Home and Garden Roundup for Week of 5/12/2008 - Garden Plants and Gardening Forum

lspichkin · 05-13-2008, 10:24 AM

A weekly roundup of the top stories from the Home & Garden sections of leading newspapers around the country.

The Los Angeles Times Home and Garden Section has had enough of shed slobs.

Quote:

"Once the shed got so full that I had to stop hoarding, I did what many gardeners do. I ignored it. Tools lived within an arm's reach of the door, so I didn't even have to enter the structure but could stand at the door and feel around for the shovel, rake or pick. The wheelbarrow found a new home around the side of the house. Hand tools moved into the house, where they got cleaned and greased more often.

Ivy enveloped the eastern side of the building, bougainvillea the west."

William P. Wright

The Miami Herald Gardening Section explains how to properly mulch around your trees.

Quote:

One of the functions of organic mulch is to hold moisture. This is very beneficial for plant roots but it promotes various trunk rots and disease if allowed to pile up around tree trunks.

A.HUNSBERGER/UF/IFAS

The Seattle Post Intelligencer NW Gardens encourages readers to get to know their gardening zone, and not just the USDA hardiness one...

Quote:

As helpful as it is -- especially in cold-weather climates -- the USDA hardiness zone system, based on the lowest average temperatures in a region, is not the whole story.

Two other zone systems can help us understand how our gardens grow, and how to choose the best plants:

The American Horticultural Society (AHS) Heat-Zone Map -- It has 12 regions, assigned according to how many days a year the temperature is above 86 degrees.
The Sunset Garden Climate Zones -- This system that takes into account the length of a region's growing season, rainfall amount and pattern, humidity and temperature highs and lows.

The Dallas Morning News Home/Gardening section says that there is an, "Heirloom rose garden sprouting on historic Collin farm."

Quote:

"Although many heirloom roses have returned to the nursery trade, few gardeners know they are organized into 13 types, with varying growing habits. That's one reason a group of North Texas rose enthusiasts and Stephen Scanniello, president of the Heritage Rose Foundation, hatched a plan to create a vast study garden planted with Chinas, teas, hybrid musks, noisettes and ramblers. Plant them and let them grow to their full potential. The study garden would be a resource not only for old-rose specialists but also for gardeners who want to choose the right rose for the right place."

NATALIE CAUDILL/DMN

The New York Times Home & Garden section looks at why we garden... despite the anxiety and the backaches.

Quote:

For gardeners, spring is a race against time. Those who beat the relentless deadlines stand a chance of having a great garden. Those who don’t have a long wait until next year (unless they succumb to the CliffsNotes approach to gardening and order from a nursery, but what fun is that?). Years ago when my father was visiting for a weekend in May, he watched in bewilderment as I rushed in and out of the garden until dark. This was how I relaxed after working all week, barely stopping for meals? In spring, yes indeed, especially for seasonal gardeners.

Matt Collins

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