Tree and the 7 Gnomes

I was talking with a friend the other day and we were discussing the topic of garden gnomes.  We were discussing if a garden gnome is wrong and what it means, and even where they should go if you have one.

A fairytale describes little brownie-like creatures called “Heinzelmännchen” as nocturnal helpers for mundane tasks dwelling in the city of Cologne, they may have set the paradigm for the garden gnomes with all their gardening tools.  Today’s gnomes are traditionally thought of as being small, bearded and wearing pointed, colourful, conical hats. They live in natural areas close to the Earth and care for wildlife.  That seems to have set the stage for the first garden gnomes, which were made in Germany, in the mid 1800’s.  They were popular to keep the story going as to the helpfulness of the gnome’s willingness to work in the garden at night.

They are often the target of pranks, known collectively as gnoming: people have been known to return garden gnomes “to the wild.”  Some kidnapped garden gnomes have been sent on trips around the world (the travelling gnome prank; this later became the basis for Travelocity’s “Roaming Gnome”).  In 2008, a 53-year-old French man in Brittany was arrested on suspicion of stealing upwards of 170 garden gnomes.

So that brings us back to the question…”To Gnome, or not to Gnome?”  I will leave the conclusion up to you.

Happy Gnoming

Be careful when spraying around small flowers!

Going into winter, it is always annoying that grass and some weeds pop up in the weirdest places because of the cooler temperatures and wet ground.  I get the question a lot from people, “When does Roundup stop working?”  Let me give a short explanation as I answer this question.

Round up is a foliage killer.  What that means is, Roundup will only kill a plant that the liquid touches the foliage.  Once the roundup is on the foliage, the plant will absorb it into its system and use it as fertilizer.  The plant doesn’t realize that it is poison, sending the chemical to the roots and killing the plant.

With that explanation, Round up becomes ineffective when the plant is not actively growing.  If the plant is dormant, it will not absorb the chemical and kill itself.  The bottle usually says below 70 degrees it is ineffective…because plants start going dormant at that point.

Side note…

• If you over concentrate Round up, you will lessen the effects of the product.
• If you spray just dirt, you are wasting your time and money.
• Getting the leaves of the plant wet is sufficient to kill the plant
• It is virtually harmless for most animals, except major grass eaters. (DON’T SPRAY IN A FIELD WITH GOATS, COWS, HORSES, ETC!!)
• When you kill a weed plant, the seeds from that plant will fall to the ground and grow a new plant.  That is why the spot you sprayed turns green again in about 2 weeks.  Use a preventative product to prevent seeds from germinating if you want to prevent this from happening.
• It takes multiple sprays over a long period of time to completely kill Bermuda grass or Nutsedge.

Happy Killing

A Backyard Koi Pond

It may not be completely done yet, but oh is it functional.  I gave a brief synopsis of how to build a koi pond a month or two ago, and was able to put my research to good use.  Check out these links to learn more…Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.  This pond is about a 10 foot around and about 18 inches deep.  The waterfall is about 4 foot high.  We used a skimmer box and a waterfall box to create this awesome looking koi pond.  Soon, I will talk about how to maintain this really neat backyard creation.

Happy Fishing

I wouldn't recommend planting in this!!!

Many of you asked, “Why do I want to Plant in the fall/winter?”  That is a really good question and I am glad you asked.  With the exception of the extreme north where the ground literally freezes and stays that way for many months, this rule applies.

When you plant in the fall/winter, the plant is dormant on the top and will not be focusing on putting out new growth.  The plant will be focusing on developing a root system and will put off many little feeder roots into your soil that it will use to feed itself next year during the hot and dry of the summer.  Yes, it really is that simple.

The other advantage is, it is not hot to plant and you typically don’t have to water at all, which is a huge time, energy and water saver.  Anything we can do to make Al Gore happy is supposed to be a green thing!!! 

Happy Planting