Garden Detective: Tasks for July

June 29, 2009

Flowering summer perennials finally hit their prime early this month, competing with fireworks for the coveted spot at center stage. And vegetables, which only recently morphed from seed to plant, begin their journey from plant to plate. Enjoy the harvest, and blast your garden off to a great July with these chores. Just be sure to wear sunblock and keep hydrated.

Recent columns

• Garden Detective: Tasks for July

  June 29, 2009

  Flowering summer perennials finally hit their prime early this month, competing with fireworks for the coveted spot at center stage. And vegetables, which only recently morphed from seed to plant, begin their journey from plant to plate. Enjoy the harvest, and blast your garden off to a great July with these chores. Just be sure to wear sunblock and keep hydrated.

• Garden companions, plants that are best separated

  June 19, 2009

  In the garden, companions don't merely share a bed, they share a mutually beneficial, symbiotic relationship that mere humans can only hope to attain.

• Companion planting principles

  June 19, 2009

  In the garden, companions don't merely share a bed, they share a mutually beneficial, symbiotic relationship that mere humans can only hope to attain. Sure, some companions look dapper together, but that's just coincidence. Their raison d'être is to serve and protect. They're allies that, when planted together, support each other's successes, promoting health and vigor while chasing away intruders with ill intent. And they do so without much fanfare, quietly changing soil chemistry, poisoning nearby enemies, waging warfare on insects and even making the ultimate sacrifice when they lure enemies away from their neighbors and unto themselves for the greater good.

• All about roses, and new roses for 2009

  June 5, 2009

  June is National Rose Month, so how could I let prime bloom time go by without a mention of the so-called Queen of Flowers? I could start by waxing poetic, quoting Shakespeare or someone else who has written romantic prose about the fragrant blossoms, but that's not really my style. I'd rather provide you with plant suggestions, tips, and some fun, entertaining trivia.

• June offers gardeners bounty of delights

  May 29, 2009

  June has always been my favorite month. Maybe because, as a child, it marked the beginning of summer vacation. Maybe because it holds my birthday, my husband's birthday, my oldest daughter's birthday and my wedding anniversary. Or maybe - and most likely - because it's the month when peonies and roses bloom, and the summer perennials take their rightful places in beds that were until very recently barren. And, as if that weren't enough, it's also National Iced Tea Month, National Dairy Month, Great Outdoors Month and Turkey Lovers Month - so there's no excuse not to celebrate!

• Add bushy Montauk daisies for beauty, butterflies

  May 22, 2009

  I am making a bed with orange daylily and salvia already planted. I want a white daisy on both ends, 2 feet by 2 feet with a bushy kind of look. What should I go with? -- John Donohue, Sound Beach

• Garden Detective: Deer-resistant plants

  May 15, 2009

  Imagine you're a deer. You're prancing along, and you get thirsty. You spot a little brook. You put your little deer lips down to the cool, clear water and BAM! - out of the corner of your eye, you spy a veritable all-you-can-eat buffet in someone's garden. It's as if you've died and gone to heaven (to paraphrase Mona Lisa Vito from "My Cousin Vinnie," with apologies to Marisa Tomei).

• Deer-resistant plants

  May 14, 2009

  Imagine you're a deer. You're prancing along, and you get thirsty. You spot a little brook. You put your little deer lips down to the cool, clear water and BAM! - out of the corner of your eye, you spy a veritable all-you-can-eat buffet in someone's garden. It's as if you've died and gone to heaven (to paraphrase Mona Lisa Vito from "My Cousin Vinnie," with apologies to Marisa Tomei.)

• Readers' odes to favorite garden tools

  May 8, 2009

  Last month I challenged readers to write an ode to their favorite garden tool, and they did not disappoint. I had lots of fun reading all your entries, but it was Kathy Levine, right, from Long Beach whose prose I found the most entertaining. She gets a CobraHead garden cultivator. Everyone else gets a Garden Detective high-five. Nice work!

• Eat -- and grow -- your own vegetables

  May 1, 2009

  Anyone who knows history will tell you that V stands for Victory, but I propose a revision: Beginning with the 2009 growing season, let V stand for vegetables.

• My dog days came early this year

  April 5, 2009

  Our beloved mixed-breed boxer, Shelby, died in September after a surprise, completely unexpected diagnosis in June of lymphoma. It was awful. I still can't think about her without choking up. She was only 7, and truly the best dog in the world.

• Pruning Montauk daisies,planting tomatoes for sauce, and fertilizing housplants

  April 5, 2009

  Should Montauk daisies be cut down the same as perennials at the end of the fall season? My plants are brown and dry, and I'm inclined to cut them down, but I see some green buds on some of the stems. It seems some pruning of the dead parts is necessary to make room for new growth, but I'm not sure what to do. They bloomed beautifully last year, and I don't want to ruin them. Your advice will be greatly appreciated. -- Libby Vittorio

• The kindest cuts: pruning dormant shrubs

  March 15, 2009

  Late winter is the perfect time for pruning most woody plants. They're still dormant, you can better see what you're doing because your view isn't obstructed by leaves, and it's when plants heal fastest. If you're unable to prune before April 15, wait until July, which is the next-best time to prune.

• How to start seeds indoors

  March 8, 2009

  If you haven't saved cell packs from last year's plants, you can purchase inexpensive ones from your local nursery. (If reusing last year's packs, disinfect them for 10 minutes in a 90/10 water/bleach solution.) Or you can start seeds in clean yogurt containers, egg cartons or even eggshells (rinse shell half and carefully poke a tiny hole in the bottom with a pin).

• Salvaging forgotten tulip bulbs

  February 15, 2009

  I purchased tulip bulbs and forgot to plant them. What can I do so I don't lose them? -- Carmen Ann Saxida, Valley Stream

• Advice on helping spider plants with problems

  January 18, 2009

  I have 2 spider plants, which get brown, ugly tips on long leaves. I once read that using distilled water would help, but it hasn't. What causes this? I don't overwater. One is in an east-facing window, the other faces north. They get lots of bright, indirect light. -- Joe Daly, Westbury

• How to identify and eliminate squash vine borers

  November 4, 2008

  Q I have tried to grow zucchini for the past four years. I get flowers and the plant dies. Why? -- Edward Maccone, North Bellmore

• Jessica Damiano: Harvesting common crops in autumn

  October 10, 2008

  It's beginning to feel a lot like autumn, and frost might be threatening your fruits and vegetables. When to harvest and how to store? I generally let my feet guide me: When I find I'm sleeping with my socks on, I know it's time to bring in the last of the tomatoes and cut down the basil. Some crops will ripen after picking, but others won't. Here's a guide to harvesting and handling some common crops:

• Hydrangeas for dry arrangements

  August 21, 2008

  What's the best way to dry hydrangea? I have really nice pink ones in the garden and would like to save them for the winter. -- Antonia Ackerman, East Setauket

• Caring for Gerbera daisies

  July 17, 2008

  I have a lot of Gerbera daisies that came back from last year. This spring, I took everything out of my flower garden. The daisies had come back thick and full, but when I replanted them, some of them broke into smaller bundles. They had plenty of roots, so I placed them around my garden. I also bought five new ones. They were all doing fine until three days after planting. They all began drooping, and the leaves are now turning brown. Some of the plants had big pretty blooms, but when this started, the blooms just fell over. I've been babying them like crazy. I'm just hoping they don't die. I read that they like a slow-release fertilizer, so I bought some Osmacoat and added that. I've been watering regularly. Any ideas? -- Stacey Walsh

• Undemanding houseplants

  January 31, 2008

  If you love indoor plants but can't seem to find the time to care for them, you're not alone. And the tropical-plant nurseries that breed houseplants know it. "There aren't many stay-at-home moms who have time to dust off their plants anymore," said Lori Vanderlaske, tropical-plant buyer for Hicks Nurseries in Old Westbury. "People are busy, and I've been noticing a lot of easy maintenance, lowlight, sturdy plants coming on the scene."

• Blooming problem for hydrangeas

  November 16, 2006

  I did not get flowers on my hydrangea bushes this year. Why?

• When arborvitae look shabby

  June 22, 2006

  I have 20-foot arborvitae that I need to trim. When is the best time to trim them? Also, I have many decorative trees and shrubs that need the same attention.