We hope you enjoyed meeting our Grounds Supervisor, Susan Burkhart, in our blog article last week. Thanks to everyone who posted a question for our gardening expert! Susan is pleased to share her love of gardening/landscaping with others and hopes many people will learn something new and will stop by to visit the gardens this season at Sauder Village!
Why would you recommend trying some heirloom varieties of vegetables in your garden? What are the benefits?
The flavor of older varieties is sometimes much better than new ones! When new varieties come out they are geared to helping prevent insect problems or some diseases. By trying to fix one problem they sometimes lose some of the rich flavor of the vegetable.
Why would you recommend trying some heirloom varieties of vegetables in your garden? What are the benefits?
The flavor of older varieties is sometimes much better than new ones! When new varieties come out they are geared to helping prevent insect problems or some diseases. By trying to fix one problem they sometimes lose some of the rich flavor of the vegetable.
I am considering starting a small garden. What is your best advice for a newbie?
There are several ways you can garden. You could try having just a planter box with some vegetables or could even just place some plants within a flower bed. If space is not a problem then maybe make a bed just big enough to try a few easy to grow vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce or even green beans. There are many questions to consider when starting a garden. Is this for one person’s use or more? How much space do you have? How much time do you have to spend gardening? Feel free to call and I can give you more information to get you started. Susan, 800.590.9755.
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| Students from local school volunteer to help prune bushes. |
The rule of thumb I use: If it’s a flowering scrub that blooms from buds that were formed on the previous season’s growth, you need to prune it right after it is done blooming. The scrub needs a full year’s growth to produce the blossoms. Among these are azalea, bridal wreath spirea, dogwood, forsythia, lilac, mock orange, climbing roses, snowball viburnum and wisteria.
Other scrubs bloom on buds of the
current season’s growth. These would be pruned during the dormant period. I
like to do it when the weather breaks in the early spring when most of the
harsh winter is done so there isn’t a lot of winter die back. Butterfly bushes,
clematis, highbush cranberry, honeysuckle, rose bushes, and rose of Sharon.
Burning Bushes can be done anytime
but it is best to prune in early spring before it leafs out you can see the shape
better while pruning. When scrubs are out of control, sometimes it is best to
prune to the ground leaving just a few inches for them to start all over.
I want to know how to safely get rid of squash bugs! My zucchini and summer squash start out looking great...then almost overnight they shrivel up and die and I find those bugs! I don't want that to happen again this year!
This is a hard one because the Squash Vine Borer has a small window of time to get it under control and by the time you see you have a problem it’s too late. Try starting the seeds inside early in the spring, so the plants are too large for the bug to bother. They feed only when they are caterpillars for about a month. You have to watch for the female moth laying eggs which can occur in June or July. After the eggs hatch the white larvae then bore into the stems. This may take a little patience in checking daily the backs of the leaves. Picking off the egg infested leaves is non-chemical way. The insecticide that you can use would be something with Methoxychlor. You would apply this during the egg-laying time.
I want to know how to safely get rid of squash bugs! My zucchini and summer squash start out looking great...then almost overnight they shrivel up and die and I find those bugs! I don't want that to happen again this year!
This is a hard one because the Squash Vine Borer has a small window of time to get it under control and by the time you see you have a problem it’s too late. Try starting the seeds inside early in the spring, so the plants are too large for the bug to bother. They feed only when they are caterpillars for about a month. You have to watch for the female moth laying eggs which can occur in June or July. After the eggs hatch the white larvae then bore into the stems. This may take a little patience in checking daily the backs of the leaves. Picking off the egg infested leaves is non-chemical way. The insecticide that you can use would be something with Methoxychlor. You would apply this during the egg-laying time.
I spray a circle around the patch with round up. This keeps the grass or weeds from suckering under ground and taking over the entire patch. I do use the rock salt or ice cream salt right in and around the whole patch to help control the weeds.
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