area to begin dieing off; when lawn and/or weeds look to be yellow or faded, you can begin to work the bed.

3) Trench or install your edging around the border of your bed. I recommend some form of edging that goes into the ground a minimum of 4 inches to prevent the grass from growing into your bed and eliminate your trenching/trimming each year.

4) Bring in any soil you need to add to the bed. I.E. if you want to raise the bed above the ground level. Rake out to a pre-planting grade.

5) Plant your area with desired plants. Be aware that you will be adding a 3 inch or more cover of mulch to the bed later so, you may want to leave the plant/pot ball up an inch or two from your final grade of soil to allow for this mulch cover. Note: if planting a perennial bed, you should use a lighter cover of mulch as not to prohibit growth or expansion of the perennials. You may also want to plant perennials after you apply your mulch cover.

6) Adjust and rake out the final soil grade of your bed and apply your mulch cover. Note: Do not bury your plants with mulch. Many people pull the mulch right up tight to their plants and end up killing the plant. Too much mulch next to your smaller plants can suffocate them; they need air flow under them so they don't suffocate or rot off with too much water.

To prevent weeds from over running your beds, apply a weed preventer to the soil in the spring after you fluff and/or add new mulch. This will prevent up to 75% of new weeds from germinating. If you see weeds starting to grow, spray them when you see leaves forming with contact killer. This will stop all that kneeling and pulling of weeds that I know you just love to do. Two factors will stop your preventer from working well; 1-if you disturb the soil like pulling weeds or digging in the area. This breaks the weed barrier that the preventer makes. 2- if you get a week of 90 plus degree temperature it could knock out the preventer's percentage of effectiveness. You may want to apply it twice a year,(spring and end of summer), if you have a large problem with weeds in your area.

Spring Cleaning

Spring Cleaning, Backyard Style
Seven time-saving tips to get your backyard ready for summer

(ARA) - Now that the wintry weather is gone and the colorful blooms are back, it’s time to think about spring cleaning. But while you’re washing windows, scrubbing walls and dusting corners inside the house, don’t forget about rolling up those sleeves and giving the outside a once-over, too.

Spending some time in the backyard as soon as spring rolls around can really pay off. “Winter can leave a lawn in pretty tough shape,” says backyard expert Michael Miller, president of backyard tool manufacturer Hound Dog Products. “But there are lots of little things you can do to help spruce up your backyard when the weather starts to turn warmer. By digging in to cleanup in early spring, you’ll be ahead of the game, and your neighbors will be playing catch-up all year long.”

Miller offers seven tips that the professionals use to ensure a successful backyard spring cleanup effort -- and to help your home’s outside sparkle and shine as vibrantly as the inside.

* Rake. As soon as the lawn begins to wake up for the season, give it a light once-over with a rake, taking care not to disturb any new grass plants by raking too hard. In addition to clearing leaves, twigs and other debris left over from last fall, the first raking of the year also allows you to assess the extent of any winter damage to your lawn. Look for early signs of pests or disease, and nip them in the bud before they cause big problems.
* Aerate. Heavy use throughout the year can cause soil to become compacted. Removing plugs of sod in the spring -- aerating -- loosens the soil and lets water, air and fertilizer get down to the grass plant’s root structure. For smaller yards, or for concentrated trouble spots in any size yard, consider using a manual aerating tool that removes plugs from the turf. If you have a large yard, consider renting a power aerator.
* Top dress. After you aerate, spend a few minutes doing what the experts call “top dressing,” spreading a thin layer of peat moss over the lawn with a rake. The top dressing helps to gradually condition the lawn throughout the year, strengthening the grass so it can resist disease, weeds and thatch, and reducing the amount of water and fertilizer it needs.
* Weed. Go after weeds early in the season before they have a chance to go to seed. Cultivating a healthy lawn is one of the simplest ways to crowd out weeds. Or, remove dandelions and other broadleaf weeds with an easy-to-use weeder. Ergonomic tools like the Weed Hound have helped make long afternoons spent weeding nothing more than a backbreaking memory. All you do is place the tool over the weed, step lightly on the footrest, and pull the weed up, root and all.
* Fix bare spots. Whether it’s due to disease or dog urine, bare patches can make a yard look shabby. A quick and easy way of improving the look of your yard is to repair the discolored patches, especially in early spring, when the cooler temperatures help the grass grow. Just clear away the dead-looking patches, sprinkle grass seed on the newly exposed soil, add fertilizer, and keep the area moist until it sprouts.
* Remove thatch build-up. Thatch prevents sunlight, oxygen and moisture from getting to the nutrient-hungry soil below. But it’s easy to remove, especially if you do it regularly -- every year or two. Just go at the yard with a dethatching rake or power dethatcher to clean away the layer of tangled roots and stems. It takes some elbow grease, but it will help clear the way for new growth.
* Give your tools a spring tune-up. Spend a few minutes in the garage or storage shed making sure your tools are in good working condition -- before you need to use them for the first time. Consider taking your lawn mower in for an annual tune-up. The dealer can replace the oil and spark plugs, sharpen the blade, and get it ready for the season.

A little effort in early spring can lay the groundwork for a thriving, healthy backyard -- and have your neighbors turning green with envy. For more backyard tips, visit hound-dog.com
Courtesy of ARA Content

Helpful Hints For Winter.

Hey, thought you could use these..........Brrrrrr
SEND THESE TIPS TO YOUR COLD WEATHER FRIEND"S

Just a few common Helpful Hints For Winter.

Keep your headlights clear with car wax! Just wipe ordinary car wax on your headlights. It contains special water repellents that will prevent that messy mixture from accumulating on your lights - lasts 6 weeks.

Squeak-proof your wipers with rubbing alcohol! Wipe the wipers with a cloth saturated with rubbing alcohol or ammonia. This one trick can make badly streaking & squeaking wipers change to near perfect silence & clarity.

Ice-proof your windows with vinegar! Frost on it's way? Just fill a spray bottle with three parts vinegar to one part water & spritz it on all your windows at night. In the morning, they'll be clear of icy mess. Vinegar contains acetic acid, which raises the melting point of water---preventing water from freezing!

Prevent car doors from freezing shut with cooking spray! Spritz cooking oil on the rubber seals around car doors & rub it in with a paper towel. The cooking spray prevents water from melting into the rubber

Fog-proof your windshield with shaving cream! Spray some shaving cream on the inside of your windshield & wipe if off with paper towels. Shaving cream has many of the same ingredients found in commercial defoggers.

De-ice your lock in seconds with hand sanitizer! Just put some hand sanitizer gel on the key & the lock & the problems solved!

Fall is upon us.

Fall is here and leaves are falling.

What to do with all those leaves and clippings?

Compost Guide - Composting Fundamentals
Courtesy of VegWeb, LLC

Introduction to Composting
Composting is the decomposition of plant remains and other once-living materials to make an earthy, dark, crumbly substance that is excellent for adding to houseplants or enriching garden soil. It is the way to recycle your yard and kitchen wastes, and is a critical step in reducing the volume of garbage needlessly sent to landfills for disposal. It's easy to learn how to compost.

There are a tremendous number of options for containing your compost. Some people choose to go binless, simply building a compost pile in a convenient spot on the ground. Others build bins from materials such as recycled pallets, or two-by-fours and plywood. And, of course, there are many commercial bins on the market.
Composting is not a new idea. In the natural world, composting is what happens as leaves pile up on the forest floor and begin to decay. Eventually, the rotting leaves are returned to the soil, where living roots can finish the recycling process by reclaiming the nutrients from the decomposed leaves. Composting may be at the root of agriculture as well. Some scientists have speculated that as early peoples dumped food wastes in piles near their camps, the wastes rotted and were terrific habitat for the seeds of any food plants that sprouted there. Perhaps people began to recognize that dump heaps were good places for food crops to grow, and began to put seeds there intentionally.
Today, the use of composting to turn organic wastes into a valuable resource is expanding rapidly in the United States and in other countries, as landfill space becomes scarce and expensive, and as people become more aware of the impacts they have on the environment. In ten years, composting will probably be as commonplace as recycling aluminum cans is today, both in the backyard and on an industrial scale. Many states in the USA have stated goals or legislative mandates to drastically reduce the volume of waste being sent to landfills. Utilizing yard and kitchen wastes (which make up about 30% of the waste stream in the USA [1]) is a big part of the plan to minimize waste overall.
You can contribute to the 'composting revolution' by composting your own yard and kitchen wastes at home. If you have a large yard, you might prefer the ease of composting in a three-bin system out by the back fence. Cities and towns can promote composting through home composting education efforts and the collection of yard wastes for large-scale composting. Whatever your style of composting, there's plenty of room to get involved!
Composting Fundamentals
Good composting is a matter of providing the proper environmental conditions for microbial life. Compost is made by billions of microbes (fungi, bacteria, etc.) that digest the yard and kitchen wastes (food) you provide for them. If the pile is cool enough, worms, insects, and their relatives will help out the microbes. All of these will slowly make compost out of your yard and kitchen wastes under any conditions. However, like people, these living things need air, water, and food. If you maintain your pile to provide for their needs, they'll happily turn your yard and kitchen wastes into compost much more quickly. Keep in mind the following basic ideas while building your compost piles:
AIR
Composting microbes are aerobic -- they can't do their work well unless they are provided with air. Without air, anaerobic (non-air needing) microbes take over the pile. They do cause slow decomposition, but tend to smell like putrefying garbage! For this reason, it's important to make sure that there are plenty of air passageways into your compost pile. Some compost ingredients, such as green grass clippings or wet leaves, mat down very easily into slimy layers that air cannot get through. Other ingredients, such as straw, don't mat down easily and are very helpful in allowing air into the center of a pile. To make sure that you have adequate aeration for your pile and its microbes, thoroughly break up or mix in any ingredients that might mat down and exclude air. You can also turn the pile to get air into it, which means completely breaking it apart with a spade or garden fork and then piling it back together in a more 'fluffed-up' condition.
WATER
Ideally, your pile should be as moist as a wrung-out sponge to fit the needs of compost microbes. At this moisture level, there is a thin film of water coating every particle in the pile, making it very easy for microbes to live and disperse themselves throughout the pile. If your pile is drier than this, it won't be very good microbial habitat, and composting will be slowed significantly. If your pile is a great deal wetter, the sodden ingredients will be so heavy that they will tend to mat down and exclude air from the pile, again slowing the composting process (and perhaps creating anaerobic odor problems). If you are using dry ingredients, such as autumn leaves or straw, you'll need to moisten them as you add them to the pile. Kitchen fruit and vegetable wastes generally have plenty of moisture, as do fresh green grass clippings and garden thinnings. Watch out for far-too-soggy piles in wet climates (a tarp may help to keep rain off during wet weather). In dry climates, it may be necessary to water your pile occasionally to maintain proper moisture.
FOOD
In broad terms, there are two major kinds of food that composting microbes need.
'Browns' are dry and dead plant materials such as straw, dry brown weeds, autumn leaves, and wood chips or sawdust. These materials are mostly made of chemicals that are just long chains of sugar molecules linked together. As such, these items are a source of energy for the compost microbes. Because they tend to be dry, browns often need to be moistened before they are put into a compost system.
'Greens' are fresh (and often green) plant materials such as green weeds from the garden, kitchen fruit and vegetable scraps, green leaves, coffee grounds and tea bags, fresh horse manure, etc. Compared to browns, greens have more nitrogen in them. Nitrogen is a critical element in amino acids and proteins, and can be thought of as a protein source for the billions of multiplying microbes.
A good mix of browns and greens is the best nutritional balance for the microbes. This mix also helps out with the aeration and amount of water in the pile. Browns, for instance, tend to be bulky and promote good aeration. Greens, on the other hand, are typically high in moisture, and balance out the dry nature of the browns. If you'd like specific information on different materials, check the 'What to Compost' section.

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER
If you live in a cold climate, your compost pile will probably go dormant in the winter. No problem -- it'll start back up again when the springtime thaw comes.
A common misunderstanding about compost piles is that they must be hot to be successful. This just isn't true. If you have good aeration and moisture, and the proper ingredient mix, your pile will decompose just fine at temperatures of 50 degrees Farenheit or above.
Hotter piles will decompose a bit faster, however. One way to understand why this is so is to realize that the heat in a hot pile is the result of the collective body heat of billions of microbes that are busy digesting the ingredients in the pile. Generally speaking, a hotter pile means more microbes or conditions that allow the microbes to have faster metabolisms, and therefore a faster composting process. If you'd like to keep your pile as warm as possible, consider the following:
For a pile to get hot and stay hot for a long period of time, the typical minimum size for the pile is one cubic meter (a cube one meter, or about three feet, on a side). A pile this size has plenty of mass in which those billions of heat-generating microbes can live, yet is also large enough that the center of the pile is well-insulated by the material surrounding it. Smaller piles just cannot insulate themselves well enough to remain hot for long, if at all. You can also provide additional insulation to a pile by stacking bales of hay or straw, or bags of dry autumn leaves, around your bin system. Some people even used stacked hay bales to make bin systems (this kind of bin will slowly compost itself, of course).
Composting Questions and Answers:
When is my compost finished?
Finished compost is dark in color and has an earthy smell (like the smell of soil). Usually, it's difficult to recognize any of the original ingredients, although bits of hard-to-decompose materials (such as straw) sometimes can be seen.
There is no single point at which compost is finished -- it's a bit more subjective than that. For many outdoor garden applications, for instance, it can be fine to use compost that still has a few recognizable bits of leaves or straw -- it will finish rotting in the soil. If you plan to use compost in seed-starting mixes, though, you're best off having a well-finished compost, because seedling roots may be attacked by decomposer microbes if the roots contact unfinished compost.
How can I use my finished compost?
To tell you the truth, well-finished compost looks so fine that I'm tempted to eat the stuff sometimes. However, there are several more common ways that compost can be used, on gardens, lawns, landscapes, and houseplants:
COMPOST AS SOIL AMENDMENT:
Many people put compost into their garden soil by digging it in prior to spring planting. The image shows a potato harvest by apprentices at the UCSC Farm and Garden in 1990. Due to the use of copious amounts of compost, the potato beds yielded about one pound of potatoes per square foot, or about 1000 pounds total from these four beds, each 80 feet long.
Others actually do their composting in the soil, by burying kitchen wastes and other materials in trenches in the garden. Compost can also be used as a 'top dressing' on the soil during the growing season -- in this case it is added in around the bases of plants, where irrigation and soil animals will slowly incorporate it into the soil. On lawns, many people sprinkle/broadcast sifted compost as a top dressing in the spring -- I have been doing this on a 'problem area' of a lawn for several years, in an attempt to improve the soil there for better grass growth. It is also fine to top-dress houseplants occasionally with small handfuls of finished compost.
COMPOST AS MULCH:
Compost can be left on the surface as a mulch around landscape and garden plants. This is essentially the same as a 'top dressing' application, described above, but mulches are typically meant to cover all of the soil around the plants that get mulched. Mulches protect the soil from erosion. They also save water by shielding soil from the drying effect of the wind and sun. As they decompose, mulches add nutrients to the soil, and if composed of small-enough particles, worms may slowly eat the mulch and incorporate it into the soil.
COMPOST AS TEA:
Compost tea is made by combining equal parts of compost and water and letting it sit for a while. The liquid can help to provide a 'quick boost' to ailing houseplants or young seedlings and transplants (I recommend diluting it quite a bit for use on seedlings). Stu Campbell, in Let it Rot, says that the same compost can be used to make several batches of tea (2). When you're finished making compost tea, use the mucky dregs as a mulch in the garden or landscape.
How does compost improve the soil?
Compost does several things to benefit the soil that synthetic fertilizers cannot do. First, it adds organic matter, which improves the way water interacts with the soil. In sandy soils, compost acts as a sponge to help retain water in the soil that would otherwise drain down below the reach of plant roots (in this way, it protects plants against drought). In clay soils, compost helps to add porosity (tiny holes and passageways) to the soil, making it drain more quickly so that it doesn't stay waterlogged and doesn't dry out into a bricklike substance. Compost also inoculates the soil with vast numbers of beneficial microbes (bacteria, fungi, etc.) and the habitat that the microbes need to live. These microbes are able to extract nutrients from the mineral part of the soil and eventually pass the nutrients on to plants.