Pruning Apple and Other Fruit Trees

Reclining in an easy chair on a recent cold and snowy day, I imagined myself a bumblebee. I meandered from flower to flower, taking in the colors and scents and textures of annual flowers, starting with A (alyssum) and ending with Z (zinnias).

 

I wasn’t a good or careful bumblebee who only visited flowers of one kind: I was a bumblebee tourist, seeing everything my mind could imagine – and all were in bloom at once. Then, returning to reality, I got out of my catalogs and started searching for new flowers to try.

 

Annual flowers are wonderful. Perennials are great, too, but most make a relatively short appearance, rarely more than three weeks . Annuals are born to flower: many start early and keep on blooming all summer if you keep cutting them. They need to make plenty of seeds or their genetic lineage can literally die out and disappear at the end of the season. 

 

I like starting annuals by seed in 6-packs indoors, even when it’s warm enough that I could plant them directly in the ground. Flowers can easily get lost or misidentified as weeds when planted directly in the soil, especially things I haven’t tried before, or if I just want a few.

 

I love zinnias. They come in such a profusion of colors, and range in size from diminutive to giant. I love the lime-green ones such as Envy and Benary’s Giant Lime because they look so great mixed in with other flowers – in a vase, or in a flowerbed. Zinnias come as singles, such as the Profusion series, which are short (12”), and doubles such as Sunbow (24-30”) and Oklahoma (30-40”). I save seed from non-hybrid ones and plant them directly in the soil in large numbers. And the more you cut these flowers, the more they branch and re-bloom.

 

Most annual flowers are easy to grow from seed, but not all. One of my favorites, Lisianthus, takes 17 days to germinate if kept at 72 degrees, longer if cooler. And even after it starts to grow, its seedlings do not grow fast for several weeks. It’s not a flower for impatient gardeners.

 

Cosmos varieties have been bred and hybridized in recent years. Looking at the John Scheepers Garden Seeds website I see 23 different kinds of cosmos, including one I must try: “Double Click Cranberries Cosmos”. Deep wine colored, double-petaled like an old fashioned rose.

 

A flower good as a cut flower or as a dry flower and spectacular in the garden goes by the unlikely name gomphrena. I plan to plant at least a dozen of these this year, maybe more.

 

Vines are good, too. I love purple hyacinth bean with purplish leaves and pink-purple flowers. They are slow to start, so I’ll start some indoors in March.

 

Nasturtiums are vines that don’t climb. They sprawl. Plant these large seeds in full sun after the danger of frost has past, perhaps in a bed of daffodils. The daffies need sunshine to recharge their bulbs until the foliage dies away, and the nasturtiums will fill in and hide the dying foliage. Nasturtiums like lean soil, so don’t add fertilizer.

 

I grow some of my favorite annuals not for their flowers, but for their leaves. These beauties are always in bloom – which is to say, their leaves are a treat to look at. I love their bright colors and shiny surfaces. Here are some good ones:

 

Perilla: This is a terrific purple-leafed plant that self-sows exuberantly. Pinch off the flowers (which are not at all showy) if you don’t want it to spread next year. Eighteen inches tall. The ‘Magellanica’ cultivar is taller, and has foliage in shades of hot pink, deep plum and vibrant green.

 

Persian Shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus): This plant just shimmers with silver overtones on dark purple and pink leaves. It loves hot weather, and gets big: one plant can spread over a 3-foot circle and stand 3-4 feet tall.

 

Licorice Plant (Helichrysum petiolare): I buy some of this every summer because I love the silvery leaves, because it mixes so well with bright colored flowers in planters, and because it takes abuse. It rarely complains if I let it dry out in a pot. It flows over the edge of pots and weaves it way through other plants. It’s also an exceptional in flower arrangements. There are also chartreuse and variegated lemon-lime varieties.

 

So even though annuals are disposable plants – they die when frost comes – I have to have them. I grow them in the vegetable garden, and in pots to fill in drab corners of the flower garden after perennials have finished blooming. If you want, all those mentioned above are available as plants in six-packs at your local nursery, come spring. Most are great cut flowers – and the bumblebees love them.

 

Reach Henry Homeyer by e-mail at henry.homeyer@comcast.net or by mail at PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746. He is a UNH master Gardener and the author of 4 gardening books. 

Starting seeds indoors under lights is a good treatment for the winter blues. It connects me to my upcoming garden and all its benefits. Early March is when I start onions and peppers, though April is the month for most everything else.

 

My wife, Cindy Heath, and I are making a commitment to reduce/eliminate the use of plastics in our life, so we are transitioning away from those handy, dandy flimsy plastic 6-packs for starting seeds. You can, too.

 

Gardeners Supply Company has been offering ways of reducing single-use plastics like those 6-packs sold everywhere. They have sturdy reusable plastic trays for seed starting which have been available for a few years. This year they came out with metal seed starting trays.

 

These galvanized steel growing cells are pricey, but should last a lifetime. For about $50 you get 24 individual, tapered cells and a leak-proof tray to hold them. The cells are a nice big size. The kit is self-watering: it comes with a wire grid and moisture-retaining mat that keeps seedlings hydrated from the bottom of the tray which you fill with water once a week or so. I got one of these kits and looks like a winner.

 

Renee’s Garden is now selling seed starting cell trays made of silicone that are sturdy and reusable, and dishwasher safe. They do not get brittle, they say. I am ordering some to try them.

 

If you don’t mind extra work and lots of mess, you can make soil blocks using a little metal press that produces 2-inch soil blocks. The mixture includes peat humus, compost, soil, blood meal and minerals. E-mail me for more info about the process.

 

So what else do you need? Lights, growing medium and seeds. Let’s start with lights. To keep your light bill low, I recommend using LED lights. I have some old-fashioned 4-foot fluorescent lights, but have been replacing them with the LED equivalent. These look about the same, but have no ballast (transformer) inside the fixture and use much less electricity.

 

If you replace your old fixtures, don’t just throw the old tubes into the trash as they contain mercury, which is toxic waste. Some recycling centers will accept them, or bring them to an electrical supply company for proper disposal. And if you want to use an LED tube in an old fluorescent fixture, you should remove the ballast. Unless it says “No PCBs on it, it needs to be sent to a hazardous waste collection site also.

 

Hang your fixture about 6-inches over the planting trays. Use “jack chain”, a small-link chain sold at hardware stores. It allows you to raise the lights as your plants grow. Give your seedlings 12 to 14 hours of light per day – they need a good night’s sleep as much as you do.

 

Most seeds will wake up and grow more readily if you place them on a warm base. Electrical seed-starting mats are great for that, but not really necessary. I use them for things that specify warmer temperatures, like the flower Lisianthus, and for hot peppers.

 

I recommend buying “Seed Starting Mix” instead of “Potting Soil” to put in your planting cells. Why? Seed starting mix is a finer blend and works better. It is made from peat moss, vermiculite, perlite and fertilizer. You can make your own, of course, and I often do – I start 10 flats (trays) or more each year. I also mix in some high quality compost – about 50% of the final product. I also add a little Pro-Gro, a slow-release organic bagged fertilizer.

 

Peat moss is coming under criticism now by the eco-minded community. It is harvested from bogs and is centuries in the making. Coir, a palm fiber, is becoming more available, but I haven’t found it yet in big bags like peat moss.

 

Moisture is key for starting seeds. If the soil mix dries out before they get well established, they can quickly perish. That’s okay with me – I need a reason to get out of bed on gray days in mud season. Gotta check my seedlings and give ‘em a drink after I have my coffee!

 

You can contain moisture by buying and using clear plastic covers for your flats of seedlings. They are inexpensive and reusable. Take them off after everything has germinated, or most things.

 

A biodynamic calendar called Stella Natura is available for gardeners who want to plant seeds by the phase of the moon, stars and planets. I consult it when planting, and although not foolproof, I think it helps. Available at www.stellanatura.com.

 

So if you want another hobby, grow your own plants from seed. It takes a little practice, but it may make you happy – it works for me!

 

Henry lives in Cornish, NH. He regularly gives gardening talks at garden clubs and libraries. Reach him by email at henry.homeyer@comcast.net.  

Winter drags on, even though the days are getting longer. The sun is often lurking behind gray clouds, and on a good day we only get about 9 hours of light. I do miss the colors of summer, so I keep fresh cut flowers on our table – even though I have to buy them.

 

Cut flowers are among modern America’s true bargains. For the price of a bottle of wine – or a couple of cups of fancy coffee – you can buy flowers that will grace your table for up to three weeks. But there are some things you should know about getting good table-life for your investment.

 

First, you need to buy fresh flowers that have been carefully tended – and you can’t beat a florist for that. A floral shop has trained personnel who trim each stem in the store every other day and change the water to keep flowers fresh. Cut flowers need to take up water to stay fresh and healthy. Stems tend to scab over after a day or two, which means they cannot take up replacement water, or not much, so they suffer.

 

Here are some things you can do to promote longer vase life: cut off leaves that would enter the water in your vase. Leaves will rot, promoting growth of bacteria, which will impede water take-up. Cut off half to three quarters of an inch of each stem every few days, and change the water. Use the packets of white powder that often comes with flowers – it does help.

 

Keep your arrangement cool if you can. Putting it near a radiator or woodstove, or putting it in a sunny window will shorten its life. If you have invested in pricey roses or tulips, you may wish to move the vase to the entryway or mudroom at bedtime to keep the flowers extra cool during the night.

 

Some flowers are better picks than others if you’re on a budget and can’t afford to buy new flowers every week. Here are my recommendations for good cut flowers:

You may wish to ask where the flowers you plan to buy are from. Holland, Columbia, Ecuador and Kenya are the world’s top growers and export much of what is available. Some foreign growers have been criticized for producing flowers using strong pesticides and poor labor practices. The Sun Valley group in California is an excellent major American grower of cut flowers – but there is still the environmental cost of shipping them 3,000 miles to us. If you can buy flowers grown locally in greenhouses, do it!

 

Everyone loves to receive the gift of cut flowers, even us guys. So treat your loved one – or yourself- to fresh flowers this winter. They’re cheerful, and can make winter less oppressive for gardeners.

 

Henry lives in Cornish Flat, NH, He is a gardening consultant and a presenter of garden talks with slide shows for clubs and library groups, both live and via Zoom. His email is henry.homeyer@comcast.net.

On a cold and snowy day I paused to think back a few years to a conference I attended run by the Ecological Farming Association in Pacific Grove, California. There were several sessions by scientists presenting research confirming what organic gardeners have always known: organic techniques yield plants that resist disease and insects better, and produce better quality and healthier vegetables. There was even data presented indicating that organic practices can reduce weed pressure! I dug out my notes, and would like to share some of what I learned.

 

As I write this, the wind chill factor is well below zero, and summer seems a lifetime away. But if you are thinking about starting seeds indoors this year, this would be a good time to build a simple wooden plant stand. You don’t have to be a carpenter to build this, or to have expensive power tools. Your local lumber yard will cut the pieces you need.
       

 

The lumber for this cost me about $50 and the light fixture  – a simple shop light with 2 four-foot LED bulbs and a plug-in cord – cost $62, although often they are more expensive. Looking at catalogs, I see that one can easily spend much more for a pre-made plant stand. If you decide you like starting plants in the house, you could buy the extra lights next to illuminate more flats on the floor.
 

Here is what you need to buy for the model I built:

 

(4) pieces of 1”x3” pine, 4 ft long

 

(4) pieces of !”x3” pine, 5 ft long                                                                 

 

 (2) pieces of 1×3 pine16” long for cross bracing

 

(1) piece ¼” plywood, 18”x4’ (you can use thicker plywood if you have some)

 

(1) pair 3” strap hinges    

 

4-feet of quarter inch jack chain for hanging the lights and 2 small cup hooks to hang the chain.                                                                                              

(1) 4′ shop light with LED bulb and a plug-in cord                                                         

 

(30)  sheet rock screws (1.25” long)   

 

Tools: portable drill with magnetic bit to fit the screws and a measuring tape     

 

Most lumber yards will cut all your materials to size for you, but do not have small sheets of plywood. I found that Home Depot does have plywood in 2-foot by 4-foot sheets, and they cut mine to give me a piece 18” by 4’ for the shelf. You will need to ask them to cut the 1×3 pine boards as follows: four 60-inch pieces, four 48-inch pieces, and two 16”pieces.

 

 

 

Next close up the hinged legs and place them 5-ft apart on the floor.  Place 2 of the 5-ft pieces on top of the first side. One should be screwed right at the top, one 24 inches from that. Flip over the stand, and do the same on that side. Stand it up, and spread the legs 2 feet apart at the bottom. Then add a cross brace on each end of the A-frame just below support pieces for your shelves.

 

 

 

 

Starting seedlings indoors is miraculous for me – even after doing it for decades. I hold my breath waiting for germination, and fuss over the seedlings like a mother hen. And when I bite into my first tomato in August, I have the added satisfaction in knowing I brought that tomato into my world – with lots of help from Mother Nature.

 

 

Henry is the author of 4 gardening books. Reach him at PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH or by email at henry.homeyer@comcast.net.

 

My grandfather saved seeds from his tomatoes and started plants indoors in the early spring. He was not growing hybrid tomatoes like those sold in the supermarket. Hybrid tomatoes are carefully bred by crossing specific varieties of tomatoes so that they will have special characteristics such as surviving long trips in trucks, having a shelf life almost as long as a tennis ball, or resisting certain diseases. But those are not suitable for seed saving – most of their seeds will produce mongrels, not the variety you grew.

 

My grandfather grew what we now call heirloom tomatoes: time-tested varieties that breed true from seed, generation after generation. Tomatoes that had been grown for many decades, seed shared with family and friends. Tomatoes so tasty that they were often eaten right in the garden, warm from the sun.

 

Examples of well-known heirloom tomatoes include Brandywine (often touted as the best flavored tomato in existence), Cherokee Purple, Mortgage Lifter, Amish Paste and Black Krim. But there are hundreds of varieties of heirloom tomatoes. Each unique and loved by someone. Many have now disappeared – once a variety is lost, it cannot be brought back unless someone has saved the seeds so they can be grown again.

 

All heirloom vegetables are what are called “open pollinated” meaning that they will produce the same variety every year. Of course, in a packet of seeds some will produce better fruits than others. There is variety, but all Brandywines will take about the same length of time to reach maturity and taste about the same.

 

If you would like to start saving seeds, read the seed packet or catalog and make sure what you buy is labeled open-pollinated or heirloom, not hybrid. At the end of the season, save some seeds and store them in a cool, dry, dark place, perhaps in a sealed jar in a refrigerator. Then start them the following spring.

 

I called Sylvia Davatz, the now-retired founder of Solstice Seeds in Hartland, Vermont to talk about saving seeds.  Solstice Seeds only grows and sells seeds from heirloom varieties including some varieties from Europe.

 

She gave me lots of good advice, starting with the names of two good books on seed saving: The Seed Garden by Lee Buttala and Sharyn Seigel, and The Manual of Seed Saving by Andrea Heistinger. She recommends getting both books if you are going to be serious about saving seeds as even among experts there are differences of opinion. These books will tell you all you need to know.

 

One of the reasons for having good books about seed saving is that they will advise you about such things as isolation distances to prevent mixing genetic material by pollinators or wind.  

 

I asked Sylvia what vegetable species are the easiest to save. She said tomatoes, lettuce, beans and peas are all easy. They are self-pollinated and annuals. No insects are needed, and seeds are ready by the end of their season.

 

Vine crops like squash, pumpkins and cucumbers are insect pollinated and more difficult. If you’ve ever let a “pumpkin” grow in your compost pile from last year’s crop, you know that sometimes you get weird things due to cross pollination – a pumpkin crossed with a summer squash by a bee, for example, may not be something you want to eat.

 

Most difficult in our climate are the biennials, things like carrots, beets, parsnips and parsley. These plants have to be kept alive all winter so they can flower and set seeds in their second year. You can dig up carrots and store them in soil in a bucket in a cold basement and re-plant them in the spring. But carrots, Sylvia explained to me, bloom about the same time as Queen Anne’s lace, a biennial wild flower/weed that can be pollinated by them – which would not produce the carrots you want.

 

Sylvia pointed out that in the not-to-distant past, seed saving was the norm. Farmers and gardeners saved seeds from their best plants, knew how to do so, and how to store them. She explained that the seeds you save will usually be of better quality than seeds from a packet. They will have more vigor and a longer life span.

 

A good source for heirloom seeds is The Seed Savers Exchange. It has, since 1975, collected and stored seeds from gardeners and farmers. You can join their non-profit or just buy some seeds or books from them. According to their website, they now store some 20,000 varieties in their collection, although at any given time only a fraction of them are actually for sale.

 

So think about saving seeds this year – even if only a few from your favorite heirloom tomatoes. And go to www.solsticeseeds.org to see a wonderful 8 minute video of Sylvia Davatz explaining all the importance and benefits of seed saving.

 

Henry is the author of 4 gardening books and a lifetime organic gardener. He lives in Cornish Flat, NH. Reach him by e-mail at henry.homeyer@comcast.net