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Fescue, Blue (Festuca glauca) | Today's Featured Plant
Fescue, Blue (Festuca glauca)
Read the full profile of this plant | | | Q&A: Weeding Cobblestone Sidewalk Question: I recently moved into an older home with a great cobblestone sidewalk in the back garden. However, weeds like to grow between the stones. I hesitate to use an herbicide because I don't want to damage the nearby flowers, which include everything from tea roses to daisies. Any suggestions on how to rid the sidewalk area of the weeds? I once was told that common table salt could be used between the cracks of the stones. Is this a possibility?
Answer: It sounds like you've inherited a lovely garden retreat! Salt would probably make the soil inhospitable to plants and soil organisms in your walkway, but there may be danger of the salt leaching into the soil and affecting the plants you want to preserve. How about these alternatives? Some folks like to plant low-growing herbs, such as creeping thyme or dwarf peppermint, between flagstones in a walkway. The herbs grow into a mat, discouraging other plant growth, and as you walk, you're surrounded by the fragrance of the herbs. You could rent or buy a flame weeder, and burn off the weedy growth. You could also clean out the vegetation that is there by using a low-impact, soap-based contact herbicide. The active ingredients are fatty acid salts which kill plant cells on contact, but which do not persist in the environment. Once you weed the area, you could put down a thick layer of bark mulch, sand or other material between the stones to discourage growth in the long term. | | | Q&A: Harvesting Bittersweet Question: When should bittersweet be harvested for drying?
Answer: Bittersweet, or Celastrus, is grown principally for the branches that produce clusters of bright berries. The berry-laden branches are used for dried flower arrangements. Note that the berries are not edible--in fact birds won't even eat them! You can harvest branches in the fall and remove the leaves, or wait until the leaves fall off on their own, then harvest. (The berries will persist on the branches well into the winter months.) | | | Tip: Plant Shallots Plant shallots for harvest next year. Prepare a raised bed amended with compost, plant sets 6 inches apart, and leave tops exposed. After a hard freeze, cover the bed with a 4- to 6-inch-thick layer of chopped leaves or straw. | |
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Plant shallots for harvest next year. Prepare a raised bed amended with compost, plant sets 6 inches apart, and leave tops exposed. After a hard freeze, cover the bed with a 4- to 6-inch-thick layer of chopped leaves or straw. |
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