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How to Create and Maintain a Home Garden

Mon, 17 May 2021 16:20:41 +0000

The following is an article reproduced from the Redfin Blog.

May 5, 2021 by Mike Cahill

Whether you're growing flowers, fruits or vegetables, creating your own home garden can be one of the most rewarding projects to take on as a homeowner. However, if you're new to gardening it can be a little difficult to know where to start. But with some help it doesn't have to be all that complicated! That's why we reached out to the gardening experts from Toronto to Miami to provide you with a few creative tips and tricks for getting your home garden started.

Choose your seeds wisely

Growing a cut flower garden is easy if you know what to look for when selecting flower seeds! To ensure you have a bouquet every week, choose flowers with different blooming times by comparing the optimal planting date and days to maturity between each type. Make sure to choose flowers with complementary colors, varying bloom sizes, and different textures for beautiful and cohesive arrangements. Choose a few types you are familiar with growing to make the learning curve gentler, but make sure to try a few new seeds each year, you may just find a new favorite to grace your garden and home. – Halden Garden

At Gardens for Health International, we focus on creating resilient food systems with accessible local resources. We teach Rwandan families tips to make nutritious gardening easy and fun: avoid buying ready-to-go plants, and instead source seeds from farmers' markets or community gardeners, so that they have a better chance of thriving in your home's soil. If you don't have garden space, you can use fabric bags with lightweight soil mixes, and if you're squeezed for time, grow low-maintenance veg like lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, herbs, kale, and eggplant. – Gardens for Health International

Take advantage of live plant plugs

The easiest way to establish a native prairie around your home is to plant live plant plugs. They are small and easy to plant. By the end of the season, you will have full-grown plants and may even bloom the first year if planted in the spring. – Native Wildflowers & Seeds from Ion Exchange

Be aware of your yard's microclimates

It is important to first be aware of your yard's microclimates. Make note of where gets the most/least amount of sun and for how many hours of the day. This will give you guidance in deciding what to harvest and/or grow. Whatever your plant preferences are, we strongly encourage including natives to your mix. Pollinators will thank you. Oh, and get a dog to ward off squirrels. – Public Land Store

Go vertical

I think the best way to create a beautiful backyard plant nursery is to keep vertical space in mind while planning a flower bed. Choosing plants and foliage in varying heights will create an eye-catching, layered space that draws the eye upwards. Trailing plants and tall grasses are my go-to for achieving this look. – Hosta La Vista

Plan it out

You really can “Confidently Grow Your Own Food!” even if you have a tiny yard and no time. It just takes a little planning, a small raised bed, a few seeds, and a good, nutritious growing medium (soil). In a 4'x4' raised bed just 6” deep, you can grow a whopping 16 different veggies, herbs and flowers with minimal care. With a little more planning, you can use each square foot 2-3 times per growing season. With the All-New Square Foot GardeningTM method, there is no digging, no rototilling, (virtually) no weeding . . . no kidding! – Square Foot Gardening 4 U

Starting your own garden is a fun and rewarding way to fill your time, and you really don't need acres of land to have a successful and delicious harvest. Step 1, figure out what to plant and how much space you'll need to create your dream garden. Some experts say to space plants 12 inches apart but we recommend 18 inches, the bushier your vegetable plant grows, the higher yield you'll receive! From germination rates to the hardening-off process, you will have loss, so it's good to over-prepare and plant extras! – Pepper Joe

Grow natives

Grow Natives! Nothing grows better in your own yard than native plants. Choosing the right one is key. Know if you need shade or sun requirements. Taking a little extra time to research your plants needs, will make your backyard nursery the most spectacular one in town. – Native Wildflowers Nursery

Get creative

Save the cardboard paper towel and toilet paper rolls. Line a plastic tray with them, open the side facing up and fill them with dirt. You can start seeds in each roll. They're easy to transport and if they're the uncovered cardboard (plain brown), they're biodegradable. – Mountain Mama Adventures

Understand how to properly water

Watering plants can be tricky. When germinating seeds, keep the soil moist but not so wet water drips from the pot when you lift it up. Once your plants have germinated, always allow the surface of the soil to dry out to about 1/2 an inch down (or to your first knuckle) between waterings. This will help to prevent rotting off along with other pests and disease. Remember, overwatering can be just as harmful as underwatering. – Zone 3 Vegetable Gardening

Keep it chemical-free!

Try going chemical-free! Gardening chemicals like insecticides and herbicides can harm your soil health, as well as the health of pollinators that support your garden. Use practices like hand-weeding, mulching, composting food scraps to enhance your soil, and much more. Protect the health of your family, your water, and your community by growing an organic garden! – Rodale Institute

Visit the Redfin Blog for More Homeowner Tips and Insight

Does Iowa need a state butterfly?

Wed, 04 Feb 2015 19:00:00 +0000

Article from Des Moines Register...

Does Iowa need a state butterfly, and should it be the regal fritillary?

That's a policy question fluttering in the 2015 Iowa Legislature. Resolutions have been introduced in the House and Senate to declare the rich reddish-orange and black insect as the official butterfly of the state of Iowa.

Iowa is one of only four states without a state butterfly or a state insect. Supporters of the regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia) say it's one of North America's most striking butterflies, with a wingspan that can exceed 4 inches. It's found statewide, which means many Iowans can see it flying in summer and early fall in native prairie habitats.

Illinois Tollways To Become Butterfly Sanctuaries

Tue, 03 Feb 2015 19:00:00 +0000

As reported in Chicagoist.com....

Drives on the Illinois Tollway's roads will become excursions in nature in the near future after the Tollway Authority board agreed to work the Natural Resources Defense Council to create a monarch butterfly restoration program along the Tollway network.

The monarch butterfly (pictured) is Illinois' state insect but the species is in trouble; since the mid-1990s scientists have noted significant population declines in monarch butterflies in their winter habitat of Mexico.

Industrial agriculture is seen as one cause for the drop in butterfly numbers—pesticides on genetically modified crops have killed off milkweed plants monarch rely on for survival. The agreement between the Tollway Authority and NRDC involves planting milkweed along the Tollway's 286 miles of roadways. NRDC attorney Rebecca Riley said "finding places to replant the monarch’s essential food source is key to keeping them around” and planting milkweed along Interstate 90, Interstate 88 and I-294 is a good faith effort by the Tollway Authority.

August 1st Flower of the Week

Sat, 03 Aug 2013 08:44:03 +0000

BUY NOW - HELIOPSIS HELIANTHOIDES | Ox eye Sunflower

Great Perennial Wildflower addition to any home garden or prairie field.

Found throughout the Tallgrass Prairie region and in other open prairie areas, especially on dry soils.
Also does quite well in disturbed areas and dry woods. Blooms from June to October.
Can grow to 5 feet tall with stem branched toward the top of the plant.
Arrowhead-shaped leaves are opposite on the stem and can be 6 inches long.
Stem may be topped by a single light yellow flower or branched into a head of many flowers.
No medicinal or food uses reported but it has been used widely as an ornamental in gardens.

Sun Exposure	Prairie, Savanna
Soil Moisture	Wet Mesic, Mesic, Dry Mesic
Bloom Time	Summer, Fall August, September, October
Bloom Color	Yellow
Max Height	5 feet
Wetland Code	UPL
Germ Code	C(30)

Edible Uses: Unknown
Medicinal Uses: Unknown
Herbal Uses: Unknow

'Prairie therapy' soothes psychiatrist, autistic son

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 09:00:20 +0000

'Prairie therapy' soothes psychiatrist, autistic son

Submitted by SHNS on Wed, 10/31/2012 - 11:25

'Prairie therapy' soothes psychiatrist, autistic son
Graphic/Photo Slug:SH12J275PRAIRIETHERAPY, SH12J276PRAIRIETHERAPY
KIM PALMER
Minneapolis Star Tribune
10-31-12

When psychiatrist Elizabeth Reeve needs to unwind and recharge her mental batteries, she heads to the prairie.

Not the wild prairie, but the one she and her husband have painstakingly restored at their weekend home in southeastern Minnesota.

"It's therapeutic -- an opportunity to get outside and think in a different way," she said.

She loves walking its five gently rolling acres and seeing what's blooming and growing.

The prairie helps Reeve maintain the balance she needs to juggle a very full life. In addition to her practice, which focuses on autism and other developmental disabilities, she recently was named Minnesota's Psychiatrist of the Year by her peers and published a book, a survival guide for kids with autism spectrum disorders and their parents.

It's a subject Reeve knows not just clinically but personally, from raising an autistic son herself. Born during her residency, he's now 24 and lives at home.

"Having a disabled adult child changes your perspective -- it changes the whole plan," Reeve said.

In a way, that changed plan helped lead Reeve's family to the prairie. "We were looking for land to build on when we retired," she said. "My son doesn't drive. He has to live in an urban environment because he takes the bus. The long-term plan is he'll have the house (in Minneapolis) and we'll retire down here."

Reeve and her husband, Mark Conway, alpine-ski-racing coach for the Minneapolis school district, were driving in the rural area when they saw a "for sale" sign. They liked the 1995-built house with its post-and-beam construction, and the 20 wooded acres surrounding it. The previous owner, who built the house, had already started a prairie restoration on what used to be a cornfield.

Reeve, an avid gardener, and Conway decided to buy the land and continue the restoration. Their work includes "burns," torching the landscape to eliminate non-native plants. "The natives have deep roots; they'll come back, but the noxious weeds are superficial," Reeve said.

"You need a crew, so it doesn't get out of control," Reeve said. "The first year I was absolutely terrified. Afterwards it looked like a lava field."

It was hard to imagine that the scorched earth would ever support life again. But before long, native plants began to reappear, denser and more vigorous than ever.

Last year, the couple did a second burn and Reeve took part, donning a firefighter's suit, laying a "water line" around the perimeter, then using a flamethrower to ignite the landscape.

The two prairie burns have transformed their landscape dramatically, Reeve said. They now have 50 to 60 native species, including wildflowers, native grasses and medicinal plants.

"We've worked really hard to expand the diversity," Reeve said.

She also harvests seeds, drying them and scattering them to produce more native prairie plants.

Reeve is fascinated by the variety of native species now thriving on their land. She points out a compass plant, so-named because it orients its leaves to point north-south, and a purple hyssop. "If you smell the leaves, they smell like licorice," she said. When she finds a new one, she marks it with a little flag. "So in theory, I can find them again," she said.

When Reeve isn't tending the prairie, she's tending their large garden.

"We don't buy any vegetables," she said. "There's nothing better than out-of-the-garden fried red potatoes for breakfast."

Does she ever, like, relax on weekends?

"This is relaxing," she said with a smile.

Being outdoors in the natural world restores balance and well-being for their whole family, she said. Her adult son loves splitting wood. Her younger son, Luke, likes playing "Star Wars" on the prairie and helping reseed the native plants, sometimes both at the same time.

Kids, and in particular, kids with ADHD, benefit from being outside, doing physical things, Reeve said, rather than being inside playing with electronic devices all day. "Research shows that lack of (outdoor activity) decreases people's creativity," she said. "It's not rocket science. People who get out and take a walk feel better than people sitting inside all day."

Spending time in her prairie helped her write her book, she said, and she hopes to write a second. "I want to do a book for high-school students and young adults with autism -- helping them live with it," she said.

Even the drive back to workday reality, on rural roads vs. a crowded rush-hour freeway, is a relaxing transition, she said. "I'm absolutely fresher Monday after being here. It starts the whole week off completely differently."

(Contact Kim Palmer at kim.palmer@startribune.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.shns.com.)

Helenium autumnale is chosen as Calgary Horticultural Society's 2012 Perennial Plant of the Year

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 11:59:17 +0000

Calgary Horticultural Society celebrates Helen’s flower as their 2012 Perennial Plant of the Year

Helenium for Calgary Horticultural Society's Plant Profile.

Photograph by: Courtesy, Calgary Horticultural Society , Handout

Controlled Burn at Ion Exchange fields

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 09:17:42 +0000

Earthyman films controlled burn at Ion Exchange, Inc. in Northeast Iowa.
Fires can be devastating, but can also be a very useful tool in maintaining native prairies and warm season grasses.

Irrigation at Ion Exchange

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 09:15:10 +0000

Earthyman checks out irrigation experiment at Ion Exchange, Inc, native seed and plant nursery in NE Iowa.

Young perennial plants only need to be watered for a couple of days until their roots set hold - then nature takes over.

Monsanto's Report Card -- F

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 09:01:48 +0000

Check out Monsanto's Report Card.

Monsanto Fails at Improving

Video Testimonial

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:49:56 +0000

Video Testimonial regarding quality live Plant plugs grown at
Ion Exchange, Inc.

Order online, phone or fax your order!