House plants are easy to grow when planted in the right soil. This is simpler than most people think. The vast number of various formulas for soil mixtures makes it seem complicated. Yet probably no two blue-ribbon winners would be in total agreement as to the best recipe. What is the answer? Isn’t it the … Read more
They said when I came to Hillcrest Acres (it was Mudcrest then) that I would never have a flower garden on the heavy, sticky, joint clay. I was almost ready to believe it myself for the first year. It was too dry or too wet to work all the time. I had few vegetables and … Read more
Recently, I received a letter from a gardener interested in finding a way to make his alkaline soil permanently acid. This is known as lowering the pH. I think his questions and the answers will interest other readers. His letter follows: “I would like information on the various materials which he can use to change … Read more
You are undoubtedly familiar with the practice of using hay for mulching vegetables and other plants. But do you know that hay will prepare a garden or any area for planting? Hay can transform a piece of weedy field and turf into an area rich and ready for growing things without a struggle or even … Read more
Some of us wonder if you may care to tell us about the life tinder on the soil’s surface. We know that life there runs along for Mother Nature quite carefree without much interference from Homo sapiens. Life Under The Soil Surface Everyone has found life down there—worms, ants, and plenty of other wigglers he … Read more
Starting a new lawn this year? You’re in luck! This is the best time of the whole year to plant grass seed. It’s nature’s time to seed a lawn! Prompt sprouting and rapid seedling growth occur because the soil is warm, and the nights steadily become cooler and longer. There’s less chance of searing wind … Read more
Almost every garden journal during the year contains several articles on soil, stressing the importance of fertility, texture, heat retention, water-holding capacity, and other factors essential to good plant growth. Important as the soil is to plant life, it is amazing to the average gardener to discover how little of the actual soil enters the … Read more
Healthy, disease and pest-free plants will help to make your garden the envy of the neighborhood. Grow flowers adapted to your area. Plant them in well-prepared, well-drained, fertile soil. Do everything you can to keep the plants watered in drought, mulched in hot weather, and protected in winter. Collect and burn plant debris in the … Read more
Deficiencies of plant-food nutrients are usually indicated by a general reduction of growth in garden plants. Chlorosis or poor foliage color often is also apparent. Likewise, the poor light and unfavorable temperatures to which houseplants are frequently exposed result in unsatisfactory growth and an anemic appearance. This condition may be due to these factors or … Read more
Soil, the basic stuff of life, consists of the upper layer of the earth in which plants grow and obtain their food. It is formed by physical and chemical weathering due to the interaction between wind, water, heat, cold, ice, plant growth, and animals. For the most part, soil processes are biological in nature. Therefore, … Read more