Garden Tips: In the Garden with Andre Viette

Sat., while driving down to Richmond, I listened to "In the Garden with Andre Viette" on the radio. Mark Viette, Andre's son, actually hosted it that day. I enjoy them both; however, I might just enjoy Mark a tiny bit more. Anyway, Mark talked about something I had never heard of before.

His topic (for that segment) was plant propagation. He said that there is a period of time in spring...before forsythia blooms...for about two-three weeks when you will find plants producing numerous new little plants. Specifically (that I remember), he mentioned asters and pulmonaria. During this time, you can find numerous little plants that you may remove without harming the mother plant. If you wait until later, they (the roots) will be gone as the rising temperatures destroy the roots.

I will have to look for this...as the forsythia will soon be blooming here, I think. Have any of you heard of this or tried it?

Another thing he mentioned, mostly for us I would expect with our clay soil, was to not be digging while the soil is pretty wet. Let it dry some. You can destroy soil structure (this I knew) for up to five years. Worth waiting a bit, don't you think?

Garden Tips: Indoor Composting

Here's a picture of my copper compost container:




I keep it by the sink where it's easy to just toss in those veggie scraps, coffee grounds, banana peels (nice greens) and even the occasional toilet paper or paper towel roll (nice browns). As it fills, I take the contents and toss them into a small compost tumbler that I have downstairs by the deck. Scraps like those above and some leaves I raked in fall will give me great compost.

Just think. It's all stuff you would otherwise toss in the trash. My roses in the backyard which received this compost last spring (and will get some more this spring) never looked better! If you're curious, those light green bags are called biobags. They're made of cornstarch and break down also. They help to keep things a bit tidier.



(I'm not ready for a worm bin just yet...but I'm thinking about it.)

Garden Tips: Throw Away Catalogs No More

Joe Eck, from the Horticulture symposium I previously posted about, mentioned this during the Q & A that followed the presentations. He said they use all the catalogs that arrive in the mail on their garden pathways. They put them down and cover them with a layer of straw. A year later (or whenever), they lift the straw and have earthworm enriched soil to add to the beds. Then, the process begins again. As to the ink, he said it is all soy based now. They even use magazines which surprised me. It's worth trying, don't you think?