What can you accomplish is just an hour, an afternoon, or a day?

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have an unlimited amount of time to work on your garden’s to-do list! But between our careers, family, household chores, volunteer activities this is nearly impossible to do and often our wish list is often left unfinished. But if we admit it even the busiest gardener can spare a day, an afternoon or even an hours now and then. And believe it or not you can achieve quite a bit with some simple projects and they won’t ruin your budget, either.

If you have an hour try these ideas:
• Add flair to your chairs with a simple coat of paint. Pick some lively colors and they don’t have to match. For a little more pop add some bright pillows to your chairs. Buy them now while they are reduced in price or if you have more time make them from scrapes left over from other projects.

• Make a reading nook. Look for a quiet, tucked away place in the backyard. Add a comfy chair in a shady spot. Use a canopy or umbrella is you don’t have a shade tree. Arrange an assortment of fragrant and or colorful flowers in containers and place them nearby.

• Brighten your nightlife outdoors in the evening with some glow-in-the dark acrylic paint. Paint a few containers or stones to brighten your yard in an unexpected way. I have the paint but haven’t been able to use them yet.
• Fill in bare spots. Look for an empty spot along your fence or a blank wall and hang up some outdoor art. Use a planter or pot to fill in bare spots in the garden.

If you have an afternoon:
• End a boring floor by painting a concrete deck or patio. If you artistic try painting a rug on the deck or patio. Or just buy and install a weatherproof rug to add some comfort to your outdoor space.

• Install solar lights, they are simple to use and can add a lot of appeal to the nighttime garden. Adding white flowers nearby will make your garden glow in the moonlight.
• Mosaics in a minute. Repurpose old bowling balls into garden art by gluing on tiles, flat-backed marbles, coins or mirrors; let it dry and add grout. Or paint on a design. Spruce up plain stepping stones by adding mortar and positioning mosaics on top.

• Start Composting, it only takes a few supplies and an afternoon to build your own compost bin. Simple plans are easy to find on the internet.

If you have a full day:
• Mulch and edge beds. This really makes your beds look polished. If you don’t already have a barrier or it needs upgrading you can do it fairly easily with bricks, rocks or pavers for a finished look that also makes mulching easier!
• Make a rain barrel. You can buy one but if you want to save a little money make and decorate one yourself. If the blue barrel look isn’t for you, you can paint it or make one from a whiskey barrel or garbage can. All can be transformed into attractive rain barrels.

• Add wow to your windows with window boxes. They instantly add charm and value to your home. Make them with leftover lumber, and then add your own personal touches and no-fuss flowers. Succulents might be good for you in case you forget to water!

• Raise your vegetable garden with simple raised beds. With just a few pieces of lumber, soil and compost will set you up for growing your favorite veggies.

See if you can find time to try a one or two of these ideas in your garden this summer.

Summer Yard Chores

In the south August is a cruel month, Hot, Humid and Hazy and it just wears me down! But I can't give up, I must not give up! Every weed pulled now prevents many more in the future, letting them go to seed makes for bigger problems later! But there is much more to do in August. A weekly walk through the garden helps identify problem areas.

WATERING: Lack of rain in August (so far) has not been a problem this year. As things dry out from the daily rains I will need to watch plants like my hydrangea in case they get too dry. The real problem for me now is plants like my succulents that received too much rain!

DEADHEADING: By deadheading perennials, annuals and blubsr now I may get a fresh flush of blooms when our weather turns a little cooler. Later in the fall I'll leave some seed-heads for birds or to collect seeds for next year. I cut perennials like Guara back pretty hard and still get more blooms.

RE-EDGE BEDS: I like to clean-up the edges of my flowerbeds at least twice a year, making a clean line to define them. Then my husband Jim can the keep edges clean with regular fine-tuning with our weed-eater.

PRUNING- Selective pruning of out of control vine is at the top of my to do list. Carolina jessamine, cross vine, and jasmine are the big ones needing attention after our hot, wet weather. A few shrubs have had growth spurts as well and need some light pruning.

REPOT: I like to change my pots (Hanging & ground) at least seasonally. My front porch petunias were replace with Moss Roses as soon as temperatures reach 90 degrees, but I hadn't rescued my hanging strawberries in the arbor. So yesterday I moved the strawberries to a raised bed and replanted the pots with Potato vine.

LAWN- We have a warm season grass- Centipede and mid-August is the time for a final fertilization for the grass this year. I'll need to apply a post emergence herbicide as I try to control a "spotted Spurge " takeover of my front yard. This is also time to check for white grubs, spittlebugs, mole crickets, and others; though they have not been a problem for me so far this year.

And if I can get all of this list done I could prepare my garden bed for a fall garden, replant my herbs, take cuttings to overwinter plant in my greenhouse.

Simple Water Saving Tips

Rain this summer has been very scattered and isolated and it seems to miss my location when it does rain! Watering a yard and garden with city water can be expensive, so here are some water-saving ideas.

A good way to start is by catching rain water in rain barrels. ¼” of rain can fill my rain barrels to overflowing. Rain water from my gutters fills my 55 gallon barrels very quickly even when rain is scarce. I use soaker hoses for some of my flower beds and hope to add drip irrigation at a later date as it can also shrink water bills, by delivering water just where it is needed. Organic mulch is a well known way for keeping soil moist. But what more can you do to reduce water usage in the garden and still have a healthy garden?

• Use and Reuse- Using gray water, or the water left over from everyday activities, is becoming more and more popular. Just make sure your gray water is free of softener salts-even trace amounts will effect the PH balance of the soil over time. Be creative- use a bowl to catch water when washing produce, let water from boiling vegetables cool, and then water a container. When its time to empty your dehumidifier tank don’t dump it down the drain-water pots or your garden. I use water from the kiddie pool our puppy plays in for watering containers plants, when it is time to empty the pool.

• Don’t Waste a Drop- make sure the water you are using really goes the distance-Example- when I water a hanging basket, I slide another container under it. Then if any water runs through the drain hole it will water the container below. Use a bucket to collect water from the faucet when you are running a bath or doing dishes to collect water as you wait for it to get hot.

• Redirect and Connect-Some water sources are easy to overlook because they are out of sight. If you have a sump pump try redirecting the drainage to benefit a planting area or connect the exit of the pump directly to a garden hose. Water that drips form an air conditioning unit can be channeled with plastic tubing delivering moisture to areas where it is most needed. Or I plant water loving plants where the AC water drips and never have to water there during AC use months. When it is time to drain our pond we try to direct the water to needed areas of the yard.

• All Systems Go-When running sprinklers be sure they only run long enough for your yard or garden to get the exact amount of water it needs. Using an automatic timer may lead to watering too frequently. Depending on your plants’ needs, soil type and recent weather 1” of water a week should do. Aim for two deep soaking a week. I have determined that water runs off my soil after 30 minutes and ends up in the gutter if left running longer. Measure distribution amounts with rain gauges or empty shallow cans set 1-foot apart as far as the spray from one sprinkler reaches.

• If you have access to a pond or stream you may be able to use it for irrigation but check with DNR to make sure it is allowed and to see if a permit is needed. Also growing more heat tolerant plants will cut down on watering needs. Some annuals and perennials thrive in dry conditions. Some annuals are: Celosia, Floss Flower, Gazania, Lantana, and Mexican Sunflower. Some perennials are: Artemisia, Butterfly Weed, Lamb’s Ear, Sedum, and Yarrow.

Try a few of these ideas and in no time at all you’ll notice some big saving!

Summer Garden Strategies

Summer heat often keeps us from walking through or working in our yard daily. But there are simple things you can do for your decorating and landscape theme.

Visit garage sales to find benches, deck boxes, and ottomans that provide both seating and storage and look out for vintage gardening gear and agricultural elements for decorating your exterior areas.

Take Preventive Measures- Add 2” of fresh mulch to improve your gardens overall appearance, prevent weeds and help soil retain moisture.

Visually Connect with Mother Nature- carry the colors and texture of nearby flowers and foliage to outdoor entertaining areas with accent pillows, outdoor rugs and table linens. Tuck succulents, dainty annuals, and fragments herbs into small clay pots to dress up table tops and walls.

Fill Voids- Buy annuals or perennials to fill gaps in your plantings. Or plan to on filling the holes with after-season bargain plants or plant divisions harvested in the fall from your garden.

Set Out Hummingbird Feeder- Look for a red-colored feeder and fill it with colorless sugar water (made from 1 cup sugar and 4 cups water, bring to boiling then cooled and stored extra in the refrigerator).

Pot Up Plants- Simplify container gardening by choosing potted plants that fit inside your decorative containers. Place the plant, pot and all, into the container. Fill portable containers with annuals and use them to jazz up fading perennials boarders.

Enhance Interest- Once gardens are going; use downtime to construct arbors, gazebos or to lay pathways and gravel-floored garden rooms.

Stay On Task- Keep watering during dry spells and continually deadhead and weed to ensure your landscape stays healthy and looks its best,

Backyard Mosquito Management

”Why didn’t Noah swat those 2 mosquitoes?” ~ Author Unknown

So mosquito season is here again in the Lowcountry and it will most likely be a terrible one with the lack of cold weather this last winter. If your idea of Mosquito management is dousing yourself and your nearest and dearest in your favorite DEET product and then stepping out to enjoy a night under the stars or by swatting at the blood-suckers as they bite you during a 4th of July bar-b-que you may need to reevaluate your control practices.

Many communities have fogging/spray programs; this is an Adulticiding program. Adulticiding programs spray pesticides indiscriminately and do not get at the mosquitoes until they have matured and are already nibbling on your skin. They also do little to restrict breeding. Over time Mosquitoes develop resistance to chemical pesticides, which render the chemicals ineffective. Adulticides represent considerable risk to all living things, and kill beneficial insects and natural mosquito predators, such as dragonflies, damselflies, and beetles. According to entomologists from Cornell University, close to 99.9 percent of the sprayed chemicals end up in the environment where they can have damaging effects on public health and ecosystems, leaving only 0.10 percent to actually hit the targeted mosquitoes. This questions the efficacy of spray-based strategies against mosquitoes and you will still have a lot of the annoying insects in your yard. To best manage mosquitoes, you have to get rid of the situations that are attracting them to your property, when you detect them kill them before they breed; you need to kill them before they become adults. That’s called LARVACIDE!

So what do mosquito’s need to thrive in your yard? Why are they finding your backyard so attractive? They need suitable aquatic breeding habitats in order to complete their lifecycle (a.k.a they need water). Eggs must be laid on the surface of slow-moving or standing water.

Your first step in managing mosquitoes should be to remove any and all potential breeding areas – anyplace that water collects – from your yard. This will provide long-term control over mosquito populations and will also control populations before they mature and have a chance to reproduce, transfer disease, and just plain annoy.
If mosquitoes do breed, larvaciding allows control measures to be used in targeted areas, while mosquito larvae are still concentrated in breeding pools and before adult mosquitoes spread throughout the community.

Ideas for Personal Prevention
• Remain indoors in the evenings, when most mosquito activity occurs.
• Use screened-in porches instead of open porches.
• Use herbal repellents to ward off mosquitoes, such as Skin-So-Soft. Reapply often. Herbs that repel mosquitoes include cedar wood, garlic, lemongrass, frankincense, cinnamon, geranium, eucalyptus, basil, rosemary, cloves, peppermint, lemon balm (citronella), onions, feverfew, thyme, and marigold.
• Essential oils of the herbs listed above are also good repellents, though most are volatile organic compounds and will bother someone who is sensitive to scents. To mix your own essential oil repellent, add 10 drops of essential oil to 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, stir, and dab a few drops on your skin or clothing. Pregnant women should consult their doctors before using essential oils.
• Neem oil is used as a mosquito repellent cream and composed of 2% crude neem oil is a highly effective repellent.
• When you are outdoors burn citronella candles and torches to control mosquitoes in the immediate vicinity when there is no wind.


Here are some hints for Household Prevention and control
• Maintain window screens and doors, closing all opened doors.
• Remove or regularly drain all water-retaining objects, such as tin cans, pet dishes, buckets, holes in trees, clogged gutters and down spouts, old tires, birdbaths, trash can lids, and shallow fishless ponds. Check ponds and sources of water for signs of mosquito larvae and stock permanent water pools, such as ornamental ponds, with mosquito larvae eating fish.
• Check for standing water in plastic or canvas tarps used to cover pools and boats. Arrange tarps to drain water and turn canoes and small boats upside down for storage.
• Use Mosquito Dunks™ (made from Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis) one of the most popular and most effective least-toxic biological controls. The dunks are safe for birdbaths, rain barrels, ponds, ditches, tree holes, roof gutters, unused swimming pools — anywhere water collect.
• Fix dripping outside water faucets.
• Keep street gutters and catch basins and rain barrels free of debris and working properly.

Even if you put the above ideas for control into practice you will still need to monitor mosquito activity in your yard. Check for standing water after rain showers, and change birdbath water often to keep mosquitoes from using them to breed. Hopefully these practices will lead to a more enjoyable summer season.

Evaluation Time

Summer usually takes its toll on gardeners and the garden. As late summer arrives and you feel as bedraggled as your garden, take some inspiration from fall-flowering perennials like garden mums, aster, Autumn Joy sedum, goldenrod swamp sunflower, and salvia. As summer’s heat and humidity yields to the shorter; cooler days of autumn, pay a visit to those far corners of the garden that haven’t seen a gardener’s eye since the 4th of July! It’s time to evaluate the landscape and make notes about what needs to be done in September. Plants in decline may need to be replaced by new plantings. Late summer and fall is a good time to plant trees, shrubs and perennials. Be adventurous and select a few new and delectable plants for you garden!

August Checklist

In the summer “Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration.“ ~Lou Erickson

I know it is hot outside in the garden during August so I try and make a checklist of things I need to do so I don’t waste time in the heat and humidity of the Lowcountry summer weather. I start by remembering the 3 D’s when evaluating what needs done in the garden: damaged, diseased, and dead twigs from trees, shrubs, and roses and even your annuals and perennials. This isn’t time for heavy pruning though.

I Check mulch in my planting beds to see if wind, rain and natural decay have decreased the thickness and replenish to 2-3 inches if needed to hold in moisture and keep out the weeds.

If the flowerbeds and cutting garden are looking bedraggled it is time toclear out the annuals that have finished blooming or are overgrown.

I trim away damaged, diseased or insect infested leaves from perennials and deadhead garden Phlox, perennial salvias, and purple coneflower to improve their appearance.

My Knockout roses often need a little boost from a fast acting fertilizer this time of year.

I collect seeds from annual vines as they ripen and save them to plant next year and check to see that actively growing vines are secured if needed. Moonflower vine grows quickly this time of year and the tendrils need some training.

It’s also time to pull out vegetables and herbs that have stopped producing and keep my tomatoes and peppers watered until the cooler weather encourages them to start producing again. I do this with a soaker hose.

This time of year insects and fungal diseases can pop up overnight so I make sure to walk through the garden often looking for problems. Aphids, spider mites Japanese Beetles are pests I watch for in August. Fungal leaf spots and powdery mildew damage can be minor needing only a few leaves removed or a fungicide may be needed. I may need to remove and discard a heavily infested plant. Sometimes I will thin the flowerbed to allow more air to flow between plants.

My husband mows the lawn regularly but I’m the one who watches to see if some areas dry out and need watering. I’m not sure how we ended up with both centipede and St. Augustine grass in my yard since we had only centipede when we moved in to our house but we did. So I have to watch for pests and diseases that are prevalent in both types of grass like mole crickets, white grubs and centipede decline in the centipede and chinch bugs and gray leaf spot in St. Augustine.

It may seem like a big list but I work at it a little in the mornings and evening when it is cool and before I know it the list is finished.

Moonflower Vine- a plant for an evening garden

The moonflower vine (Calonyction aculeatum) is one of the wonders of the evening garden. Giant 5 to 6 inch white blooms that resemble morning glories are nestled against large heart shaped deep green leaves. As the sun begins to set in late afternoon the flowers begin to unfurl and release a lovely fragrance. When the sun rises, the blooms gently spiral closed. Considering adding this moonlight marvel to your garden. I’ve been growing it in my gardens since 1999 and enjoy what they add to my evenings in the garden. Macroglossum stellatarum often called Hummingbird Moth have covered my vines in September and October. I don’t usually have to plant it because it does re-seed readily. Sometimes I will collect seedpods and save for next year but often the vine just shows up in my garden.

If starting moonflowers from seed here are some hints for you:

· Prepare the seeds. Use a knife to make a small nick in the moonflower vine seeds. Sandpaper will work to rough up the surface of the seed. Place seeds in a custard cup or other small glass container and cover with water. Allow to soak overnight.
· Plant seeds in peat pots. Fill peat pots with soil-less planting medium. Moisten with water. Place 2 or 3 vine seeds on the soil and cover with 1/2 inch of soil-less mix. Water again gently. Planted peat pots should be kept moist and in a warm location until the seedlings are large enough to transplant. Start vines indoors 4 to 6 weeks before the last anticipated frost.
· Prepare seedlings for transplant. Moonflower vine seeds germinate in around 3 weeks. Before planting, thin seedlings to one vine per pot. Remove weak or extra seedlings by cutting them with scissors. Do not pull seedlings from the soil. Pulling may damage the tender roots of the remaining seedling. Seedlings that are ready for planting should have formed 2 or 3 leaves.
· Choose outdoor planting location. It prefers a location that receives full sun and the soil should be moist and well drained. Choose a location that provides the vine ample support, such as a trellis, arbor or fence, and away from other plants. The Moonflower vine can grow up to 40 feet in height with tendrils that can, if left untended, engulf nearby plants or trees. I think my vines have grown as much 1-foot a day. So I do have to train the vines to a trellis or fence.
· Transplant the seedling. Loosen the soil in the desired planting area. Dig a hole slightly larger than the peat pot and the same depth. Remove the bottom on the peat pot and place the peat pot and seedling in the planting hole and lightly cover with the original soil. The peat pot will disintegrate in the soil and will provide added nutrients. Gently water the transplanted seedling.
· Collect seeds. Moonflower vine seeds are easy to gather for next year's garden or to share with friends. When the husks that follow the white blooms become black and dry, they can be gathered and stored in a dry place. The seeds are the size of a garbanzo bean and white in color.

I hope you will give this vine a try on an arbor, trellis or fence.

Midsummer Makeover

By midsummer most of your garden is usually looking pretty good. Your perennials are growing and the annuals you planted are blooming like mad. Yes all is doing well except for that one planting bed. Now what can you do about that one bed? Just because the calendar says it’s the middle of summer doesn’t mean it is too late to rejuvenate a flowerbed. Here are a few ideas to perk up a lackluster perennial border.

1. Size It Up- Take a good look and see what you can salvage in the bed.
2. GO “Sale-ing”- Take advantage of late-season plant sales at garden centers and pick up perennials for a lot less than you’d play in the middle of May. Buy a few annuals like begonia to fill in the gaps around the perennials while they are small. I also like to sow seeds of fast-growing annuals like zinnias, cosmos, or celosia.( I can often harvest these seeds from flowers that bloomed earlier in the season.) Next year the perennials will be larger and you won’t need to fill in with as many annuals.
3. Dig In- Summer heat and drought can be hard on young plants. Don’t skimp on preparing the planting holes for the new plants. Add moisture crystals if your area is especially hot and dry and don’t forget to add 2-3” of mulch to help hold moisture and cut down on how often you need to water.
4. Spot Some Pots- Container plants are often in their peak by midsummer. Place a few colorful pots among the plants to quickly fill in thin areas. A pot of coleus can add some texture and color to a bed. Other plants that look great in containers in late summer are dahlias, sedums, and asters.
5. Add A Personal Touch- Finally, don’t forget to include some hardscaping or a piece of garden art to personalize your bed. Whether bold or subtle, art should accent your plants not overpower them. Make sure they are sturdy enough to withstand summer wind and rain with out toppling over into the plants.

Midsummer plants: Aster, Blanket flower, Celosia, Coleus, Cosmos, Dahlia, Phlox, Purple Heart, Sedum and Zinnia.

For more heat tolerant plants check out: “Some Like It Hot” Flowers That Thrive in Hot Humid Weather by P.J. Gartin, “Tough Plants for Southern Gardens” by Felder Rushing and “The Carolinas Gardener’s Guide” by Toby Bost & Jim Wilson

June, July & August 2005

Our first summer in our house and our yard was already becoming a habitat not only for birds, butterflies, lizards but also a nice place to hang out. I was busy planting perennials in June, deadheading in July and keeping everything watered in August.