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Using Pet Safe Fertilizer for Lawns and Gardens Commercially prepared pet friendly fertilizers may list precautions and restrictions, and you should follow them to the letter. The label may suggest keeping the pet off the lawn for a specified period of time, usually about 24 hours. For an extra measure of safety, make sure you break up any clods or clumps of fertilizer because your pet will find any new objects lying on the ground interesting, and perhaps worth a taste....

Pollinator Friendly Garden Plants The key to a pollinator friendly garden is to plant a variety of blooming plants — those that rotate bloom times from February through October providing constant nourishment. Include larval host plants for caterpillars as well as pollen and nectar plants. And include native plants. Provide a shallow water source such as a birdbath. Provide shelters, such as bee blocks, and bare soil areas for ground nesting bees....

Plant Alternatives to Grass Groundcovers With groundcover plants, you can easily knock out the dreaded chore of mowing the grass. These low-growing plants spread easily in even the toughest sites, providing thick coverage that will eventually benefit the soil beneath. Groundcovers can also add appealing texture, with some varieties having seasonal blooms and colorful fall foliage. You can even choose nitrogen-fixing plants, like clover, which act as a soil conditioner. Ajuga is a creeping evergreen that works well in both sun and shade....

Paulownia Seed Propagation Paulwnia tormentosa is a very attractive, fast-growing tree and easy to grow in a home garden in the right environment. It bears trumpet-like flowers which are large, lovely, and fragrant in shades of blue or lavender. After the flower show in spring, the royal empress’s huge leaves appear. They are beautiful, exceptionally soft, and downy. These are followed by a green fruit that matures into a brown capsule....

Varieties of Squash There are many varieties of squash, most of which are vine plants; there are a number of bush types as well, however. Before you grow squash, be sure you know which type you have and plan your garden accordingly. There are two types of squash varieties: summer and winter. Summer varieties of squash are large and bushy. These types of plants do not spread as the vine types do....

About Growing Vegetables in Zone 6 Planting times for zone 6 will depend on whose zone map you are consulting. There is a zonal map put out by the United States Department of Agriculture and one put out by Sunset. These vary greatly for zone 6. The USDA map is broad of stroke and encompasses Massachusetts and Rhode Island, extends southwest through parts of New York and New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon and Washington....

Having so many plants with wort in their name, there should be a wort family of plants. Yet, lungwort is a type of borage, spiderwort belongs to the Commelinaceae family, and sleepwort is a type of fern. These are totally unrelated plants. So, what does wort mean? What are Wort Plants? Carolus Linnaeus, aka Carl Linnaeus, is credited with developing the plant classification system we use today. Working in the 1700s, Linnaeus created the format for binomial nomenclature....

What Do You Need for Starting Seeds in a Bag? In northern climates, seeds need to be started indoors for the best chance at germination. Other factors besides cold temperatures can affect sprouting, such as rain and wind, which may wash away seeds. To keep control of your future plants and get them ahead for the growing season, try the baggie seed starting method. It’s cheap, easy, and effective. You can use a clear plastic bag that has a zipper, or not....

Popular Petunias That are Purple When you think of petunias, your mind might jump to classic pink. These flowers come in a wide range of colors, however. Here are some popular purple petunia varieties: “Sugar Daddy” – Bright purple flowers with a deep purple center that spreads out through the petals in veins. “Littletunia Indigo” – A compact plant that produces a prolific number of small, purple to blue blossoms. “Moonlight Bay” – Deep, rich purple flowers with creamy white petal borders....

Different Types of Zinnia As mentioned, there are 22 accepted species of zinnia, a genus of plants of the sunflower tribe within the daisy family. The Aztecs called them “plants hard on the eyes” due to their brilliantly colored blooms. These exuberantly colored blooms were named after the German botany professor, Johann Gottfried Zinn, responsible for their discovery and subsequent import to Europe in the 1700s. The original zinnia has come a long way due to hybridization and selective breeding....

Effects of Potassium on Plants Potassium is important to plant growth and development. Potassium helps: Plants grow faster Use water better and be more drought resistant Fight off disease Resist pests Grow stronger Produce more crops With all plants, potassium assists all functions within the plant. When a plant has enough potassium, it will simply be a better overall plant. Signs of Potassium Deficiency in Plants Potassium deficiency in plants will cause a plant to perform more poorly overall than it should....

Why Apricot Fruits Fall from Tree Apricot fruit falling off your tree happens because most trees produce significantly more flowers than they need. The odds are that these flowers won’t all be successfully pollinated, so the extras are like insurance for the apricot. In a residential setting where conditions are easier to control, these extra flowers are regularly pollinated and too many fruits set. The stress of so many fruits causes apricot trees to shed fruits — sometimes twice!...

Step-By-Step Drip Irrigation System Winterization Less than an hour of drip irrigation winter care is usually all it takes to ensure your system will be clean, intact, and ready to use again in spring. Ideally, you should go through these steps before the first frost. Draining drip irrigation systems is another chore for the garden, but it’s an important maintenance step. If you do nothing else to protect your irrigation system, do this....

What is Clematis Wilt? The first step in treating or preventing clematis wilting is becoming familiar with the issue and its causes. So what is clematis wilt? Clematis wilt, also called clematis leaf and stem spot, is a fungal disease that progresses rapidly. A careful observer may see black spots on the leaves and stems as the disease begins, but the symptoms often go undetected until the entire stem wilts and dies....

Common Diseases of Lilacs Although lilacs are a hardy bunch, they can succumb to problems like any other landscape shrub. Be on the lookout for these diseases: Bacterial blight – The bacteria Pseudomonas syringae causes early shoot and branch dieback, distorted leaves, and leaf spots that start out olive green but soon develop water-soaked areas. Those spots turn brown with yellow margins and begin to die. Blossoms may become limp or turn brown suddenly....

Propagating Dahlias by Taking Stem Cuttings Want to try your hand at rooting dahlia cuttings? Just follow these simple steps. Bring your tubers out of winter storage in late January or early February. For growing dahlia cuttings, choose the firmest, healthiest tubers. Place the tubers in a plastic bag and put the bag, with the top open, in a warm room for a couple of weeks. Note: This step isn’t absolutely necessary, but allowing the tubers to warm in this manner will speed sprouting....

Reasons to Light Up Raised Beds Lighting a raised bed, especially a vegetable bed may be to simply add ambiance or may be for a more utilitarian purpose. Avid gardeners often find it difficult to find time to attend to their gardens either because they work late, or summer temperatures are too hot during the day. Installing raised bed lights solves the issue of time. It allows the gardener access to the vegetable or raised flower bed after the sun has gone down without cumbersome flashlights or headlamps....

Different Types of Blueberry Bushes Blueberries are a great choice for gardeners since they are both a delicious fruit crop and an attractive landscape shrub. The berries are easy to grow and easy to pick. Blueberries can be eaten right off the bush or used in cooking. Their high antioxidant content makes them a very healthful treat. You’ll have to select the particular varieties best suited to your garden, goals, and climate....

Red Anjou Pear Information Red Anjou is a sport, which means it developed as a natural mutation on a Green Anjou tree. One branch with red pears was discovered on a tree in Medford, Oregon. These first examples of the variety were then used to create Red Anjou pear trees. The flavor of this pear is sweet with just a taste of citrus. The flesh is cream to blush pink in color, dense, and firm....

This is a good question, but before you jump in and start working with faded flowers among the painful spines, let’s look more closely to see if it’s always necessary to deadhead cactus flowers. Should Cactus Blooms Be Deadheaded? Sometimes, deadheading a cactus is not needed, as blooms drop when they’re finished. Removing spent cactus blooms is easier in this situation, you can just pick them up from the ground or other area where they’ve fallen....