Perennials: A basic overview

There is so much to say and so little time to say it! Perennials are fantastic for your garden beds and the right pairings create interesting texture and bright color throughout the season, from early spring to the first frost! I am no expert, but I have picked up a few bits of knowledge while working in a plant nursery for the last 6 years! I could talk about annual arrangements and vegetables all day, but somehow, perennials seemed boring to me. That is, until I was asked to landscape by my youth pastor at church. He and his wife had just moved into their new house and were needing some color! But with two kids under 5 and one more on the way, they needed something that they could plant and forget, except for the occasional watering.

Perennials to the rescue! We planted some "June" hostas on the East side of their home, some Coralbells on the North, some Bee Balm to the South, and some Blackeyed Susan on the West. Finish it off with 2 potted plants with spikes and some geraniums, and the house had a more homey, vibrant feel to it.

I'm paining some of you, I can almost feel it. So, that whole combination together is probably not technically correct, but for one afternoon, $50, and a 14 year old designing your beds, it wasn't bad! Since, I have learned a lot more about the plants, but stuck with the same basic principle: easy!

At this point, I'm probably not talking to the master gardeners, but instead to people with busy lives and less than $150 to spend. Do you have 1 afternoon? Do you have some cash in your pocket?  Let's do this on the cheap! Here are some perennial guidelines:

1.  Getting full looking beds the first year isn't always what you want...THEY WILL END UP OVER CROWDED! 
2. As a rule of thumb, perennials sleep the first year, creep the second, and leap the third! Year 1 they should look healthy and vibrant, but they won't fill out completely. The second year they will get bigger and fuller. By year 3, your beds should look great! All of the perennials will be mature, but this means that they require a little more maintenance. 
3. Plant annuals (flowers that you have to re-plant every year) in the same beds as your perennials to give it a fuller look the first year. This way, your beds look great with the risk of overcrowding the next year. 
4. Plant your beds in layers, and by season of bloom. You don't want the tallest flowers going in front (obviously), but you also need to think about bloom time. To get bright bursts of colors mix perennials that have "spring to summer blooms" "summer blooms" and "late summer to fall blooms". 
5. Don't be afraid of potted plants! Even if you have had issues with these annuals in the past, a bright and hearty butterfly daisy basket, or other no-fuss flower, will draw the eye up, away from patchy beds. 
6. If you REALLY want full beds now, go ahead and plant perennials closer together. They will look great this year, but it might mean more work for you in the long run. Still sound okay? Okay! The following year (so, year 2) in early spring you will need to transplant the extra perennials to clear out some room for the originals to thrive. Don't just throw them away!!! Instead, find somewhere else to plant them (how innovative are you? I've even seen people use perennials as a centerpiece for their mixed potted plants!! Cool). If nothing else, find a neighbor that might want them. Don't we all know that one gardening lady that will take your cast-offs, only for you to come back a month later and it looks incredible....more power to ya garden lady!
7. Think about height before  placing perennials in beds outside of windows. Sure, it sounds silly, but some perennials that you plant the first year are only 12 inches tall and look so cute! But look at the label! A couple years down the road are they gonna be a 3 foot tall bush that takes away natural light? Strategy goes beyond what type of flowers you buy. 
8. Enlist help! Even for the most avid gardener, a day of perennial planting (which has less immediate gratification than annuals) can become tedious. If your plan is simple enough, or you have a sketch, loved ones become assets. Lemonade and cookies can be enough to get the boys(husbands, brothers, dads) to help, and promises of beautiful bouquets can get the girls to help!
9. Have fun! Don't stress out too much if your bed isn't looking perfect! In a few years it will, but until then don't compare yourself to garden lady (see #6)

Challenge of The Week #1

I talked about doing this idea in my "Coming Soon?" post, and I really like it. It is a combination of would you rather and the concept of the popular diet/nutrition book "Eat this, Not that".  At some point I want to write a book like this, a lifestyle diet book. So, I challenge all of you (and I will be doing it too) to make conscious choices in your everyday life.

This week:
              Either decrease your shower length by one minute (saving about 2 gallons of water per shower)

OR

  Carpool this week! Find a friend or two and ride together to work, school, the movies, wherever!

Also, let me know what you do. Although these situations might make you uncomfortable for the first couple of days, think about the impact you are making! You might just find that you can get yourself clean in less time, or that you like riding with friends-especially before that first cup of coffee has kicked in. 

Worm Composting part 2

Ready for part 2? I am! This is the best part, I promise.

Let's make worm tea!!!

Take 2 cups (roughly) of your worm juice. It should be the color of coffee, and even has the same earthy, spicy smell of some roasts, but I'll be the first to tell you not to drink it! Also, you will need a 5(ish) gallon bucket with a lid and an aquarium bubbler (optional). Pour your worm juice into the bucket and fill it halfway with water. If you have a bubbler, which you can buy at pet store or on Amazon for less than $10, plop that into the water and turn on. The noise can be a little obnoxious, if you are not used to it, so I have to set it outside or in the garage. Leave the bubbler in the bucket for about 10 minutes, take it out, and close the lid. The bubbler helps to mix all of the juices together and add dissolved oxygen into the water.

Also, lidded buckets can be hard to find or expensive, and I say no! We are here to do this on the cheap, so here's what I did. EarthFare (an organic grocery store near me) has a bakery, and after talking to the baker I found out that some of the cake batter and frosting comes in 4ish gallon buckets. Good enough for me! I left my name and phone number with the bakery manager, and the next day she called me, saying that she had three empty buckets for me!!! Yay! Because they just throw them away, they had no problem just handing them over for free! All I had to do was wash the frosting residue from the insides, and the buckets were good to go.

Getting back to some worm tea, continue to add your worm juice collection from each day to the bucket, and bubbling for 10 minutes. Close and let it sit. Do this until the bucket is close to full, and the color looks like some strongly brewed tea (again, no drinking). Your worm tea is now ready! Water your flowers as you normally would using the tea (for potted, hanging, or vegetable bed plants). If you have a larger area (like perennial beds) to water, put one cupful of straight up worm juice (not tea) into a fertilizer hose attachment. I use an old MiracleGro sprayer.

You can also harvest a bit of dirt from your bin (make sure to pick out all of the worms!) and mix it with your potting soil before planting your potted or handing plants. If you take a look at my Soil Amendments post, your worm bin becomes your own personal source of manure. Yay!

Coming Soon?

I have so many ideas, but I want to know what you think! Here are some of the ideas that I have (and hopefully I will write about all of them at some point), but what order should they come in?

Worm composting part 2
DIY worm bin
DIY backyard composting
Perennials for your yard (based on sunlight)
Landscaping/gardening for your budget (from plants to edging to sustainable watering techniques)
Gardening for your space-flowers
Gardening for your space-vegetables
Sustainable summer survival (DIYs, how to beat the heat, etc)
DIY household (shampoo, laundry detergent, toothpaste, etc)
Using your harvest (summer recipes)
Saving your harvest (canning, jamming, etc)
Fall perennial care
Hike with me (a beginners guide)
Camp with me (a beginners guide)
Sustainable choices (What I am thinking for this is a weekly challenge. Each week I will pose two options such as "Cut your shower by at least 1 minute every day this week, or don't use AC/heat in your car" or "Buy only organic groceries or eat Paleo for a week"

Like I said, I have so many ideas! Let me know which ones you want to see first, or if there are any other things that you think I should cover! Thanks

Worm Composting part 1

Building on the last post, your own compost pile is a great way to get rid of bendy vegetable (you know what I'm talking about), overripe fruit or fruit peels, moldy bread, stale crackers, the list goes on. Composting can be intimidating. Many people have started compost piles one month only to give it up the next due to smell, maintenance, and space issues. Totally understandable, but fixable none the less.

One super easy way to get into composting is with a vermicompost (yes worms) bin. The one that I have is about 14x14 inches (total guesstimate), which I got online from The Worm Factory company. The kit comes with everything you need to get started, excluding the worms, for less than $100. Whoa, I know! That is expensive for a worm house, but it helped me get started in knowing what to do. If you are willing to invest in this type of bin, great! If not, great! I can help you make your own for a fraction of the price.

My Worm Bin (currently in my garage)

The way that I have my worm bin set up (although this may not be what the actual instructions say, I have had success with this), there are four layers. The three top layers start off with dirt. Put your worms in the 3rd layer from the top, add whatever you want to compost and cover with damp strips of newspaper or paper from a paper shredder. The worms will migrate upwards in the bin, so you can also put some newspaper and food in the 2nd layer as well. After a week, or whenever you notice that your worms have eaten most of the food that you placed in the lowest layer, add more food to not only that layer, but also the two layers above it.

The main problem that comes up is that people overfeed their worms. Allow your worms to get used to their environment before piling on all of your refrigerator scraps. If you start your bin in the summer(suggested), it will only take a few weeks for your worms to be visibly productive. If you start it in the fall or winter, when the temperature is on the lower end of the 40-80 degree Fahrenheit suggested temp, the worms will be far less productive and take more time to assimilate to the bin.

Top layer

The bottom layer of the bin is the best though! This is where all of the earthy, liquidy, fertilizery goodness happens. Gravity takes the moisture from the wet paper, old produce, and of course worm excrement through the seven levels of the candy cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gumdrops, and to the collection tray. The spigot in the bottom tray is great, but not necessary if you are DIYing a worm bin (instruction coming up next?). In the peak of productivity, I can collect a cup of worm juice every day or 2. In the winter months (when I keep my wormies in the garage), I only empty the collection tray about once a month, and it hasn't seemed to cause any problems....

This is getting pretty long, so I think I will split worm compost into 2 parts, and another DIY worm bin post. Stay tuned if you are interested in worm composting and soil health, and hopefully soon we can get into planting and gardening!!!!

For now, Worm Composting Do's and Don'ts:

DO keep your worm bin nice and moist. The paper on top should be wet to the touch, but not dripping with water
DON'T be afraid to stick your fingers into the dirt! The worms aren't going to hurt you, and this is the best way to determine/maintain the optimal temperature and moisture content
DO feed your worms old fruits, veggies, bread, dryer lint, paper, egg shells, coffee grounds, stale crackers, etc.
DON'T feed you worms meat or dairy products, or a lot of citrus-y fruit (a little is fine)
DO cut or break the food into small chunks (coin sized is great)

and DO have fun!!!!

The Gardening Bill of Rights---Soil Amendments

A couple of things about me: I am eighteen years old, I am a neo-hippie, I live in the epitome of the suburbs, and I strive to live everyday consciously. Environmental impact, health, and appreciation for people fall into this category of conscious living.
I'm here, not because I am a guru, but because I think that everyone can make simple changes to live more consciously!


So, let's jump right into this. With gardening season coming up, which I am so excited about, it is time to start prepping and amending your soil! Even for those lucky enough to live in a region with great, humus rich soil(yes humus, not hummus), soil prep is part of every good garden! I, however, live in an area that about 8 inches below the surface resides a layer of clay. As an artist this isn't so bad (I've even harvested
 and refined the clay for ceramic work), but it doesn't work so well for us gardeners.

Amending soil is work, I know! But truly, it is the step that will allow your plants to thrive as they so desperately want to. That said, all of these ideas are NO TILL, so that is less work for you! Here are a few quick fixes for your soil:

1. Add manure. Once manure is composted is doesn't smell bad! It has that deep earthy smell that gardeners love, and it contains phosphorous and nitrogen (the main ingredients in commercial fertilizers) without all the added chemicals and suspicious colors....really MiracleGro? Also, with a simple "manure free" search on Craigslist I found multiple farms willing to give me free livestock manure, all in less that 20 minutes from my house. 
2. If your soil is too acidic, add wood ash. Not all of us have wood burning fireplaces, but once it is the time of year where it is acceptable to have bonfires, gather up some of the ashes after your fire has burnt out and cooled down (be careful!!!). All you wood burning fireplacers; you lucky ducks!
3. If your soil is too basic, and no, I don't mean that it has become too attached to its iPhone and Starbucks, add coffee grounds! Even better, used coffee grounds work best for this, so no wasted coffee. You can collect a bunch and mix it into your soil with your hands, or sprinkle it around the base of your plants as you go. 

I know, I know, by now some of you are probably asking: "How do I know if my soil is acidic or basic?" 

Household materials needed!

My results: Slight bubbling with baking soda

Answer: Test it! I found this idea on lifehacker.com, but it is a really simple way to see if your soil is the right pH for planting.  Get 2 cups with 1/4 cup of dirt in each. Mix in 1/4 cup of water (preferably distilled) to make mud-in-a-cup! Pour some white vinegar in one cup and some baking soda in the other (a tablespoon or so should do the trick). If the vinegar mud bubbles, your soil is basic/alkaline. If the baking soda mud bubbles, your soil is acidic. If neither bubbles, congratulations, your soil is neutral!