Jeff Lowenfels

JEFF LOWENFELS

For an interesting houseplant, gather ye moss

I like mosses. They are some of my favorite plants. They don't grow very tall. They don't need any care. When they dry out, you just need to add water to green them up again. They really don't need all that much light. And they are beautiful.

JEFF LOWENFELS

Hydroponics is easier (and cheaper) than ever

I am trying to get more of you to try gardening using hydroponics, particularly during the winter months. It is a great way to garden indoors -- and indoors we are for nine months.

JEFF LOWENFELS

Time to turn your thoughts to house plants

Nothing like frozen ground to make you realize the time to garden indoors for a while has arrived. Even the dog doesn't want to go out this time of year.

JEFF LOWENFELS

Chase the winter gloom with holiday blooms

Ah, winter settles in. Now how about getting those special, indoor plants to perform while we wait for the ground to thaw next spring?

JEFF LOWENFELS

Lighting up is a must if you want to be a winter gardener

Nothing like a few nights in the 30s to get the gardener's attention. This really is the last call to action before the long, big freeze. Simply put, take care of those faucets, get the mulches down and put away those hoses.

JEFF LOWENFELS

Finish yard preparations before Old Man Winter arrives

It is still warm after all these months. How could this be so? Denver? Snowed out. Chicago environs? Snow and temperatures in the teens. Clearly, this is not normal and we should not expect it to last.

JEFF LOWENFELS

Plant garlic now for spring flowers and an August crop

It seems to me the really hard frosts, the ones that tell you this is going to be a long winter and it is just beginning, are still a ways off. I am guessing the ground won't freeze for up to a month and the chances of that frost getting down very deep, quickly, seem slim.

JEFF LOWENFELS

Time to get ready for long winter nap

Preparation for the winter and next year's growing season is the theme today.

JEFF LOWENFELS

Tell your spouse it's better to not to rake

The loyal reader knows I have a long and deep history with leaves. I grew up on a tree-filled "Gentleman's estate." My dad, who I suppose was the "gentleman," believed, as did everyone else in his day, that leaves had to be raked up.

JEFF LOWENFELS

'Pagoda' a nice addition to Alaska-hardy bulbs

Obviously, now is the time to buy and plant spring flowering bulbs. Thanks to the warm weather this should not be a problem. Go to your local nurseries and get all you can afford. Spring bulbs are cheap landscaping. Here, they often last into July.

JEFF LOWENFELS

Now is the time to prepare plants for winter

What to do when the frost is predicted? It is advice worth noting, but hopefully not useful until next month. Don't count on it, however.

JEFF LOWENFELS

Weeds present peril to local ecology

If you are the least bit observant, and what gardener isn't, you have noticed the increase in invasive weeds around Southcentral. We are surrounded, literally. Are we in trouble, Southcentral?

JEFF LOWENFELS

Make sure to go easy on the lawn fertilizer

For lawns it is possible to green up more without resorting to the chemical solution of using a very high nitrogen fertilizer. You need to add organic matter and get the microbes to cycle it. It isn't hard. It does, however, take a couple of weeks longer than when you use chemicals.

JEFF LOWENFELS

Conditions ideal for creative mowing

To me, it is a joy to mow the lawn anytime. However, it is a particular delight when the lawn is doing so well.

JEFF LOWENFELS

Pruning lilacs now will hurt flowers next season

I get this question a lot: "Is it too late to prune a lilac bush? It is blocking our view." The actual answer is that it probably is too late if you don't want to harm your chances of getting flowers next year.

JEFF LOWENFELS

Make a photo record of your garden

Get out your digital camera, charge up the battery, clean off all those pictures of the fishing trip or the family reunion and go crazy taking pictures all around your yard.

JEFF LOWENFELS

Time to start harvesting food in earnest

Don't be one of those gardeners who leaves food to rot in their vegetable patch. It doesn't matter if you do it because you want to keep the garden looking "nice." There are some things that need to be harvested even though the growing season is not over.

JEFF LOWENFELS

Let aphids -- and their enemies -- do their thing

I tasted some of the fresh honey dew while sweeping the sticky leaves that are prematurely falling from two large birch trees we maintain in our front porch. There is a lot of sugar in the stuff and this year you could probably bottle it for sale.

JEFF LOWENFELS

Pest plants are digging the warm weather too

You have to love another week of high 60- and 70-degree weather even if it does throw the gardening off a bit. Some things, like mock oranges, are blooming late (unless they were watered often). Others, delphiniums in our yard, are blooming early. Spinach is bolting due to the heat. Tomatoes are thriving. Whatever comes, you have to love the weather.

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.

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.