gardening

I'm a flower glutton.

Recently, I was speaking with some of my friends about the state of the economy and the positive effect it is having on the increased popularity in vegetable gardening. That, combined with the concern for greater control over what we're putting into our bodies when it comes to chemicals and nutrition, really is generating quite a buzz.

Old-timers spray watered-down raw egg on their plants. As the egg decomposes, the smell keeps deer away.
Someone else spreads bone and blood meal around to create the smell of death in the garden.
Hunters tend to sprinkle predator urine to ward them off.
A neighbor even creates tangles of fishing line that confuse a deer's senses, particularly at night.

Food gardening is the hottest trend in home gardening today. According to a recent survey by the National Gardening Association, 7 million more people will start a food garden this year, up 19 percent over 2008. Obviously, the economy has a lot of us looking for ways to reduce our grocery bills, and growing your own can save big money compared with store prices.

A lot of homeowners think they're getting more bang for the buck by using a "weed-n-feed" lawn-care product that combines herbicide with fertilizer. Experts caution against their use, especially if ornamental trees and shrubs are nearby.

It is hard to imagine that 75 percent of Earth's surface is covered by water yet only 1 percent is available to us as fresh pure water, water we need for drinking and bathing, washing our food and clothes, and for watering our lawns and landscapes.

At what point did shopping morph into a recreational activity? When did we become a nation of shopaholics? Was it the birth of the great American mall? Was it earlier, when the Industrial Revolution drew our population from the farm to factory? Or maybe the roots of shopping go much further back, to a more primitive time when women gathered -- not from stores but from nature and the garden.

All too often, unseasonably warm temperatures in late winter and early spring can cause problems in our gardens and landscapes. These springlike temps result in many plants and trees breaking dormancy prematurely. A sudden drop to below freezing can wreak havoc on tender new growth. So what should you do if this happens? That depends.

Shrubs

While helping curator Clark Moorten clean up at the Moorten Botanical Gardens in Palm Springs, Calif., I saw it for the first time. Dusty and dog-eared, the Cactus and Succulent Journal seemed to leap out of the dark with its incredible photography.

Spring can be an intimidating season for the casual gardener. Garden centers overflow with bounty. Large beds of annuals begin sprouting up in yards and parks.
Inspiring, sure. But most of us simply don't have the time for all that digging, planting, fertilizing and weeding, especially if the plants are annuals and need to be replaced in six months or less.