Garden Rant

Guest Review: Complete Compost Gardening Guide

by Ed Bruske, The Slow Cook, composting guru, president of DC Urban Gardeners

I would not want to choose between gardening and composting. But if you put a gun to my head, I would have to cast my lot with composting. If anything surpasses the satisfaction I take from watching things grow, it is the damn near spiritual uplift I get when I am stirring a pile of old leaves, grass clippings, kitchen scraps and such, knowing my dark brew shortly will be returning to the good earth whence it came. Making new life from dead stuff truly is like being present at the creation. Mucking about with fungi, bacteria and earthworms puts me in touch with the life force.

 

Composting should be mandatory--and not just for gardener. As inhabitants of this small, blue and increasingly overcrowded planet, we should all know the principles at work in our trash heaps. So I say there can hardly be enough good books about composting. Thankfully, Barbara Pleasant and Deborah L. Martin, authors of The Complete Compost Gardening Guide, go to some extraordinary lengths to dispel the idea that composting must be difficult or resemble a science experiment. When did we arrive at this point where nothing significant happens anymore without human intervention? Is composting really about keeping a separate refrigerator for kitchen scraps, aiming for that precise moment when a critical amount of "greens" and "browns" has been achieved, throwing them all together and crying "Eureka!" when our designer composting thermometer reads 160 degrees?

Re-branding BH&G

This just in from a Better Homes & Gardens editor who spoke at a recent media gathering:

• The hard-working folks at BH&G's parent company Meredith (slogan: We Inspire. She Makes It Happen) have re-branded their editorial staff as Content Strategists.  Whenever a piece of content (commodities that were themselves re-branded from their old, boring names of 'writing' and 'art') comes their way, they strategize over what to do with it. Should it be an article? A sidebar? A blog? A book? A video?  An email? A video game? A toy?  A tool? A punctuation mark?  It's up to the strategists.

• The way to really make bank at BH&G is to suggest homes or gardens for them to photograph.  If you do that, you're called a 'finder', and you get $500 just for finding it.  If you take the photos or write the article, you also get a cookie.  (Kidding.  They do pay for that, too.)

• You're gonna see a lot more of those now-and-then 'specialty' publications from them (BH&G Decks & Patios, that sort of thing)

• One of those specialty publications, Nature's Garden, is all about gardening WITH nature.  As opposed to...well, never mind.  One word they don't use in Nature's Garden? "The O-word." Why?  "Well, there's another magazine that has that pretty well covered." That's right.  Even 'organic' has been re-branded as...uh...gardening with nature.  But not necessarily without Miracle-Gro.  I get it.  I guess.

• They're having a devil of a time figuring out how to reach those durned twenty and thirty-something gardeners. Are they out there?  Who are they? What do they want?  Not the O-word, right?   We don't use the O-word.  It's not part of our content strategy.

You figure it out.  I'm going back to bed.

Review: The Informed Gardener

by Susan
Linda Chalker-Scott, university researcher and educator, not to mention editor of Master Gardener magazine, has compiled the best of her famous "Horticultural Myths" columns into a book, The Informed Gardener.  The back cover asks:

• Are native plants the best choice for sustainable landscaping?
• Are organic products better or safer than synthetic ones?
• What is the best way to control weeds—fabric or mulch?
• Are compost teas effective in controlling diseases?
• How can you differentiate good advice from bad advice?

Gee, could she get any MORE relevant to our hottest topics here at the Rant?  And you may remember we've already dissected her "Myth of Xeriscaping" here.  But with this juicy collection, where's a reviewer to start?

First, what a gorgeous cover!  My nongardening friends are even picking it up.

And I certainly agree with this quote on the back cover:

"What a godsend to have so many competing claims about gardening examined from a scientific viewpoint and explained in an easy-to read-format." Susan Harris, www.Sustainable-Gardening.com and www.GardenRant.com.

Look, Ma, I'm blurbing!  Bloggers and webmasters take note - those www's are right up there with the credentials of a print blurber (Ginny Stibolt, author of Sustainable Gardening for Florida) and a famous radio blurber (Ketzel Levine of NPR's "Talking Plants"). Ginny and Ketzel describe the book as "a must-have for every gardener" and "no-hype, nothing-to-sell-but-the-truth," and I say damn right!  But what we're all saying is that the good Dr. Chalker-Scott has slogged through hundreds of peer-reviewed academic articles for us gardeners, figured it out, then boiled it all down to really simple language, including a "Bottom Line" for every topic.  THANK YOU.   

We all remember learning about the scientific method back in high school, right?  Apparently it's still recommended!  Peer review?  Same deal.  So I guess we can all stop arguing with each other about the hot topics of eco-gardening and agree to rely on her science-based conclusions.

Like hell.  Most of us can learn a lot from this book and become sustainable gardeners, save money we might have spent on unnecessary products, and "feel better mentally, physically, and spiritually," as the author says.  But people who base their opinions on ideology or fear won't be convinced by her common-sense reasoning anyway, so the ranting will never stop, I'm afraid.  Oh wait - that's a good thing for my favorite team blog.

Is It National Garden Month Already?

Wow.  It feels like the last National Garden Month just ended!  Like, today.

But here we are on the brink of April 1, and according to this here press release, the National Garden Bureau (a non-profit run by representatives of the seed industry with the goal of 'disseminating accurate information about gardening') and the National Gardening Association (a non-profit with a more diverse group of horticultural types on its board; its aim is to provide 'plant-based education') have teamed up to celebrate National Garden Month.

There's a festival in Manhattan's Union Square called NYC Grows, sponsored by Target, Lowes, Scotts, and others, which is described on the National Garden Month website as an event that will (I'm not making this up) "provide opportunities for national, regional, and local companies to demonstrate their social responsibility to, and create brand awareness among, consumers interested in making their lives more 'green.'"

Create brand awareness.  That's the actual, stated, right-there-on-the-website goal of this event.

And it seems to be the only real, official event of National Garden Month.  Other than that, we are encouraged to troll the website for Easy Garden Tips, search an online calendar for garden shows or 'educational programs' in our area, and generally celebrate the 'endearing and enduring love of nurturing plants.'

So get out there, folks!  Enjoy National Garden Month while you can! 'Cause it's going to be over in..uh... a month!  Oh, and don't forget about that brand awareness.  You're gonna need that.

"Quick and easy" concrete leaf castings? You're kidding, right?

by Susan
I was recently asked what's up with the phrase "bored with perfect magazine gardens" in our Manifesto, and it got me thinking.  Honestly, my biggest gripe with gardening magazines isn't the perfection of the gardens they show us or even the sometimes tedious writing.  No, for me it's their insistence on cheerleading for every new plant, product and technique.  Plants seem to always perform well, suspiciously well.  And everything's "quick and easy."

The latest case in point is the step-by-step spread in the new Fine Gardening about concrete leaf castings.  Here's what I agree with: that they're a "lovely and inexpensive way to enhance your garden with an imprint from the foliage found in it."  What they decidedly are NOT, at least for me, is "quick and easy" or "virtually foolproof".

Now, I'm no art teacher like the author, just your average dabbler in the garden and toolshed.  But I've made at least 150 of these things, testing a variety of ingredients and methods, and I've produced more than a fool's share of castings that break, and an even larger number that just look like crap.  Not to mention the ones that can't be hung on a wall because the hook I inserted didn't work, or I just forgot to use it at the right time.

But here's why so many of them look like crap, including the finished casting shown in the article.  It's because when the concrete goes beyond the outside edge of the leaf the result doesn't look NEARLY as nice as when it's piled carefully along the edge of the leaf - with just the right consistency, mind you, so it doesn't ooze over the edge.  Still, the extra bits need to be filed off - at the exact right time in the curing process.  It's all pretty challenging and time-consuming, but worth it, I think, for the look you see here.  See, I also encourage people to try leaf castings, but not because they're "quick and easy."

So if you read the four pages of instructions in Fine Gardening and wonder why it looks so damn complicated, you're not alone.  It's not just you; the project IS complicated.

MORE CONCRETE PROJECTS
Something else that isn't "quick and easy" is making hypertufa pots.  No way.  Attend a workshop, sure, but doing it at home is a serious undertaking.

But a project that really IS quick and easy and fun for practically any age is the making of concrete pavers using cake pans.  It still requires supervision by adults, and the fun little doodads inserted into the wet cement may or may not stay in the pavers, and who knows how long the thing will last, but who cares?  Everyone loves them.

Review: Hardy Succulents

by Susan
Just when we need them the most, gardenwriters and publishers are hard at work showing us the plants we'll be relying on increasingly in the age of global weirding known as climate change.  You know, with not just longer droughts but rain, when it comes at all, being dumped on us in worsening downpours. Gardening is getting trickier and we need help!

So along come writer Gwen Kelaidis to educate us and photographer Saxon Holt to inspire us with droolable photos of Hardy Succulents, which will help spread these super-drought-tolerant plants to zones that experience freezing winters.  Kelaidis has grown these babies in New York, Wisconsin and Colorado, so I believe her when she says they'll survive the half-hearted winters of Maryland.

SEDUMS - LOVE 'EM, GOT 'EM
Sedums are the soil-and-exposure-tolerant species that's already become commonplace, at least the taller 'Autumn Joy' and its cousins 'Matrona' and 'Neon'.  Yep, got 'em, and recommend them all the time as among the most sustainable perennials in the world for almost any situation.  I even have a big ole' collection in pots on my deck, and they take total neglect quite happily.  But here's what I just learned from Kelaidis - there are sedums that prefer shade.  Gotta check into that.

ICE PLANTS - WANT 'EM
This book also explained for me why I don't often see see ice plants grown here in the Mid-Atlantic - they balk at clay and need a rock garden-type medium to grow in, like sand and gravel.  And I found this interesting - that although they come from tropical South Africa, ice plants have retained their residual hardiness from back in the era before the continents drifted apart, when Africa was farther north.  See, I didn't even know that South Africa is tropical, and continent-shifting always gets my attention.

CACTUS - YOU CAN HAVE 'EM
True desert plants look ridiculous here in the East  - to my eyes.  Same goes for yuccas, which are grown around here.  But hey, to each their own and if you like them, you'll have Kelaidis to thank for expanding your options.

BOTTOM LINE
I LOVE this gorgeous, inspiring, info-packed book for gardening in the Age of Climate Change and highly recommend it.  The practical advice even includes which plants are affordable in which situations and design ideas that take cost into consideration (thank you!).  It's clear that the author actually grows these plants herself, including 200+ varieties of what she lovingly calls "semps". (The nickname alone makes me want some Sempervivums.)

About the photographs, we've praised Saxon Holt before and this new collection will only enhance his reputation as an outstanding garden photographer.  He e-mailed to say they were taken at "Ed Snodgrass's green roofs in Maryland, Stonecrop in New York, Peckerwood in Texas, and at Tony Avent's Plant Delights, among many other private gardens." 

NIT-PICKING
Now comes the part where the review lives up to the blog name.

• Kelaidis says that succulent ground covers do well on steep slopes, but how does that square with the warning in Covering Ground (also published by Storey and reviewed here) that creeping sedums don't have long enough roots to prevent erosion on hillsides?  I care because I'm trying to replace lawn with creeping sedum on a hillside myself.
• On the subject of staking sedums, why not just follow the sound advice of Tracy DiSabato-Aust and hack 'em back?  Kelaidis does suggest buying nondrooping varieties instead, which is also a good idea.
• Language.  Are hens and chicks really "beguiling"?  And do sedums "enchant the eye"?  Maybe so.  And the language I prefer - describing my favorites as "awesome" or "cool" - admittedly isn't exactly literary and may explain why I'm writing online and not in glossy books. (Ironically, the author does use the bizarre word "coolth".)
• The dog-lover in me wanted to insert this important point about agaves - they're dangerous!  Seriously, dogs have been known to lose an eye to those spikes, and they can certainly hurt toddlers, too.  Cats I don't worry about; they're much too smart to crash into spiky-looking plants at full speed.

WE NEED 'EM
The important point is that some succulents are hardy as far north as Zone 3, for crissakes, so with increasing pressures on our dwindling water supplies, now's the time to give them a try.  I bet the Washington Post's Adrian Higgins would agree, because this week he wrote this piece about the effects of last year's drought on our plants.  It's part of a twofer, with his companion piece "A Word to the Water-Wise: Start Tilling" explaining how to prepare our "soil" for these super-drought-tolerant plants, listing local demonstration gardens, and more.  Time to get ready for the Great Drought of 2008.

Photos (c) Saxon Holt, from Hardy Succulents by Gwen Moore Kelaidis.

About.com's gardening coverage just got a lot better

Sure, I've been known to pick on the New York Times-owned megasite About.com, but I'm happy to report the very good news that they've chosen Colleen Vanderlinden of In the Garden Online as their organic gardening expert.  Congratulations, Colleen - you deserve it - and kudos to the folks at About for A, recognizing that organic gardening needs to be covered and B, having the good sense to choose Colleen.  We can all sleep soundly, knowing that SHE won't be touting the wisdom of Jerry Baker.

Rachel Carson and her Sense of Wonder

by Susan
The DC Environmental Film Festival offers oodles of films to choose from - but just try getting a ticket for any of them.  Lucky for me, my super-organized friend Kathy Jentz acquired press passes for the sold-out world premier of the Rachel Carson biopic Sense of Wonder, written by and starring Kaiulani Lee.  Here she is dressed and coiffed as Carson, so it was quite a shock to see her rise to answer our questions as her very glamorous and much longer-looking self (click on her name to see for yourself.)

The back story for this film is particularly interesting.  Lee's childhood in the same Maine woods so loved by Carson led her to an interest in portraying Carson in a play, so she began a long search for the perfect playwright to make it all happen.  She even enlisted the help of William Shawn, the New Yorker editor who serialized Carson's works, and he  finally told her that SHE was the perfect person to write it, which she did.

The play and movie are in two acts, both set in 1963 around the time of the publication of Silent Spring, with all its attendant hoopla.  The first act takes place in the woods of Maine, the second at her winter home (near me) in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Fast forward through 16 years of performing Sense of Wonder on the stage, until finally Lee was approached by some first-class filmmakers, and the result is this little gem.

MOVIE REVIEW
Oh, is this where I'm supposed to analyze and criticize the movie?  Sorry, I was too focussed on Carson's every word - and to me this actress WAS Carson - to remember to think analytically or critically.  I DO remember feeling in awe of what Carson accomplished, and very moved to hear her express my very own feelings about nature. 

National Home Gardening Club - WTF?

by Susan
Here's a question I keep hearing and reading:  What's up with the National Home Gardening Club and it's Gardening How-To Magazine?  And indeed I'm JUST as confused as everyone else.  See, I don't even remember subscribing but when they sent me dunning notices I coughed up the $12 and decided to investigate.

While the first source of confusion is the unusual nature of the club-magazine combo, when a question about it was put to the gardening Yahoo group in my neighborhood, the answers revealed not just widespread confusion but irritation with the reams of junk mail coming out of the company.  Then one astute listserv member pointed us to what commenters at Dave's Garden Watchdog have to say about this company.  And oh, boy, let the ranting begin!

In summary, there are 18 positive responses, 10 neutral, and 30 negative.  And can you really trust those too-glowing positives?  (We know that employees of company - of all types - are routinely instructed to comment favorably on forums, so I discount them by at least half.)  And these lifted words from the negatives and neutrals reveal a decided pattern: "suckered in," "false promises," "waste of money," "false advertising," "switcheroo", "irritating experience,"  "total scam,"  "deceptive,"  and "avoid this company!"

There's more.  The "free" stuff is deemed "junk" and "worthless".  The magazine is "a joke," "barely there," and full of "grade school level gardening tips".  (I have to agree, based on the 5 whole minutes it takes to read one of them.)

So who ARE these annoying people?  The Terms of Use on their website are instructive:

This Website is provided by North American Membership Group ("NAMG"), subject to the following Terms of Service ("TOS"), which may be updated by us from time to time...These TOS apply to the following sites: Huntingclub.com, Fishingclub.com, Handymanclub.com, Gardeningclub.com, Partnersclubonline.com, Cookingclub.com, Healthandwellnessclub.com, Creativehomeartsclub.com, Thehistorychannelclub.com, Streetmachineclub.com, Clubrapala.com, and Namginc.com.

So neither the magazine nor the "club" exactly spring forth from the bosom of the horticultural establishment.  But readers, weigh in.  Positive, negative or - hard to imagine - neutral?

A WORD ABOUT FORUMS
The Watchdog feature on Dave's Garden is awesome and I accessed it without paying anything, so I'm confused.  I seem to remember complaints about fees, so has that changed? And if Daves is free, why exactly do we need the dozens of new forums that are launched on the Web every month?  Clearly I'm not a forum person myself, so enlighten me.

Always The Dirtiest Book On My Shelf

Workman Publishing has just released The Garden Primer: The Completely Revised Gardener's Bible. It is, as you may have gathered from the title, the completely revised edition of Barbara Damrosch's classic 20 year-old how-to book. 

Fortunately, it's not completely revised. It is still one of those rare things in life that is simply better than it needs to be, like the Lindt 70% cocoa bars I buy in the supermarket or my son's fourth grade teacher. Damrosch's book is more personal, warm, and literate than we have any right to expect from a how-to, and I love her for it.

In fact, I've given away at least ten copies of the original version of this book to friends--apparently, all my copies, so forgive me if the one comparison I want to make with the old version is just a fiction of a faulty memory. However, there is a humbler tone now than I remember in the 1988 edition. The section that discusses pests and diseases ends with an eloquent plea for the interdependence of all life and the limits of our knowledge:

My own philosophy is that most of the time I can't predict what the outcome of my manipulation of the natural world will be, because that world is so complex.  So although I might regulate this or that aspect of it, I try to do the very minimum and avoid any measures I fear might be harmful. I don't try to be a perfect gardener; I don't always judge my success by the number of flowers on a plant or the size of a fruit.

Amen.  We gardeners have come a long way from arguing that because rotenone is organic, we can powder the joint with it with impunity.

The best part of the book is still its sections on fruits and vegetables.  Damrosch stretches for comprehensiveness by including information on perennials, shrubs, trees, and even houseplants, but she doesn't pretend to love all her children equally: "Even as a veteran rose-sniffing, tree-hugging grower of ornamental plants, if I had to choose between growing food and growing flowers, food would win." A woman after my own heart.

For years, I never planted my vegetable garden in spring without dragging a dirty copy of The Garden Primer into the garden with me to remind me that beans like acid soil.  Superbly well-organized, vegetable by vegetable, the essential information about sowing, growing, and harvesting is all here.

Here is what the book is not: a primer. While this is the best possible reference for beginners, it is not the book to persuade the timid to begin gardening. For one thing, it is 820 pages, including the index.  Though Damrosch's writing is delightful page by page, the sheer volume of advice might convince the less-than-committed to take up scrapbooking instead.

And the book still includes a diagram for double-digging--I'll leave it up to Elizabeth to explain what is so horribly wrong about that--and two of those insane perennial bloom-time spreadsheets. It's just not nice to frighten the young ones that way.

Still, these are minor quibbles with that rare gardening book that I still pick up after 20 years and enjoy immensely every time I do. I certainly hope that Susan Harris, who will be planting her first vegetable garden this spring, has a copy on hand. Otherwise, I'll be forced to give mine away for the 11th time.