Category: Soil

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Acid Loving Plants

TheGardenLady received this question from Tamara  –

I am looking for a list of plants that love acid soil and are edible – blueberries are one that springs to mind.  Are there others? I need a range of shrubs and smaller plants to go as a border. I’m replacing a camellia that is way too big for the space it’s in, and a couple of other plants in the same area that do well but were neglected by the people who lived here before us.

You have requested plants for your garden that needs acid loving plants. The three most popular acid loving shrubs that comes to mind are rhododendrons, azaleas and hollies. There are dwarf hybrid and species rhododendrons and azaleas and also dwarf hollies if you have a small garden. You can even plant rosa rugosa in acid soil.  A short list of some acid loving plants are kalmia-mountain  laurel, conifers, ferns, hydrangea, magnolias. Not knowing how acid your soil is, included is a list of ph tolerant trees. I do not know where you live, but most of the soil in NJ is slightly acidic and Rutgers has an excellent fact sheet about plants needing acidic soil.

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Veggie Garden Help

                                                                            

TheGardenLady received this question from Carrie.

This is the second year that I have tried to grow a veggie garden in south east Washington.  The location is the previous owners’ garden location.  I know I have plenty of water and fertilizer but my plants still insist on being small and not very impressive.  I’m running out of ideas.  How can I improve my garden?

The first thing you must do to help answer your gardening problem is to get a soil test. This will give you the most important answer to what is causing problems in your veggie garden. Every good gardener or farmer has his soil tested every few years. And even if someone had success with their garden, soil needs amendments every few years to bring it up to its optimum level.

How do you get a soil test? The easiest answer is to go to your local Master Gardener Office (some of the phone numbers can be found here or at your state agricultural extension office-call them and they will probably tell you to go to the Master Gardener Office which is really part of the state agricultural extension- and buy a soil testing kit. This kit will cost you just a few dollars- in TheGardenLady’s state the kit cost less than $15.  The people selling you the kit will tell you how to use the kit plus the instructions are in the kit for you to review when you get home and are doing the work.

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Hosta Flowers

                                                                        

TheGardenLady received this question from Anne.

My row of hostas is at the edge of a wooded area and don’t seem to have many flowers.  We live in the Midwest and I am wondering when flowering should occur and how to promote flowers.

Though Hostas like to be in shade, just like most flowering plants, with more light and even some sun, hostas will bloom more. If you know the type of hosta you have, you might check on its flowering ability. It is a possibility that your hostas don’t flower very much. There are many hostas out there yet much work is being done on hybridizing newer and better hostas. One of the improvements being worked on is better flowering.  See here.

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Rhododendron Blues

                                                                     

TheGardenLady received this question from Abe:

I have this Rhododendron in my front yard that is not blooming, and seems sick, and I don’t know why.  My neighbor says that it has a fungus on it.  Do you have any ideas about how to cure an unhealthy rhododendron? 

There are many good sites on the web that talk about typical rhododendron problems.  Here’s one good site about  rhododendron problems that might be of help.

However the best way to find out what is happening to your rhododendron is to take in a good sized sample of your rhododendron WITH the dying parts of the plant to your local Master Gardener Extension office to have your specific problem identified. The MGs will tell you if your problem is a typical problem and if it is, how to handle it. They will recommend solutions. The MGs prefer a non chemical solution. Without seeing a sample, TheGardenLady can just guess what is wrong.

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Vegetable Gardens

                                                                

TheGardenLady received this question from Bob –

Does a vegetable garden want more acidic soil or less? I was going to put lime in should I?

TheGardenLady has no idea where you live. Different areas of the country can have soil with different soil requirements.  Check out this site.

When starting a vegetable or any garden, one should first have a soil test taken of the area that you want to use. This way you are not guessing about the wants/ needs of your garden. You will know what the ph of the soil is. To test the soil, you can buy an inexpensive ph kit in your local garden center or you can go to your local Master Garden extension office and purchase a soil kit.

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Vermicomposting for everyone – even in classrooms

TheGardenLady received these questions about vermicomposting from Ashley –

I have recently started a barrel composter. It is a modified 55 gallon foodsafe drum/barrel that is working nicely. Can I add worms to this? Because it is off the ground they will not enter natually, and I have been hearing so much about the benifits of worms. I would just love to join in on all the fun. I have yet to read or hear of someone trying out this method; though I’m sure there out there…any thoughts?

Worms are a benefit to composting, so congratulations for wanting to start this excellent endeavor. Some schools are now teaching students how to do Vermicomposting. There are many excellent sites on the computer to learn Vermicomposting. Two sites for teachers that you can use to learn how to start this type of composting are here and here.

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Composting and Worms

TheGardenLady received emails from two people asking questions that are similar. I will try to answer both together as well as saying a few words separately to each.

Laura King wrote:

I wanted to know more about composting and what kinds of things I can put in it. I heard so many different things, I know what not to put in but not everything I could be adding.I also want to know if I can add my used tea bags to my rain barrel? Thanks for your help.I just found your web site, so tomorrow when the ids are gone I’ll be back.Thanks for a great site. Laura your friend in dirt.

                                                                         

Jay wrote:

Heard that putting worms in garden makes the garden grow better. true? How about in flower pots or boxes? inside?

                                                                                              

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Taking care of plants when you are away for the holidays

I was asked the following plant-related question by someone named Sarah:

I saw a suggestion to bury used tea bags in your houseplant soil to retain water in winter.  Any other hints to help keep plants moist when we’re away for the holidays?

I had never heard of burying used tea bags in your houseplant soil to retain water in the winter.  However, it makes sense. Tea leaves help to make good compost and good composted soil is water retentive.  But it would seem to me that it might look unsightly to have your tea bag string hanging out of your flower pot or it might take up precious soil space with the entire tea bag.  Don’t ever throw out your tea leaves. Always save tea leaves because they are wonderful to add to your compost pile and tea leaves will  compost nicely in your potted plants. You can add the entire bag because it is all biodegradeable.  You can pour the cold leftover tea in your potted plants rather than down the drain. (If you use sugar in your tea, I wouldn’t add it to your indoor potted plants in seasons when ants are around.)   
 

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Acidic Soil

Cindy sent me the following question about acidic soil. 

I found your site searching for “acidic soil” because I think my soil might be too acidic and wanted to know how to find out and what to do about it. In general I’m just trying to figure out how to tell whether soil is good soil or bad soil.  Are there easy tests that I can run on the soil in my backyard to know whether the soil is good or whether it needs to be supplemented in some way?

Keep on reading to see my answer.

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