Drip Irrigation for Flower & Vegetable Gardens

PVC drip system 

Have you ever wondered if there was a better way to water your plants and use less water, especially during the hot days of summer? Maybe you just want to leave town in the summer and not return to your basket of petunias looking like a basket wilted lettuce. A drip irrigation system might be the solution to your problems. 

As a user of drip irrigation for over 20 years, I can attest to the benefits. By putting water directly next to the plant, you water only the plant and not the soil around it. This means fewer weed seeds can germinate, which means fewer weeds! A drip system can also save you time, while giving you better results in the garden. Studies in drip irrigation conducted by the University of Utah found that participants experienced up to 90% time savings in watering and weeding the gardens. Throughout the growing season, the study participants observed that the plants were healthier and produced at a higher level. 

Drip lines in flower baskets

Summers in Western Idaho get HOT! Using a drip system with a timer, water can be applied when and where it is needed. Unlike a sprinkler that waters a broad area and loses water to evaporation in the air, the drip system puts water directly on the plants when and where you need it. In an article by Colorado State University, it was noted that, “Drip irrigation exceeds 90 percent efficiency whereas sprinkler systems are 50 to 70 percent efficient. Drip irrigation delivers water slowly immediately above, on or below the surface of the soil. This minimizes water loss due to runoff, wind and vapor.” If you pay for your water from a city or municipality, a drip system could result in a lower water bill.  

A watering system set up on timers eliminates the possibility of your gardens not getting watered while you’re gone. At our house for example, if the temperatures are hot, we know can leave our home for a few days and come home to healthy plants.  

Any time is a good time to invest in a drip system. However, springtime is an ideal time to consider designing a drip irrigation system because you can plan your vegetable and flower gardens around the water system. 

While it may sound complicated, it is easy to design and install. There is a lot of information available on drip systems, so do your research. I use a PVC pipe system for the vegetable garden and flexible tubing for our flower gardens.

Raised Bed Gardening for the Mobility Challenged

Injuries, aging, surgery, and arthritis can all limit gardening and growing your own food. But, use of raised beds can enable a growing population to participate in this activity.

Raised beds can be constructed or purchased in heights as short as 5 inches and as tall as 3 feet. For gardeners looking to avoid painful bending, we recommend taller beds. It is also helpful to build beds narrow enough so that the owner can reach half the width from either side easily to weed and care for their plants. Additionally, space beds wide enough apart to easily allow a wheelchair, walker, scooter or wheelbarrow to pass between them and have sufficient space at the ends to turn around.

Since most vegetables require full sun, the beds should be placed in a southern exposure to provide full sunshine. To alleviate concerns of too much sun, consider stretching shade cloth over bent hoops of PVC pipe. Drip system irrigation will provide the best water delivery system and can be easily and inexpensively installed so that mobility-challenged gardeners can irrigate without the difficulty of dragging hoses to hand water.

Above is a picture of David and Anita Henning’s
raised bed system in Kimberly, Idaho.

Raised beds can be constructed of many materials i.e. cement blocks, weathered railroad ties, cedar, redwood, pine or fir lumber, or pressure treated boards. Fir and pine will not last as long and those materials treated with chemicals will need to be lined to prevent treating compounds from leaching into the soil and contaminating the plants.

Home gardeners can construct their own beds using simple tools or purchase pre-made kits from garden centers. Regardless of which option you choose, the raised bed investment is definitely one to consider to allow you to continue gardening well into old age.

Blueberry Lovers Rejoice!

If you love blueberries, then consider planting them in containers! Planting blueberries in the Treasure Valley requires some special care and TLC for your blueberry crop to be plentiful and successful. The soil here is very alkaline with an average pH between 7.2-8.2. Blueberries grow best in an acidic soil with a pH of 4.5-5.2, so a soil amendment is our answer to raising a successful blueberry crop.

Spartan Blueberry bushes (Vaccinium corymbosum), is a Northern Highbush variety. It is known for its attractive color, tasty fruit and blueberries that are often larger than a quarter. The plants grow 4-6ft tall and are 4-5ft wide. The ideal planting time is early spring or late autumn.

Planting blueberries in 5-gallon buckets with 5-6 drain holes in the bottom is one way to grow them. Use an azalea/camellia potting mix with a 4:1 ratio of micro bark to potting soil. Place the blueberries into the soil at the same depth as they were planted at the nursery. Blueberries like full sun with some afternoon protection in very hot areas. Top-dress the plants with 2-3 inches of mulch to conserve water loss and keep the plants cool in the heat of summer. Water plants immediately after transplanting. Blueberries do not tolerate drought or standing water. Irrigate often and from the bottom if possible. If you're watering with sprinklers, water in the morning to allow plants to dry before nightfall. This helps to prevent leaf and fruit disease. You can fertilize your plants 2-3 weeks after planting. Ammonium sulfate (21% N) is popular for blueberries because it adds nitrogen to the soil and helps acidify it. Apply fertilizer evenly around the entire bush. 

Blueberries have shallow roots and container pots provide poor insulation to the roots. To prevent damage to the root zone bury the plants during the cold months (November through February). Your blueberries will do fine in the buckets for the first 2 years and then transplant them into a larger container at least 24 inches deep and 24 to 30 inches wide. It will be 5 years before your blueberries will produce their maximum harvest.

Enjoy your blueberries!

Growing Raspberries in Southwest Idaho

One of the many things I love about living in Southwest Idaho is that we have a wonderful climate for growing raspberries. Did you know that raspberries come in 2 types? You can choose to plant either summer bearing (floricane), or fall bearing (primocane) plants in your garden. Summer- bearing raspberries produce one crop of fruit in early to midsummer. Fall-bearing raspberries produce two crops, one in mid-summer and another in late summer or early fall. They also come in 4 colors: red, yellow, black and purple. Whichever type and color you choose to grow, you can have success with proper planting, care and pruning of your bramble.

Raspberries grow best in sandy loam, well-draining soil. Planting in soil with standing water or poor drainage can cause root rot to take hold. Plant in an area that receives at least 6 hours of full sun per day. Before planting, make sure your chosen site is free of perennial weeds. A clean bed makes for happy, healthy plants! Plant your berries as soon as the ground becomes workable in the spring. Fertilize your plants in the spring as well using a fertilizer low in chlorides. A “complete” fertilizer containing phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium and sometimes other plant nutrients is a good choice. This is a great publication on fertilizing raspberries.

Proper watering and yearly pruning are needed for the best possible harvest.  To ensure a good berry size, raspberries require consistent irrigation from bloom through harvest. Avoid overwatering your plants. Raspberries cannot tolerate wet soil as they are susceptible to root rot. Watering the soil at the base of the plant is the best method as overhead sprinklers can cause fruit and cane disease. Pruning done properly improves light and air movement and removes dead, weak and damaged canes.  It reduces disease problems and pests that affect the quality of your berries.  Summer-bearing and fall-bearing raspberry types are pruned differently -- prune your summer-bearing raspberries twice each year, once in late fall to early spring and once after the summer harvest.  Fall-bearing raspberries need to be pruned in late fall. 

The University of Idaho has some great videos on pruning on their University of Idaho College of Agriculture andLife Sciences YouTube channel. They are worth checking out. With a little knowledge, you are ready to dig in and grow some raspberries. The sweet rewards are definitely worth the work!

Don’t Let Crabgrass Make You Crabby!

Crabgrass is a nuisance! It is a group of weedy grasses in North America - Digitaria sanguinatis (large or hairy crabgrass) and Digitaria ischaemum (small or smooth crabgrass). It likes lawns that are under watered, under fertilized and badly drained or in other words, a “neglected lawn”. Even a well-cared-for lawn will have an occasional visit especially during difficult weather conditions and drought.

Crabgrass was introduced into the United States in 1849 by the U.S. Patent Office as a potential forage crop. It is good in dry and hot areas for summer forage, but we don't want it in our lawns.

More information found here.

Smooth crabgrass

Large crabgrass in a lawn

Smooth crabgrass seedling

As an annual, crabgrass germinates, sets seed, and dies within one year. There is no need for fall expenses to get rid of it. Winter will do it for you.

Even when you mow it closely, crabgrass can still seed and will hurt your lawns vitality. A single plant can produce 150,000 seeds and the can remain viable for three years in the soil. 

DO NOT LET IT GO TO SEED.

Flowering stem of smooth crabgrass

There is no biological control to get rid of crabgrass other than livestock, however there are complete treatments you can buy and apply to get rid of crabgrass:

- Preventive treatments

- Organic sprays and treatments

- Selective chemical herbicides

- Non-selective herbicides

Or you can establish practices for maintaining a healthy lawn that naturally discourage crabgrass from thriving:

1)  Planting the right turf grass species (shade, traffic, sun).

2)  Watering correctly (full coverage and depth for good rooting for your variety of grass).

3)  Proper fertilization (periodic application during growing season for your grass variety).

4)  Regular dethatching and/or core aeration every couple of years.

5)  Mowing the proper height for your grass variety and season.

How about here in the Treasure Valley?

For problem lawns in the Treasure Valley, start with applying per-emergent when temperatures in soil reach 50-55 degrees F for at least 4-5 straight days mid-March/April.  Mow proper lawn height for your grass. Apply per label instructions, water in and have no rain for 24 hours. Use a broom and not a blower to remove from concrete. You especially want crabgrass protection between the grass and concrete. Wait a least two days to mow after application to keep from lifting any residue. Apply again in 3 months / 90 days.

For small infections, crabgrass can be removed by hand, the younger the easier. Water area and pull at base of plant gently to remove. Do not put weeds in your compost pile.

For bigger problems, check the following website or your local cooperative extension office for help.    

Salad Tomatoes, Small but Mighty in Flavor & Production

Good things come in small packages. This platitude rings true for saladette tomatoes, commonly known as salad tomatoes. Their small, ping pong ball form and robust flavors deserve a special place in your garden.

Often overlooked when compared to big beefsteaks or cherry tomatoes, salad tomatoes generally grow larger than cherry tomatoes but smaller than medium-to-large paste and slicer varieties. Many varieties of salad tomatoes possess a relative tolerance to cold, so you can plant them outside when cooler temperatures prevail and other less hardy varieties must still bask in heated greenhouses. No variety of tomato, however, is frost tolerant.

Famed tomato breeder Ben Quisenberry created the Large Red Cherry, that he claims can be canned whole - seeds and all. His unique variety differs from the smaller, more commonly available tomato "Red Cherry, Large.” Lesser-known salad tomato varieties include: Garden Peach, Tigerella and Black Vernissage. As indeterminates, all three varieties require staking and pruning. Garden Peach, a "long keeper" tomato, stores well when picked green just before frost arrives in autumn. Excluding their green stems, the ripened fruit look like small, slightly fuzzy peaches. Tigerella, an English heirloom tomato, wears beautiful orange stripes over a red skin and sets fruit early, often three weeks before than other salad varieties. Immature fruits bear light and dark green stripes. Tigerella demonstrates a degree of cold tolerance and disease resistance, too. Black Vernissage tomatoes sport a deep mahogany skin with subtle green stripes. Excellent for drying, eating fresh and making tomato sauce, this variety remains productive throughout the entire season.

Another benefit of selecting a salad type tomato for your garden is resistance to the dreaded Beet Curly Top virus, a known scourge to tomato plants in the Treasure Valley. The Payette and Owyhee varieties of tomato developed in the 1960s by University of Idaho show resistance to the virus. They grow well in our region, too.

Salad tomatoes have earned the right to be known as the garden workhorse. They produce prolifically and ripen fruit early compared to other non-cherry varieties, making them ideal for higher latitude and altitude gardens. During years of difficult weather conditions, they can be an insurance policy to ensure a tomato harvest. Salad tomatoes also fill multiple niches in the kitchen, performing equally well for canning, making pasta sauce, or used fresh in salsa. 

Branch out, experiment, and plant new tomato varieties this season. You can’t go wrong growing salad tomatoes in your garden.

Rose Pruning - Why, When & How

WHY

Pruning our roses stimulates new growth and allows for more flowers to bloom throughout the season. Properly pruned roses make for a healthier plant with stronger canes while allowing for better air circulation. Roses produce flowers on new growth making annual pruning an essential part of basic rose care.

WHEN

In our climate, early-mid spring is the best time to prune roses once there is no threat of a hard frost and the weather is conducive for the plants to start growing. Many rose growers suggest waiting until the forsythias start to bloom as a general guideline that it’s time to start pruning. However, diseased/dead wood should be removed immediately at any time along with deadheading spent blooms (to encourage new blooms). Even if your roses have started to bud out, you’re still ok to prune. 

HOW

Deadheading  

Grab a great pair of leather gloves to protect your hands, and a clean, disinfected pair of sharp bypass pruning shears (and be sure to disinfect pruners in between plants to prevent spreading disease). The best method for deadheading spent blooms throughout the summer is to cut the stem back to an outward facing bud at a 45-degree angle or about a ½” above a set of 5 leaves (not the set of 3 leaves as this will result in a weak stem). Continue as often as needed to keep your roses blooming all season long but stop September 1 to allow the plant to begin hardening off for winter.

Annual Pruning (video)

Again, starting with your leather gloves and disinfected bypass pruning shears, make your cuts at a 45-degree angle about ¼” above outward facing buds. This cut should slant away from the bud. Remove about one-half to two-thirds of the plant’s height leaving the canes about 18-30” tall. Your rose bush should have 4-7 canes that are the width of your finger/thumb and all pointed out and away from the crown for air circulation. Remove canes that are pencil width or smaller and/or dead (cut them off at the base or the point of discoloration). Here's to a great growing season for beautiful, healthy, blooming roses!