Tag: gardening

Giant Pumpkin Grown Using Compost Tea!

Truthfully, I don't know that compost tea is this man's secret, but I do know that using compost tea in your garden produces excellent results.

Here are the top 4 reasons to use compost tea:

1. Increase in plant growth

Using compost tea helps your trees and plants grow bigger. You will get greener leaves, bigger and brighter blooms, and bigger and more vegetables with compost tea.

2. Provide helpful organisms

Compost tea has live microbes which improve the soil and the immune system of plants. This gives you healthier, more stress0tolerant plants.

3. Help suppress diseases

When you use compost tea, you create a healthy balance between soil and plant, which means your plants can ward off pests, diseases, and fungus. Kind of what green tea does for humans!

4. Replace toxic chemicals

If you have toxins in your garden, compost tea will help remove them from the soil. It replaces chemical-based fertilizers, pesticides, and fungicides. And it's a heck of a lot cheaper, so you save money, too.

To find out how to brew your own compost tea, please read Easy to Make Compost Tea.

I don't know about your garden, but mine is rather drab in the winter. I have gotten smarter about planting evergreen perennials, so I do have some green leaves out there right now, but what I really want is COLOR.

I found it. Walking around in the Magnolia section of Seattle the other day, I saw some brilliant purple berries that just POPPED in the otherwise drab landscape. According to our trusted Google, these belong to the Beautyberry family.

Here are three choices:

1. Bodinier's Beautyberry (Callicarpa bodinieri) is native to China and thrives in colder weather. This is most likely the variety I saw in Seattle, and it is beautiful. For more info, click here.

2. American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) - native to the southern U.S., the berries are edible but astringent. They do make lovely jellies, though. I think our weather in the Seattle area is a bit too cold for this variety. For more info on this shrub, click here.

3. Japanese Beautyberry (Callicarpa japonica) is native to Japan and grows 4' - 8'. You can see these at Bellevue Botanical Garden, or here.

Planting season is right around the corner, so plan now to bring color to your garden next winter. As for me, I'm going to pick up several Bodinier's Beautyberry plants and put them right outside the window where I can enjoy them next year.

Have you heard about compost tea? If you're a gardener, you have. It's better than compost, say the experts, bringing needed nutrition to your trees and plants AND discourages diseases.

This is all good, but if you research recipes for compost tea, they seem a bit complicated, requiring an aquarium filter and tubing . . . too much for me. But I've found a truly easy compost tea recipe that requires NO special equipment.

Easy-To-Make Compost Tea

Supplies:

• two buckets
• compost (enough to fill the bucket 1/3 full)
• water, unchlorinated
• cheesecloth, burlap, or an old shirt
• Optional: molasses, fish emulsion, powdered seaweed

Instructions:

1. Fill a bucket 1/3 full of quality compost.

2. Add water to the top of the bucket. Use unchlorinated water or well water. (To get the chlorine out of water, let it sit for 24 hours or put in a couple of tablets found with aquarium supplies.)

3. Let the mixture steep for 3-4 days. Stir it periodically to let in the oxygen.

4. Strain the mixture through cheesecloth or other porous fabric (such as burlap, an old shirt, etc.) into the second bucket. Put the leftover solids into your garden or compost bin.

5. Dilute the remaining liquid with water so it looks like weak tea. Use a 10.1 ratio.

6. Use the tea immediately in your garden. You can apply it to the soil around trees and plants, and/or spray it onto the leaves.--in this case, add 1/8 tsp. vegetable oil or mild dish-washing liquid so it sticks to the leaves. You can add ingredients, such as molasses or fish emulsion, to create an even better tea.

That truly is simple! For more tips, see Home Composting Made Easy!, which is where I found this fabulous information.

Your trees and plants will thank you.

For a free quote on quality, professional tree work by ISA Certified Arborists, call Martin today at (206)714-9835 or fill out our on-line website inquiry form.

When we see the front yards, we always notice the trees. Sometimes the trees are just right--they are shaped nicely, they're healthy, and they're the right size for the house and yard. In this case, the tree is an asset.

Sometimes, though, the trees really detract from the house, really bringing down the curb appeal. Trees that are unhealthy, or badly pruned, or too big or too small, or just plain ugly are not an asset to a home. They are an eyesore.

I offer you my first photos of Seattle area houses. Are the trees an asset? Or are they an eyesore?

The following photos were taken in the same Mukilteo cul-de-sac.

House #1

Beautifully landscaped yard with a lovely variety of trees and bushes . . . except for . . .

this cherry tree by the front door. What an unattractive pruning job!

House #2

This house is quite beautiful and large. But what is the centerpiece of the yard?

What is that? An umbrella tree? I don't know, but it's far too small for the house. Plus it in unnatural, misshapen, and unhealthy. Time to remove this sad little tree and re-plant.

House #3

What do you think of these three trees? Asset? or Eyesore?

You want your trees--and all of your garden--to look their best, don't you? All plants could use a good mulching, and here's why:

1. Mulch reduces water evaporation

Our water bills are high enough without letting water go to waste in the garden. A good layer of mulch around your trees and plantings will help keep the moisture where you want it--in the soil. Without mulch, much of the water evaporates into the air. You will especially appreciate this water retention during those hot summer days.

2. Mulch reduces weeds

This is my personal favorite reason to mulch because I HATE weeding. Who wants to spend time pulling out those pesky intruders, knowing full well they will just reappear in a few weeks? Not me! Mulch helps keep those weeds away. Even better than mulch by itself, try this trick to defeat weeds: lay down at least five layers of newspapers, then cover with 3 - 5 inches of mulch. Trust me. Those weeds will never again rear their ugly heads.

3. Mulch moderates the soil temperature

With mulch, the soil stays cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. This will help keep your water bill down in the summer, and it will help keep your plants' roots alive in the winter.

Other benefits: mulch reduces soil erosion, helps trees develop a more extensive root system, helps potect trees from lawn mower damage, and add organic matter to the soil as it decomposes.

What is the best mulch? Organic! This includes wood chips, bark, pine needles, or other plant waste materials.

How much mulch should you use? Two to four inches is best. As it decomposes, more should be added. Be sure to keep the mulch a couple of inches away from the trunk of your trees. If it touches, it could cause rot.

If you have any questions or comments, please write!

This is a newly planted garden area before and after adding mulch. These rhodies and azaleas are going to love this organic material.

Our dog, Rex, loves the mulch, too. Lots of new smells!