Monthly Tips

August - Tip of the Month

Books

No plant profile this month - my mind just never got going on it - perhaps I can blame it on the weather? Instead, I seem to be entering fall planning mode which makes me turn to books for new ideas. I have shelf after shelf of gardening books (what a surprise!) but there are a few old standbys (and one new one) that I always turn to. To save you having to go out and buy dozens of books, here are my favorites for your consideration.

[Cover photo Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades]

Vegetables - Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades by Steve Solomon was one of the first gardening books I bought. I now have an updated version because Steve explores some of the science of vegetable growing and I figured that might have changed in the last 20 years. I have at least half a dozen vegetable books but this is the Bible for those of us living in Seattle.

Pruning - Cass Turnbull's Guide to Pruning is, in my opionion, far superior to any other pruning book I've read which is admittedly only about 3 - on the whole pruning books don't seem to fall into the "good read" category. Cass's book is the exception; it is clear, concise, useful and actually enjoyable to read. What's not to like? Furthermore, Cass started a local non-profit, Plant Amnesty to stop the "senseless torture and mutilation of trees and shrubs".

Plants - Plant This! by Ketzel Levine is a small, selective book of plants. This isn't a tome that covers every plant available. Those books are useful but sometimes I like it when someone tells me what they like and why, particularly if they live in the same part of the country and can do it in an entertaining fashion, which Ketzel Levine does. She focuses on foliage and has a handy sidebar that includes basic needs, worst enemies, best advice and a one-of-a-kind pronunciation guide (Arbutus menziesii sounds like are you tess ken kesey I).

Design - The New Low-Maintenance Garden by Valerie Easton is my current favorite gardening book. Another local author, Val Easton is a women after my own heart - she got tired of being a slave to her garden and she's written a book on the methods she's used to overcome her slavery (moving to a smaller yard was one - a way not available to all of us) while keeping the garden a place of beauty and pleasure.

That's it - 4 books - at least one of them is guaranteed to be useful to you, no matter what kind of gardening you do.

August - Tip of the Month

Don't let those weeds lie

Ah weeds, we pull and pull but always they return. You know you're supposed to get them before they get a chance to set seed so you pull them up while they're still in flower, thinking you're getting the jump on them, and toss them down on the path. You'll get them all cleaned up at the end. Then, the phone rings (the baby cries, it begins to rain) and you don't dispose of the weeds immediately. Then, the weeds have their revenge - they set seed.

Some weeds that are in flower will draw on reserves within the plant and set seed once they've been pulled from the ground. Is that unfair or what? Furthermore, if they're on damp soil and still have their roots attached some weeds will re-root.

[weeds]<

The moral? Well, that's obvious, don't let your weeds lie, but make it easy on yourself by tossing weeds onto a tarp or garbage can lid so disposal takes only seconds. Also, don't compost the weeds unless your pile is very hot, figure 120¡F minimum and know that won't get all weed seeds. Most of us should just send them out in the yard waste. Whatever you do, don't compost morning glory flowers (those evil things); morning glory seeds took 7 days at 180¡F to kill!