Dandelions: Part 1

Dandelions are one of the most recognizable plants throughout the world.  A hardy perennial that are well-established growers worldwide, dandelions have deep roots and grow throughout the year in many climates.

I've seen various ways to get rid of dandelions - pouring boiling water at the roots, pouring vinegar at the roots, burning them with a blow torch-  but I have my preferred method.  I've noticed that big, fat earthworms love living around the roots of dandelions, and since I perfer not to harm the worms, I don't use any of the above methods.  When I need to get rid of dandelions, I've learned that hand pulling each one is the best method.  The tricks are to get as much of the root as possible, pull them when they are young, and pull them before they go to seed and spread.

There are lots of tools available specifically for dandelion removal.  I use a sturdy trowel or my trusty Dewit weeding tool.

 After finding the weed you'd like to pull, isolate the top of the taproot, where the root top is flush with the ground. 

Insert your trowel or weeding tool right next to the rood.

Push straight down, or slightly away from the plant.  If you push down in toward the root, you may cut through and break the root, making it harder to remove the entire root system.

Once you're down several inches, start to gently loosen the root system.

Ideally, you will remove the entire taproot, with the veins and all.  And no harm done to the happy worms!

Join me next week while I share a medicinal way to use the roots.

My Favorite Viburnums

 I have really fallen in love with viburnums over the years. It all started when we bought our home in 2004 and there was planted a Shoshoni Doublefile Viburnum.  The shrub started out small, planted between a peach tree and a royal star magnolia.  With a little bit of compost each year, it has now completely outgrown it's expected size range and has overtaken the space.  I've trained it to be a small tree rather than a shrub.  I love the shade it offers the shade-loving perennials under it.  Each year it grows bigger and bigger!  This next year, I need to consider pulling or transplanting the two trees on either side of it.

Another favorite of mine is the Eastern Snowball.  I just love the happy, white snowballs that blossom this time of year.  They remind me of cheerleaders!  One feature that I love about this variety are the generous blossoms they give.  Even the smaller, younger shrubs produce lots of blooms.  I have a few smaller shrubs growing around my garden and they each bloom every year.  I love the way the snowball blossoms look in a vase or in an arrangement.

A few other varieties that I have growing in my garden that I love are Korean Spice, Burkwood, Pink Dawn,  and Diana Koreanspice.  They are all so hardy, add great color throughout the seasons, and some of them smell so wonderful.   Here's a great link that explains more about viburnums.  If can't say enough about viburnums!

Hopes For This Year

I'm so happy to be back at TEND for another season!  Thank you for joining us!  When it comes to my garden, I dream big. My list of ideas and wants for my garden is pretty large, but here are a few that I'd like to get checked off this year.

• I'm hoping to fill in some gaps in my established perennial beds.  I'd love to add some ground covers and additional fillers to tie some of the existing plants together.

• I dream of a larger, more tidy vegetable garden.  The wooden raised beds are starting to rot, so replacing those may be a larger project later on this year.

• We have some shaded areas on our property that are pretty bare.  The front yard of our home, which faces west, and the north side of our home both need some help.  I've started purchasing some shade perennials to plant in those areas.

•  My biggest yearning is to have more hard scape done around our home.  Brick, cobblestone, pea gravel, and cement paths around the garden beds would be so wonderful!  Honestly though, those are some high-priced tickets that I don't think we'll be able to afford this year.

I'll be sure to keep posting some of the progress throughout the season.  That's one of the things I appreciate (and sometimes despise!) about gardening - the work is never complete!

Happy Spring, my friends!

insect repellant

from time to time,  i enjoy playing around with essential oils and concocting natural insect repellants.  i always believe that prevention is a much better route than treatment.  i have a strict no-kill rule in my garden, so keeping pests at bay is an important part of my gardening.  if i can make pests feel unwelcome and encourage them to move along, i've been successful.  easier said than done though, right?

there are so many tutorials our there for making your own citronella candles.  sometimes i think the scent of citronella alone is just as bothersome to me as it is to bugs.  so i like using a blend of additional oils to make it more pleasant for humans, yet still repelling to bugs.  i always keep a journal of the oils i blend, so i can recreate ones that i enjoy and not recreate ones i dislike.

i first start with a list of oils that are offensive to various insects we have in our area.  mosquitos, fruit flies and hornets tend to be our main buggers.  i'll chose three-five oils from the list and start blending away.  once i have a blend i'm happy with, i then add the concoction to simple soy wax candles, body sprays and room sprays.

i keep candles burning around walkways, tables, windows and doors.  i also keep potted and vases of fresh cut herbs near doors and windows.  it certainly helps to keep our pest population down.

here's my latest concoction that works well.  feel free to play around with different oils and proportions.  have fun and enjoy!

Insect Repellent

Citronella: 10 drops
Sage: 5 drops
Rosemary: 5 drops
Peppermint: 5 drops
Clove: 5 drops
Lavender: 5 drops

mix oils and store in a light-proff bottle.  dilute in a carrier oil or in distilled water before applying to skin.  alternatively, diffuse in a diffuser or use in candles to repel bugs.

Gardening With My Children

With two young children (and hopefully more someday!), it's been fun to find ways to incorporate them into my current gardening style.  As much as I desire a tidy, charming cottage garden packed full of perennials, or an acre or 2 of land in the country full of edibles, I'm learning to make do with what I have.  I really appreciate what my husband and I are able to provide for our boys, in terms of an outdoor environment where they can grow and explore.  Today, I want to share a few ways I incorporate my children into my gardening.

• Before we had children, we knew a fence would be essential.  It has been one of the best additions to our home.  I can't express enough the ease I feel knowing they are safely contained within the fence.

• I've resisted the urge to rip out all the grass and make every open space a planter bed.  Although we don't do any upkeep on our grass (aside from mowing) and it's horribly unattractive, it's great to have room for my boys to run, play tag, chase butterflies, and play baseball.

• I've also resisted the urge to plant every available planter bed with perennials or vegetables.  I leave a designated planter bed that is used exclusively for digging, making mud pies and getting dirty.

• I make a special effort to grow foods they love to eat.  Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower are their favorites.  I find immense joy watching them dig up a fresh carrot to snack on during the day.

• I include them (only if they are interested) in the planting of seeds and harvesting of crops.  They love watching their seeds grow, and it offers such valuable learning opportunities.

• After giving a safety lesson on firm footing, they have freedom to climb as high as they are comfortable in our big trees.

• Aesthetically, I cringe at the sight of plastic toys.  We stick to outdoor toys made of metal and wood.

• They know which plants and trees are expensive, fragile and ones they should be careful around.  They usually respect this and leave them alone.

• They're allowed to pick any flowers that are in bloom.  They know to leave the stems long enough so they can be displayed in a vase.

• My boys LOVE picking flowers for me to wear in my hair.  Even if it's a weed, I try to always let them see me wearing what they have picked for me.  I want them to know I appreciate the little things they do for me.

• Fire is of course fascinating to them.  We have fires often and are sure to talk about fire safety.

• They love practicing their hammering skills with blocks, hammers and nails.  I can't tell you how many hours they have spent hammering!

• Two hammocks hang from our maple tree where they can swing, relax and daydream.

And finally, we let them be busy, rambunctious boys.  When branches get broken or expensive perennials get dug up or trampled on, we try to just let it be and not make a fuss over it.

Let It Grow

We've been so busy around here, life hasn't allowed much time for working in the garden.  We've had family in town and have taken a couple out of town trips.  Over the weekend, after being away for a few days, I came to an overgrown garden that seemed like it had grown several feet while I was away!

I reflected on how easy gardening can be if I let it.  No fuss, no weeding, no digging; just letting things be.  I let the rainy days take care of the watering and the breaks of sunshine take care of the feeding.  Sometimes it's just nice to sit back and let things take care of themselves.  Of course, the grass will eventually need to be mowed and unwanted weeds taken care of.  But for now, I'm just enjoying time with family and letting my garden be.

Lavender Lemonade

Between my parent's home and mine, we have nearly 30 lavender bushes of different varieties that grow big and happy each summer.  Several of our English lavenders are in bloom right now, so my mom, my boys and I spent the weekend cutting fresh bouquets.  The lavandins are still a little ways off from blooming.  For now, we're enjoying the fresh bouquets hanging from our family room beams.

When I was in college, I worked at a cute little cafe that doubled as an antique store.  It was quaint and filled with all sorts of things that I adored.  I had my first taste of lavender lemonade there and thought it was such a refreshing treat during the hot summer days.  Since then, I make it every summer when lavender is in bloom.  Here's my very simple, very flexible recipe for a sugar-free lavender lemonade.  I hope you're enjoying these late spring/ early summer days, we sure are!

Lavender Lemonade

1 cup hot water

1 cup (about two handfuls) dried or fresh lavender buds

1 cup honey

1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

2-3 cups cold water

Start by making a simple syrup of with equal amounts of honey, dried or fresh lavender and hot water.  Let it steep for several minutes.  Add an equal amount of fresh lemon juice.  Dilute to your liking with cold water; I usually add 2-3 times the amount of cold water.  Adjust the sweetness/ tartness by adding more honey, more lavender or more lemon juice.  Enjoy!