George's Current Ramblings and Readlings

Should We Be Cutting Back on Peat Moss?

April 5th, 2022

   Peat moss has long been our go-to, store-bought, plant-growing medium, useful for everything from starting seeds to growing potted plants to “lightening” our lousy clay soil.

Most potting mixes are heavily composed of peat moss.

   But its widespread use is under fire lately as some argue that gardeners should move away from peat moss altogether for environmental and climate-change reasons.

   The main issue is that peat moss serves as a super-sponge when it comes to soaking up carbon that otherwise would end up in Earth’s warming atmosphere.

   Although peat bogs cover just 3 percent of the Earth’s surface, they store more carbon than all other vegetation types in the world combined – including trees – according to International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

   Harvesting peatland bogs reduces that layer and sends peat out in forms that are burned as fuel or that quickly decompose in gardens, releasing the stored carbon into the air.

   Fossil fuels also are burned in harvesting and transporting all of the peat, plus harvesting reduces a natural land use that harbors rich biodiversity, mitigates drought, and heads off wildfires.

   The whole issue is especially heated in Great Britain, which is phasing in a ban on most forms of garden-use peat after some 90 percent of its once expansive network of peat bogs has been harvested or degraded.

   Some in Britain, including the Royal Horticultural Society and its best known gardener, TV celebrity Monty Don, are doubling down on a quick end to peat use in gardening.

   Don, for example, calls peat-harvesting “eco-vandalism” and flat-out says, “Gardeners should not be using peat… There is no need. There are plenty of alternatives to peat.”

   Here as there (and despite the alternatives), it’s not easy convincing gardeners to give up such a staple product – especially considering that not even the horticulture industry and many of its leading experts and growers are convinced this is something we need to do.

Gardening for the Greater Good

March 29th, 2022

   Some of my favorite times on this planet are when it’s just me and my plants in the yard on a warm, sunny day.

Does it get any better than this?

   Words such as “peaceful,” “fulfilling,” “refreshing,” “rewarding,” and “joy” come to mind to describe these days, which also offer the physical benefit of exercise in the fresh air.

   But as self-satisfying as gardening can be, it’s also an activity that leads to multiple benefits when done in multitudes.

   “Gardening for the greater good” is the term that the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (the group that runs the Philadelphia Flower Show) has been using lately to describe its big-picture efforts to foster programs that benefit our ecosystems and communities.

   PHS’s consulting horticulturist and avid gardener Nicole Juday Rhoads recently came up with four principles that resonated with me on how gardening helps both us and others.

   I thought I’d share her list…

   1.) Celebrate gardening. “A garden is an expression of your own personality, your growing conditions, and your interests. Let your creativity run wild, and you will be sure to inspire others along the way.

   “After all, there is no ‘right way’ a garden should look. Plant what you love – foliage, flowers, or food. Almost any space can be gardened – from a rooftop, to a windowsill, to a container. Think outside of the (window) box, indoors or out. 

   “Pursue knowledge and information. Gardening is an endlessly fascinating activity.”

   2.) Choose your plants with intention. “Plants are the ingredients of healthy, beautiful gardens that support environmental best practices and local businesses.  

   “Use the power of the purse to buy local and support independent nurseries and growers. Ask your garden center to carry plants and seeds that have been organically raised. Choose plants that support wildlife, especially pollinators. Select plants that are not dependent on chemicals to look their best. And remove invasive plants in your garden.”

   3.) See your garden as part of the ecosystem. “Your garden and what you do in it are part of a larger natural system. Garden in recognition of the environment all around you. 

Award-Winning Plants of 2022

March 22nd, 2022

   Which plants will work best in your yard?

Coralbells ‘Caramel’

   One strategy is considering plants that have won awards from various plant-trial and plant-selection programs.

   Each year, organizations of growers, horticulturists, researchers, and other plant experts bestow awards on top plant performers – some new, some old but just under-used.

   Here’s a look at plants that have won honors for 2022:

Pennsylvania Gold Medal

   A panel of experts assembled by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (best known for running the Philadelphia Flower Show) each year picks a half-dozen trees, shrubs, and perennials worthy of greater use in Pennsylvania landscapes.

   For 2022, two perennials, two shrubs, and two trees made the Gold Medal grade.

Coralbells ‘Caramel’

   ‘Caramel’ is a buttery-gold-leafed version of our native alum root (Heuchera villosa) that grows about 14 inches tall and 30 inches wide, ideally in a site that’s out of afternoon sun. It’s a perennial grown mainly for its foliage, although it does produce some wiry white flowers in early summer.

Clustered mountain mint

Clustered mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum)

   Gardeners trying to attract pollinators might want to start with this mint-family perennial that was the top pollinator-attracting plant in Penn State University trials. Clustered mountain mint grows about three feet tall, produces pinkish-white flowers most of the summer, and has a minty fragrance. Best in full sun.

Abelia ‘Little Richard’

   ‘Little Richard’ is a tried-and-true, deer-resistant, compact, rounded shrub that produces tubular white flowers for months, starting in late spring. Leaves are semi-evergreen. Plants grow three to four feet tall and wide in sun or part shade.

American holly ‘Maryland Dwarf’

Holly ‘Maryland Dwarf’

   This evergreen is a native holly with spiny, glossy leaves, but it doesn’t grow anything like the tall-tree form that’s most familiar. ‘Maryland Dwarf’ is actually a low, spreading, berry-producing female holly that grows only about three feet tall but with a spread of 10 feet or more. It does best in moist soil and full sun to part shade.

Maple Autumn Blaze

   This fast-growing shade tree is a cross between two native maples (silver and red maples), and like most maples, is most regarded for its brilliant red-orange fall foliage. Autumn Blaze is a reliable and largely trouble-free variety that can grow about 60 feet tall and 40 feet wide. Best in full sun.

Kousa dogwood Scarlet Fire
Credit: Rutgers University

Kousa dogwood Scarlet Fire

   Decades in the works at Rutgers University, this new variety of Kousa (Chinese) dogwood tree is distinctive for its rich pink late-spring flowers. It also has red fall fruits, deep-red fall foliage, decorative flaking bark, and excellent disease resistance. Grows about 25 feet tall and 20 feet wide in sun or part shade.

(Disclosure: The author is a member of the Gold Medal panel.)

Green Ribbon Native Plants

   This program, run by the staff and Horticulture Committee at Jenkins Arboretum and Gardens in Devon, Pa., focuses on singling out some of our region’s best native plants for home landscapes.

When to Plant Which Edibles?

March 15th, 2022

   One of the tricky parts about vegetable gardening is knowing exactly when to plant each crop.

Some plants are best direct-seeded into the garden, others are best grown from transplants.

   Some need to go in the garden early so they’re done and ready by the time the weather gets hot.

   Others will croak if you plant too soon.

   Still others have two different planting windows, and a few can be planted successively throughout the season.

   Also important is knowing which crops do best when direct-seeded into the ground vs. being started from a store-bought transplant or a young plant you’ve started inside from seed over winter.

   Here’s a crop-by-crop calendar – geared to the Harrisburg area and based on my 40 years of veggie-growing experience – to help you know the ideal timing and seed/plant preferences of our most popular edibles:

   Basil: Direct-seed or plant transplants from mid-May through end of July.

   Beans, dill: Direct-seed from mid-May to end of July.

   Beets: Direct-seed from early April to end of July.

   Broccoli: Plant transplants in April early-summer harvest and again from mid-July to mid-August for fall harvest.

   Brussels sprouts, cauliflower: Plant transplants in April for early-summer harvest and in July for fall harvest.

   Cabbage: Plant transplants from third week of March through April for summer harvest and mid-July through mid-August for fall harvest.

   Cantaloupes, watermelon, pumpkins: Direct-seed or plant transplants from mid-May through mid-June.

   Carrots: Direct-seed between early April and end of July.

   Chard: Direct-seed between mid-April and mid-July.

   Collards: Direct-seed April through May for summer harvest and again in July for fall harvest.

   Corn: Direct-seed from early May through end of June.

Going Native with the “Wild Ones”

March 8th, 2022

   If you’re interested in native plants, a new chapter of a national native-plant group is taking root in 11 counties around south-central Pennsylvania.

Bill and Jane Allis are spearheading a local chapter of Wild Ones.

   The group is known as the “Wild Ones,” and it’s a Wisconsin-based not-for-profit that aims to encourage people to plant more native plants in their yards.

   The local effort is being spearheaded by Bill and Jane Allis, a retired couple who opened the semi-public, 36-acre Bower Native Plant Garden and Sculpture Park last year in Perry County.

   The new South Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the Wild Ones met for the first time online via Zoom last week. It’ll meet monthly and feature native seed and plant swaps, field trips to native-plant gardens and nurseries, and educational resources on native plants.

   The national group was founded in 1990 with the aim of promoting “environmentally sound landscaping practices to preserve biodiversity through the preservation, restoration, and establishment of native plant communities.”

   Its motto is “healing the Earth, one yard at a time.”

   Including the new South Central Pennsylvania chapter, Wild Ones now has 67 chapters in 26 states, plus 19 more “seedling” chapters in the process of forming.

   Prospective members can join by going to the Wild Ones “Join Now” page and selecting the membership-type drop-down box. Annual household memberships begin at $40.

   Jane Allis, who’s president of the new local chapter, said residents can still participate in the group and its activities without becoming an official Wild Ones member.

   The local group next plans to meet, in person, on Sun., March 27, at 2 p.m. at The Bower for a session on end-of-winter native-plant care.

   It’ll also meet Mon., March 28, at 7 p.m. via Zoom for its regular monthly meeting. Meetings are to be held the last Monday of each month.

   The South Central Pennsylvania chapter will cover Dauphin, Cumberland, Lebanon, Adams, York, Perry, Juniata, Mifflin, Huntingdon, Franklin, and Fulton counties.

   More information is available by emailing Allis at wildonesscpa@gmail.com or by visiting the chapter’s Facebook page.