Gardening

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A few facts about insects in Alaska

The Cooperative Extension Service Office, 2221 E. Northern Lights Blvd., will offer a hands-on bug lab at noon on July 16. A class on slugs and snails will be held during the same time period on July 23. Call them at 786-6300 to reserve your space.

Photos: Alaska insects

Gardening Blog: Talk Dirt To Me

JEFF LOWENFELS

Break out the hose while enjoying the gorgeous weather

A week of 70-degree days without rain preceded by a few weeks of darn good weather can make you think you are, indeed, in Heaven. I am betting some of your plants are not quite as happy.

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A chat with primula addict Jane Baldwin

There are about 475 different species of primula world wide grouped into about 37 different sections based on plant similarities. Jane Baldwin talks about her own primulas.

Gardening Blog: Talk Dirt To Me

JEFF LOWENFELS

July is prime time for some lawn TLC

This is a great time of year to over seed your lawn. Get a bag of grass seed and apply it in areas where the grass is thin. You can sprinkle it by hand or get one of those inexpensive, hand cranked jobbies that spreads seed.

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Gardens get slimed

It appears out of nowhere, like a ninja dressed head to toe in black, and creeps down the path silently, oozing up in the gravelled crevices between the flagstones I have placed so carefully.

Gardening Blog: Talk Dirt To Me

JEFF LOWENFELS

Help knock out noxious weeds this week

Here is a new Web site you all should bookmark: www.weedwar.org. It is maintained by Citizens Against Noxious Weeds Invading the North (CANWIN). I bet you didn't even know this was Alaska Invasive Weeds Awareness Week. This site will not only tell you all about that, Gov. Palin's proclamation and all, but has pictures and descriptions of the invasive weeds each and every one of us needs to be aware of. Hats off to Troy and Lori Zaumseil who started the 501(c)(3) non-profit group.

TALK DIRT TO ME

Don't forget about gardening safety

From little ol' splinters to pulled muscles to broken bones to pnuemonia to blood poisoning -- it's a jungle out there, we're the explorers and we need to take care.

Gardening Blog: Talk Dirt To Me

JEFF LOWENFELS

Warm weather triggers aphid infestation

The warm weather and lack of rain thus far this season has resulted in quite a sticky situation in Southcentral. These are the ideal conditions for aphids, those 1/8-inch, pear-shaped insects that suck the sap and juices from plants and excrete a sticky goop.

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Defending against cutworms

I use old plastic milk jugs cut up into rings to protect cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and any other plant that is susceptible to cutworms. I sink the ring about halfway into the soil to protect the stems of the young plants.

Gardening Blog: Talk Dirt To Me

JEFF LOWENFELS

Enjoy the sunshine, but don't forget to water

You all know the rule: Make sure your gardens get at least one inch of water a week between you and Mother Nature. Usually we don't have to remember the rule as Nature's rain does all the work. Well, lately Mother has been skipping out on carrying her share of the load.

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Gloves pass the test

I'd be willing to bet you've got piles of mismatched work and garden gloves tossed here and there.

Gardening Blog: Talk Dirt To Me

Link: Local events for gardeners

JEFF LOWENFELS

Think of hungry when planting

The containers are out on the deck, the hanging baskets have been retrieved and hung, and by now most of us have mowed the lawn at least once. The weather has been fine and you should have at least a good portion of the gardens in, if not all done. But are you forgetting a couple of very important, "must do" things?

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Lawn 'volcanoes' a good thing

"Each summer the mounds of dirt (like small volcanoes) in my lawn are getting more and closer together. Can you tell me what is causing these mounds and what I can do to stop the progression?"

Gardening Blog: Talk Dirt To Me

JEFF LOWENFELS

Hard to kill, easy to fool

Horsetail has reared its ugly head. It can't be killed with Round-Up or other weed killers (which you should not be using anyway).

JEFF LOWENFELS

Harden before you plant

Yes, you really do have to harden off plants outside for several days before they can be planted in the ground or containers. This applies to plant sunburn and drying from the wind and lower-than-greenhouse humidity.

JEFF LOWENFELS

Water's what lawns need most

Whew! A few days of sunshine and folks go lawn crazy. True, it seems like we have had more sun this spring than we had all last summer, but let's remain calm. There is a great likelihood that in just a month or so you will start to hate your lawn. Doing too much work on it now is part of that problem. Besides, this is, after all, just a hobby. Let's try and keep it from getting to be work.

Local events for gardeners

Plants, tips, clubs, meetings

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Author discusses Hands-on Harvest

Author Rose Marie Nichols McGee, president of Nichols Garden Nursery in Oregon, will be speaking at the Alaska Master Gardeners day-long workshop Hands-on Harvest on Saturday. Registration is $75. Lunch is included.

Gardening Blog: Talk Dirt To Me

JEFF LOWENFELS

Time to stock up on starts

Now is the time to be stalking the vegetable starts at local nurseries. There are never enough vegetable starts to go around in normal years (a good reason to start your own if you can), but this year there is a huge increase in interest in growing vegetables and that means even more scarcity. Now, not the day the all-clear is given to plant outdoors, is the time to seek and buy from your local nursery. Wait, and you will most definitely lose.

Local events for gardeners

Plants, tips, clubs, meetings

TALK DIRT TO ME

Mixed-garden pro speaks out

Tracy DiSabato-Aust, garden designer and author of three books, will speak in Kenai on Friday and in Anchorage on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Alaska Wild Berry Theatre. We had a chance to ask her a few questions before her appearance.

Gardening Blog: Talk Dirt To Me