Click to see a larger image.

tips to bring in the birds

Have you ever watched a robin splashing enthusiastically in a birdbath? Or witnessed a young bird step from a branch for its very first flight? If you have, you know what a joy watching our feathered neighbors can be. What you might not realize is that there are some simple things you can do to make your yard a more enticing place to all kinds of birds. Here are some tips to make your back yard into an enticing haven for lots of these feathered treasures.

PROVIDE BERRIES OR SEEDS ALL YEAR — Because they fruit at different times, grow a couple different varieties of plants like serviceberry, hawthorn and dogwood to extend the berry season. And if you grow berry plants, double the number of your favorite ones. You’ll insure that there’s enough for both you and the birds. Plant fruit-bearing plants away from sidewalks, driveways and patio areas to reduce the mess. And be sure to feed seed and suet, as well. Different birds have different tastes.

KEEP FOUR-LEGGED VISITORS OUT OF FEEDERS — Use baffles below feeders or wrap posts in aluminum flashing to thwart furry looters. And don’t grow plants close to feeders. (They can hide predators like cats!)

DON’T LET THE WATER RUN DRY — Keep birdbaths and ponds filled all season. Reliable sources of water, especially moving water, will attract more birds. Remember to rinse and refill birdbaths often to help prevent disease and mosquitoes. In winter, keep it ice free with a heater, or empty ice and refill the birdbath every day. Also buy a birdbath with a rough or textured floor or add small stones to the bottom to prevent injury to birds.

PLACE YOUR POND IN THE OPEN — Avoid chemical runoff from surrounding lawn areas by building on level ground. Make an area of the pond 2 in. deep or less so birds won’t drown.

PLANT EVERGREENS FOR SHELTER — Spruce, hemlock, cedar and pine are great for nesting for cardinals, sparrows, towhees and other birds. They’ll also give birds a little relief from nasty winter storms that can sap their strength, thus helping them survive cold temperatures.

VARY HEIGHTS OF TREES, SHRUBS AND OTHER PLANTS — You’ll fill the needs of different birds who prefer to nest and feed in tree tops, shrubs or on the ground. And because it’s hard to fly with wet feathers, grow shrubs within 10 ft. of ponds or birdbaths for safe places to dry off a bit before flying away.

Check out a couple of ways to pamper your feathered visitors at right!

caging hyacinth bulbs

Rabbits and deer rarely munch on the bulbs, flowers or foliage of hyacinth. However, underground critters tunnel around the bulbs and leave air pockets that can stunt the growth. Or out of curiosity, squirrels may dig up bulbs shortly after they’re planted.

To help prevent both of these problems, plant hyacinth bulbs in a mesh cage like this one made with 1/2-in. hardware cloth. The sides are 6 in. high and the bottom is 12 in. across. Hya­cinths have a thick growing point that’s too large to push through the small holes in hardware cloth. So refill the hole and cage with soil and lay a chicken wire lid on top of the cage before refilling the hole the rest of the way. When you’re ready to dig and replace spent bulbs, the basket makes the clump easy to lift.

storing calla tubers

If you overwinter your callas, they’ll get bigger and bigger, producing a better show every year.

A light frost (30 to 32 degrees F) will kill the foliage without hurting the tubers. Let the foliage dry for a day or two. If a hard freeze (28 degrees F or colder) is in the forecast, dig the tubers as soon as possible or they may be damaged by the cold.

Lift the clump and snip off the foliage a couple of inches above the tuber as I’m doing in the top photo. Crumble off big clods of soil. Set the clump in a shady spot where it won’t freeze. Allow the soil to dry completely — this could take a few days. At this point, the roots and stem should be dry enough to come off easily. It’s critical that the tubers are completely dry before you store them because they’re prone to rotting during the winter.

I like to bury my tubers in dry peat moss in a plastic-lined cardboard box as I’m doing in the lower photo. (Wood shavings are also good storage material.) Make sure the tubers aren’t touching each other. If one rots, the rest may rot, too. Poke holes through the plastic and the side of the box, then loosely close the tops. It’s OK to stack boxes on top of one another.

Check your boxes a few times over the winter and remove any mushy tubers. Keep your callas in a cool, dry place that stays about 50 to 55 degrees F during the winter — an unheated basement or attached garage works well.

Click on the photo to see a larger image.

light up your garden

Remember how you hated to go when your mom called you inside as it got dark? With landscape lighting, you can stay outside and “play” in your garden a lot longer!

Garden lighting can illuminate a patio for entertaining, showcase a dramatic plant or highlight a path for safe walking. With lights, you get a completely different look in your garden after dark — and they make your home safer, too.

But before you go out and plop a bunch of lights into your flower beds, take time to decide what you need. Too many lights, or the wrong kind, might make your garden look like a carnival instead of a peaceful retreat. And poorly placed ones can annoy the neighbors or keep you awake at night. So let’s walk through your garden and figure out a lighting plan like the pros do.

DESIGN FIRST, INSTALL SECOND — Start by sketching out your yard on graph paper. This will make it easier to see where you need lights, without being distracted by whatever’s blooming at the time. When your sketch is done, here are three important things to consider as you decide where lights should go:

   Think about how you use your yard. Do you entertain outside? Do you sit on your deck in the evening? Are you worried about safety? On your sketch, mark where you like to sit, or dark areas that could use illumination.

   Pick one to three focal points to highlight. Too many focal points will be distracting. You might choose a specimen tree, an arbor or a special statue or sculpture.

   Figure out where you walk. What are your most traveled paths through the garden? Make sure those areas will be well-lighted.

Once you’ve marked all these points on your sketch, try out different looks in the garden with a flashlight. Get someone to hold the light while you see how it looks from different angles. Keep in mind you usually want to see the effect of the light, not the fixture or the light source itself.

Looking for attractive garden lighting? Check out the new Soji Modern Solar Lanterns at right!

easy bulb planting

Not many flowers rival the welcome splash of color that spring bulbs can give you. But if you’ve ever planted them in fall, you can appreciate the effort that goes into planting. When you have a lot of bulbs to plant, make it easier on yourself by using your drill and a bulb auger.

You can drill a lot of holes without much effort in lawns and even tough garden soil (but stay away from tree roots and hard-packed clay). Just make sure you’re using a 12-in. or shorter length auger (this one is 7 in.). The longer ones are more likely to bend when the going gets tough. However, the long-shafted augers are more comfortable to work with (you don’t have to bend as much) and they’re fine if you’re working in prepared soil.

If you have a small yard, run an extension cord and use an electric ½-in. drill with your auger. A powerful battery-operated drill also works, but you may have to recharge or switch battery packs frequently. Run it both as you push down and pull up to get the cleanest hole. (And wear eye protection.) Need a bigger hole for giant daffodil bulbs? Drill two holes side by side.

When you’re planting bulbs close together — 6 in. or so apart — the holes tend to cave in on one another. Enlist a friend and use a drill-and-drop planting technique: One person drills, the other drops the bulb into each hole and refills it. This means you won’t have to drill a hole, put down the drill, drop a bulb in, refill the hole, drill another hole, etc.

Read about other bulb-planting tools in the current issue of Garden Gate magazine.

metal ornaments in the garden

If you like the look of rusted metal ornaments in your garden, you’re in luck. Left unprotected, anything made of iron or steel will rust naturally when exposed to air and water. Copper, zinc and aluminum will corrode when exposed to the elements but things made from galvanized metal or stainless steel won’t rust at all.

Want to speed the process? Carefully spray a mixture of 1 cup each of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide, plus a teaspoon of salt, onto a steel or iron surface. Hose it off after an hour or so. You can also create a faux-rust on any paintable surface. Craft stores have a number of paints and solutions that’ll give your garden ornaments a rusty look.

Sometimes rust forms where you’d rather not have it, such as on chairs or handrails. In that case, remove it and apply a good protective paint, like Rust-Oleum^®, to keep the surface clean. Light rust can be removed by applying a runny paste of lemon juice and table salt and letting it set for five to 10 minutes. Scrub with sandpaper to remove.

And although rust in the soil won’t hurt your plants, some of the chemicals mentioned here may. So protect your plants and yourself when you use them.

what kind of bee?

Not sure what kind of bees you’re seeing? Here are some ID tips. Some carpenter bees and bumblebees may have slightly different markings than the ones here, but the hairiness of the body is still a good clue. Carpenter bees are solitary bees, unlike bumblebees and honeybees, so you won’t see a colony of them.

At about 1 in. long, carpenter bees (top illustration) are usually the largest of the three, with shiny, not furry, abdomens. They fly rapidly at about head height.

Bumblebees (middle illustration) are smaller — 1/2 to 3/4 in. — and furrier than carpenter bees. They fly slowly near the ground. Some have pollen baskets on their hind legs.

Honeybees are the smallest of the group, at about 3/8 to 5/8 in. long, and fly more quickly. More tan than yellow, they also may have pollen baskets.

PHOTO: © Neil Soderstrom

saving marigold seeds

Did you know that you could save seeds from this year’s marigolds for next year’s flowers? Marigold seeds ripen easily on the plant if you don’t deadhead all of the spent flowers. Once the heads turn brown, break a pod or two open. If the seeds are dark brown or black like the ones in the photo, they’re ready to harvest. Gather heads from several plants to get a good blend of colors. Plus, it’s insurance in case one plant’s seeds are not viable.

Lay the pods in a dry place to continue to dry out — it could take two weeks. If the seeds are too moist, they’ll rot during storage. When they’re dry, break the heads open and gather the seeds. Store them in an airtight container in a cool, dark place until spring.

If you only grow one cultivar of marigold in your garden, it probably won’t change much from the parent. Pollen from other marigolds in the area can create your own “hybrids.” The color can change from the original, as can the height and spread. However, if you prefer a row of marigolds that all match perfectly, it’s best to buy seeds each year.

Click on the photo for a larger image

easy access

Whether your garden is large or small, you need to be able to get into it without crushing plants, compacting soil and stepping on dormant bulbs or new transplants. Here are some ideas for working an access path into your garden design.

BIG AND BEAUTIFUL — Large gardens, like the one you see here, give you more options. One option is to make an access path through the garden. But if you have the room, why not place it in back? That way, you’re not walking on the soil in the growing area as much. And a path hidden by plants doesn’t have to look as good as the garden around it. Cover the soil with pea gravel, bark mulch, a few concrete steppers or even a board — whatever keeps your feet dry and doesn’t cost a lot.

SMALL STEPS — In a small cutting garden a few strategically placed steppers do the trick. Because they’re visible, choose something colorful or with a pattern that complements your garden style. Then they’ll not only be practical, they’ll be pretty, too.

Placing the entrance to the side makes it less conspicuous. A width of 2 to 3 ft. should provide enough room to work. After all, you might want to bring a load of compost in or haul a bunch of clippings out so you want your wheelbarrow to fit easily down the path, too.

creative staking

Sooner or later, you’re going to have a floppy plant that needs some help standing tall. Of course, there are all kinds of plant supports available, from inexpensive bamboo stakes to the more high-end vinyl-coated Y-stakes and plant supports. But sometimes it’s fun to use something that’s a little unusual to keep your plants on the up-and-up. Here are a couple of ideas that work well and are simple to do.

LEAN ON ME — How can you throw away a trusty old rake, even if it’s losing its teeth like the one at right? Cut the handle off at an angle so it will poke into the soil easily. If your New England aster starts to lean, the rake provides a simple prop.

CLIMBER CLIPS — Small spring-hinged hair clips hold plants to bamboo stakes. Make sure the “fingers” of the clip can go around the stake, as they do in the bottom photo, without pinching the stem. The clips come in lots of colors, so choose bright ones for tiny accents, or clear or dark ones for more subtle support.

Check out lots of other creative gardening ideas in Easy Weekend Gardening, Vol. 3 at right.

When you shop for perennials, how do you know which plant is the best value? Our video tells you what to look for on your next trip to the garden center.

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Soaker hoses are a gardener’s best friend. Just set them in your flower garden once in spring and don’t move them again until you put them away in fall.

These porous, capped hoses, available from garden centers and hardware stores, lie on the ground and “sweat” when hooked up to water. The water soaks into the soil and nothing is lost to evaporation or overspray. In flower beds use long hoses. For young trees, you can also find soaker rings, like the one below right.

Here are some tips for working with soakers:

● Find a length that works best with your bed. In a flower bed, there’s nowhere to go with extra hose, and hooking too many together may compromise your water pressure.

● Before you put one in the garden, lay it in the sun so it’s flexible.

● Use ground staples to pin the hose in place around tight turns.

● Mulch over your hoses to hide them.

● If your soaker springs a leak, duct tape it — or don’t. This is one time a leaky hose doesn’t matter!

pick a pack of peppers

Starting the seeds of flowers or veggies indoors in early spring is a great way to get a lot of plants for not much money. Before you know it, they’re large enough to pot up and begin to harden them off outdoors.

Here’s a tip to make moving the seedlings a lot easier. Slide the pots into cardboard four- or six-pack bottle holders. The holders have handles, so they’re easy to carry, either to move the seedlings or to share them with friends. And the holders keep the pots from tipping over as they do if they’re just set in a tray.

Want more great tips on vegetable gardening? Check out Creative Vegetable Gardening at right.

There’s a conifer for almost any landscaping situation. They can be mixed into perennial gardens or foundation plantings. Some make wonderful hedges, shrub borders and even specimen plants. But sometimes you need to prune conifers to keep them looking their best and in scale with their surroundings.

Timing is important when pruning conifers. Spring is a good time to prune many of them. But within that, some recover best if you prune before new growth starts, and others do best if you prune just as the new growth is starting: With many junipers, false cypresses, yews and hemlocks, prune in early spring, before new growth stretches. That way the new foliage will cover up where you’ve cut so you’re not left all season with a plant that looks as if it just had a haircut. Pine, spruce and fir are best pruned just as new tips, the candles, begin to stretch in spring. All you need to do is nip back the shoots before the new needles form.

PHOTOS: © Richard Bloom

The ‘Prostrata’ spruce (Picea pungens) in the top photo is beginning to get too large for its place in the garden. Rather than remove it, prune it. The first step is to cut back the branches that are forming leaders. Click on the photos for larger images.

Next, shorten the longest side branches. Never cut the stem back to a point where there’s no foliage left. If you do, some, such as yew and hemlock, will leaf out again. But most won’t, and you’ll be left with lots of bare stubs. The spruce in the second photo still has a natural-looking form, but now it fits better in its surroundings and new growth will quickly cover the cuts.

For more information on pruning all kinds of plants, check out The Pruner’s Bible at right.

birdbath basics

Some types of birdbath are more attractive to birds, and safer for them, than other designs. Shallow, rough-surfaced, tall birdbaths are best. Birdbaths should be no more than 2 in. deep so birds of all sizes can use them. If your birdbath is deeper than that, place pea gravel or a flat stone in it to make a shallow spot for small birds.

Choose birdbaths with a rough surface for the best footing. Concrete, unglazed terra-cotta or plastic birdbaths with ridges have rough surfaces that birds like. A layer of pea gravel will add traction to a metal or glazed clay bath.

Set birdbaths on pedestals near shrubs so birds can flutter easily to a safe perch. If you put a birdbath on the ground, keep it away from dense plantings so cats can’t sneak up on them as they use it.

deer damage

Deer populations, once hunted to near extinction, are rebounding to their highest levels ever. The best way to stop deer is with a 16-ft.-tall fence, but short of turning your yard into a fortress, there are some strategies you can use to keep their damage in your garden to a minimum.

Young bucks may be using your ornamental trees to rub the velvet from their newly sprouted antlers. The damage to the bark invites infection and could kill a smaller tree. If too much bark is rubbed away, the tree could die. Should you start to notice bark damage, as in the top photo, wrap the bark with protective tape or use wire-frame tree guards.

In spring through summer, a full-grown deer can eat up to 10 pounds of food per day. They eat tender plants and cause the damage in the bottom photo until hard frosts shift the menu to woody shrubs. The animals return to browse over time, and the plant could finally die as pieces are taken bit by bit. Start spraying repellents, like egg spray or bobcat urine, and rotate them so deer don’t get accustomed to any one scent.

Finally, try to grow those plants that deer don’t usually find appealing. Now, a hungry deer will eat almost anything, but in general, they shun ornamental grasses and plants with fuzzy, tomentose foliage, such as lamb’s ears. The animals find this stuff hard to swallow. They also avoid plants with lemon, sage, mint or spicy tastes.

Check out our Web extra on dealing with deer.

seed-starting rolls

Peat pots are a great way to start seeds, but you don’t have to go to the store to find biodegradable pots. Instead, cut cardboard tubes from paper towels and toilet paper to start your seedlings. Using scissors, cut the tubes into short pieces. Each toilet paper roll makes two pots (illustration A) and each paper towel tube makes four.

After cutting them, set the cylinders into a tray, as you can see in illustration B. If you set them so they touch, they’ll support each other as you water the seedlings. They also dry out more slowly when they’re set close together.

Then fill each pot with seed-starting mix, gently pack it down and sow the seeds. Later, as you plant the seedlings in the garden, break down the side of the roll so all of the cardboard will be buried underground. Just as with peat pots, if the edges stick up above the surface, they’ll wick moisture away from the roots.

Serious about seed starting? Check out the Sprout House and Location Station at right!

problem solver

Whiteflies

IDENTIFICATION — If you brush the foliage of a plant and a white cloud floats up and quickly resettles, chances are your plant has whiteflies. Look on the undersides of the leaves and you’ll see the tiny white insects in the illustration.

DAMAGE — Larvae suck the sap from new leaves, which causes them to turn yellow and drop. Sometimes the young insects secrete sticky honeydew as they feed. The honeydew can harbor sooty mold, another symptom you may notice. It looks like black dust stuck to the leaf surface.

CONTROL — Whiteflies can’t survive cold winters, but overwinter on plants brought indoors and also on plants outside in southern zones with mild winters. Check everything you bring into your garden carefully. Also, check house plants before you bring them indoors in fall.

These tiny insects move through their life cycle so quickly that they can build up a devastating population in a matter of weeks. At each stage of life, they respond differently to controls. You can use yellow sticky traps to capture the adult whiteflies or knock the adults and larvae from the leaves with a strong stream of water. The larvae and eggs can also be rubbed from the leaves or use an insecticidal soap about once a week over several weeks to take care of them.

poinsettia care

The classic red poinsettia is ever-present come December, and you can buy it as easily in the supermarket as the floral shop. Many shades of red are available, not to mention pink, creamy white, yellow, variegated and bi-colored.

Poinsettias are simple to care for. Put them in a bright window (but not in direct sun) and water the plants thoroughly when the soil surface is dry to the touch. (Discard any water that collects in the saucers because poinsettias don’t like wet feet.) The best temperature for poinsettias is between 60 and 70 degrees. Try to keep them away from hot, dry air or cold drafts.

The coloring often lasts until spring, but you can bring them back for an encore. When blooms fade (around May), cut the plants back to about 5 in. and set them in the garden for the summer. Water sparingly until new growth starts, then when needed. Add a water-soluble fertilizer every three weeks. To get your poinsettia to bloom in time for Christmas, keep the plant in total darkness for 14 hours a night from September to late November. One idea is to cover the plant with a cardboard box as soon as you get home from work and then uncover it when you leave the house the next morning.

problem solver

Too much fertilizer

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing — fertilizer, for example. In house plants, such as the dracena in the photo, too much fertilizer can cause the leaf tips to turn yellow and eventually brown. The soil surface or pot rim may develop white or gray deposits that look like salt.

If you suspect your plant has received too much fertilizer, the best thing you can do is run clean water through the pot several times. Let the water run through the soil and out into your sink or use a hose outside.

If the water drains slowly, switch the plant to a container with better drainage. While you’re at it, use new potting mix when you repot to give your plant a fresh start. You won’t be able to reverse the leaf damage that’s already been done, but you can keep it from happening to new growth. Dilute your fertilizer mix to half the concentration you’ve been using to prevent this from happening again.