Easter is here and for many working people it is a great time to get the summer gardens cleaned up and preparations made for the coming winter. It is also the last chance to do some late plantings of vegetables and flowers for winter use and colour. In the vegetable garden you can do a [...]
Gardeners are always complaining about their lawns being damaged by grubs which include Grass Grub, Black Beetle Grubs or Porina Caterpillars. If the grubs are not eating the roots of the grasses the porina are eating at the base of the grass causing bare patches in lawns. When any of the above pests are active [...]
Gardening tips are items that can make gardening easier, save you money and time as well as obtaining better results. Experienced gardeners, learn from each other, methods that are an advantage in their gardening endeavours. Most of the following tips have originally come from other gardeners and the writer has noted the common sense of [...]
Planting Now Planting Potatoes: Prepare the potato patch for your sprouted spuds: Dig Living Earth Organic Certified Compost through the potato patch, then dig a trench – the soil that is on the sides can be used to ‘mound up’ the potatoes as they grow. Varieties such as Cliff’s Kidney, Rocket and Jersey Benne are [...]
Every so often a gardener will send me a gardening solution that is a real gem. This happened recently via an email from Sue about her and her families experience with potassium permanganate, or as it is more commonly called, Condys Crystals. ( KMnO4 ) (Most uses of potassium permanganate are for its oxidizing properties.) [...]
Oxalis is a weed that frustrates many gardeners to no end. It appears as a simple weed to remove, just dig out the plant, keeping intact the main bulb and the little ‘bulblet’s’ that are clinging to it, then remove for safe disposal. But no matter how careful you are, there are going to be [...]
Moth plant is forming its distinctive pods right now, making it a good time for people to check their backyards for this hazardous plant. Moth plant or Kapok vine (Araujia sericefera) is on the National Pest Plant Accord, which means it is banned from being sold, propagated or distributed. The plant is hazardous to human [...]
Gardeners that have any cherry, pear or plum trees including the non-fruiting prunus types should check their trees for holes in the leaves. If found then it is likely you have a black slug like pest commonly called pear slug. You are likely to find these little black slugs on some of the leaves. They [...]
