Rooted Ramblings: Preserving summer herbs
- Master Gardener Volunteers. In July many herbs are at their prime and now is a perfect time to harvest and preserve them. If your herbs are abundant, try freezing them this year.
Rooted Ramblings
Rooted Ramblings: Weeds as friends
- Master Gardener Volunteers. Weeds are "plants in the wrong place," but they can provide immense benefits to your garden's health, local wildlife, and even your kitchen. While aggressive invaders still require management, many common weeds actively work to improve your soil, feed essential pollinators, and offer medicinal or nutritional value.
Rooted Ramblings: Why we need pollinators
- Master Gardener Volunteers. Pollinators such as birds, bees, butterflies, and some small mammals help produce about one out of every three bites of food we eat. By helping plants reproduce, they also support ecosystems and many of the natural resources people depend on.
Rooted Ramblings: Rethinking mulch: Let plants do the work
- Master Gardener Volunteers. In natural landscapes, every layer is filled with living plants, from ground covers and grasses to shrubs and trees. This “green mulch” improves soil, retains moisture, suppresses weeds, filters water, cleans the air, and provides wildlife habitat.
Rooted Ramblings: Growing roses doesn't have to be a thorny issue
- Master Gardener Volunteers. Roses have a reputation of being a hard-to-grow plant. Depending on the variety of rose, that can certainly be true. But it doesn’t have to be the case.
Rooted Ramblings: So many plants, so little time
- Master Gardener Volunteers. I love spring! There’s that fresh fragrance in the air. The beautiful early flowers and the new bird songs added to our winter bird songs. But best of all are the plant sales! Nurseries, greenhouses, home stores, garden clubs, master gardeners, plant swaps, and even your neighbor down the street.
Rooted Ramblings: Oaks, the kings of the forest
- Master Gardener Volunteers. In The Wizard of Oz, the Cowardly Lion sings, “If I were the King of the Forressst!” Move over, Mr. Lion, we already have a king of the forests in Eastern North America, and it’s the oak! Ironic, isn’t it, that the largest trees are spelled with such a short name?
Rooted Ramblings: The Homegrown National Park
- Master Gardener Volunteers. Homegrown National Park Project: Join the movement, be part of the solution. Put your land on the map.
Rooted Ramblings: Starting over in your home gardens
- Master Gardener Volunteers. Our first backyard contained one Bradford Pear (later destroyed in a storm) and a topped white pine. Over 25 years we added trees, shrubs, perennials, a pergola, and two water features. Leaving the now shaded, full yard made my heart stop for a moment. After digging a few perennials to share at the PCMGV plant sale and telling the new owners to call with any questions, we moved on from our first home.
Rooted Ramblings: Healthy plants begin with healthy soil
- Master Gardener Volunteers. The solution to many plant problems begins in the soil. The soil your plants grow in is a living system made up of organic matter, minerals, water, air, and billions of microbes. Understanding soil and promoting soil health is one of the most effective ways to keep plants healthy and maximize your harvest.
Rooted Ramblings: Sowing seeds indoors and in the garden
- Master Gardener Volunteers. Planting seeds, indoors or outdoors, creates the right environment for dormancy to break and new life to begin. Watching a seed sprout feels like magic. Starting seeds indoors is a rewarding, inexpensive way to grow hundreds of healthy transplants and get a head start on the gardening season.
Rooted Ramblings: To prune or not to prune? That is... not the question!
- Master Gardener Volunteers. Many homeowners do not know when or how to prune— so they don’t. Not pruning is a big mistake. We may think it is wrong to remove healthy growth, but just the opposite is true. If you want to minimize disease and insect pressure during the growing season without pesticides, then proper pruning is a must. But what is proper pruning? Let’s explore the when, why, and how of pruning.
Rooted Ramblings: Wild bird landlord – sit, watch and listen
- Master Gardener Volunteers. On any random winter day, when our Portage County, Ohio, yards are frozen and barren, I pour my first cup of coffee and prepare myself for the hidden gems ready to fly down from the trees above. I am aware my yard has been awake and alive since daybreak. I’ve learned the birds’ rhythms and routines over time; my yard has become a safe space for them.
Rooted Ramblings: It's seed season!
- Master Gardener Volunteers. Our family is known for keeping our home fairly cool during the winter months. We say that it’s healthier, but really, it’s to lower our heating bills.
Rooted Ramblings: What is winter sowing?
- Master Gardener Volunteers. What is winter sowing, you ask? Winter sowing is the way many plants perpetuate themselves. They grow from seeds, make flowers, set new seeds, then, in the fall, disperse their new seeds by gravity, wind, water, birds, or small mammals to sprout again, somewhere, next spring.
Rooted Ramblings: O, Christmas Tree!
- Master Gardener Volunteers. Bringing home a fresh-cut Christmas tree is a cherished tradition for many people during the holiday season, with 25-30 million live trees sold in the U.S. every year according to the National Christmas Tree Association.
Rooted Ramblings: Great gifts for the gardener in your life
- Master Gardener Volunteers. One of the best parts of the holiday season is finding a gift that brings lasting joy to the recipient. If you have a gardener in your life, there are a number of great options to consider, from tools to plants to garden décor. But how do you find the right gift for that special person? Here are a few tips that might help narrow down the choices.
Rooted Ramblings: Pumpkin harvests make Thanksgiving delicious
Is there any better holiday meal than Thanksgiving? A meal made delicious because many of the most popular Thanksgiving dishes contain foods that originate in the Americas.