A change and then stumps...

Okay, I was going to post every day- and I did alright, but the fact is that I can't keep up! What with family needs, finishing my MA write-up and defense, working on my latest novel (have a personal deadline I need to keep), working, looking for a job, and actually DOING the gardening, I just don't have the time.

I will post twice weekly.

Here's this week's post. It's about stumps. Granted, if you needed to clear stumps from your gardening area, you probably need to wait until next year now, but this article will help-- whenever you get to it.


So keep in mind that just because you have an unsightly trunk doesn't mean you are an ugly elephant.

Maybe we're talking about the trunk of an old tree on your property!

If you do have a tree stump on your property, there is one single best way to remove it. First, get a heavy chain, ala Jacob Marley. Second, wrap one end of your strong chain snugly around the stump. Third, attach the other end of the chain to your heavy duty truck. Fourth, drive.

Fortunately, this is also the most enjoyable way to remove a tree stump.

However, there are a variety of impediments to this method of removing a stump. Perhaps you lack a heavy chain, a tough truck or it might even be possible you don't have the space to work with for this approach. If the method described above is impractical for your situation, rest easy; there are plenty of other approaches to this job.

The bad news is that most of these other methods are not as fun and they require more work.

Method #1: Stump Killer

This method is listed because it takes the least effort. You can very easily find and purchase some stump killing chemicals from your local garden center or large DIY store. Follow the directions closely, being very careful not to spill the chemicals on the ground or other plants.

The directions usually include these steps:

*Drill several holes into the stump, usually from sides near the top, going in and down at a slanting angle.

*On a clear day, pour some stump killer into the holes.

*Wait a given period of time. Your stump will be killed from the inside out.

*After the time period is up, you should be able to easily yank the stump out. It will probably be rotten and brittle.

You can also put saltpeter into the holes. This stuff is usually a powder and you have to add water to it to help it dissolve into the stump.

Method #2: Stump Grinder

This is another fun approach, but it's sometimes difficult to find one of these machines that is available to rent.

If you can find a stump grinder, often fabricated by Vermeer or Carlton, you need to read the operator's manual carefully so that you don't put yourself or others in danger. You also want to make sure the stump isn't near buried lines or pipes.

Using a stump grinder is quite simple. This machines vary in appearance and mobility, but the good ones have a wheel at the front that is lined with carbide-tipped teeth. This wheel spins at a high velocity and you guide it into your stump and down into the roots. Most machines can go about twelve inches down into the ground.

You have to start with a stump that is not very high-- say six to eight inches at the most.

When the stump grinder is done, you will have loose soil and loads of wood chips. Use your hands or rakes to remove the chips, dump some soil in the space, and you are ready to put in grass or garden.

Method #3: Elbow Grease

Now we're done with the easy and fun approaches. This last method requires diligence and planning. If you go after your stump willy-nilly with a shovel and pick-axe, you are going to waste time and energy.

First, it is best if your stump is tall, say four to six feet. So if you are taking down an entire tree, don't cut it down close to the ground. Leave some height. Of course, if you are dealing with a stump that is only a couple feet tall or shorter, you will have to go with it. You won't have the leverage that height lends you, but you can still get the job done.

Second, you need to understand that trees have more than one type of root. There are the branching roots that extend in all directions from the base of the tree. These branching roots have smaller vein-like roots. Then the tree has a heart root. This is also called a tap root or flat root, depending on the tree. This root tends to go fairly straight down.

You want to get at that heart root in order to remove the stump completely and with as little work as possible.

Here's the procedure:

*If you have grass or foliage near the stump that you want to preserve, cover it with a tarp. Put your dirt and other debris on the tarp as you go.

*Use your spade to clear as much dirt away from the base of the stump as possible. You can go about 1 to 2 feet out from the stump. You might end up with a hole that has a large diameter, but that's going to be okay. You want space to work.

Go down as deep as you can with the spade. Use it to chop smaller roots and find and clear dirt away from larger roots.

*Get your pick-axe and chop the roots you've identified. Chop them in two places: as near to the tree as you can safely reach and about a foot out. You do this so your spade has plenty of space to work in clearing away more dirt.

*Use your spade and pick-axe to remove more dirt and whatever rocks you might find. As you get more than a foot down, start trying to clear dirt away from the base of the tree that has been under the ground. You are looking for that heart root.

*Keep following this procedure, going around the trunk and identifying and chopping roots, then clearing away dirt.

*After a few rounds of this, if your stump is high enough, push on the top. Start wiggling it back and forth. If you don't have a high enough stump, get a pry-bar or long crowbar and find a place to jam it so you can get some lift on the stump.

Don't try to pry or leverage the stump out in one go. First try to get some wiggle, then more and more movement until the stump is moving fairly well. If you have wiggle but cannot just pull the stump out, you are still after the heart root.

*Clear more dirt away, then angle your pick-axe so you are chopping at the root heading straight down from the stump. Chop at that root and then wiggle the stump more. You will soon find that you are getting more movement.

*With steady work, you will reach a point where you can pry or leverage the stump right out.

I followed this procedure with a tree last year and left about five feet above ground. With that height, I was able to leverage the tree out after only one or two rounds of chopping at roots; I didn't even have to find the heart root.

Of course, if you do have a heavy truck, a strong chain and plenty of space, you can skip all of this and be done in time for a cold lemonade and the basketball playoffs.

Too busy!

I'm supposed to post here every day. The last few days have been way too busy for me to be able to take the time. I should have time tomorrow.

See you then.

Little update- moving along soon

So it's the middle of May and we still don't have much in the ground. Why? Because of weather and time issues. Over the last two weeks, we have had probably 40% rainy days and the temperature has been quite lame indeed.

We also need to get the garden tilled. We've never waited this long- and the truth is that we never wanted to wait this long. Again, it's been an issue of time and circumstance.

I don't think it will be a big problem. Okay, I hope it won't be.

Here are two pictures of the garden in its current state.

Yeah, it looks pretty good actually. All this rain at least has kept the dirt and the organics working together. Remember that you need to keep your compost and garden patches moist in order to encourage worms to show up.

Worms are friends.

In any case, we've got peas in our neighbor's garden patch. Her name is Donna. She's getting a little seasoned so she doesn't garden any more. Usually she invites a local family without garden space to use her plots. She couldn't find someone this year, so we're going to put our peas and tomatoes over there.

Here's a shot of our seedlings-- not so small anymore. I transplanted pumpkins, as you can see.

I will transplant tomatoes tomorrow night, probably film a segment and use that clip as my post tomorrow. You see, I used to be able to depend on Saturday as the day I could get a bunch done, but other things keep getting in the way, not the least of which being weather.

So I have to make time in the evenings to do these things. Which means I have to cut into my writing time. That's okay, all will get done.

I hope your gardening is going well. Remember that one of the best ways to keep weeds from being a massive pest is to nip them in the bud. As soon as you see them, take a hoe or a claw to them and yank them.

More tomorrow. Don't forget to follow, share and come on back!

The power of mulch

Two things that turn some folks off of gardening are weeds and insect pests. But fear no more! There is often a very simple, natural solution to both of these problems. I'll explain how choosing and using a good mulch will both control and eliminate problems with weeds and many pests. But first, what is mulch? Mulch is organic matter that has been broken down some. You often see it spread around the base of trees. It is not big chunks of bark, but is rather cuttings of plantlife of all kinds.

WEEDS
Mulch is a wonderful, natural way of controlling weeds. When you spread it on yourgarden, it keeps the soil cool and also helps keep your plants' roots cool. It also helps maintain the soil moist. As for weeds, mulch basically doesn't allow weeds to grow. It gives them no room and no sunlight. In essence, a good mulch will choke out weeds so that you don't have to break your back pulling them.

PESTS
But how can mulch deal with the pests that plague our plots? Firstly, having mulch around the base of your plants and on open ground has been shown to confuse pests. Slugs and snails have trouble navigating through mulch, and other pests find it hard to get through the mulch and at the roots of your plants.

Furthermore, if you choose a light colored mulch, like cedar or even straw, the sunlight will reflect off of it and bugs seem to hate that. It repels them in droves.

So now it comes to testimony. I have never once used any kind of pesticide or herbicide on my flower gardens. I got lucky in that I met an organic gardener early in my own gardening career. She taught me the value of good mulch. So I have used it and have only had the occasional problem with grass encroaching (I don't have much in the way of borders around my plots.). In essence, mulch is one of a gardener's best tools.

A little bit about slugs.

Slugs were once the bane of my gardening existence. They chewed on my corn plants, left gaping wounds in my squash leaves, and decimated an entire crop of peas. After ranting and sobbing, I asked around to find out what worked to keep out slugs. Here is what I learned and what I now use. And it works.

*Don't use salt. Yes, it is fun to watch the nasty beasties shrivel up, but salt is not actually good for the soil. So don't use it.

*Beer works. Yep. It is true. Get a shallow tub and either bury it or do something else to help the slugs get into the booze and leave the tubs out for a few days. When you go to check on them, you will find that slugs can be alcoholics too, but that they have drowned more than their worries in their beer.

*Egg shells. This is all around the best way to go. They are easy to gather and easy to use. Basically, just put your used egg shells back into the carton until the carton is empty of eggs and filled with cracked shells. Then set your carton outside for a week or so. Maybe put it in a shed or something. When the shells are dry, dump them in a trash bag and stomp them to bits. Now you basically have glass for slugs. Spread this stuff around the base of the big plants and at the edges of the beds of raised plots. Basically you are making a wall of shattered glass that will slash the slugs and snails to bits. A bit bloodthirsty? Yes. Are we willing to kill for our gardens? Absolutely.

Some other methods of slug control include using a special kind of slug-repellant soil and even hair clippings. But those are both too much work and the soil can be quite expensive. So just stick with egg shells.

A bit about bugs

A responsible gardener will make sure to be informed about how to keep their garden healthy. If that gardener is also wanting to stick with organic, they will need to learn many of the tricks of the organic trade. One of these tricks is knowing bugs. What not nearly enough people know is that there are many creepy-crawlies that actually do your garden a lot of good.

First off is the common earthworm. Not only good for fish bait (although I have never caught a fish with one), these little critters can make your soil incredibly healthy. You don't even have to pay any money for them. All you need to do to have these beauties working hard on your soil is toss vegetable and lawn cuttings on your garden and keep it wet. The moisture will attract the worms and they will munch those cuttings and turn them into rich soil. So keep your garden moist!

Another little guy that is good for your garden is actually referred to as a gal. It is the ladybug, sometimes called the ladybird. You know the kind. They are small, have rounded bodies that are usually some shade of red and polka-dotted, and they are good luck! These tiny, tickling bugs eat whiteflies and aphids like mad. To attract ladybugs to your garden, be sure to keep cup-shaped flowers and plants around. If ladybugs don't come to your garden, you can go to a nursery and pick some up! They're actually quite cheap. 


The third crawly that is good for your garden is truly creepy. It is the spider. We are not talking about black widows or brown recluses. Just your regular spider. Let them make their home in the leaves of your garden and they will eat just about any other bug around! The little pill-bugs (wood lice) don't stand a chance! Just take care to not harvest at night! Sticking your hand into a lush tomato plant and having a spider drop on your fingers will just about turn your hair white!

A final bug that will do your garden some good is the praying mantis. Yes, they offend us because the female eats its mate's head, but let's get past that, shall we? These long, unusual-looking bugs will chow down on regular meals of garden pests. So every time you see a mantis, pick it up and give it a comfy home in your squash plants or flowers.

Enjoy your bugs.

When to transplant seedlings

Okay, so the time has come to discuss the transplanting of your little seedlings into larger pots. Doing this right will encourage your seedlings to grow larger and have their stems thicken. Your seedlings need this growth in order to be ready to go in the ground.

Now first, you are not too late if you haven't transplanted your little seedlings yet. You want to get them to the point of transplanting in the next week or so, however.

I just recently transplanted the pumpkin seedlings we have.

Here's what I started with:

One of those pots has 2 pumpkin seedlings and the other has three.

What are the red cups for you ask? They are my larger pots. They are just under 4 inches across and they are nice and deep. I call them perfect pots for seedlings that need to grow up and get ready to go in the ground. Here's how I prepare the cups for dirt and seedlings:

 I just used scissors to poke a couple of holes in the bottom in order to allow for drainage.

Notice also the bag of potting mix in the first picture.

It doesn't technically have potting mix in it. It has compost dirt mixed with regular soil in it. It's a handy bag.

I decided to do this inside because I could sit down and work at chest height, which makes my neck and back more happy then hunching over outside.

So with everything ready, step one was to put a little bit of dirt in the bottom of each new pot. Here:

There's not much dirt in there. Maybe an inch, with a little crater hollowed out in the middle.

Your next step is to remove the seedlings from their pots. If your seedlings have their roots tangled up, it's not a problem. Here's a video showing what you can do. Warning: this is of me so you have to be subjected to my face and voice now.




Now you want to get those seedlings planted firmly in their new pots. Here's a still image of the technique:

You hold the plant up straight in the pot with one hand and with the other hand you arrange soil around the stem. Notice how deep the plants are going in these pots. Here's a video with more detail:



So once you've got all of the dirt in there, just pack it firmly, being careful not to squeeze the seedling's stem. Then water until the water is coming out the bottom.

Then don't water for a few days. I'd say let the top couple of inches get pretty dry. This'll stimulate those roots. After that, water every few days and keep your seedlings in a nice sunny area.

Oh yeah. Be sure to have your assistant label the transplants to keep things straight.



Next time we'll transplant tomato seedlings.