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Teen who zapped nipples during shop class sues
Akron teen shot to death outside home
Donors pay millions to put their names in UA stadium
Winning an NBA title drives Cavs new coach Byron Scott
Browns cut Brandon McDonald, who Twitters about move
Volunteer, 90, has ultimate job
Blogs:
Cleveland Browns:
Transcript from conference call with Browns GM Tom Heckert
Marla Ridenour on Sports:
Browns gamble and lose on Hardesty
Varsity Letters:
Firestone’s Miller qualifies for 2012 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials
The330:
Area drummer lives rock ’n’ roll dream on a national tour with a famous fan
Tribe Matters:
First Bell - On Education:
Connie Hathorn to lead Youngstown
The Heldenfiles:
"Babies" DVD/BD Details
Pets:
The Fly Mask Debacle
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Cavs change uniforms … again
Akron Zips:
Kent State Sports:
Monte Simmons Fractures Left Fibula
Akron Docs in Haiti:
Orphans in Fondwa
Buckeye Blogging:
‘The Shoe’ is Open for Business
All Da King's Men:
The Man Behind The Curtain
Blog of Mass Destruction:
It's Gonna' Be So Great
Akron Law Café:
Using IP to build bridges
Car Chase:
SNEAK PEEK AT 2010 GLENMOOR GATHERING
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Love Is In The Air (SING IT!)
Sound Check:
Robert Wilson, Gap Band bassist, dies
See Jane Style:
Making It Up
HRLite House:
From the White House – New Federal Approach to Hiring
By Mary Beth Breckenridge
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 11:04 a.m. EDT, May 15, 2009
This could be the year your love of flower gardening blossoms.
Watching a tiny plant grow and unfurl into a thing of beauty is one of life's simplest joys. And it's one that's well within the reach of anyone with a little ground to plant.
Here are answers to some common questions that will help you get a flower garden started.
Do I need a plan? It helps, if only to help you narrow your choices at the nursery. But more than just a planting layout, you want to have some knowledge about your garden.
First, observe the spot where you intend to plant. Pay attention to how much time each part of the garden spends in sun or shade. Is the area unusually wet, dry or windy? Knowing those things will help you choose flowers that are suited to the conditions. What about the soil? Healthy soil is the foundation of a successful garden. The best way to improve your soil's health is by adding compost.
You can mix it into the soil with a tiller or shovel once the soil is dry enough to work. (Don't try digging when the soil is wet.) Or just spread a layer a few inches deep on top of your garden. Over time, the worms and microorganisms will incorporate the organic matter into the soil.
Add more compost every year. Fall is the best time, so the compost will be worked into the soil by spring. It's also a good idea to test your soil to determine its acidity or alkalinity and what it contains and needs. What's the difference between annuals and perennials? Annuals are plants that grow naturally in warmer areas, so in our part of the country they survive only until the weather turns cold. Perennials are plants that are hardy in our area and return year after year.
Most perennials have a limited bloom time, while annuals typically bloom all through the summer. So even if your garden is mostly perennials, it's nice to add a few annuals for season-long color.
Another plant category is a biennial. It has a two-year life cycle, meaning it produces roots, stems and leaves the first year, and then flowers, fruits and seeds the second. After that the plant dies, although some biennials leave seeds behind that produce new plants. Which plants are the easiest to grow? You can't go wrong with plants that are native to our area or are offspring of native plants. Because they've thrived on their own in nature for ages, they can probably take whatever abuse or neglect a gardener can dish out.
Or choose non-native plants that have a reputation for being low-fuss and resistant to disease.
There are many good choices out there, but a few that grow well in our area are garden phlox (''David'' is a favorite among gardeners), goldenrod, asters, heliopsis, Joe Pye weed, daylilies, Knockout and Meidiland shrub roses, Endless Summer hydrangea and cranesbill geranium.
Acclaimed garden writer Tracy DiSabato-Aust recently came out with a book filled with suggestions, 50 High-Impact, Low-Care Garden Plants. She gardens in Ohio, albeit south of here, but that makes her advice particularly valuable to gardeners in our region.
Whatever plants you choose, be sure to match the plant's light requirement to the conditions. Plants marked ''full sun'' need at least six hours of direct sunlight during the middle part of the day. If you're planting in an area that gets less than four hours of sun a day and none in the middle of the day, choose plants marked ''full shade.'' For anything else, choose plants marked ''partial sun'' or ''partial shade.'' How much is this going to cost me? It's easy to spend hundreds of dollars on compost, plants, tools and other gardening must-haves. But there are ways to cut costs.
Instead of buying perennials in large containers, look for smaller plants. Or put off planting some things till fall, when you can take advantage of sales.
This time of year, many garden clubs sell plants, often from their members' own gardens. Such sales often are a great place to pick things up cheap.
Better yet, get your hands on free plants. Many flowering plants need to be divided to keep them healthy and looking good, and your gardening friends may be more than happy to share. Online sites such as Freecycle (http://www.freecycle.org) and Craigslist (http://www.craigslist.com) are other possible sources.
Making your own compost is also a money-saver as well as an earth-friendly way of dealing with food and garden waste. You can add all sorts of organic matter such as grass clippings, dead branches and food scraps to the pile, but be careful to avoid meat and fats. They'll create odor and attract animals. What flowers go well together? The artistry involved in combining plants can be one of the trickiest but most rewarding parts of gardening. Color, texture, shape and size — not just of the flowers, but also of the foliage — all figure into what looks good with what.
But don't be overwhelmed. Books, magazine articles, Web sites and other resources are dedicated to the topic, and some flower breeders even market flowers that look well together.
A few books are Designer Plant Combinations: 105 Stunning Gardens Using Six Plants or Fewer by Scott Calhoun, Plant Partners by Anna Pavord, Perennial Companions: 100 Dazzling Plant Combinations for Every Season by Tom Fischer and Rose Companions: Growing Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs, Shrubs, and Vines with Roses by Stephen Scanniello.
Or just type ''plant combinations'' into a Web browser. You'll turn up a number of articles with suggestions. What kind of time commitment am I looking at? That depends a lot on the plants you choose, the size of your garden and your expectations. A small plot of mostly native plants will require little upkeep. A sprawling border of fussy specimens will demand constant attention.
Figure on spending the most time and energy on preparing and planting your garden. Then you'll need to weed throughout the season, because otherwise those unwanted plants will steal water and nutrients from your flowers and possibly choke them out. Plan on spending some time every week on the task, so you can eliminate the weeds when they're still young and easy to pull, and before they go to seed and spread.
Adding a weed preventer such as Preen or a layer of compost or other mulch can help keep the weed population down.
Some plants look and perform best with regular deadheading, which means removing the faded blooms. Deadheading not only keeps the plant neater-looking, but it also extends the bloom time because it encourages the plant to put its energy into making new flowers. The most attentive gardeners do this daily; others skip it altogether or just give their plants an occasional cleanup.
You may also need to water during dry spells and keep an eye out for pests or diseases that require attention. But if you choose plants that tolerate dry conditions and aren't susceptible to problems, you'll greatly reduce the time needed for those tasks.
As your plants age, you'll need to divide some of them, which involves digging them up and splitting them into smaller pieces. How can I learn how to care for specific plants? A good gardening book is invaluable. The one I keep on my desk is Better Homes and Gardens New Complete Guide to Gardening, but lots of choices are available. I've been impressed by DiSabato-Aust's books, particularly The Well-Tended Perennial Garden.
It's also nice to have a book written especially for our area, perhaps as a companion to a good overall gardening guide. A few suggestions are The Gardening Book for Ohio by Denny McKeown and Best Garden Plants for Ohio and Annuals for Ohio and Perennials for Ohio, both by Debra Knapke and Alison Beck.
In addition, Akron garden designers Sabrena Schweyer and Samuel Salsbury offer tips in the free e-mail newsletter put out by their firm, Salsbury-Schweyer Inc. Sign up to receive e-mail updates in the ''Contact'' section of the company's Web site, http://www.salsbury-schweyer.com.
Mary Beth Breckenridge can be reached at 330-996-3756 or mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com.
This could be the year your love of flower gardening blossoms.
Watching a tiny plant grow and unfurl into a thing of beauty is one of life's simplest joys. And it's one that's well within the reach of anyone with a little ground to plant.
Here are answers to some common questions that will help you get a flower garden started.
Do I need a plan? It helps, if only to help you narrow your choices at the nursery. But more than just a planting layout, you want to have some knowledge about your garden.
First, observe the spot where you intend to plant. Pay attention to how much time each part of the garden spends in sun or shade. Is the area unusually wet, dry or windy? Knowing those things will help you choose flowers that are suited to the conditions. What about the soil? Healthy soil is the foundation of a successful garden. The best way to improve your soil's health is by adding compost.
You can mix it into the soil with a tiller or shovel once the soil is dry enough to work. (Don't try digging when the soil is wet.) Or just spread a layer a few inches deep on top of your garden. Over time, the worms and microorganisms will incorporate the organic matter into the soil.
Add more compost every year. Fall is the best time, so the compost will be worked into the soil by spring. It's also a good idea to test your soil to determine its acidity or alkalinity and what it contains and needs. What's the difference between annuals and perennials? Annuals are plants that grow naturally in warmer areas, so in our part of the country they survive only until the weather turns cold. Perennials are plants that are hardy in our area and return year after year.
Most perennials have a limited bloom time, while annuals typically bloom all through the summer. So even if your garden is mostly perennials, it's nice to add a few annuals for season-long color.
Another plant category is a biennial. It has a two-year life cycle, meaning it produces roots, stems and leaves the first year, and then flowers, fruits and seeds the second. After that the plant dies, although some biennials leave seeds behind that produce new plants. Which plants are the easiest to grow? You can't go wrong with plants that are native to our area or are offspring of native plants. Because they've thrived on their own in nature for ages, they can probably take whatever abuse or neglect a gardener can dish out.
Or choose non-native plants that have a reputation for being low-fuss and resistant to disease.
There are many good choices out there, but a few that grow well in our area are garden phlox (''David'' is a favorite among gardeners), goldenrod, asters, heliopsis, Joe Pye weed, daylilies, Knockout and Meidiland shrub roses, Endless Summer hydrangea and cranesbill geranium.
Acclaimed garden writer Tracy DiSabato-Aust recently came out with a book filled with suggestions, 50 High-Impact, Low-Care Garden Plants. She gardens in Ohio, albeit south of here, but that makes her advice particularly valuable to gardeners in our region.
Whatever plants you choose, be sure to match the plant's light requirement to the conditions. Plants marked ''full sun'' need at least six hours of direct sunlight during the middle part of the day. If you're planting in an area that gets less than four hours of sun a day and none in the middle of the day, choose plants marked ''full shade.'' For anything else, choose plants marked ''partial sun'' or ''partial shade.'' How much is this going to cost me? It's easy to spend hundreds of dollars on compost, plants, tools and other gardening must-haves. But there are ways to cut costs.
Instead of buying perennials in large containers, look for smaller plants. Or put off planting some things till fall, when you can take advantage of sales.
This time of year, many garden clubs sell plants, often from their members' own gardens. Such sales often are a great place to pick things up cheap.
Better yet, get your hands on free plants. Many flowering plants need to be divided to keep them healthy and looking good, and your gardening friends may be more than happy to share. Online sites such as Freecycle (http://www.freecycle.org) and Craigslist (http://www.craigslist.com) are other possible sources.
Making your own compost is also a money-saver as well as an earth-friendly way of dealing with food and garden waste. You can add all sorts of organic matter such as grass clippings, dead branches and food scraps to the pile, but be careful to avoid meat and fats. They'll create odor and attract animals. What flowers go well together? The artistry involved in combining plants can be one of the trickiest but most rewarding parts of gardening. Color, texture, shape and size — not just of the flowers, but also of the foliage — all figure into what looks good with what.
But don't be overwhelmed. Books, magazine articles, Web sites and other resources are dedicated to the topic, and some flower breeders even market flowers that look well together.
A few books are Designer Plant Combinations: 105 Stunning Gardens Using Six Plants or Fewer by Scott Calhoun, Plant Partners by Anna Pavord, Perennial Companions: 100 Dazzling Plant Combinations for Every Season by Tom Fischer and Rose Companions: Growing Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs, Shrubs, and Vines with Roses by Stephen Scanniello.
Or just type ''plant combinations'' into a Web browser. You'll turn up a number of articles with suggestions. What kind of time commitment am I looking at? That depends a lot on the plants you choose, the size of your garden and your expectations. A small plot of mostly native plants will require little upkeep. A sprawling border of fussy specimens will demand constant attention.
Figure on spending the most time and energy on preparing and planting your garden. Then you'll need to weed throughout the season, because otherwise those unwanted plants will steal water and nutrients from your flowers and possibly choke them out. Plan on spending some time every week on the task, so you can eliminate the weeds when they're still young and easy to pull, and before they go to seed and spread.
Adding a weed preventer such as Preen or a layer of compost or other mulch can help keep the weed population down.
Some plants look and perform best with regular deadheading, which means removing the faded blooms. Deadheading not only keeps the plant neater-looking, but it also extends the bloom time because it encourages the plant to put its energy into making new flowers. The most attentive gardeners do this daily; others skip it altogether or just give their plants an occasional cleanup.
You may also need to water during dry spells and keep an eye out for pests or diseases that require attention. But if you choose plants that tolerate dry conditions and aren't susceptible to problems, you'll greatly reduce the time needed for those tasks.
As your plants age, you'll need to divide some of them, which involves digging them up and splitting them into smaller pieces. How can I learn how to care for specific plants? A good gardening book is invaluable. The one I keep on my desk is Better Homes and Gardens New Complete Guide to Gardening, but lots of choices are available. I've been impressed by DiSabato-Aust's books, particularly The Well-Tended Perennial Garden.
It's also nice to have a book written especially for our area, perhaps as a companion to a good overall gardening guide. A few suggestions are The Gardening Book for Ohio by Denny McKeown and Best Garden Plants for Ohio and Annuals for Ohio and Perennials for Ohio, both by Debra Knapke and Alison Beck.
In addition, Akron garden designers Sabrena Schweyer and Samuel Salsbury offer tips in the free e-mail newsletter put out by their firm, Salsbury-Schweyer Inc. Sign up to receive e-mail updates in the ''Contact'' section of the company's Web site, http://www.salsbury-schweyer.com.
Mary Beth Breckenridge can be reached at 330-996-3756 or mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com.
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