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Heirloom Gardens

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Heirloom GardensBlogFeatured Posts
06 Jul 2012
1 Comments By valarie Dan's, Featured Posts, Uncategorized

Trees and Turf

What’s wrong with planting trees in turf?

When people think of trees they often mistakenly envision the root systems as a carbon copy of the canopy that appears above ground. That is, root systems seeking water and nutrients deep into the soil.

This is often not the case in Northern Nevada where soils are typically rocky, dry and deficient in organic matter. When trees are planted in grass their roots have no incentive to go deep. Assuming the lawn’s in good shape all the water and nutrition a tree needs exist in the top 18 inches of soil and that’s exactly where the roots will grow. Some pictures are worth a thousand words and I think these photos do just that.

For many people this is already a problem and rather than simply saying, “Don’t do this” we do have a few tips.

Dig a tree well (remove the grass and leave a depression) several feet from the base of the tree.  Fill the depression with quality compost and cover with mulch.

Water trees slowly, deeply and less frequently. Their needs are different from the surrounding lawn.

Stay away from 2-4D, Weed-B-Gone is the most popular culprit.  The same ingredient that kills broad leafs such as dandelions and clover also kills, guess what, wait for it, TREES!!!!

It’s unfortunate that by the time you see symptoms of stress in your trees, it’s often too late to correct the condition. We’re happy to help if you’re concerned.

 

02 Jul 2012
0 Comments By valarie Dan's, Featured Posts

Earwigs Anyone??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you’re gardening in Northern Nevada it’s likely that you fight earwigs daily. I’m in favor of mulch in and around the beds which seems to make the earwigs incredibly happy.  Never fear organic gardeners there are some strategies I’ve found to be pretty effective.

 

  • Redwood Traps: Take two equally sized redwood pieces (I have an old fence post but  2×4’s would work) cut channels into one piece and lay the two flush sides  together.  Bury both halves in the mulch a bit if you can. Check the traps early in the morning and you’re likely to find several dozen earwigs  nesting in the channels.  I feed ‘em to the chickens but one can easily drown them in light, soapy water.

 

  • Plastic traps:  Used, small sour cream or cottage cheese containers work pretty well. Place a smelly food scrap (tuna for example) and about ½ inch of  vegetable oil  inside the container. Poke or melt several earwig sized holes into the lid of the container then seal it up.  This trap worked extremely well until Tony Blaze (our cat) discovered them.

 

  • Spray at sunset:  A very seasoned gardener friend of mine lightly sprays his garden with water every evening after dinner and swears the earwigs hate it. I do know this strategy works well with aphids and it certainly shouldn’t hurt the plants in moderation so why not huh?

 

  • Plant a couple of extras:  We know that we’ll lose a plant here and there so we take the time to plant a few spares.

 

Give it a try and if you have any ideas or experiences to share, please do.

Dan

05 Jun 2012
0 Comments By valarie Dan's, Featured Posts

Honey Bees

In 2011 my wife and stopped eating sugar. Neither of us trusts the science behind artificial sweeteners so that option’s out leaving one final sugary opportunity in our lives “Honey”.  I won’t go into the countless recipes we’ve mastered (honey margaritas are one my favorites) but it suffices to say we found ourselves going through a lot of honey. That led us to the question, “Should we be raising bees ourselves?” So we did.

 

Over these past months our bees have absolutely amazed us. Moreover we’ve learned that honey production is just one of many profound reasons to keep bees, here’s a few:

 

There aren’t enough of them: It’s estimated that in 2007 between 40% – 70% of all North American Bee Colonies died suddenly. Many experts now say that there are now virtually no colonies left in the wild. No one’s sure why but most suspect several factors have combined (Pesticides, Varroa Mite, foulbrood) to create really bad news for bees. The technical term for this is CCD or Colony Collapse Disorder. There is no cure for CCD in sight.

 

Our neighbors love them: With the potential for human allergies an urban beekeeper needs to alert his or her neighbors. We did and found our neighbors very open minded, now they’re amazed at the results our pollinators have created. We have indeed improved the ecology of our entire neighborhood. Yes we do intend to share the honey.

 

We love them: At least once a day we find ourselves sitting near the hive, watching intently. I’m not sure why but they’re strangely captivating, my family calls it “Bee TV”. Beekeeping has become a very fulfilling hobby and an integral component on our urban farm.

 

Would you like to know more? I’d love to help.

 

Dan@HeirloomGardensReno.com

Bee Hive after it was assembled and painted
Dan and Valarie tending to the bees
Our happy bees