Gardening is an active hobby

Summertime has been described as the season when there’s nothing much on radio, TV or most girls at the beach but the newspapers . . . ah yes, the newspapers. Did you know that pumpkins are a root vegetable? “With their tough skin and their odd shapes most home cooks have struggled to chop vegetables like pumpkins and swedes,” wrote Donna Bowater in Britain’s The Daily Telegraph, before continuing: “So it will come as no surprise that root foods have topped a poll of the most dangerous vegetables.” And lest those of Scandinavian descent flinch at being referred to as “swedes,’ such is what we more diplomatically know as rutabagas.

Diversion No. 1

A Sydney, Australia garden lover’s decision to seek council permission to remove a dead jacaranda tree from his front yard has turned into a bureaucratic farce, according to Aussie media. Despite a council inspector’s confirming that the blue jacaranda had been reduced to “woody matter,” Stuart Donaldson was ordered to provide both heritage and environmental impact statements, seek a $500 development application and have an aerial photograph taken of the dead tree. What it would be like for an ordinary mortal is beyond belief but Mr. Donaldson is fortunate to be a barrister. If grubs were eating holes in your lawn this spring it is going to happen again – unless you apply parasitic nematodes later this month or the next. The treatment isn’t cheap – but neither is the cost of replacing the entire lawn. There have been complaints that such treatments have failed. It is critical to water the lawn well before application and continue to keep it moist for several days thereafter. Choose a cloudy day or an early evening for best results.

---

According to Ontario government turfgrass expert Pam Charbonneau in Guelph, the best entomopathogenic nematodes for grub control are Heterohabditis bacteriophora (Hb) species or a combination of Hb and Steinernema carpocapse. Practice pronouncing these before visiting your local garden centre where they should be available. If not, check out Natural Insect Control (NIC). Entomopathogenic nematodes from the same source, NIC, may also be applied later this month to control the larval stages of the wretched rose chafer. Called ‘Flower Guard,’ it is also claimed to be effective against iris borer when applied in early fall, rose midges in late fall and thrips if applied weekly during the entire growing season.

Diversion No. 2

Garden flowers have evolved Velcro-like petal surfaces to help bees cling in the breeze, a study has found. Conical cells on the petals allow bees to maintain foothold while being shaken around. The findings are published in the journal Functional Ecology [Sources: Science Daily, The Daily Telegraph] Deadheading, the removing of spent blooms from bulbs, perennials, roses and other shrubs is an important ongoing part and parcel of gardening. Less well known is undertaking similar pruning to maintain healthy plants. Regularly removing dead, dying and diseased shoots and even entire branches is an excellent way to control disease and even some pests such as aphids and scale. Resist the temptation to compost these trimmings, however. The home composter rarely reaches temperatures high enough to destroy pathogens. The old horticultural joke about new gardeners being suckers has perhaps been overexposed. But unwanted shoots arising from the base of grafted trees and shrubs should also be pruned out immediately they arise.

Diversion No. 3

“The small grass is feel ashamed to smile, please don’t bother it.” Sign seen in China Two common complaints from novice home farmers are failure of crops to flourish and, if they do, for the resulting veggies to be tough and bitter. Regular watering is critical here. If your schedule doesn’t permit watering by hand, consider hooking up a timer to the outdoor faucet or purchasing a sprinkler with s similar built-in device. The second critical path lies in frequent feeding – how would you like to go for weeks without food? When sowing seed or planting out small plants you should have incorporated a quality granulated fertilizer specifically formulated for vegetables. Lacking this – or in some plantings such as cucumbers and squash, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and others, treat biweekly shot of liquid fertilizer. We have long been addicted to the famous organic ’Muskie’ for this and all other plants outside and in the house.

Diversion No. 4

Australian farmer Peter Taylor did a rain dance late in May. Less than three days later steady rain started falling on his roof. He does not believe the dance brought on the rain, but he’ll take the rain all the same, given it was the first to fall on his farm at Lubeck in 30 days [Source: The Sydney Morning Herald] When it comes to a flock birds, however, The Daily Telegraph quite correctly referred to an invasion of a quiet northwestern English village as carried out by an ostentation of peacocks. That’s right, an ostentation just as a flock of geese is a gaggle, that of crows a murder, a murmation of starlings, a parliament of owls or an exaltation of larks; for more, visit (Link). So what do we call a gathering of gardeners or a hoard of horticulturists? A pride of gardeners, perhaps or is that too feline? Would an Eden of horticulturists do? Now that’s tilling it like it is!