June Gardening Calendar 2025

 

June Gardening Calendar 2025

June is the time of year to trim your Big Leaf Hydrangea, Oak Leaf Hydrangea, and Gardenia after blooming. After trimming, use an Azalea and Hydrangea fertilizer and add a new layer of mulch for the summer and fall months. The flower buds are set in the fall months for summer months blooming.

Your cool season vegetables have already started to bolt (bloom), which alerts the gardener the season is over for cool season vegetables. You can either pull out the vegetables or till them into the soil to enrich and add nutrients to the soil.

We can start thinking about planting winter squash, pumpkins, gourds, okra, and southern peas.

There is still time to plant heat tolerant vegetables tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and watermelons. These I thought are worth mentioning to try in your garden:

Malabar Spinach is a heat tolerant alternative to traditional spinach and grows as a vine. The leaves in salads are fleshy and have a peppery, citrus taste when used fresh. When cooked Malabar spinach taste just like traditional spinach. Make sure the plant is always well watered. You can use the leaves fresh, stir-fry, steamed or boiled.

Okra enjoys the heat. The spineless varieties are recommended because of the spines on the plant and okra. Even with the spineless varieties it is recommended to wear gloves and long sleeves when harvesting the okra. Some of the varieties recommended are Clemson Spineless 80, most popular, Emerald, White Velvet, Cajun Delight.

Sweet Potatoes can be grown in a container, such as potato grow bags, whiskey barrels, or a very large container. You can harvest the tubers, sweet potatoes in about 4 months.

Summer Yellow Squash is very prolific grower and producer and enjoy the summer heat. In the summer would have summer squash several times during the summer. Yummy. Try cooking steamed or boiled with sliced onions, if you like onions.

Peppers, hot or sweet. There are many varieties of green, yellow, orange, red. All colors love the heat. In areas that have extremely high temperature during the summer months you may need to give some afternoon shade to prevent flower drop.

Bush Beans are easy to grow and do not require staking. Provider, Blue Lake 274, Contender are just a few varieties to grow this summer.

Butterhead Lettuce is one of the lettuces that will take the summer heat. Water deeply and mulch heavily.

It is always a good idea to monitor your garden for insects and diseases. Early detection is the key. When you are uncertain of the insect or disease, take a sample to your local garden center or nursery.

Fertilize tomatoes every two weeks with a calcium enriched fertilizer. The calcium will be listed on the label.

In June, there are numerous perennials in stock at your local garden center. A perennial is defined as a plant lasting more than two years. Asclepias (milkweed) is one great perennial that is gaining popularity. Milkweed is the host and nectar plant of the Monarch Butterfly. Last year the Monarch Butterfly was put on the endangered species list. As gardeners we can start incorporating Milkweed (Asclepias) into our gardens. Asclepias do extremely wonderful in containers for the apartment gardeners. We have to act now and quickly. Buy your plants or seeds now. The Monarchs need our help. For more information on Butterfly Gardening, Cheryl has written Gardening for the Butterflies Click Here to Purchase.

Deadhead perennials to get a second flush of blooms.

Color annuals and Tropicals are blooming brightly at your local garden center. Start thinking about starting your container gardens and color bowls to place around your deck, patio, or outdoor living area. Tropicals know how to beat the heat of summer and will bloom continuously till first frost.

Hibiscus and More offers fine art prints of Cheryl Meola’s plant photography. Fine Art Prints. Click Here to Purchase.

Cheryl Meola’s Plant Photography Merchandise. Click Here to Purchase Merchandise.

Floral & Foliage Stock Photography. StockPhotography.  

Botanical & Seasonal Stock Photography. Stock Photography., 

Sunday, June 15^th is Father’s Day send something special from Hibiscus and More. Gardening Books are great and make excellent Father’s Day Gifts to give for gardening Dad’s. Cheryl has written books on General Gardening, Houseplants and Butterfly Gardening. Click here to purchase Gardening Books.

July Gardening Calendar 2024

July Gardening Calendar

Extreme heat began earlier this year than previous years. In the past five years, each summer we currently break last year’s record.  Extreme temperatures were recorded around the world in June 2024 and we have two to three more months of the summer. Currently there are 11 states that are under extreme heat warnings: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington. 

Lantana camara ‘Miss Huff’

The CDC recommends these precautions for anyone who is involved in outdoor work or activities during extreme heat weather. Drink plenty of water and don’t wait until you are thirsty. Avoid alcohol and sugary drinks. Always where sunscreen and reapply as directed on label. Try to avoid working in mid-day heat and ask if the task can be rescheduled. Where loose fit clothing in light colors. Dri-fit is a brand of clothing that helps keep one cool during work or exercising. Where a large, brimmed hat to help keep one cool. Try to go to air conditioning or shady location during breaks. Keep an eye on your co-workers and encourage them to take breaks to drink water and cool off. For more information this is a link to the CDC website: CDC

Summer gardening tasks to do in one’s landscape, if living in one of the states mentioned for extreme heat try to in morning hours or early evening.

Watermelon – Choosing a summer watermelon for ripeness is as simple as slapping or knocking on it. The good ripe one’s sound hollow, and the unripe one’s sound like solid wood.

Flowering annuals and perennials – Such as Salvia, Zinnia, Coneflower, and Petunia, remove faded flowers to encourage bushiness and more flower production. Plant sun and heat tolerant annuals. Tropicals are a good choice because the plants now how to beat the summer heat and tropicals will reward you with lots of blooms and color.

Dahlias – The last week in July trim your plants back by half of their height to producannualse fall blooms. Fertilize with a flowering plant food.

Pink and Blue Hydrangeas – Remove faded flower stems. Trim shorten droopy, flowerless stems by 1/3. New growth that occurs now through winter will produce next summer’s blooms.

Herbs – Now is a good time to trim back Basil, Mint, and Oregano by half to prevent flowering and seed production. This will produce tastier leaves to use later.

Summer Vegetables – The plants will stop flower production when just one ripe cucumber, squash, or okra are left on the plant. Pick your summer vegetables on a regular basis to prevent this.

Fall Vegetables – Plant peppers, corn, cucumbers, squash, bush beans, and fall tomatoes. For tomatoes use the small to medium sized varieties.

Houseplants, Patio Pots, and Hanging Baskets – Check plants that are spending the summer outdoors for insects. Use an insecticidal soap, if needed. Your houseplants can be fertilized by-weekly with a water-soluble plant food. For more information on Houseplants order Cheryl’s book from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Grow-Fresh-Air-Pollution-Houseplants-ebook/dp/B0C72T954R/ref=sr_1_2?crid=DFC3HN5ZOBD&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.b0hx7eqbc4AFD0gxuEX2FcFWYnG__m4-Hm2Vp20fyMKjW1swwyOkfcWhsfFkPUPz.i0bTjxtksoTYMiO-BtM7JGX-PUbqO5Nsfo_oFKc0kf8&dib_tag=se&keywords=cheryl+ann+meola+books&qid=1720116434&s=books&sprefix=cheryl+ann+meola%2Cstripbooks%2C146&sr=1-2

Trees and Shrubs – Newly Spring planted trees and shrubs should be watered 2 gallons of water per foot of plant height. For more information on Landscape Gardening, you can order Cheryl’s book here. https://www.amazon.com/Southeast-Style-Gardening-Garden-Designs/dp/B08YNXJGMB/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.b0hx7eqbc4AFD0gxuEX2FcFWYnG__m4-Hm2Vp20fyMKjW1swwyOkfcWhsfFkPUPz.i0bTjxtksoTYMiO-BtM7JGX-PUbqO5Nsfo_oFKc0kf8&qid=1720116599&sr=1-3

Figs – Remove the tallest shoots in the middle first, then prune the rest of the fig lightly. The horizontal branches produce the best fruit.

New Turf – There is 6 to 7 weeks to start your project on laying or replacing turf grasses. The grass needs to be well-rooted before the cool weather starts, which is shortly after daylight savings time ends. It usually takes 10-15 days to get the grass established.

The Monarchs need our help. For more information on Butterfly Gardening, Cheryl has written Gardening for the Butterflies available on Amazon. Click Here. Click Here.

Hibiscus and More offers fine art prints of Cheryl Meola’s plant photography. Fine Art Prints. Fine Art Prints.

Cheryl Meola’s Plant Photography Merchandise. Click Here.

Floral & Foliage Stock Photography.  Stock Photography.

Botanical & Seasonal Stock Photography. Stock Photography.

Hibiscus and More offers fine art prints of Cheryl Meola’s plant photography. Fine Art Prints. Fine Art Prints.

Cheryl Meola’s Plant Photography Merchandise. Click Here.

Floral & Foliage Stock Photography.  Stock Photography.

Botanical & Seasonal Stock Photography. Stock Photography.

Have a wonderful summer. Stay hydrated, keep cool, go to shade when you start feel weak.

©Cheryl Ann Meola 2024

January Gardening Calendar 2024

January Gardening Calendar

Basil

Start planning for Spring. January is the perfect month to start planning your garden for the current year. As a refresher for last year’s thoughts, ideas or plants you were thinking about purchasing, dust off your gardening journal to see what changes or additions you wanted to make this year. A garden is always evolving.

Start looking at seed and garden catalogs. January is a good time to start planning this year’s design features and plants. Seeds and new introduction plants sell out quickly. Don’t miss out and wait, try to order your seeds or reserve your plants soon. Reserving your plant purchase guarantees the plant will ship at the proper time for planting in your USDA zone.

Seed starting Kits. Growers recommend starting the seeds indoors in a bright location to get a jump start to spring. There are seed starting kits which are advertised as seed starter germination kit or seed starter greenhouse kit. The kits usually feature a tray, growing media disks, and a cover for the tray. The kits are an excellent choice to start growing your seeds before spring. Some kits even include a warming matt to get a faster germination rate. 

Bare Root Roses will be arriving soon at local garden centers. Prepare planting beds by digging an area 3 feet wide by 12 inches deep for each rose. Soak bare root roses in a mixture of SuperThrive and water for 24 to 48 hours before planting. Local nurseries will also have available roses in peat pots. These pots are biodegradable and can be planted. Don’t take the plant out of the peat pot. Before planting cut the pot halfway down and around the pot four times. This action helps the peat pot degrade faster. For more information on Rose Care Click Here.

Poinsettias water only when the soil is dry to the touch. Start fertilizing in March. Poinsettias need bright light and cool temperatures even indoors.

Deciduous Trees and Shrubs the structure of the trees and shrubs can be easily seen this time of year. Prune all branches that rub or cross each other. Trees and shrubs can be planted now. Plan to plant on a warm day when the ground is not frozen. When the weather warms for a week or longer, and then the temperatures drop into the twenties, cover Camellias and Gardenias nightly until the temperatures are above freezing. The last week in January prune Pear and Apple trees, and Grape vines.

Vegetable Garden till the soil, if the ground is dry. This preventative measure helps to eliminate weeds, insects, and nematodes. Don’t have room for a vegetable garden, but would like to grow your own vegetables? All vegetables can be grown in large planters. The recommended size for vegetables is 16 inches or larger. In fact, that is how I grow my vegetables each season. For more information on Spring Vegetable Gardening Click Here.

Prune Pampas Grass and all other ornamental grasses down to about 12 inches. Prune Lantana and Cannas to about 2 to 3 inches. Shape Crepe Myrtles and Altheas and remove old seed heads.

Annuals water winter annuals like pansies, violas, ornamental cabbage and kale, after a hard freeze. This helps to rehydrate the annuals faster. Water outside container plants before a hard freeze, too.

Houseplants check for insects. Insects like mealy bugs, scale, spider mites are more likely to infest your plants during the winter months. Spray with a horticultural oil or insecticidal soap, and make sure you spray underneath the leaves. Turn your houseplants a quarter to half turn once a week. This prevents leaning of your houseplants. I turn mine once a week when I water my houseplants.

Need more gardening advice? Follow our BlogSpot for current sales, daily specials, and sound gardening advice. Simply click on Join This Site Link under Followers. Sign Up Is Free. View Current Blog Post Click Here.

All photographs maybe purchased as fine art prints at HibiscusandMore.com  

Cheryl Ann Meola Art

Butterfly Gardening

Houseplants - Grow Fresh Air

Need floral stock photography? Click here.

https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Cheryl+Ann+Meola

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All photographs and digital images are ©Cheryl Ann Meola. All Rights Reserved. All photographs and digital images displayed in this newsletter are for viewing purposes only and cannot be duplicated or copied.

©Cheryl Ann Meola

 

June Gardening Calendar

 

June Gardening Calendar

June is the time of year to trim your Big Leaf Hydrangea, Oak Leaf Hydrangea, and Gardenia after blooming. After trimming, use an Azalea and Hydrangea fertilizer and add a new layer of mulch for the summer and fall months. The flower buds are set in the fall months for summer months blooming.

Your cool season vegetables have already started to bolt (bloom), which alerts the gardener the season is over for cool season vegetables. You can either pull out the vegetables or till them into the soil to enrich.

We can start thinking about planting winter squash, pumpkins, gourds, okra, and southern peas.

There is still time to plant tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and watermelons.

It is always a good idea to monitor your garden for insects and diseases. Early detection is the key. When you are uncertain of the insect or disease, take a sample to your local garden center or nursery.

Fertilize tomatoes every two weeks with a calcium enriched fertilizer. The calcium will be listed on the label.

Tomatoes

In June, there are numerous perennials in stock at your local garden center. A perennial is defined as a plant lasting more than two years. Asclepias (milkweed) is one great perennial that is gaining popularity. Milkweed is the host and nectar plant of the Monarch Butterfly. Last year the Monarch Butterfly was put on the endangered species list. As gardeners we can start incorporating Milkweed (Asclepias) into our gardens. Asclepias do extremely wonderful in containers for the apartment gardeners. We have to act now and quickly. Buy you plants or seeds now. The Monarchs need our help. 

Asclepias - Milkweed

Deadhead perennials to get a second flush of blooms.

Color annuals and Tropicals are blooming brightly at your local garden center. Start thinking about starting your container gardens and color bowls to place around your deck, patio, or outdoor living area. Tropicals know how to be the heat of summer and will bloom continuously till first frost.

Hibiscus and More offers fine art prints of her plant photography. Fine Art Prints.

Floral & Foliage Stock Photography. Stock Photography.

Botanical & Seasonal Stock Photography. Stock Photography.

Sunday, June 18^th is Father’s Day send something special from Hibiscus and More.

May Gardening Calendar

 

May Gardening Calendar

Deadhead spring bulbs after flowering. Let the foliage die back naturally. The nutrients in the foliage gets stored in the bulb for next year’s nutrients.

Stay ahead of your weeding chores. The month of May is when weeds start showing their ugly heads. I recommend using a Pre-Emergent Weed Control. Just make sure it is recommended safe to use around trees, shrubs, and perennials. Some Pre-Emergent’s are also recommended to use around your vegetable garden. So always read the label to see where you can use a pre-emergent. The way a pre-emergent works is by preventing the weed seeds from germinating. Before applying a pre-emergent pull all existing weeds by the roots because a pre-emergent will not kill existing weeds. Use a weed-N-Feed for your lawns. Check the label to make sure you can use the product on your lawn variety.

Fertilize trees and shrubs. After fertilizing apply a fresh layer of mulch. Applying mulch to your beds helps to keep the roots cool in the spring–summer months and warm in the fall-winter months.

As the weather gets warmer your cool-season vegetables will start to bolt. Start harvesting your last crop and compost. Get the planting bed ready for the spring -summer veggies and herbs.

It is recommended to check your irrigation each year. It boggles the mind when you turn on your irrigation in the spring and an irrigation head is pointing in the wrong direction. When that head was working perfectly last year.

Prune ornamental grasses and clean perennial flowers before new growth starts in the spring.

Prune Azaleas, forsythias, hydrangeas, and gardenias after blooming. You can fertilize Azaleas monthly until the end of August. Be on the lookout for lacebugs on your Azaleas. The bugs are hard to see, but the damage is not. The damage looks like very small white dots on the leaves where the bugs sucked out the chlorophyll. Spray with appropriate insecticide.

It is warm enough to bring the houseplants out that you over wintered outdoors. Place the plants in shade to begin with and slowly move the plants to a sunnier location, if required by the plant. Some tropicals will grow in full sun.

Hibiscusandmore.com features fine art prints of tropical plants. Click Here Fine Art Prints.

Hibiscusandmore.com has new products just in time for the spring -summer months. We have live plants. Click here for live plants.

Need more gardening advice? Follow our BlogSpot for current sales, daily specials, and sound gardening advice. Simply click on Join This Site Link under Followers. Sign Up Is Free.

Need floral stock photography? Click here. Need botanical stock photography? Click here

All photographs and digital images are ©Cheryl Ann Meola. All Rights Reserved. All photographs and digital images displayed in this newsletter are for viewing purposes only and cannot be duplicated or copied.

Gardening for the Butterflies can be purchased at www.hibicusandmore.com under books. Enjoy.

     

April Gardening Calendar 2023

                April Gardening Calendar

Start planning for Spring. April is the perfect month to start planning your garden for the current year. As a refresher for last year’s thoughts, ideas or plants you were thinking about purchasing, dust off your gardening journal to see what changes or additions you wanted to make this year. A garden is always evolving.

Irrigation: In zones where your irrigation was turned off for the winter. Irrigation should be checked each year in spring. Turn on the irrigation to make sure the irrigation heads are working properly. Check for leaks, cracked heads, and spray direction. Some issues you may be able to fix yourself, if not call an irrigation specialist.

Roses: Your roses should be trimmed between February 12 – 20, if you have not pruned your hybrid tea roses it’s not too late to trim them now. For more information on trimming, caring, and fertilizing your roses click on my blog article on Roses.

Vegetable Gardening: Till the soil when you have a designated area for vegetables in your garden. This preventative measure helps to eliminate weeds, insects, and nematodes. Don’t have room for a vegetable garden, but would like to grow your own vegetables? All vegetables can be grown in large planters. The recommended size for vegetables is 16 inches or larger. In fact, that’s how I grow my vegetables each season. Garden center retailers are still reporting skyrocketing sales for vegetable starts and seeds this year versus last year’s sales. Start planning and planting your vegetable garden now to reap the rewards of homegrown vegetables, if you are thinking about having a vegetable garden this year, today is the time to start. Put on your gardening gloves and reap the rewards and benefits of a spring vegetable garden. For more information on Spring Vegetable Gardening Click Here.

Color Annuals: April is the month to start thinking about replacing your cool weather color annuals with spring and summer annuals. Here are a few of my favorites: Caladiums, Celosia, Coleus, Cosmos, Dahlberg Daisy, Dusty Miller, Gazania, Geranium, Gerbera Daisy, Ivy Geranium, Lantana, Marigolds, Mexican Sunflower, Moss Rose, Periwinkle, Petunia, Primrose, Purslane, Salvia, Snapdragons, Verbena, Wax Begonia, and Zinnia. All of the annuals mentioned can be planted in soil or in containers.

Bulbs: If you have spring bulbs that are still blooming you may want to enjoy a few of the flowers as fresh cuts indoors. On all perennial bulbs, let the foliage die back naturally, as the foliage dies the bulb transports the nutrients from the foliage to the bulb and will use the nutrients from the foliage and stores the nutrients to the bulb for next year’s growth and flowers. As the foliage dies and it may look untidy and displeasing. To alleviate this annoyance, you can pull up the foliage in a bunch and then roll the foliage down as you would a paper bag, and then tie the rolled-up foliage with a rubber band.

Shrubs: Trim your spring flowering shrubs after they finish blooming and fertilize with the appropriate plant food.

Azaleas: Once your azaleas finish blooming trim back to shape. Azaleas bloom on last year’s growth so it is important to trim your Azaleas no later than the middle of June. Azalea’s set their blooms during the fall months, and this is one reason to trim your Azaleas during the time frame that is provided. After pruning your Azaleas, you need to fertilize them with an Azalea plant food and also add a new layer of mulch. Instead of throwing your spent coffee or tea grounds away your Azaleas will benefit from sprinkling the grounds around your Azalea bushes.

Prune Pampas Grass and other ornamental grasses down to about 12 to 24 inches. Prune Lantana and Cannas to about 6 to 10 inches. Shape Crepe Myrtles and Altheas and remove old seed heads. Do not hat rack the Crepe Myrtles. Crepe Myrtles do better without be trim to about 4 – 6 feet above the ground.

Decorate Your Patio With Tropical Color: Now is the time to start thinking about spring-cleaning your patio and your patio furniture. After sprucing up your patio you may want to redecorate the patio for summer fun with tropical plants that really know how to beat summer heat. Tropical plants will bloom repeatedly throughout the summer until first frost. Here are a few of my tropical color favorites: Allamanda, Bougainvillea, Copper Plant, Hibiscus, Mandevilla, Pentas, and Shrimp Plant. Hibiscusandmore.com features fine art prints of tropical plants. Click Here Fine Art Prints.

Need more gardening advice? Follow our BlogSpot for current sales, daily specials, and sound gardening advice. Simply click on Join This Site Link under Followers. Sign Up Is Free.

Need floral stock photography? Click here. Need botanical stock photography? Click here

All photographs and digital images are ©Cheryl Ann Meola. All Rights Reserved. All photographs and digital images displayed in this newsletter are for viewing purposes only and cannot be duplicated or copied.

https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Cheryl+Ann+Meola   

Cheryl Ann Meola photos, images, assets | Adobe Stock

©Cheryl Ann Meola

January Gardening Calendar

 

January Gardening Calendar

Start planning for Spring. January is the perfect month to start planning your garden for the current year. As a refresher for last year’s thoughts, ideas or plants you were thinking about purchasing, dust off

Beans and Tomatoes

your gardening journal to see what changes or additions you wanted to make this year. A garden is always evolving.

Start looking at seed and garden catalogs. January is a good time to start planning this year’s design features and plants. Seeds and new introduction plants sell out quickly. Don’t miss out and wait, try to order your seeds or reserve your plants soon. Reserving your plant purchase guarantees the plant will ship at the proper time for planting in your USDA zone.

Seed starting Kits. Growers recommend starting the seeds indoors in a bright location to get a jump start to spring. There are seed starting kits which are advertised as seed starter germination kit or seed starter greenhouse kit. The kits usually feature a tray, growing media disks, and a cover for the tray. The kits are an excellent choice to start growing your seeds before spring. Some kits even include a warming matt to get a faster germination rate. 

Bare Root Roses will be arriving soon at local garden centers. Prepare planting beds by digging an area 3 feet wide by 12 inches deep for each rose. Soak bare root roses in a mixture of SuperThrive and water for 24 to 48 hours before planting. Local nurseries will also have available roses in peat pots. The pots are biodegradable and can be planted where the pot degrades. Before planting cut the pot halfway down and around the pot four times. This action helps the pot degrade faster. For more information on Rose Care Click Here.

Poinsettias water only when the soil is dry to the touch. Start fertilizing in March. Poinsettias need bright light and cool temperatures even indoors.

Deciduous Trees and Shrubs the structure of the trees and shrubs can be easily seen this time of year. Prune all branches that rub or cross each other. Trees and shrubs can be planted now. Plan to plant on a warm day when the ground is not frozen. When the weather warms for a week or longer, and then the temperatures drop into the twenties, cover Camellias and Gardenias nightly until the temperatures are above freezing. The last week in January prune Pear and Apple trees, and Grape vines.

Vegetable Garden till the soil, if the ground is dry. This preventative measure helps to eliminate weeds, insects, and nematodes. Don’t have room for a vegetable garden, but would like to grow your own vegetables? All vegetables can be grown in large planters. The recommended size for vegetables is 16 inches or larger. In fact, that is how I grow my vegetables each season. For more information on Spring VegetableGardening Click Here.

Prune Pampas Grass and all other ornamental grasses down to about 12 inches. Prune Lantana and Cannas to about 2 to 3 inches. Shape Crepe Myrtles and Altheas and remove old seed heads.

Annuals water winter annuals like pansies, violas, ornamental cabbage and kale, after a hard freeze. This helps to rehydrate the annuals faster. Water outside container plants before a hard freeze, too.

Houseplants check for insects. Insects like mealy bugs, scale, spider mites are more likely to infest your plants during the winter months. Spray with a horticultural oil or insecticidal soap, and make sure you spray underneath the leaves. Turn your houseplants a quarter to half turn once a week. This prevents leaning of your houseplants. I turn mine once a week when I water my houseplants.

Need more gardening advice? Follow our BlogSpot for current sales, daily specials, and sound gardening advice. Simply click on Join This Site Link under Followers. Sign Up Is Free.

All photographs maybe purchased as fine art prints at HibiscusandMore.com  

Need floral stock photography? Click here. Need botanical stock photography? Click here

All photographs and digital images are ©Cheryl Ann Meola. All Rights Reserved. All photographs and digital images displayed in this newsletter are for viewing purposes only and cannot be duplicated or copied.

https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Cheryl+Ann+Meola

©Cheryl Ann Meola

 

Carbon Gardening

 

Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint While Gardening

What is carbon gardening? Carbon gardening helps gardeners reduce the amount of carbon we release back into the atmosphere through our gardening practices. Carbon gardening starts with improving soil health and structure, garden design and incorporating the aspects of carbon gardening into the design. The design will include 80 percent natives to your region. Native plants to your region will form communities of connected and beneficial organisms.

What’s so new about carbon gardening? It focuses on how we can reduce carbon emissions through our gardening practices. Some of the techniques we have already been doing, now there is more emphasis on how to reduce carbon emissions while gardening.

There are several ways to carbon garden, growing your own food, don’t till the soil before you plant, using native plants in your region, buy locally sourced plants, mulch, and start using battery/cordless gardening equipment.

By growing as many fruits and vegetables that you can reduces carbon emissions and reduces the carbon footprint. The machinery used to grow the fruits and vegetables, the transportation to get fruits and vegetables to retail stores, and the packaging involved to get the fruits and vegetables to stores. The entire process releases carbon back into our atmosphere. There are several organic soils and fertilizers you can use for your fruits and vegetables and by purchasing organic products also helps in the reduction of carbon emissions. The organic soil should be peat free because peat comes from peat bogs which absorb carbon from the air and store it in the soil. When peat is harvested the carbon that is stored in the soil is released back into atmosphere. There are peatmoss alternatives such as coconut coir, coco peat, and coir peat you may want to try. Here are the names of peat-free soils you may want to try for your potted plants and vegetable garden, “Back to the Roots” an all-purpose potting mix, and “Pittmoss” Plentiful Organic Potting Mix. The fruits and vegetables can be grown in containers, raised beds, or in the ground. When growing in the ground don’t till the area before you plant, just dig the hole and plant. The action of tilling the soil releases the carbon that is in the soil to be released and this is why we suggest not to practice the method of tilling the soil.

When designing a new garden or rejuvenating your existing garden use native plants and trees in your region and group plants together in the design by the plant’s cultural needs such as full sun, shade, water requirements, etc. Trees are excellent for removing carbon from the air. By doing so, the plants begin to form plant communities in your garden and begin to attract other wildlife into the community. Your Cooperative Extension Service, Agriculture Extension Service, and Native Plant Nurseries in your region should be able to recommend plants for your area and project.

By purchasing locally grown native plants and trees reduces the carbon footprint. The process of plants grown locally and shipped locally reduces the carbon footprint verses plants that are shipped and grown abroad.

After planting or rejuvenating your garden, we need to mention about organic mulches and their benefits. Some organic mulches are better to use on your vegetable garden beds, while others are used for landscape beds and trees. Whichever the choice all organic mulches do the job of suppressing weeds, moisture retention, regulate soil temperatures, and soil erosion.

A mulch is considered organic because it decomposes over time. As the mulch decomposes nutrients are added to the soil, and the soil structure slowly improves.

When applied after planting mulch suppress weeds. For established beds pull the weeds before applying the mulch. By physically pulling the weeds you are reducing future weed seeds from developing and also reduces using a chemical weed killer. Mulch should be applied yearly.

By switching over to cordless/battery operated lawn equipment you are helping in reducing your carbon gardening footprint. Small gas-powered engines are the worst in air pollution. These are the engines that run all your gas-powered gardening equipment. The engines that run the garden equipment is very fuel inefficient and pollute the air more than today’s cars. By switching over to battery/cordless gardening equipment helps reduce your gardening footprint. There are several different companies making battery/cordless mowers, hedge trimmers, and leaf blowers to name a few. Nearly all companies design the equipment with interchangeable batteries whereas you can use the same battery for all your other gardening equipment.

These are just some of the ways you can help in reducing your garden carbon footprint. Your help as a gardener is needed to help reduce carbon emissions and become a climate activist starting with your own yard. You don’t have to redesign your entire garden. Start small by starting a small vegetable garden, purchase a tree or native plant locally, start mulching garden beds and trees, make a purchase for battery operated garden equipment. If each gardener around the world practices just one gardening technique it will help.

Visit HibiscusandMore for botanical fine art prints. Need botanical stock photography?