Sustainable and Urban Gardening News November ’09
GardenRant edition. The whole newsletter is right here.
Feel free to admire my new front-yard fence! It's natural cedar
and replaces a chain-link fence covered with English ivy (memories of
which are fading fast.) Here's the before and after, with a link to waaaay before.
Urban Gardening on the Web
- USDA reports that farmers' markets are up 13 percent over 2008! Here's the story.
- Excellent new resource: Growing School and Youth Gardens in NY City. [pdf]
Sustainable Gardening on the Web
- Prune now? Don't do it! yells Rodale. But they know what they're talking about.
- Also in pruning news, research explains how pruning encourages plants to thrive – in Science Daily.
- I interviewed the botanist inventor of FreezePruf - read about it here.
- What I'm really doing in my garden in October still applies in November (I'm in Zone 7).
- Ed Begley's Preferred Fencing? It's recycled plastic. I wonder what he'd say about cedar (see photo above).
- Turns out "smart
irrigation controllers" aren't so smart after all – they use up to 2.5
times the recommended amount of water, as reported in Nursery Management.
Recent Posts
Comments are off for this post
Beautiful fence! The ivy was dreadful–to me ivy just looks like a haven for rodents and mosquitoes.
Advice on the fence: do not paint it. The more opaque/less transparent your wood treatment is, the more obvious it is when it needs re-staining, and you can never do a less opaque stain over it, or change tints–but why would you want to use any tinted stain, if you have cedar?
Sara, I’ve already “painted” it. Actually, it’s a semi-transparent weather-proofing wood stain by Behr. It gives it some protection but lets it still look like cedar. I also hate the opaque stuff.
yeah, that’s what I meant, Susan! I’ve used the opaque Cabot stain in “driftwood” and regretted it–even more so after it started to wear and peel. I love the total effect of your house, fence, and plants–very harmonious.
Nice job
The TROLL
While the ivy covered arbor entrance was charming, I loathe, hate with a mad passion English ivy. It doesn’t play well with others & those drat roots pop up everywhere like bamboo.
I really like your new front garden fence; keeps out the dogs & still shares your garden with the public.
Love the change. Your front looks cleaned up and fresh! The garden outfront is a nice touch!