home and garden

Tips from the Yard: Holidays, Pets, and Toxic Plants

As the holidays approach let’s review pet safety with plants in this Tip from the Yard.  Plants you have in your home may be safe for your pets or they may not be.  If the pet is accustomed to them toxicity this may not be an issue but new holiday plants could be different story.  Let’s check out some known toxic holiday plants and review a few of the more common year-round house plants.

Christmas Plants:

Holly:  leaves and berries are toxic to cats and dogs.  Common symptoms are blood in the mouth, excessive drooling, and digestive issues.

Christmas Cactus: are not toxic but can cause diarrhea in cats and dogs.

Poinsettias: this is the big misconception, or not.  Some articles say it is mildly toxic some articles say it is not. The confusion is based on the plants family and known issues with other plants in the family.  It would be safe to assume the sticky sap can cause diarrhea and vomiting cats and dogs. Check with your veterinarian to confirm. Continue reading Tips from the Yard: Holidays, Pets, and Toxic Plants →

Tips from the Yard: Discouraging Unwanted Wildlife

Often times we like to encourage birds to our yards.  In this Tip from the Yard, let’s look at wildlife we would like to not have in our yards.  How are the deer, rabbits, and groundhogs discouraged from visiting our yards?

Let’s agree that the above 4-legged creatures will never be gone completely from suburban yards.  These animals have the ability to adapt to the environment and proliferate in our cities.  Location is always an issue.  Homes located in woodland areas, near parks, forest preserves, lakes, ponds and utility right of ways will have a larger animal population.  Older neighborhoods with established vegetation may have established populations of wildlife.  New developments may not have the old growth vegetation but they may have displaced animals looking for a home.  Don’t give up, let’s look at three techniques to reduce the desirability of our yards. Continue reading Tips from the Yard: Discouraging Unwanted Wildlife →

Tips from the Yard: Discussing Fall Tasks, Part 2

The seasons are changing; the summer vegetable garden has come to an end.  This Tip from the Yard will cover the items needed to successfully put the veggie garden to bed.  Side note, it’s fine to leave the late season/winter low hoops and cold frames just where they are.  Enjoy those veggies as long as possible.

1st item: record thoughts and evaluation of the garden.  Include a rough drawing of where different plants were planted to ensuring crop rotation is followed with next year’s garden.

2nd item:  If not done each time plants have completed the producing process remove all vegetation from the garden.  Yes, veggie debris should be removed.  Pathogens can easily over winter and affect next year’s crops.

Any diseased vegetation should never be composted.  Any weeds gone to seed should never be composted. Continue reading Tips from the Yard: Discussing Fall Tasks, Part 2 →

Tips From the Yard: Discussing Fall Tasks, Part 1

In the next two Tips from the Yard let’s cover all the late fall tasks involved in putting the yard to bed.  Let’s look at the pollinators we want to protect first.

Many gardeners love to see pollinators in the yards during the summer, the butterflies, the specialty bees, and even the hummingbirds fluttering about.  We make our yards attractive to the living.  But in the fall, we have thought it important to clearcut all the plants to the ground in flower beds.  Remove every single fallen leaf and dried stem, making the garden beds resemble a tundra.  We even thought to spread a 3” coating of mulch all over the planting area.  All in preparation for the spring and getting a good jump on all the work related to garden prep.  Applause and a hearty slap on the back; good job, or is it?  After a couple of years of this practice, where are all the butterflies and specialty bees?  Remember, hummingbirds migrate south.  They don’t need our yards in the winter. Continue reading Tips From the Yard: Discussing Fall Tasks, Part 1 →

Focus on Natives: Ironweed

One of the very first native plants to volunteer in my garden was ironweed. It grew to 8 ft tall which puts the flowers right at eye level when we sit on the front porch. The beautiful purple flowers attract so much attention from pollinators, swallowtail butterflies and monarchs that I knew it would be a great addition to the ecosystem I wanted to create in my yard.

Ironweed, a member of the Asteraceae family, (Vernonia spp) has many species which will readily hybridize so it can be difficult to positively identify the exact species. Adding to the difficulty in identification the common names are frequently interchanged. Within each species there may be variations of flower color, leaf shape and number of florets. In Ohio, the most common variety is Giant Ironweed (Vernonia gigantea) but you may also find New York Ironweed or Smooth Ironweed. These are perennial plants which rarely need to be divided, are easy to grow and are deer resistant. Although they can be 5 to 8 feet tall they don’t require staking because the stems are sturdy. My plants made it thru the recent hurricane without falling over. If you prefer a shorter plant you can cut them back in June to about 2 feet or cut them back to different heights for a more layered effect of the flowers.

Ironweed does best in full sun but can be grown in partial sun (2 to 6 hours). Soil can be clay, loam or soil with high organic matter. Its preference for moist soil makes it a good choice for those wetter areas in your garden, along streams or in a rain garden. Bloom time is from July to September. The flowers are deep purple, disc flowers which are at the same level as other flowers within the cluster. The leaves are large, up to 9” long and 2” wide with serrated edges and are arranged on the stems alternately. Continue reading Focus on Natives: Ironweed →