Jeff and I were watching our favorite gardening show “Gardening by the Yard” and we learned a few tricks from Paul James on how to get rid of ground moles.
These are harmless to humans, and would be worth a try if you don’t have a shotgun that you can shoot the little buggers with (not that we do that, of course)!
Here’s just a few:
Caster Oil Granules (or a solution of Castor oil and water)- Put these in and around the ground mole hole. They slowly dissolve and the smell scares moles (and gophers) away. If you want to show them the way out, apply the granules to the farthest point first, then when they move on, apply to the next section, and the next, until they’re in your neighbors yard (I’m sure HE has a shotgun!) Just kidding, hopefully they’ll just find another home when they get to the “door.”
Human Urine and Water – Works like the Castor oil does, but be sure to hide the shotgun if you’ve been drinking beer in order to obtain enough “poison” to cover all the mole holes.
Setting Harpoon Traps seems to work the best – you need to put them by the main tunnel for the best chance of a catch.
Nematodes or microscopic worms are bacterial sprays that eliminate the grubs, which are mole food. It may or may not work, since moles also eat earthworms, so you’ll have to test this one.
DO NOT try fumigation by attaching a hose to the exhaust of the lawn mower. This doesn’t work, and the smell might just frustrate you enough to get out the shotgun again.
OK, I’m really not sure when I decided to go for the shotgun angle, but I thought it might just add some humor into an otherwise very irritating subject.
Good Luck removing moles from YOUR yard!
Mole Control
is HERE!
Get our Free Gardening Book: “Your Guide to a Successful and Beautiful Garden” at http://www.squarefootgardeningtips.com
Share and Let Others Enjoy:
August 21st, 2007
Make a Lilac bouquet and learn how to trim your Lilac Bush.
I received another nice bouquet from Jeff last week. It’s a Lilac Bouquet! It was on the table when I came home and I had to look twice to see if he had actually bought the flowers.
This time he mixed two Red Tulips in with it,and some other greens from various trees and plants around the garden, and some white flowers (I refer to them as “snow”). We had enjoyed the Tulips in one of our Container gardening pots for some time, so this was an excellent way to get just a little more time out of it.
I always hate to pick the flowers in the garden (which is why I told him he should do it). And, guess what? I received another bouquet this week! More Lilac’s!
According to Jeff, it’s good to prune them down a little as they are growing, so new flowers can come out. Then, when they all start to die down, remove the dead flower clusters, pruning them just above a node (where the leaf joins the stem).
You should also remove older branches that might be crowding in, or crossing over others. Cut these at the base of the shrub, just above the soil (yup, all the way down to the ground!). Also purne any weak looking branches, and/or broken spindly looking ones.
This way, you’ll have a beautiful Lilac tree next year, and can enjoy that first lilac aroma of the spring.
Get our Free Gardening Book: “Your Guide to a Successful and Beautiful Garden” at http://www.squarefootgardeningtips.com
Share and Let Others Enjoy:
April 29th, 2007
I recently discovered something called the Dutch Garden. According to Wikipedia, “The Dutch garden is distinguished by its dense atmosphere and efficient use of space. On an international level, a garden with tulips is also easily labeled as a Dutch Garden.
The placement of flowers and shrubs in the Dutch garden is non-linear and informal, though still efficiently making use of space and light. Because the Netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries, gardens are generally small – and because houses are placed right next to each other, there is not very much light available. Because of these restrictions, a distinguished style of garden design emerged.”
It sounds like a Dutch Garden is not that different than Square Foot Gardening, except that in Dutch Gardening there are no little squares to put plants in. It’s all a little haphazard. However, there ARE some recommended plants for this garden, if you’re serious about putting a little Dutch Culture into your garden, here’s what to look for.
Tulips, Anemones, Calla Lily, Narcissus, Roses, Snowdrops, Crocuses.
I was surprised to see Roses on the list because my roses tend to grow tall and out of control sometimes. I guess you have to select the smaller varieties in order to maintain the small space gardening concept.
I think the largest Dutch Garden is the Keukenhof Garden in Lisse, Holland. I managed to find a very nice site that had some very colorful pictures of these gardens at: http://www.stsite.com/Keukenhof .
This is a beautiful slide presentation – I’ve never seen so many colors put together so nicely, and now I’m dying to get a hold of some of those blue flowers!
I’m not fooled though. It really doesn’t look like these gardens are planted in an informal way. They look very structured, although there are a lot of plants in one space. I guess you have to have some structure if you’re going to try to blend colors together.
These would also be perfect for container gardening!
All in all, I think it’s worth giving Dutch gardening a try. I’ll try to find some more information on them, so stay tuned.
Get our Free Gardening Book: “Your Guide to a Successful and Beautiful Garden” at http://www.squarefootgardeningtips.com
Share and Let Others Enjoy:
April 10th, 2007
Mel Bartholemew first popularized an intensive type of gardening that he called the square foot gardening. The idea was based on his theory that a wide row of traditional home gardening was not appropriate and wasted time, work, water as well as space. He thought it was possible to grow more vegetables in lesser areas by using minimum of effort. The essential square foot gardening involves dividing garden space in to beds and separating them by paths.
Sub-Dividing Beds Into Squares Of Roughly One Foot Each
The beds are sub-divided into squares that are roughly one foot each. It is common to plant one plant per square for broccoli, basil etc; Use four plants per square for lettuce; nine plants per square for spinach and sixteen plants per square for onions and carrots. To prevent the garden soil from being compacted, the beds may be weeded as well as watered from the pathways.
The benefits of square foot gardening include not having to work as much, saving on water usage, fewer weeds and keeping the garden free of herbicide and pesticides. This type of gardening is especially useful for elderly or disabled persons, but is really fun for all ages!
Square foot gardening means much less work since the soil is never compacted and will stay loose as well as loamy and so one does not need heavy tools as is the case with conventional gardening.
Because of the soil and its water holding capacity, square foot gardening does not require much watering and whatever water is placed, is very near the roots of the plant and thus there is very little wastage of water and also allows for rich soil mixture that will increase the harvest. Close planting that is a feature of square foot gardening allows vegetables to form a living mulch and also shades out a number of weed seeds, prior their being able to germinate.
Natural insect repellent methods are a easy for Square Foot Gardens. Just include companion plants- marigolds and other pest-repellant plants that allow for more efficiency in closed spaces. This way there is no need for pesticides.
Another bonus is that the different types of crops in a small space are not conducive to the spreading of plant diseases.
Check out Scenery Solutions for all your Square Foot Garden needs!
Get our Free Gardening Book: “Your Guide to a Successful and Beautiful Garden” at http://www.squarefootgardeningtips.com
Share and Let Others Enjoy:
March 26th, 2007
I love this time of year when the Tulips start to appear. Ours are starting to come out, so I think it’s time for an article on Tulip flowers!
If you are trying to grow tulips in your garden, here’s how to make them last for as long as two months!
Share and Let Others Enjoy:
Continue Reading March 2nd, 2007
Certain herbs can give you the extra kick you need to reduce stress, maintain optimal health and make your life just a little bit more exciting? Well, here’s the short of an article I found. . .
Share and Let Others Enjoy:
Continue Reading February 19th, 2007
My sister came to visit us in the end of September, and it was a bit cold outside so we decided to start a campfire.
Jeff purchased this handy metal campfire holder earler.
Most people would gather up a a bunch of paper and wood and get some matches (or go to Fatwood Firestarters - Plow & Hearth
) - but not Jeff. He just got the ole Propane Torch out and proceded to do it the FAST way! I would say “don’t try this at home, but it actually works pretty well – just be CAREFUL!
Get our Free Gardening Book: “Your Guide to a Successful and Beautiful Garden” at http://www.squarefootgardeningtips.com
Share and Let Others Enjoy:
February 10th, 2007
Yes, sage, thyme, oregano, parsley, spearmint, peppermint, and wornwood are perennial herbs and can all be winterized.
All you need to do is wait for the first frost. Then, after the frost, trim away any browned and dead stems and mulch lightly around, but not over the plants.
If you have snow, don’t worry, that’s a good thing! Snow acts as an insulator and protects plants from excessive cold, so keep the snow cover on the plant when you get it. In the spring, just remove any winter damage and carefully get rid of any debris that has blown in and become wedged in the plants.
Then just sit back and watch them grow again!
Get our Free Gardening Book: “Your Guide to a Successful and Beautiful Garden” at http://www.squarefootgardeningtips.com
Share and Let Others Enjoy:
October 26th, 2006
As summer comes to an end, it’s sad to see all of those tomatoes on the plant that aren’t ripe yet, and whenever I pick them green, they don’t seem to ripen very well in the house.
So, I went looking and found this secret to getting them to ripen. Here’s what you do:
- Pick the mature green tomatoes (those with a pinkish-yellow tinge on the blossom end) before it frosts.
- Wash the skin with a 1% bleach solution, rinse with water and dry.
- Place in a 60F to 70F room, not touching each other.
——————————
And then again, you could always make Fried Green Tomatoes. Here’s one of the easier recipes I found:
30 min 20 min prep
4 medium tomatoes
1 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons bacon drippings
salt and pepper
1. Cut the tomatoes into thick slices and sprinkle with the salt and pepper.
2. Roll the tomato slices in the corn meal until both sides are covered.
3. Heat the bacon drippings in a frying pan and add the tomatoes.
4. Fry slowly until golden brown.
This way, you can enjoy ALL of your tomatoes!
Get our Free Gardening Book: “Your Guide to a Successful and Beautiful Garden” at http://www.squarefootgardeningtips.com
Share and Let Others Enjoy:
October 1st, 2006
At our house, Jeff is the “King of Gardening,” and I seem to have been given the title of “Queen Bug Killer!”
We don’t have many bugs, but the wasps drive me crazy! They love to come over and visit as we are trying to enjoy our bar-b-q’d meals outside. They especially love seafood – it’s impossible to eat salmon outside without at least three wasps showing up for dinner.
I have those little yellow wasp catcher devices all over the place, and they seem to work, but I guess grilled salmon is much more attractive than whatever I put into the wasp catcher.
Anyway, Jeff was at the store the other day and found another device. One that we could use to instantly ZAP those wasps (and any other bug) that wanted to join us for dinner.
It’s called a BugZapper, and is not for the faint of heart. Basically, you touch the bug with this tennis racket looking thing, and the bug is instantly electrocuted (we usually do this after we get done eating). This thing uses two small AA batteries, and kills mosquitoes, flies, gnats, (wasps are a little big, but it stuns them enough so we can get rid of them).
Now for the reason I’m writing this story. Jeff gave me the bug zapper, I read the directions, and told him how to use it.
Now, what’s the first thing a man will do when given a small electrocution device that he can hold in his hands – even if his wife tells him not to touch the metal wires. . .
He touches the metal wires!
OUCH! He touched the wires – thinking that the two little batteries couldn’t have that much power. WRONG – The BugZapper gave him a pretty good ZAP, nothing that would knock a person out or anything, but more than you would think for a small device like that (it’s just a little worse than that lightening reaction game where you get zapped if you’re the last one to let go of the handle)
Curiosity got the best of Jeff, and so did the BugZapper 
I’m going to stick to using it on wasps, it’s kind of a fun “toy,” and it makes me laugh when I remember the look on Jeff’s face when he got zapped!
If you want to have some cheap fun with your bugs, go here and do a search for: Tennis Racket Bug Zapper.
Get our Free Gardening Book: “Your Guide to a Successful and Beautiful Garden” at http://www.squarefootgardeningtips.com
Share and Let Others Enjoy:
September 17th, 2006
Next Posts
Previous Posts
