Gardeners are dividing perennials to make room for next year
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9/16/11
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HOME-SELLING TIP
Beware when picking an agent When interviewing real estate agents, beware anyone who caters to your wishes too much. If most agents are suggesting sale prices around a certain range but one agent is suggesting you can get much more than that, he or she may be engaging in a questionable sales practice called "buying a listing," with the intentions of talking you into a lower price down the road. — RealEstateABC.com
DID YOU KNOW? National pending home sales in July fell 1.3 percent from June but are 14.4 percent above 2010 numbers.— Realtor.org
HOME HELP HOME SAFETY
Mold Awareness Month is here The U.S Environmental Protection Agency dedicates September as National Indoor Mold Awareness Month. Follow these tips from CertainTeed, a building products manufacturer headquartered in Pennsylvania, to ensure a healthy home. Fix leaks. Homeowners should check for leaky roofs, foundations, faucets and Keep humidity under control. The ideal humidity
for a home is between 30 and 50 percent. Keep it dry. Homeowners should clean and dry damp furnishings within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold growth.
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Dog and cat GPS Having trouble keeping track of your pet? Qualcomm, more associated with mobile phones, according to Consumer Reports, is now selling Tagg the Pet Tracker, an electronic, water-resistant collar with a GPS receiver chip, a Verizon wireless communication chip and rechargeable batteries. It costs $140.
FALL FREEBIES Gardeners are dividing perennials to make room for next year By Maureen Gilmer Scripps Howard News Service
Perennials for fall division
F
• Yarrow (Achillea) • Lily of the Nile (Agapanthus) • Astilbe (Astilbe) • Bellflower (Campanula) • Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum) • Tickseed (Coreopsis) • Prairie coneflower (Echinacea) • Cranesbill (Geranium) • Daylily (Hemerocallis) • Red hot poker (Kniphofia) • Bee balm (Monarda) • Phlox (Phlox) • Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) • Lamb's ear (Stachys)
all is the small-budget gardener's windfall season for freebies. It is time for dividing certain perennials to make them bloom better next year. It's also when herbaceous plants, such as culinary herbs, are dug out of places they've invaded. The equinox in early fall tells plants they'd better go to bed before the cold arrives. Growth slows, and that means they are much easier to transplant without shock. Spring is the season when we are intuitively driven to make gardens and plant in them. But the truth is fall can be far more productive if you need plants but have little money. Gardeners across America are cleaning up their beds and borders in the fall to make sure there is no winter haven for bugs or diseases. In the process, they'll dig and divide overgrown plants to encourage better bloom next year, which is true of phlox and daylilies. If gardeners don't divide, they may be pulling or digging the adventurous growth to keep it in bounds. This is not uncommon for mints and groundcovers like ajuga. Either way, they'll be far happier to give away this plethora of plants to an interested recipient or new gardener rather than dump them unceremoniously into the compost heap. The first step to connecting with accomplished gardeners is to announce your intentions: You're looking for rooted divisions and
overflow plants. Announce it in person at a meeting or hang a flier at your church, club, workplace or wherever else. In fact, this kind of sharing was the reason for Depression-era garden clubs in the first place to aid those in need. It's important to pick up the divisions or plantlets as soon as possible and immediately plant them in pots or in the ground. To save time, you can gang them into pots where roots are kept moist until you have time to plant. Always put them in the shade and keep cool. When you go to plant one of the divisions, wash it clean. Then carefully clip off any broken, crushed or damaged roots, stems and leaves, which can invite disease to enter the plant. Then plant them in the ground or in pots at the same level they were in at the
former location. In warmer climates, the best time to do this task is in the evening so they have all night to adjust before the heat of the day arrives. Don't be surprised if you encounter plants that look half dead before or after planting. It never ceases to amaze me how much life still exists within a battered stem or root. You can give poor doers a lift by using Superthrive, a mix of all sorts of plant hormones. It's been used by the nursery business for decades to help bruised and battered transplants adjust more quickly to less-thanideal conditions. Simply mix it with water and pour onto plants, which absorb the hormones through roots and directly into leaves. Keep the transplants shaded from direct sun if there's an unseasonable spate of hot weather. If you live in northern areas, be sure to provide protective mulches so they won't be damaged in the spring cycles of freezethaw. To be prepared for losses, plant more than you think you'll need. Not all perennials take to division or transplanting this time of year. Ornamental grasses, for example, won't abide it in fall since they flower so late in the season. Fortunately, our most outstanding border bloomers are in this category, and they can provide you with a garden full of beautiful plants gleaned from the discards of others. Maureen Gilmer is an author, horticulturist and landscape designer. Learn more at www.MoPlants.com. Contact her at [email protected] or P.O. Box 891, Morongo Valley, CA 92256.
9/16/11
9:40 AM
Page 1
Home
HOME-SELLING TIP
Beware when picking an agent When interviewing real estate agents, beware anyone who caters to your wishes too much. If most agents are suggesting sale prices around a certain range but one agent is suggesting you can get much more than that, he or she may be engaging in a questionable sales practice called "buying a listing," with the intentions of talking you into a lower price down the road. — RealEstateABC.com
DID YOU KNOW? National pending home sales in July fell 1.3 percent from June but are 14.4 percent above 2010 numbers.— Realtor.org
HOME HELP HOME SAFETY
Mold Awareness Month is here The U.S Environmental Protection Agency dedicates September as National Indoor Mold Awareness Month. Follow these tips from CertainTeed, a building products manufacturer headquartered in Pennsylvania, to ensure a healthy home. Fix leaks. Homeowners should check for leaky roofs, foundations, faucets and Keep humidity under control. The ideal humidity
for a home is between 30 and 50 percent. Keep it dry. Homeowners should clean and dry damp furnishings within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold growth.
QUALCOMM TAGG PET TRACKER
NEW PRODUCT
Dog and cat GPS Having trouble keeping track of your pet? Qualcomm, more associated with mobile phones, according to Consumer Reports, is now selling Tagg the Pet Tracker, an electronic, water-resistant collar with a GPS receiver chip, a Verizon wireless communication chip and rechargeable batteries. It costs $140.
FALL FREEBIES Gardeners are dividing perennials to make room for next year By Maureen Gilmer Scripps Howard News Service
Perennials for fall division
F
• Yarrow (Achillea) • Lily of the Nile (Agapanthus) • Astilbe (Astilbe) • Bellflower (Campanula) • Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum) • Tickseed (Coreopsis) • Prairie coneflower (Echinacea) • Cranesbill (Geranium) • Daylily (Hemerocallis) • Red hot poker (Kniphofia) • Bee balm (Monarda) • Phlox (Phlox) • Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) • Lamb's ear (Stachys)
all is the small-budget gardener's windfall season for freebies. It is time for dividing certain perennials to make them bloom better next year. It's also when herbaceous plants, such as culinary herbs, are dug out of places they've invaded. The equinox in early fall tells plants they'd better go to bed before the cold arrives. Growth slows, and that means they are much easier to transplant without shock. Spring is the season when we are intuitively driven to make gardens and plant in them. But the truth is fall can be far more productive if you need plants but have little money. Gardeners across America are cleaning up their beds and borders in the fall to make sure there is no winter haven for bugs or diseases. In the process, they'll dig and divide overgrown plants to encourage better bloom next year, which is true of phlox and daylilies. If gardeners don't divide, they may be pulling or digging the adventurous growth to keep it in bounds. This is not uncommon for mints and groundcovers like ajuga. Either way, they'll be far happier to give away this plethora of plants to an interested recipient or new gardener rather than dump them unceremoniously into the compost heap. The first step to connecting with accomplished gardeners is to announce your intentions: You're looking for rooted divisions and
overflow plants. Announce it in person at a meeting or hang a flier at your church, club, workplace or wherever else. In fact, this kind of sharing was the reason for Depression-era garden clubs in the first place to aid those in need. It's important to pick up the divisions or plantlets as soon as possible and immediately plant them in pots or in the ground. To save time, you can gang them into pots where roots are kept moist until you have time to plant. Always put them in the shade and keep cool. When you go to plant one of the divisions, wash it clean. Then carefully clip off any broken, crushed or damaged roots, stems and leaves, which can invite disease to enter the plant. Then plant them in the ground or in pots at the same level they were in at the
former location. In warmer climates, the best time to do this task is in the evening so they have all night to adjust before the heat of the day arrives. Don't be surprised if you encounter plants that look half dead before or after planting. It never ceases to amaze me how much life still exists within a battered stem or root. You can give poor doers a lift by using Superthrive, a mix of all sorts of plant hormones. It's been used by the nursery business for decades to help bruised and battered transplants adjust more quickly to less-thanideal conditions. Simply mix it with water and pour onto plants, which absorb the hormones through roots and directly into leaves. Keep the transplants shaded from direct sun if there's an unseasonable spate of hot weather. If you live in northern areas, be sure to provide protective mulches so they won't be damaged in the spring cycles of freezethaw. To be prepared for losses, plant more than you think you'll need. Not all perennials take to division or transplanting this time of year. Ornamental grasses, for example, won't abide it in fall since they flower so late in the season. Fortunately, our most outstanding border bloomers are in this category, and they can provide you with a garden full of beautiful plants gleaned from the discards of others. Maureen Gilmer is an author, horticulturist and landscape designer. Learn more at www.MoPlants.com. Contact her at [email protected] or P.O. Box 891, Morongo Valley, CA 92256.
