GardenFoundation LLC: Monthly Newsletter

The gardening approach that drives this "To Do" list is based on principals of Integrated Pest Management and Organic philosophies. These tasks are also organized in such a way as to give you a systematic, routine method of caring for your garden, covering all aspects of basic horticultural practices (while keeping in mind that you have a Life full of demands on your time!). Because this schedule is based on my own particular region -- The Pacific Northwest -- you may need to adjust some of the tasks to a more appropriate time for your climate.

Check your paper for Iris Festivals in your area. If you've never been to one, it's worth your time to experience a wonderful feast for your eyes AND nose! Don't delay, iris blooms don't last very long!

Weed the South side of your garden.

Clean your bird feeders & bird baths (1:10 bleach to water ratio).

Make another application of dormant horticultural oil on the trees & shrubs that were plagued by pests last year, such as spider mites or aphids.

Liquid fertilize your lawn.

Apply sulfur to trees & shrubs affected with leaf spot diseases last year. This should be the last month you need to do this twice a month, unless you happen to be really plagued with disease. Be sure you don't do this while bees are buzzing about!

Week Five (May 26 - June 1)
Does anything in your garden need staking? Inspect your plants for flopping, drooping, or falling-over tendencies. There are a variety of stakes, props, and other supports you can find at your local garden center.
Do your flower beds need to be edged? This is a good time to delineate where your lawn ends and your flower beds begin.

Looking for information from a previous month's newsletters? Please go HERE.

Cats and Sparrows
Pyon Sang-Byok
12 in x 24 in

"We Found An Abandoned Baby Bird!"
This is the time of year when lots of people think they have found a "chick that's fallen from it's nest", or a "chick that's been abandoned by it's parents". Truth is, most baby birds become fledglings, which means they are not quite capable of adult flight, but they are out of the nest (kind of like teenaged kids!). These fledglings are capable of short flight, a couple of feet to several yards at a time (sometimes more). You may notice that fledgling birds have feathers that don't seem fully developed, have patches of down on their bodies, have short/stumpy wings & tails, and may seem to behave "stunned" or "lost" or "dumb", etc. Generally, when baby birds fledge, they do fly a short distance from the nest. Sometimes they return to the nest periodically for a week or so, but frequently once they're out, they stay out.

Most parent birds build the nest in an area they can defend from predators, and which is close to a decent supply of food. When the baby birds get big enough, the parents try to encourage their fledglings to a nearby area that seems somewhat safe, an area that may have food sources that the baby bird can learn as something good to eat. At this stage of development, the parent birds do allow their baby to be unattended for periods of time. This is Nature's Way. Sometimes the parent birds are off taking care of a second nest full of chicks. Sometimes the parent birds are simply taking a much deserved rest from their chick-rearing duties. But they are almost always nearby, keeping an eye on what's happening. So, when people come along, find the "abandoned" baby bird & take it home with the good intentions of "saving" it, the parent birds probably watched the entire process in horror, helpless to prevent their offspring from being "chick-napped".

The very best thing to do with a found fledgling is to return it to where you found it. The parent birds are probably nearby, hoping against hope that you will do this very thing. Sometimes fledglings need to be protected from cats or dogs or other predators, and this is especially the case if your pet is the one who alerted you to the bird in the first place. In fact, you may need to keep Fluffy or Fido out of the yard for a week or so until the bird is capable of flying away. This may or may not be practical, but it's worth considering.

Something else that is commonly talked about this time of year is when you actually find an occupied/active nest that's blown down from a tree, or which has been removed by curious kids. Again, the same advice applies - RETURN THE NEST EXACTLY TO WHERE IT CAME FROM. Human scent will NOT keep the parent birds from resuming their duties. It may take a day or so, but the parents will return, and hopefully the chicks will be able to survive until this happens. You may need to secure the nest to the branch or ledge from which it came. And if it was kids who disturbed the nest in the first place, then this is a Golden Opportunity to teach them about respect for Nature and wildlife. Just remember that everyone needs to stay away from the nest until the chicks are gone; you wouldn't want a dog or cat or other predator to follow your scent to the nest, would you?

Here is an excellent website for more information about wild baby birds. Enjoy this wonderful season of New Life in your garden!

(The above article is a repeat from last year due to the timliness of the content.)

Moth Collection L
Peggy Abrams
8 in x 10 in

I'm sure you've read numerous advice on using mothballs in the garden for various forms of pest control. Did you know that doing so is actually not safe? The active ingredient in mothballs is napthalene, and is what make mothballs stink. Napthalene is NOT APPROVED for inhalation, short-term included. Inhaling the vapors can make you seriously ill, and by seriously ill I'm talking about damage to your internal organs. Read the caution on any mothball box and you'll see where it warns against breathing the vapors. Napthalene vapors can and do harm the internal organs of pets, too, as well as wildlife. Of course, any animal (or child) who eats a piece of a mothball is going to become seriously ill & will require medical attention. Mothballs or crystals/flakes are nothing to take lightly. I hope this information will help prevent a tragedy in your garden. Besides, I'm sure I'm not the only person who thinks the very smell of mothballs is so repulsive that they drive ME out of my own garden! Here are some links so you can learn more about napthalene:

http://www.nccnsw.org.au/member/tec/projects/tcye/tox/Napthalene.html

http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Mothball-Napthalene-Cancer.htm

http://risk.lsd.ornl.gov/tox/profiles/naphthalene_f_V1.shtml

http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/medicine/alternative-healthcare/general/mothballs

http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail/html-home/19-html/0209.html

Tulip No.3
Masao Ota
28 in x 20 in

Sad but true - tulips often wuss out in our climate a year or two after planting, but there are some good reasons: We don't normally get the extreme cold they prefer, it's usually a bit too wet during the winter than they like, and we usually put them in our flower beds so they stay moist during the summer (which they hate). Eventually, tulips often seem to just stop making good blooms, period, or sometimes you'll only see wimpy leaves.

Sometimes a particular tulip will thrive in your garden. There are some kinds of tulips which will return year after year. But if you have been seduced by the siren song of glamorous tulip blossoms calling to you from the pages of a catalog or from a store display, then be aware that the song is often short-lived. Don't take it personally, okay?

However, if you are anything like me you are still determined to have tulips in your garden! So, if you're hoping that your bulbs will continue to produce beautiful blooms year after year, here are some kinds that tend to do better in our climate:

Species tulips
(try 'Tarda' and 'Lilac Wonder')

Darwin Hybrid tulips -late-blooming
(try 'Atilla', 'Yellow Present', 'Queen of the Night', among many others)

Lily-flowered tulips
(I've had great success with 'Blushing Lady' & 'Ballade')

Looking for information from a previous month's newsletters? Please go HERE.