Sowing Some Flower Seeds

Fall usually isn't the time in most parts of the country to sow seeds, but there are some flowers that need sowing now so you'll have flowers next year. Botanically speaking, these are called biennials. Biennials grow only foliage their first year. After a dormant period in winter, they start growing in spring to form a flower. Some common biennial flowers in the flower garden include foxgloves, hollyhocks, and sweet William (Dianthus). Even some vegetables, such as carrots and parsley, are considered biennials. If you happen to leave a carrot in the ground and it survives until spring, you'll see it will bolt, or form a flower stalk, as soon as the weather warms. 

Growing Biennials
You can have two approaches to growing biennials; let nature take its course or help nature along. Biennial flowers love to form seeds. Leave spent flowers on the plant and you'll see soon afterward seed pods will form. When they dry they disperse seeds all around. These seeds naturally germinate in the warm soil and start growing. If you look under some of your favorite perernnial and biennial plants, you may discover some young seedlings of these self-sown flowers. If you'd like to have your biennials in another part of the garden, try collecting seed and sowing them yourself. Once the seed pods dry you can collect the seed and spread it in a new area. You don't have to create a fine seed bed. Just scratch up some of the soil and sprinkle the seeds. With a little water, they will grow on their own.

Too Many Flowers
The only problem you may have is too many seedlings. In fall or spring, thin out the self-sown seedling patch to provide proper plant spacing. Too many plants will result in smaller plants and fewer flowers in summer.

Remove the flower stalks of your biennials once the seeds are removed or dropped. Don't worry about protecting the young seedlings in winter. They are tough and adapted to your climate. Come spring they will continue to grow and provide beautiful flowers for you to enjoy.

-Charlie, Lawn & Garden

It's Party Time

Friends of Manage My Home, HOMEdigz are hosting a blog party today. So, if you're interested in a collection of great home blogs, be sure to check it out.

Lawn Magic with Chickens

Sometimes you just have to experiment right? So when the opportunity came to have 2 chickens in our yard for 2 weeks, we couldn't resist. We thought the kids would enjoy it, and see the relationship from land to table (“you mean all the food doesn’t come from the grocery store mom?”).

The first morning we found an egg and it was glorious. The kids were impressed and proud. We were thrilled that the experiment was working. We had fresh, great-tasting & nutritious eggs and the raccoons hadn't discovered the chickens yet.

What we didn't bank on was the lawn care capabilities of these 2 healthy 6 month old Light Brahma chickens. They are clipping the grass and getting rid of pests. Chickens are great at controlling cockroaches, tomato horn worms, aphids, grubs, or any other pest, naturally. So there is no need to put chemicals in your yard. I even read that chickens will eat mice. Wow, are they multi functional.

They are also, let's just say, doing a nice job fertilizing. Since the “house” they live in while they temporarily reside here is portable, we keep moving it around so the chickens can do their magic all over the yard. If you have free range chickens, you can image the possibilities.

Chicken manure is an excellent option for lawn fertilizing as it is very high in nitrogen and is often protected from the weather, which helps conserve nutrients. It is also great for the compost pile.

So now this little food cycle experiment has me scooping chicken poop and putting it on the plants. Supposedly they will flourish.

If you don't think raising chickens is your thing but want to get your hands – or perhaps your spreader - on their manure as fertilizer try your local farmers or a local feed store.

But if you are game for some chickens, become part of the local food movement. Contact a local farm for information about raising chickens in your community. Our chickens came with their own coop but if you need to build one, here are some tips.

Tread Lighter with chickens,
-Phyllis, Green Expert

Unusual Plants for Fall Color

As the maple trees outside my window start to turn a brilliant red and orange color, I know the fall color season is starting to heat up. While Mother Nature provides most of the show with brilliant colors seen on forest trees such as maple, birch, beech, oak, sycamore, and dogwood, you can contribute to the fall glory by planting some shrubs and trees for fall color in your yard. Here are some of my unusual favorites.

Sumac- These finely cut-leaved trees grow on the forest edge. The native staghorn sumac produces flowers from which you can make a tea. While many consider sumac a "weed" tree, the staghorn sumac (shown below) makes a great fall foliage plant that's low maintenance.

American cranberry viburnum- This shrubs gives you a double bonus. It produces clusters of bright red fruit that hang on the shrubs into winter. Plus, in fall, the leaves turn a deep burgundy color. The American cranberry bush can grow 10 feet tall and wide, so makes a good hedge plant or shrub in the back of a border.

Oakleaf hybdrangea- This hydrangea is hardy in zones 5 to 9, and produces white flowers in summer that fade to pinkish-brown in fall. The foliage turns an orange or deep purple color complimenting the flowers nicely. It grows 4 to 6 feet tall and wide.

Dawn Redwood- Though not consider your typical fall foliage tree, the dawn redwood is hardy to zone 4 and can grow 40 feet tall. Like the tamarack, it has needles that drop in fall. However, before the needles drop they turn a bronzy-yellow, making the whole tree glow.

Blueberry-  Now here's a shrub you normally wouldn't grow just for its foliage. But blueberries not only produce delicious fruit, the leaves have wonderful fall colors of red, purple, and burgundy.Plant some blueberries around to the front of your house to enjoy.

-Charlie, Lawn & Garden

Solar Powered Ventilation

Costs for solar power installations to generate electricity or heat water run in the thousands of dollars. I recently learned about a solar product that is comparatively affordable and helps solve common household problems.

Rooftop ice dams are an important winter problem. Ice dams are created when heat leaks into the attic or unfinished areas of home, melting snow on the roof. The melted snow flows down the rooftop and refreezes at the edge of the roof, creating dams that can damage shingles and lead to leaks into the house. Poorly insulated homes are also a problem in the summer, as heat from the attic is transferred into the living spaces, leading to additional air conditioner load. SolarMidwest offers solar-powered attic fans, a product that will use renewable energy to prevent issues in the summer and winter.

The attic fans can be installed into an existing shingle roof with no electrical wiring or other connections. A complete system with fan and solar panel can be purchased for $550. Additional solar panels for east/west facing roofs or areas with less than ideal exposure cost $200 each. While hardly cheap, the solar fan looks to be a good way for someone interested in solar energy can get started without spending thousands of dollars.

-Chris, Green

Preparing for Frost

The calendar will be turning to October this week. That means frost is in the air. Truthfully, some mountain areas already have had a frost, but most places are still enjoying the late summer/early fall harvest of flowers and vegetables.

If you're like me, you'll want to squeeze every last veggie, fruit and flower out of your garden that you can. The way to do that is by protecting your prized plants from the frost. While we've all seen plastic tarps and blankets draped over gardens in fall, the best material to protect plants and reduce your labor is the floating row cover. This white, cheesecloth-like material let's in air, light, and water, but can protect plants down to 26 degrees F but doesn't overheat during warm fall days. There are two ways you can use it. Simply drape it over plants if you expect a light frost. It will provide enough protect for your plants. A better way to cover plants is with stakes or hoops. Drive 4 stakes around prized plants and fasten the row cover to them with twine. Try to keep the fabric from touching the plants and it will protect them better. For low growing crops like fall lettuce or impatiens, place wire hoops over the rows and drape the fabric over the hoops.

Of course, if you're gardening in a container, protecting your plants by moving them to a sheltered location is always a good idea. Whatever way you protect plants, by doing a little work now, you'll be able to extend the harvest window for weeks so that the joy of the garden will continue into winter.

-Charlie, Lawn & Garden

Wood Stoves & Home Heating

We're enjoying an unseasonably warm September, getting a few more tomatoes out of the garden and extra time at the park with the kids. The folks at Sierra Club Green Home reminded me that winter is not too far away with a good report on residential wood stoves. We use a natural gas-fired furnace in our suburban house, but wood may be a good choice for homeowners with an available supply of wood.

As a renewable resource, wood has green advantages over coal and other fossil fuels. Replacement trees can absorb carbon dioxide generated by burning wood, offsetting some of the environmental impact. Wood may also be available locally, in contrast to oil or coal, reducing transportation costs and impacts.

Wood burning, like any combustion, releases air pollutants. Older, less efficient wood stoves emit more air pollution than modern stoves subject to regulation. The US Environmental Protection Agency offers information on the various types of commercially available wood stoves. When selecting a model for your home, consider appropriate unit sizing for the space you plan to heat, US EPA emissions certification, and cost. A stove dealer will be able to answer many of your questions.

Concerns about air emissions from older wood stoves led some states and localities to enact stricter rules about installation of wood burning stoves. Check with you local unit of government before proceeding with a new installation. Some states have change-out programs that provide rebates for replacement of older units. US EPA provides links to state-level programs.

-Chris, Green

Want to Get Rid of Mosquitoes and Ticks? You Wont Believe This One

The rain this summer brought us an over abundance of mosquitoes which made evening outdoor plans nearly impossible. Then, one evening we were at a friend's house not too far from our home, enjoying some alfresco dining when we realized there were no mosquitoes around. We mentioned how lovely the mosquito free evening was and then they told us why. Are you ready for this one? Garlic!

If you too are looking for a chemical free, safe solution to get rid of pesky mosquitoes – and ticks too - try garlic. Garlic's natural sulfur repels insects, including mosquitoes, ticks, fleas and even black flies.

However, you can't go to your local grocer and buy garlic and plant it. Instead, a super garlic potion is made from very potent garlic cloves and then sprayed around your yard with a sprayer

Increased concentrations of garlic juice such as this can be toxic to soft bodied insects such as mosquitoes.

Since mosquitoes have extremely sensitive odor sensing capabilities, they will stay away for nearly a month. Humans can not smell as well, and thus the scent is nearly undetectable to us after a few hours.

Kurt Upham, owner of OhDeerin Massachusetts, finds garlic the most effective solution for ridding of ticks and mosquitoes. Plus, it is safe for humans, the environment and pets. He sprays his own concentrated garlic solution in yards across the Boston area and does what he calls a “wall to wall treatment”. This means saturating all foliage and spraying where mosquitoes like to harbor such as under decks.

The EPA seems to be ok with garlic as well.

Maximize your enjoyment outside without the annoyance and potential threat of ticks and mosquitoes.

Tread Lighter with less mosquitoes and ticks,
-Phyllis, Green Expert

Hardy Hibiscus

Yes, fall is a glorious and colorful time of year in my neck of the woods. but while the maple trees and many shrubs are providing brilliant red, orange, and yellow colors, the perennial garden can look a little drab. All the summer flowers, such as coneflowers and daisies, are passing by and unless you planned for it, the dominant color is brown and green. That's why I like to grow fall perennials to keep the garden beautiful right until frost. One of my favorites is the hardy or perennial hibiscus.

The hardy hibiscus is different from the tropical hibiscus most people know as a houseplant, unless you live in frost-free areas of Florida or Southern California. This hibiscus can survive the winter in USDA zone 4. The difference is the tops die back to the ground, while the roots survive. The plant grows in a clump and can reach 5-feet tall by summer. In late summer 10- to 12-inch diameter flowers form on the shoots. The flowers range in color from white to pink to red and are gaudy in their display. They only open for one day, but the show is magnificent and new flowers keep forming until frost. If you don't want such a large perennial in your garden, you can prune it back in July and it will be shorter, yet still flower.

As long as it has full sun, well drained soil, and don't apply too much nitrogen fertilizer, hard hibiscus will thrive. Check it out at the local garden center.

-Charlie, Lawn & Garden

Furniture That Is Meant For Relaxation

A while back, I wrote about a store in the West Village the made me think about creating a soundtrack to my home.  It was a fantastic post that has somehow been lost in the netherworld of internet archives.  But rest assured, it was a spectacular piece of prose.

However, the store, James Perse is fantastic and the clothes are relaxing for the beach - the kind you find on the Pacific coast where everything is just a bit more laid back.  Well - come to find they now have a furniture collection.

Needless to say, my Update the Bedroom To Do List just got a bit easier.

-Jim, Home Manager

The bedroom project that needs to be done - well, it just needed a little inspiration.