Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/55789
Saturday, February 18, 2012 – Daily News Country Life & garden Digging beneath the surface: Separate the good gardening advice from the misguided tips By William Hageman Chicago Tribune (MCT) Sometimes it seems as if there are as many gardening books as there are dande- lions in spring. And the advice offered in them can be just as useful. "I buy tons (of gardening books) and I get tons to review," Meleah Maynard says, "and I'm really struck by how often I read things I know aren't true or are only partially true. I think in many cases the (authors are) just repeating something they have heard over and over and believe." Maynard is a master gar- dener and jour- nalist. She and Jeff Gillman, an author and associate professor in the department of horticulture science at the University of Minnesota, are setting gar- deners straight with "Decoding Gardening Advice: The Science Behind the 100 Most Com- mon Recommendations" (Timber Press). The book looks at various pieces of advice and divides them into three categories: good, debatable and just wrong. A fellow gardener, May- nard says, noticed that most of the advice is in the "debatable" section. "That's absolutely true," she acknowledged. "When you do a speaking event, 'it depends' comes out of your mouth constantly. It sounds like you're waffling, but it really does depend." We talked to Maynard about the book and the rea- sons behind it. She did not waffle. Q: What prompted the book? A: I live in a neighbor- hood where there aren't a lot of experienced gardeners. So I get a lot of questions. Is it true I have to divide my plants? Is it too late to move my plants? Q: What other questions do you get? A: Watering is a big one. That can be tricky. You need plants to get about an inch of water (a week) from you or rain. Set out a tuna can as a rain gauge and keep track of the rainfall. Q: Was there a section that was especially fun? A: Trees. Jeff knows a lot about trees. He'll plant them in all these different ways, different steps, does this soil or that soil, to see what will work best. ... A lot of gar- deners have commented on things such as how deep they are planted. Not many years ago peo- ple planted young trees deep to make them stand stronger against the wind. But now we realize that's not good for the tree. Instead of going deeper, the roots eventually will come up, looking for the nutrients near the surface. They encircle the tree and choke it. If you buy a tree at a garden center in a contain- er, it's probably already planted too deep. So you have to scrape away till you get to the root collar, where you see roots coming out as a bump; that should be at or just above the soil level. Q: But people took that stuff as gospel not that long ago. Some still do. A: It's not that there is (deliberate) bad advice out there, it's just that it changes. Sometimes Grandma had great ideas, but over time we realize it doesn't always work that well. Q: Any bad gardening tips that are worse than bad? A: Some of the recom- mendations Jeff and I wish would die: Use landscape fabric to control weeds, and divide plants only in spring and fall. Landscape fabric is a poor choice for controlling weeds not only because it isn't long before it wears thin or tears and weeds grow up through it any- way, but also because it often doesn't allow enough water and air to get down into the soil where plant roots are. Without air and water, microbes that keep soil healthy will die. And, honestly, there is no hell like trying to move plants around in a garden where landscape fabric has been put down. As for dividing plants, spring and fall are the best times — in theory — because it's cooler so plants don't suffer trying to get established during the heat of summer. But experienced gardeners don't pay much mind to this advice because, hey, summer is for garden- ing. It's fine to move plants around during the hot sum- mer months as long as you give transplants plenty of water. If it's really a scorcher, you can ease plant stress by creating some tem- porary shade. I do this by draping a towel or sheet over a couple of chairs to shade new transplants. Q: Some good advice for beginners? A: If there was one piece of advice I could give a beginning gardener, it would be to feed the soil so the soil can feed the plants. Pouring fertilizer on plants in bad soil is like giving a starving person a Coke or some other buzz-inducing product. It's a nice burst of energy in the moment, but it does nothing for long-term health. The best way to feed soil is by adding organic matter such as compost, composted manure, shred- ded leaves, grass clippings — all of these things will help if added over time. Here's a link to a publica- tion that might be helpful, eartheasy.com/grow_com- post.html. By John Ewoldt Star Tribune (MCT) MINNEAPOLIS — When the used treadmill that Lindy Forstater bought for $70 quit working, she decided giving it the heave-ho wasn't an option. "I don't want to contribute to a throwaway society like in the movie 'Wall-E,'" said the Shorewood, Minn., resident. "I try to hold on to stuff. I just took my 10-year-old Sony (TV) in for repair, but I can't find anyone to repair my treadmill — or my toaster." "Repair or replace?" used to be a consumer's dilemma for everything from the leaky cof- feemaker to the infected computer. But now that repair shops for many small appliances are as scarce as parts for a 1994 NordicTrack, replace- ment is often the only option. Being a smart shop- per can help keep appli- ances out of repair shop or the recycling bin longer. Before you buy a blender, a smartphone or a dishwasher, do some homework. Consult Consumer Reports for quality and reliability, look at online reviews and read up on war- ranties. You may even check to see if there are authorized service cen- ters in your area. And instead of stuff- ing the owner's manual in the junk drawer, read it. Pay special attention to the "care and mainte- MCT photo Lucy Feng repairs up to five Wii units in an hour at Gophermods in St. Paul, Minnesota, which specializes in repairs of Wii and PlaySta- tion game units. nance" section. It will offer simple tips that can extend the life of your appliance. When the time comes to decide whether to repair or replace, use Consumer Reports' 50 percent rule: Replace a broken item if the repair will cost more than half the price of the new product. In some cases, you can avoid paying for a service call to make that decision. First, explain to a repair person on the phone or in an e-mail what you think is wrong with the item. He or she may be able to diagnose the problem, give you a ballpark price to repair it or suggest a DIY solu- tion. Who fixes what? Need your refrigerator HELP FOR DO-IT- YOURSELFERS If you'd like to try to tackle the repair yourself, check out these sites: Howstuffworks.com (instructions and illustrations) Homerepair.about.com (mainte- nance tips) Manualsonline.com (300,000 owners' manuals) Repairclinic.com, Searspartsdi- rect.com, Partselect.com or Gov- acuum.com (for parts) Great Weekend for Dormant Spraying Liqui-Cop Helps Control Peach Leaf Curl Blight and much more Saturday, February 18th @10am Potato Class Red Bluff Garden Center 527-0886 766 Antelope Blvd. (Next to the Fairground) Tehama County Businesses! Online Ballots Only at www.redbluffdailynews.com Five Lucky Voters will be selected at random from all eligible ballots on March 1. Each will receive a $100 Shopping Spree at the Tehama County business of their choice! Vote for your favorite repaired? Just look in the Yellow Pages or on Google or Angie's List. But finding someone to repair a wafflemaker or a treadmill is exponential- ly more difficult. Before you shop around, check with the retailer or the manufac- turer for repair options, authorized service cen- ters or websites that accept repairs by mail. REUSE, RECYCLE Getting rid of appliances — large and small — can be a hassle. Check with your city or county to see which items they accept for recycling, then check into one of the organizations that fosters person-to-person recycling. • Rethinkrecycling.com lists recycling options for six metro-area counties. • Smartgivers.org offers an extensive list of charities that pick up various items still in working order. Freegeek- twincities.org tries to refurbish comput- ers to sell in its thrift store or give to vol- unteers. • Best Buy accepts many electronics items free for recycling, including TVs 32 inches or smaller, wall mounts, car video, MP3 players, stereo compo- nents, boomboxes, cameras, comput- ers, phones, CDs and DVDs, video games and accessories. For a list, go to Bestbuy.com/recycling. 12 DAYS LEFT TO VOTE! home Fix it or forget it? It's not easy with today's gadgets 3B