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Hi, guys!
At least once a week, someone asks me about a “miraculous” DIY gardening remedy or fertilizer they saw on Instagram or TikTok. Although some might be worth a shot, many just make me cringe.
First things first: Just because something is organic does not necessarily mean it’s safe or even safer than a synthetic alternative. (I’m not advocating for synthetic chemicals, but great care should be taken when using organic products, too.)
Copper, for instance, is used as an organic fungicide. But copper is a metal, and metals don’t dissipate; they build up in the soil, so should be used at the lowest effective rate. Never combine copper with other products, and avoid using it during hot weather or when foliage is wet. It is, indeed, natural and organic but will cause severe irritation if it gets in your eyes. And too much can kill your plants.
Epsom salts can dehydrate soil, as you might imagine is true of anything with the word “salt” in its name. The product is high in magnesium sulfate, which increases phosphorus availability to plants, boosting their growth, vigor and blooms. So, yes, one teaspoon for each foot of the plant’s height sprinkled around its base (and watered well) can help achieve bigger and better roses if appliedonce a yearin spring. More that that, however, risks damaging soil and harming plants.
Using vinegar to kill weeds is another trendy topic. But regular household vinegar, which typically contains 4-6% acetic acid, isn’t likely strong enough to get the job done properly. Vinegar is a contact herbicide, which means it kills the part of the plant it comes into contact with. Systemic herbicides, on the other hand, are taken up by the plant’s vascular system and delivered to roots, eventually killing the whole plant instead of just its top growth. Horticultural vinegar with 20% acetic acid would be more effective. Still, it would likely need to be repeated, as new sprouts often appear. It’s also crazy strong, so you should wear gloves, a mask and protective eyewear when using it. Better yet — let’s dig out our weeds.
An Epsom salts-vinegar concoction is being promoted as another natural herbicide. See above.
You might remember that my tomatoes were ravaged by squirrels last year. I guess the drought left them desperate for moisture, which tomatoes contain. So I experimented with a couple of home remedies. Mixing 2 tablespoons of red hot sauce with a quart of water and spraying plants every 2-3 days (and after rain) worked best. I didn’t lose a single tomato during my 10-day trial. I caution against sprinkling hot pepper on the soil around plants because that doesn’t work and also is awfully cruel, as it gets on critters’ paws and can burn their eyes.
After the hot sauce trial, I asked my dog’s groomer to save Miguel’s hair, brought it home and spread it over the soil around one of my plants. The idea was to trick squirrels, which presumably could smell the dog hair, into believing a predator was nearby. They ate fewer tomatoes from the plant than from an untreated one nearby, but the difference was negligible. That could be because the hair had been shampooed — or because dog hair isn’t as effective as hot sauce. I can’t be sure.
What home remedies really work?
A couple of tablespoons of baking soda mixed into a gallon of water with a half teaspoon of liquid soap (not detergent) and sprayed on leaves is an effective preventative against powdery mildew. It might even help if you use it at the first sign of the disease but not so much after it has spread.
One cup of milk (or plain yogurt) mixed with two cups of water works just as well against powdery mildew and can even help against black spot, the often deadly rose disease.
Let me know if you’ve tried any home remedies around the garden —such as the legendaryIrish Spring soap shavingsto deter squirrels, rabbits or deer — with good or bad results, and I’ll share your findings here.
📬 Ask Jessica
DEAR JESSICA: I planted clover in some bare spots on the lawn. Will it take over the surrounding grass, or must I rip out the grass to have a complete clover lawn?—Henry Ford, Long Island, NY
DEAR HENRY: The clover you added won’t take over the lawn, but that’s not a bad thing.
On its own, clover doesn’t stand up very well to foot traffic, and it’s also short-lived, requiring reseeding every two or three years. It also doesn’t fill in as densely as grass or a grass-clover combination lawn does, so you may find yourself pulling weeds or stray grass and even having to water it occasionally.
Mixed in with turfgrasses, however, clover will reseed well enough so that you won’t have to replenish it, and it will choke out most other weeds. In addition:
It requires little or no watering.
It doesn’t require regular mowing. (You can get away with mowing clover only once a year, but never later than midsummer. If you’re a stickler for uniformity, you can mow it monthly during the growing season, but this isn’t necessary.)
It (and the lawn it’s planted in) will never need fertilizer.
It stays green all summer.
It doesn’t turn brown and die from pet urine, as turf grasses do.
It grows in full sun to part shade.
Clover attracts beneficial insects that pollinate nearby plants and help keep pests in control. It also attracts bees, which can be viewed as good or bad. If you’re allergic to bees or if children regularly play on the lawn, mow it whenever it’s in flower to avoid attracting bees.
If you would like a pure clover lawn, you’ll need to remove all the grass to expose the soil before sowing seeds.
Look for “micro” or “mini” clover seed, which will top out at 4 inches after some initial repeated low-mowings to “train” it to remain short and more lawnlike. (Mixed with grass, mini clover will crowd out other weeds more effectively than Dutch white clover.)
Seeds should be coated with an inoculate; if they aren’t, purchase a packet separately and apply it to seeds by following label directions. Legumes, like clover, are “nitrogen-fixing,” which means they rely on certain bacteria strains to prime their roots and supply nitrogen; the inoculate will feed the seeds without nourishing weeds that may be lurking in the soil. Wait until you are ready to sow coated seeds before you buy them, and check package dates to ensure they were packaged within the past six months, as the inoculate loses its effectiveness over time.
If incorporating clover into an existing lawn, remove any thatch first.
Mix seeds with sand or loose soil before spreading to facilitate an even application, then gently rake it in. Water very lightly every day (unless it rains) to keep the soil slightly moist until the clover fills in. If planting in part-shade conditions, sow double the amount of seeds indicated for the area.
In areas with cold winters, sow the seeds around the beginning of April; in more temperate zones, sow them in fall. Clover isn’t recommended for the deep south because it doesn’t withstand extreme heat.
💡 If you do one thing this week…
Cut chrysanthemums, Joe Pye weed, phlox, asters and Heliopsis back by one-third their height, and do so again in mid-June and mid-July. Don’t worry; they’ll grow fuller and produce more flowers later in the season.
👏 Sunday shoutout
This 24-inch Purple Zebra cherry tomato plant was just 9 inches tall when Rich Sankovich of Winchester, Virginia, transplanted it into this 5-gallon bucket 25 days before snapping this photo last week.
His secret? Homemade potting mix comprises one-third of each peat moss, vermiculite and mushroom compost. “The peat moss will absorb and release minor nutrients and water, while the vermiculite controls the major absorption and release of nutrients and water, and the mushroom compost” contains the nutrients, he said. “No additional fertilization will be needed for this plant throughout its growth and productive period.”
Sankovich also reduced the bucket’s weight by adding 3 inches of Styrofoam peanuts to its bottom and covering them with landscape cloth before filling it.
And to protect vines from “creasing and pinching the nutrient flow,” he covered the tomato cage’s top rung with foam pipe insulation. “The white collar at the bottom is a yogurt cup slit up the side with its bottom cut off…to protect the plant from wind damage during its fragile early stage.”
📰This week in my Associated Press gardening column
I write a weekly gardening column for the AP, so you might have seen my byline in your local paper (or news website) — wherever in the world you happen to be. In case you miss it, though, I’ll post the most recent here every week.
This week, I wrote tips for planting a container like the pros do.
Before that, a primer for growing herbs. They’re so easy — you don’t even need a garden!
And a week prior, I covered the whys and how ofhardening off seedlings, an essential step in your spring gardening routine.
You can readall my AP gardening columns here.
📚📺🎵 Random things I enjoyed this week
The season finale of Succession. Can’t say I saw that coming!
I downloaded David Sedaris’ latest audiobook, “Happy-go-Lucky.” I suppose reading his books is fine, but I’ve always listened to them because they wouldn’t be the same without his hilarious, deadpan delivery.
I paid my first visit of the year to a farmer’s market, where I bought strawberries and rhubarb, then came home and got busy baking a pie. (Spoiler: Next week’s column will be about how to grow the unusual “fruit” that looks like red celery.)
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I’m a freelance writer who juggles various gigs to piece together a living. I spend hours every week writing The Weekly Dirt, answering your questions and sharing advice to help you achieve the garden of your dreams, so this, too, has to be part of my livelihood. If you work for a paycheck, I’m sure you’ll agree.
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This week’s newsletter was made possible by the generous support of Jessica Goldstern, Terri Donahue and a reader who wishes to remain Anonymous. Many, many thanks!
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📧 How’m I doing?
I welcome your comments and suggestions, so pleasesend them along— as well as any topics you’d like to see covered and questions you’d like answered in the Ask Jessica section.
Until next week, stay safe. Be well. And always keep your mind in the dirt. —Jessica
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