KRAUTTER’S KORNER NEWSLETTER – JUNE 2016
June is an important month for gardening and is one of the major planting months of the year. Each weekend affords another chance to add color to your garden. Beautiful gardens are created by the people who love them. It’s the finishing touches that make the difference. Gardens are a place for the whole family to enjoy. Involvement is the key in developing an appreciation for nature. There is no greater place to be than in the quiet beauty of a garden.
Organically grown plants make a better transition into the garden than chemically grown ones. It is amazing how they take off once planted. Our organic plants are fantastic looking and we receive compliments each day that they are the best. It has been a cold spring and early planting became prohibitive. June is the month when we are all trying to play catch up with our garden chores. As the hot weather arrives, your plants will need lots of water and lots of food. Keep a watchful eye out for insect and disease problems and monitor your watering practices. Treat ailing plants with Liquid Compost to help redevelop root systems. Remove dead tissue. If your plant is suffering, prune it back so that the existing roots can support top growth and add an organic fertilizer to the soil. Finally top dress with compost and cover with 2 inches of mulch.
We have harvested 50 years of leafmold which my father called black gold. If you have the time and strength, apply 2 “of this fantastic compost on top of all of your shrub beds. It will do wonders for your soil. Follow our organic program for the rest of the year as listed in my book. Make sure insect and disease problems are controlled. Add beneficial insects to your property to reduce the need for spraying. We carry Ladybugs, Praying Mantis and Nematodes. Use Myke every time you plant or transplant. It is fortified with Mycorrhizal fungi which tremendously increase the root system. Apply Mineral Rock Dust to your entire property. It provides minerals that can not be found in fertilizers. Avoid overhead watering on all flowering plants. If you want color throughout the summer, plant annuals. Add vegetables to your property. Going organic allows you to plant edibles anywhere on your property. Keep your property organic and healthy, free of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Your health and that of your children and pets is at stake.
GARDEN CALENDAR
I have written a Garden Calendar for you to follow. It tells you what to do each month with page references to my book. It is a free pick up at the Nursery. It ties in with my book “12 Steps To Natural Gardening” along with page references providing you with more detailed information. I hope by now everyone has had a chance to read my book. It is an easy read, the stories are fun, the book is packed with valuable information, it is a reference book, a learning tool and a place to record notes and observations. I am encouraging each person to own a copy because I wrote it specifically for the organic gardener. It will keep you on track with your gardening chores. I will refer to it often in my newsletters as there is only so much detail that can be covered in a letter.
ROSES
Roses are one of the most rewarding flowers you can own. All homeowners should have a rose on their property to enjoy. The newer landscape roses require less care, less sun and are more disease resistant. Leading in this group are the Knock-Outs with a greatly increased color selection. Roses need to
be fed this month with Neptune Harvest Seaweed which provides kelp to the soil. Spray Foliar Ecolizer IB2 every two weeks. If insects are a problem, spray with Neem oil an organic insecticide derived from the neem tree. Ladybugs’ favorite food is aphids. With a good ladybug population, aphids should not be a problem.
eep the plants mulched and well watered, but avoid overhead watering which leads to Black spot. Maintaining a strong healthy plant will reduce disease and insect problems and lead to more and bigger blooms. June is the month to enjoy roses.
EVERGREENS, TREES & SHRUBS
June is a major month for planting. If your plants are overgrown, straggly or severely damaged, it is time for a face lift. Some of your overgrown plants might look better at the perimeter of your property. Call on Oscar our Landscape foreman for over 35 years who is now on his own. You can reach him at 914-907-3352 to help you design your area. Professional help always pays in the long run. As the warm weather arrives, keep your plants well watered and mulched. Keep a vigilant eye out for insects and control them immediately. Feed with ‘Nature’s Source’ organic fertilizer. This seed extract fertilizer combines all the essential nutrients on which plants thrive. June is a big insect month. Check your Plants daily and nip any problems in the bud. Early detection is your best control.
ANNUALS
Plant annuals and enjoy their colorful display throughout the summer. Wave Petunias and the newer hybrids are the rage. These petunias bloom prolifically throughout the summer and stand up to wet weather. Plant some to create a wave of color. Begonia Red Dragon Wing and our new “Big” Begonia series are my favorite plant. I plant my garden each year with them and with very little work they perform majestically all year round. They provide a mass of color that gains intensity as the season progresses. Blue Scaevola, a favorite of mine, is deer resistant. Euphorbia “Diamond Frost” provides you with a multitude of stunning dainty white flowers throughout the season. Mexican Heather creates a full prolific look and is a plant that will never fail you. Angelonia gets better each year and the new basket types are incredible performers. Million Bells types continue to gain in popularity. Add a few Sweet Potato Vines, Mrs. K’s Battenberg Ivy and you can create combinations that will be the envy of your neighbors. We recommend that you apply Jobe’s Organic Nutrition tablets to containers and hanging baskets and that you feed them every two weeks with Nature’s Source liquid organic fertilizer. Other favorites among gardeners are blue Salvia, and Verbena bonariensis. These are iron clad annuals that give tremendous color all season. Diversity is the key to a successful garden. The most important factor in growing beautiful annuals is to put the right plant in the right location, prepare the soil properly and water regularly. Too much or too little water can kill a plant so when you water, water well and then wait until it needs more. Overhead watering is the biggest enemy to growing quality plants. Water the soil, not the flowers. Read my chapter on watering on page 29 in my book “12 Steps To Natural Gardening”. If you want to automate, think drip irrigation. Hanging baskets and especially our European combinations add terrific interest and color to your garden. Don’t let the summer pass by without enjoying their beauty.
VEGETABLES
Everyone should find a space to plant a small vegetable garden. Our food chain is damaged. Prices will continue to rise. You can’t beat the quality of organically home grown vegetables. I have written about this subject all season long. Refer to my articles archived in Naturalgardennews.com web site. We have a tremendous selection of organically grown vegetables for sale. We have focused on hot peppers for salsa as well. It is not too late to plant your garden with our starter plants. Customers who have followed my formulas listed in my book on page 159 have come back to me and raved about the quality, nutrient value and the production they got from their vegetables. The strength of any vegetable garden is in the diversity of organic products you can blend into your soil. Second year involves applying the starred items into the top 2 inches of your beds. Read the chapter in my book entitled the Vegetable Garden, page 157. Feed your plants this month with ‘Neptune Harvest seaweed (Kelp). Kelp is essential for plant growth and development. Feed the soil and the soil will feed the plant. The greater the mixture of organic products the greater the yield. Keep your weeds under control (landscape fabric, newspaper, hay and other mulches can help). Water the soil not the foliage. Stake your plants as needed and maintain a neat, clean vegetable garden. Drip irrigation is ideal for vegetable gardens and is easy to install. If you have animal problems, repellents will help and we have a great idea on how to install an inexpensive fence that works. Beneficial insects will help you control lots of problems. Sluggo and Diatomaceous soil controls slugs. Copper sulfate is a very effective fungicide that can be used safely on vegetables; and Espoma “Earth-Tone Insect Control (Canola Oil & Pyrethrin) is a good organic spray to control insects. My favorite for aphids is to release lady bugs when you have an aphid problem. Praying Mantis are cool friends to release on your property and they work day and night keeping your plants insect free. We love beneficials and spray only if problems occur that they cannot cure.
PERENNIALS
Add Kelp through liquid feeding with Neptune Harvest Seaweed to your perennial bed. This organic fertilizer is essential to plant growth and development. Be selective when buying perennials; buy the better varieties which outperform many of the old ones grown from seed. At one of the lectures we held on perennials, our guest speaker said that if you have some old Hosta varieties hanging around in your garden get rid of them. The new ones are so much better. I feel this is a very important concept. If something is not performing well, replace it with something that will. Perennial gardens require constant small changes as you strive to make them perfect. Perennials require some simple chores. It’s important to deadhead, prune, fertilize, water and mulch. You may want to cut back some varieties to reduce height and avoid staking. Control weeds and insects. Avoid overhead watering, inspect your plants frequently for insect damage and keep a phenological calender charting the chores you need to accomplish. Chrysanthemums should be pinched back and kept short until July 15. Asters should be cut back 1/3 in mid June. Delphiniums need staking. Gardening is not only good exercise for the body but it is good exercise for the mind. Perennials can solve a lot of gardening problems. Use them wisely, and they will spend a lifetime with you. Think about reducing some of your lawn area and replacing it with ground-covers or flowering perennials. Lawns are the most expensive areas to maintain in a garden. Without a lawn, you would only need a gardener to come once a month. Monthly visits can be arranged with Oscar 914-907 3352. Through the use of this service your vacation watering problems can also be solved. If you need help, call us.
LAWNS
June presents problems for many lawns. As the heat arrives, the beautiful green starts vanishing. Chemical lawns get hit heavily each spring with a fungus called melting out. There are few problems with fungus when following our organic lawn program.
Apply Lobster Compost at the rate of a 50 lb.per 1,000 square feet. Apply by hand broadcasting as in feeding chickens. This product will not go through the spreader. Empty the compost into a wheelbarrow so it can be easily moved. It actually is quite easy to spread. The purpose is to enrich the microbial activity in the soil, making your plants stronger to resist insects and diseases. We are feeding the good bacteria which fight the bad bacteria. Microbe enriched soil prevents fungus. Avoid watering late in the day, turn off your sprinkler system on rainy days. This will discourage disease problems. Remember your goal is to water your lawn a ½ inch twice per week. This will develop a stronger, deeper root system. Milky Spore Powder should be applied now for grub control; and beneficial Nematodes can be released into the soil for added grub control. A pinkish cast on your lawn can be a fungus called Red Thread. Sod Webworm can be identified by white moths flying around; and Chinch Bugs can cause enlarging dead areas and become prevalent as the warm weather approaches. You can find the Chinch Bug test in my book page 145.
If you notice a problem, bring us a sample, treat early and we can recommend an organic control. Water early in the morning and water heavily rather than too frequently. Don’t get discouraged, we are in a borderline area where we must use cool weather grasses which suffer during extreme summer heat. If you grow your lawn organically and follow our recommendations, you will develop a deep rooted healthy grass that will stand up to the heat. Keep seeding and keep your grass strong and thick In time it will crowd out all weed competition. It will resist drought, heat and insect invasion better than a non-organic lawn. A well managed organic lawn will be the best lawn in the neighborhood. If certain areas continue to give you a problem, think about using a ground cover other than grass.
PLANT FEATURES
Blue Scaevola is one of my favorite plants. Not only is it Deer resistant but it out performs all other plants in the heat of summer. Another great Blue is Evolvulus. This heat loving plant never stops blooming. Wave Petunias continue to be the rage. Give them a sunny, airy location without overhead watering and they will provide you with color all summer long. The new colors are incredible and you need to see them. They are one of the best plants in containers, whiskey barrels, or window boxes. Begonia ‘Red Dragon Wing’ and their counter part the Begonia Big Guy grouping is one of my very favorites. I plant it in large containers by my pool and it is the talk of everybody passing by. It is not a short plant — reaching a height of 18 to 20 inches. It has shiny green leaves or bronze colored leaves and does well in sun or shade. The large red or pink flowers give a show of color that is hard to beat. They do well in large containers or planted in the ground.
MOST ASKED QUESTIONS
Why do we all need to switch to an organic approach in our yard?
The reason is to protect our health, our environment, and to grow a better plant. Going Organic is something we need to be part of. Once you become convinced, you will become the messenger. The birds, the butterflies and the bees will come back, your plants will love you and our soil will become healthy and air pollution will be reduced.
What are the plants that Deer do not like to eat?
I have written what I feel is the best informational Deer Resistant Plants chapter that is out there. It is in my book.’ Twelve Steps To Natural Gardening’ on page 295. It is a must reference for anyone located in Deer Country.
There are holes in the leaves of my plant what is eating them?
This is usually an indication of slugs or caterpillars. Many vegetables and herbaceous annuals are prone to slug damage. Place a saucer of beer at the base of the infected plant. Slugs are attracted to beer and if they are present, you will find them drowned the next morning. Sluggo or Diatomaceous Earth are effective organic controls. Caterpillars can be controlled with Captain Jack’s Deadbug Brew containing Spinosad.. The Black Vine Weevil, a nocturnal insect, chews holes in the leaves of Rhododendron and other Broadleaf evergreens. Control consists of releasing beneficial Nematodes in the soil. The foliage on Mugo Pine can be devastated by the larva stage of the Pine Sawfly. Spray with Captain Jacks Deadbug brew.
BEST VALUE
The best value is obtained by planting your garden now so you can enjoy it all summer. Vegetables are big this year and you still have time to plant.
EDITORIAL
There is no place more pleasant for you and your family to be than in a beautiful garden. Fixing up the garden and enjoying good times there can lead to the best summer you will ever have. No stress; just a relaxing time to enjoy each other and good friends. Get back to the earth and enjoy Natural Gardening. A beautiful garden gets a smile from anyone who enters. It is the good vibes you will get from the beauty radiating from your incredible flowers that will make visiting with you a very wonderful experience. Enjoy the fruits of your labor. Build a beautiful organic garden.
KRAUTTER YEAR ROUND VEGETABLE GARDEN
Visit’ Krautter’s Year Round Organic Vegetable Garden’ by passing the link to our promotional video on to others. Its an amazing structure with amazing concepts of how to grow vegetables all year round, off the grid. It’s an excellent project for any school teaching how to use passive energy that does not pollute and how to recycle water.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE VI
