garden

Five Tips for Weed Control to Save Time When You Weed Your Garden

June 13, 2017 by Heather Leister

June 13th is National “Weed Your Garden Day”, a day that has been set aside for gardeners to spend an extra few minutes weeding their gardens. My ideal way of observing the day would be to watch my children weed the garden, but if I’m being realistic that would mean plants as well as weeds would get pulled up. So it’s very likely that I will either celebrate this day with some quality alone time, just me and my weeds, or I will enlist my family’s help and spend the time referring sibling fights while saving my plants from the weed bucket.

Photo Credit: Flickr

Actually, if I’m being completely honest, the way I’d really like to celebrate Weed Your Garden Day is by not weeding at all! If you’re feelings are similar, here are five ideas for weed control that will save you time in the garden later.

Mulch – Putting down mulch in your garden will help to keep weeds from growing up among your plants. Mulch also provides the benefit of retaining moisture in the soil, which will mean less watering for you! Newspaper, cardboard, and straw can be effective mulch in gardens. Quality local independent garden centers have many options of quality mulch and soil amendments.
Focused Watering – A drip watering system in the garden will ensure that you are watering your plants and not weeds. With a drip system you can focus the water on specific areas in the garden instead of spraying it over one large area, preventing weed growth.
Photo Credit: Public Domain Picture
Keep Plants Together – When possible, plant your plants close together. Less bare dirt in the garden means less space for weeds to grow.
Young Weeds – This one takes vigilance on your part, but if you can catch weeds when they’re young you’ll prevent them from spreading throughout your garden. It’s much easier to pull weeds when they’re young and their roots aren’t established in the ground. It is especially important to catch the weeds before they go to seed and spread throughout the garden.
Maintain Yard- Don’t neglect the yard that surrounds your garden. Keep your lawn mowed and your flower beds maintained so that weeds don’t invade from those location into the garden.
Photo Credit: Pixabay

Beneficial Insects You Want in Your Garden

September 15, 2016 by Vanessa Myers

Welcome Gardening Friends! Thanks for stopping by.

Do you ever see insects in your garden and wonder which ones are friendly and which ones aren’t? Which ones are helping and which ones are harming? Then keep reading, I’ve put together 10 Beneficial Insects You Want in Your Garden!

Ladybugs are definitely beneficial for your garden

Image by snowpeak under a Flickr Creative Commons Attribution License

10 Beneficial Insects You Want in Your Garden

Bees will help pollinate many of your flowers

Image by zoxcleb under a Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

1. Bees

Bees are pollinating powerhouses and you want to see as many of them in your garden as you can get. The more pollinators you have in your garden, the more fruit your plants will produce.

Braconid wasps lay their eggs in caterpillars

Adult Image by berniedup under a Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Pupae Image by Bev Wagar under a Flickr Creative Commons Attribution License

2. Braconid Wasps

If you have ever found a tomato hornworm on your plants, you have seen the havoc that they can wreak. It won’t take them long to munch away all of the leaves on your tomato plants and you should squish it as soon as possible. However, if you ever find one that looks like the picture above, leave it alone. Braconid wasps are predatory and these beneficial insects lay their eggs in pests like the tomato hornworm. The larva feed on the caterpillar’s body, then emerge and form cocoons. This ultimately ends in the demise of the hornworm and more wasps to hone in on your other pests.

Some Pests Targeted by Various Braconid Wasps:

Aphids
Beetles
Caterpillars
Squash Bugs
Stink Bugs

Butterflies and moths are good pollinators for your garden plants

Image by Michael Khor under a Flickr Creative Commons Attribution License

3. Butterflies and Moths

Butterflies and moths are not just dainty beauties that like to flit around your garden. They serve as pollinators for many different flower species, enabling them to produce fruit. They can potentially be harmful while in the larval stage as caterpillars since they eat away at leaves. Many times, though, it’s not enough to ultimately harm the plant and you can allow them to complete their metamorphosis.

Damsel bugs are one type of beneficial insect

Image by Bennyboymothman under a Flickr Creative Commons Attribution License

4. Damsel Bugs

Don’t confuse damsel bugs with damselflies, which are similar to their relatives, the dragonflies. Damsel bugs are true insects that love to go after many of the pests that snack on your vegetable garden plants.

Pests Targeted by Damsel Bugs Include:

aphids
small caterpillars
moth eggs

Image by Join the Dots under a Flickr Creative Commons Attribution License

5. Dragonflies

Dragonflies can consume their bodyweight in bugs every 30 minutes, so they’re a great help in keeping the pests at bay!

Hover flies will eat aphids, scales and thrips

Image by Smabs Sputzer under a Flickr Creative Commons Attribution License

6. Hover Flies

Hover flies, also known as syrphid flies, flower flies and drone flies, are great for controlling aphids, thrips, scale insects and caterpillars. They are almost as effective as lady bugs in controlling aphids!

Lacewings will eat a large variety of harmful insects

Image by Mick Sway under a Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives License

7. Lacewings

Lacewings are a helpful addition to the garden because the larvae are voracious predators of many pests including: aphids, spider mites (especially red mites), thrips, whitefly, leafhoppers, some beetle larvae, eggs of pest moths, and mealybugs.

Both ladybug larva and adults are beneficial insects

Image by norio_nomura under a Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

8. Lady Beetles

Lady Beetles, more commonly known as Lady Bugs, are a popular addition to many gardens. They are sold in local nurseries because they’re so effective at controlling aphids and other pests like small caterpillars, thrips and other soft-bodied insects.

One insect that is beneficial in your garden is the minute pirate bug

Image by gbohne under a Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

9. Minute Pirate Bugs

Minute Pirate Bugs are tiny bugs (less than ⅕ of an inch long!) that are helpful in ridding your garden of pests including: aphids, spider mites, and thrips. They are very predatory, and can consume up to 20 thrips larvae every day!

Praying mantises are so named because of how their legs are folded

Image by siamesepuppy under a Flickr Creative Commons Attribution License

10. Praying Mantises

Praying Mantises are helpful hunters because they prey on flies, crickets, beetles & moths. These are great bugs to see in the garden! But you should note that they are indiscriminate hunters…they eat pesky insects as well as beneficial ones, so just prey that they eat the pests! 😅

Honorary Mention: Spiders

Spiders are not included on this list because they are not actually insects. Like other arachnids, they have eight legs, while insects have six. Many people shudder just at the thought of them. However, they truly are one of the most beneficial creatures to have around your garden since they take care of a lot of pests. If you can stifle the urge to squash any that are nonpoisonous, your garden will thank you!

What are your favorite beneficial insects? Let us know in the comments below!

DIY Solar Lantern

May 31, 2016 by Heather Leister

Welcome, I’m so glad you’re here!

Are you looking for an inexpensive way to light up your yard at night? Look no further! These easy DIY Solar Lanterns can be created with a quick trip to the dollar store. They’re simple to make and add a fun element to your landscape.

All it takes is a few simple supplies and a few minutes of your time. This is a project that kids love to help with too! (or is it just my kids that enjoy taking things apart? 😉)

For this project you’ll need some empty mason jars (or other small decorative jars), inexpensive solar lights, canning jar rings (optional, but they do give them a nicer finished look), and some hot glue.

Start with the mason (or other small decorative jar…I’ve used both and they work equally well). The key is to choose a jar with a small opening. If you use a wide-mouth canning jar, the solar light will fall through the opening to the bottom of the jar.

Now is the perfect time to stock up on inexpensive solar yard lights for any DIY solar projects you might have planned. They can be found at the dollar store. Purchase the plainest, simplest solar light you can find. For this example I’m using a solar table lamp that I purchased at my local Dollar Tree.

If you (or your kids!) like tearing things apart, then you’ll enjoy this next step! Take apart the solar light, what you want is the black, round unit at the top. You will see the solar cells on the top, and the lights at the bottom. This is all you need for the project, so go ahead and recycle the rest of the light, or save it for another project.

Depending on the size of your jar, your light may fit down in its mouth, or it may sit on top. Either way, I like to secure the solar light to the jar with hot glue.

For a finishing touch, add a canning ring to the top of the jar. Again, a little hot glue works nicely.

That’s it! Sit your lanterns on your porch or hang them on a shepherd’s hook in your yard and enjoy!

Click NEXT for the list of supplies and directions!

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January & February Gardening To-Do List

January 1, 2016 by Western Gardens

Welcome gardening friends, thanks for stopping by!

If you’re excited to work in your yard or garden, but not sure what to do in the Winter weather, then you’ve come to the right place! We’ve put together a list of things to do to keep your yard in top shape.

You may not need to do everything on this list. For example, if you don’t have a Christmas tree to recycle or trees branches to watch for heavy snow, skip over those items on the list. Just pick what applies to your home and yard and plan out when you will do it all throughout the month!

January & February Gardening To-Do List

➺Recycle your fresh-cut Christmas tree, many cities offer recycling services at no cost

➺Remove outdoor Christmas lights and store until next year

➺Remove Snow From Driveway before driving on it, compacted snow is difficult to remove and quickly turns to ice

➺Watch Trees during and after big snow storms, they may need snow knocked from their branches to avoid breakage

➺Make A List of your favorite flowers & veggies so you will be ready to buy seeds in March

➺Draw A Diagram on paper of next year’s garden

Don’t miss our March To-Do List!

Want to print a handy checklist for every month? We have a great ebook coming soon, and we’re offering it for FREE because we love you! Check back soon, we don’t want you to miss it!