Garden Detective

Since I'm going to be spending too much to re-do my entire backyard this spring, I figured I'd invest in an electric leaf lower to save on landscaper cleanup and maintenance costs this year. But when I started Googling around, I faced some tough choices. Prices ranged from ridiculously cheap (how good can it be?) to prohibitively expensive.

After days and days of online research, I decided to order the Toro Ultra 12 Amp Electric Blower/Vacuum #51599, a Consumer Reports Best Buy. I found it on Amazon.com for just $69.97, a real surprise, given the rave user reviews I read.

I felt like a kid on Christmas morning when the package arrived. I love power tools, especially ones that do what they promise to do, and I had very high hopes for this one.

Assembly was a breeze, and as the product description indicated, switching from blowing mode to vacuum mode required no muscle power and took only seconds. So far, so good. I headed outside to my debris-filled garden. Where do all those leaves come from? Didn't I clean them up in the fall? I never know why I bother.

That's a picture of one of my Nepeta 'Walker's Low' catmints, its branches polluted with sticks and leaves and pine needles.

After blasting for just a few seconds with my new Toro, the plant looked like it had been to the salon. You can even see some new growth starting.

After that I put the camera down -- I needed to concentrate. I cleared the driveway in less than 5 minutes and then -- this is the best part -- switched over to vacuum mode and sucked everything up into the included canvas bag, which attaches to the device and has an adjustable shoulder strap. The vacuum mulches everything it sucks up, so the bag can hold an incredible amount. When I finished, I dumped the contents of the bag right into my compost tumbler.

I think I 'm in love.

Three of my favorite member-submitted designs from the first Onusgear.com contest, from left: "Galaxy," "Flower Power," and "Chinese Lantern Trees"

I just got off the phone with Greg Burrington, a nice guy from Ohio who recently started a new environmentally conscious website. As a gardener and a citizen of our planet, his concerns are close to my heart. He put the onus on me to spread the word about his endeavor.

"We were inspired by the fact that Americans use about 500 billion plastic bags a year," he said, explaining that when he heard the statistics, he worked to "come up with a fun way to reduce that number."

That fun way turned out to be Onusgear.com, a member-based effort to promote the use of canvas shopping bags to reduce our footprints on landfills, and in turn, the earth.

Visitors have to register (membership is free) to submit original designs to the website. Each month, three designs are chosen by member-submitted votes and printed on canvas bags, which then are sold on the site for $21 apiece. Winners get 2 free bags bearing their designs and initials, plus -- depending on the strength of sales for their bags -- anywhere from $50 to $500.

The first monthly contest is underway, so here's a chance to be on Onusgear's inaugural bags.

Thanks to everyone who emailed with their gift wish lists. It was interesting to see where the emails came from, and how varied readers' desires were.

MaryBeth from Shrewsbury, Mass., says she really wants a compost tumbler. I have one myself, and when I remember to spin it regularly, it cranks out a fine batch in less than 60 days.

Corris, from Newsday's Cheap Thrills blog, would like an AeroGrow Kit: "For some reason this amazes me, sort of like my Chia Pet I had in high school," she writes. "I can't stop watching the infomercial. I love it!"

Kylee Baumle, from Haviland, Ohio: "Hi Jessica! I just read your request for what a gardener would like for Christmas and here is one thing I want: Horticulture Magazine just published a DVD-ROM with ten years of their magazine en toto. Every article, every photograph, every everything that was in their magazine from 1997-2006. And it's indexed, too! This is one great gardening magazine from among several in publication and I would love to have this compendium for my library. I just drool over the thought of having all that good gardening information as well as personal gardening anecdotes that have been contained in their pages over the last ten years on one handy disc. Another something? A Mantis tiller. But realistically, I'm more likely to actually receive the DVD. LOL.

Mindee Brockmann, a New Yorker who's spending the year living in Rome, wants a $400 Majolica pot for her balcony.

My list was published in yesterday's Newsday. For those who didn't get to see it -- and from a look at where my blog readers come from, I'd say many didn't -- here it is. Click the photo below to start the slide show.

I'm compiling ideas for a column on holiday gifts for gardeners. What's on your wish list? Let me know as soon as possible, and you might get a mention in print or online.

Tell me about your favorite gardening tool, gadget, plant or accessory by sending an email to jessica.damiano@newsday.com. BE SURE TO INCLUDE your first and last name, hometown and email address.

Happy shopping!

It won't be long before many of us till the herb garden and turn to limp, yellow store-bought herbs for the off-season. But thanks to a futuristic innovation currently on the market, we can actually enjoy home-grown herbs -- veggies, even -- all winter long. And I don't mean leggy plants sitting on a window sill trying desparately to soak up whatever rays they can from the short daylight exposure they'll get. I'm talking about hydroponics.

AeroGarden, a new-fangled kitchen appliance reminiscent of Ralph Kramden’s Chef of the Future, enables gardeners to grow greens, cherry tomatoes and herbs on their countertops in about the same space as a standard microwave oven. Pre-seeded pods germinate within 24 hours and grow in air and water, without the use of soil. Roots are suspended in air within a 100 percent-humidity, highly-oxygenated growing chamber. What’s more, the computerized unit flashes red lights when it’s time to add nutrients, which come in preloaded tablets.

Programmable grow lights automatically turn on and off to simulate the sun, and there are no harmful insects to worry about and no weeds to pull.

I saw a display of them selling for $149.99 at Hicks Nurseries in Old Westbury (call 516-334-0066 to confirm availability) They're also available similarly priced at aerogrow.com.

I'm not sure whether President George Bush is a closet gardener or if he's trying to make a fashion statement, but there's a lot of buzz circulating the internet this week about his latest choice in footwear.

Getty Images has caught the commander in chief sporting brown Crocs, a nice color-coordinated complement to his shorts, socks and cap. Manolo, the shoe blogger, has suggested his choice of shoes is grounds for impeachment. Me? I say never mind that Crocs are best worn without socks, I'm just secretly hoping he was en route to tend his backyard tomato plants. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy about our president, knowing I have something in common with him on a personal level.

I have a pair of those acquired-taste clogs, used exclusively for gardening and for quick morning runs in my PJs to drop the girls off at school. Mine are purple.

I've always thought them quite trendy, though I have to admit that while they're easy to slip on and hose off, my feet are always a muddy mess after a bout of weeding. What's the point of wearing shoes if your feet are going to get dirty?

Recently, I found a better gardening shoe. And this one -- while also an acquired taste -- keeps my feet clean. The Kamik Doodle can be worn in the rain or in the garden, and there aren't any side holes through which water and dirt can enter. They even go well with my PJs. Kamik footwear has been seen gracing such celebrity feet as those of Gwyneth Paltrow, Courtney Cox, Madonna and her daughter, Lourdes.

I wonder if the president will be wearing them anytime soon.

1. True four-season interest. Not just evergreen trees scattered about. I want a Harry Lauder's Walking Stick and a Red Twig Dogwood or three.

2. I want plants to look full and mature the day I plant them. I'm forever tormented by deciding between allowing the recommended space between plantings to allow for air circulation and growth, and packing them in for immediate gratification.

3. An end to weeding. I recently put the new Black & Decker garden cultivator to the test, and boy -- did that baby perform! And with such ease! I'm actually waiting for more weeds to grow so I can use my new toy again. It's my new best friend. (Black & Decker did not pay me to say that, by the way.)

4. A big, strong man at my beck and call who'll do all my digging and hauling without complaining. And then I could just sit down and point, occasionally muttering things like "over there," and "a little to the right."

5. I want not to have to get a new cesspool next week. Not only will the process raid my already meager savings, but it will rip up my garden and make a muddy mess of the backyard.

6. A hot tub.

7. A hose that won't tangle, is feather-light but sturdy, and will recoil on its own. Anybody know of one?

8. Instant compost.

9. More Knockout roses.

10. And most of all, I want world peace, an end to hunger and equality for all. That, and an unsolicited massage at the end of a long day.

What's on YOUR wish list?

Sesame Street's Kermit the Frog laments his lot in life in his song, "It's not easy being green."

1. Plant, Plant, Plant!

One of the simplest ways to give back to the planet without breaking your budget is to plant something. “Just plant something, anything," McCoy implores. "A single tree, shrub, bush or container will help the environment... Imagine if we all planted jut one new plant every year!” Trees and other plants remove CO2 from the air during photosynthesis, which cleans and oxygenates the environment. Plants also help prevent soil erosion, control water cycles, and moderate temperatures.

2. Start with Healthy Soil

Pesticides and fungicides aren’t safe for people, pets or even the planet. Eliminate the need for harmful garden chemicals by pampering ur plants with healthy, nutrient-rich soil from the get go. “Healthy soil, rich in minerals, nutrients and ’good bugs,' maximizes a plant’s own healthy immune system to let it naturally resist pests and diseases,” says McCoy. If you don't compost your own, look for organic potting soils like Organic Mechanics, available at Whole Foods stores this spring.

3. Reduce Fertilizer Use

Overfeeding isn't healthy for your plants, and all those extra nutrients end up polluting streams, bays, rivers and other watersheds. “Plants can only absorb so much fertilizer before the excess nutrients runoff into the groundwater,” says McCoy. Fertilizer runoff contaminates drinking water, kills fish and other sea creatures and causes problems like Red Tide. Reduce overfeeding by using environmentally responsible feeding practices, like the new slow-release fertilizer Dynamite. The 9-month plant food releases nutrients to the plant when the plant needs it most, and doesn't over- or under-feed, so they're maximum benefit and minimal wate and runoff. Plus, it’s low in phosphate, which makes it a nutritious, yet earth-friendly, plant food option.

4. Water Responsibly

If you don’t need to water your plants as often, you’ll save gallons of time and money, plus you'll conserve water. “Substitute older cultivars with new and improved varieties bred 'to drink responsibly',” advises McCoy. “Updated versions of classic plants like Knock Out® shrub roses require much less water than older cultivars."

5. Be Grass Green

“Most gardens have lawns, and in some cases the lawn IS the garden,” notes Ethne Clarke, garden editor of Traditional Home. She suggests mowing less frequently and cutting the grass longer so the top growth protects the roots, and watering less frequently to force the roots to grow deeper, which keeps them cooler and less susceptible to drought damage. She recommends using cornmeal or diatomaceous earth as an insecticide and pulling weeds before they set seed. For tough lawns, use a soil conditioner with good micro-organisms and aerate to encourage soil health.

6. Be Kind to Flora and Fauna

After pouring blood, sweat and tears into your garden, you don't want to wake up one morning to find that nocturnal visitors have made a midnight snack of your plants. All-natural repellents such as Deer Stopper reportedly are just as effective as their synthetic counterparts. To safeguard our children, pets and water supply, McCoy suggests organic and all-natural animal repellants such as DeerStopper from Messina Wild Life. Other products offered by the manufacturer of 100 % organic repellents work to keep geese, groundhogs, moles, mosquitos, rabbits and squirrels away.

Just quickly want to let you know about a Web site that posts current sales and ever-elusive, never-available-when-you-need-'em discount codes for seeds, plants and garden supplies. For a listing of online deals, from nurseries and garden product catalogs and Web sites, visit GardenBargainsOnline.com.

I just ordered a composter for the backyard. After reading reviews of several products, I settled on a Tumbleweed Compost Tumbler, an Australian product that:

1. Doesn't require any manual labor
2. Got high marks from consumers, and
3. Is recommended by the National Home Gardening Club

I've never made compost before, so this will be quite an adventure. I like the idea of transforming garbage into free mulch and fertilizer, and I'm excited about adding eggshells, coffee grinds and weeds to my pile. What's more, I recently read that paper (even if there's ink on it!) can be safely composted. I'm targeting all the junk mail I get, especially those unsolicited pre-approved credit card offers that require diligent shredding. Now, I'll just rip them into strips, give them a shot of the hose and toss 'em in with my banana peels, fully assured that identity thieves won't get their grubby little paws on them.

Aside from paper, a lot of surprising items can be added to the compost pile, among them, human hair. For a rundown of what can and can't be composted, visit The NYC Compost Project website.

Compost ingredients fall into two categories: Browns and Greens. Brown materials are rich in carbon and many, though not all, are in fact brown. They include dried, spent perennials, autumn leaves, leather, twigs and hay. Paper also falls into the Browns category. Green materials are rich in nitrogen, and likewise, are mostly green, or at least fresher than browns. Greens include grass clippings, fruit and veggie scraps and freshly picked weeds. Cornstarch packing peanuts and coffee grinds, though not green, also are rich in nitrogen. So even though they defy the color-coding principles set forth here, they are Greens.

Greens help speed the decomposition of your rotting garbage (a good thing,) while browns keep the heap from becoming an olfactory nightmare (a very good thing.) A fifty-fifty mix is ideal, though you can always go heavier on the Browns.

You should never include fats (meat or fish table scraps. dairy products, oils, etc.,) diseased plants or materials that don't decompose, such as plastic or glass, in your pile.

Apparently, bird and rabbit droppings, and horse manure are ok, but kitty litter and dog poop are no-nos. However, Florida's online composting center maintains that under certain circumstances, dog waste can be composted. Read the rules here and proceed at your own risk. For the record, I'm going to continue bagging mine up.

Do you have any composting advice for me? Leave a comment or shoot me an email.

I've read a lot of gardening books in 2006, reviewing several of them in Newsday. Here's a list of some of my favorites for those of you looking for the perfect gift for a gardener friend -- or yourself.

I'd like to make this nice and tidy, and call this my "Top 10 list," but really, I can only wholeheartedly recommend 9. So, here's my "Top 9" list, in alphabetical order:

"A Year of Roses", by Stephen Scanniello

"American Tomato: The Complete Guide to Growing and Using Tomatoes," by Robert Hendrickson

"Gardening on Pavement, Tables, and Hard Surfaces," by George Schenk

"The Glory of Gardens: 2,000 Years of Writings on Garden Design," edited by Scott J. Tilden

"Peonies," by Pamela McGeorge, with photographs by Russell McGeorge

"Radical Prunings: A Novel of Officious Advice from the Contessa of Compost," by Bonnie Thomas Abbott

"Seascape Gardening", by Anne Halpin, with photos by Roger Foley

"The Sun King's Garden," by Ian Thompson

"The Well-Tended Perennial Garden," by Tracy DiSabato-Aust

What do you get when you cross a tulip bulb and a light bulb?
A power plant.

Lots of folks refer to any underground structure that isn’t a fibrous or conical root system as a “bulb.” But in actuality, bulbs are very specific things, and shouldn’t be confused with rhizomes, corms or tubers. (We’ll talk about them another time.)

Amaryllis, daffodils, hyacinths, lilies, tulips, snowdrops, and ornamental onions all are true bulbs.

When shopping for bulbs, avoid any that appear moldy, are mushy or seem otherwise rotted. Loose skins aren’t a problem.

Spring-flowering bulbs need to spend a certain amount of time under chilly ground (below 60 degrees) in order to bloom. On Long Island, in Zone 7, the ideal planting time is around the beginning of November, but you can continue to plant bulbs until the ground freezes.

Bulbs serve as plants’ food storage system, providing nourishment throughout the dormant seasons(s) to ensure future showings. They come in varied sizes and have varied depth requirements, usually 2 inches to 6 or 8 inches deep. If you’ve purchased your bulbs, check the packaging for planting instructions; If you’ve inherited them or if for some other reason they didn’t come with directions, you really can’t go wrong planting any bulb at about 4 inches. Some will cry heresy, but it works. I’ve done it.

If you’re planning an entire bulb bed, dig up 4 inches of soil across the board, place your bulbs where you want them, and cover the whole thing up. If you’re adding bulbs to an existing bed, you should dig each hole individually to an appropriate depth and plant them one by one. Drop the bulb in the hole, pointy side up, and cover with soil. An ordinary trowel can be used for this task, but several different types of bulb planters are available to simplify the process.

Fiskars makes a bulb transplanter that’s marked with depth graduations and has a spring-loaded handle to release packed soil.

The Hound Dog Bulb Hound goes a bit easier on your back, as it has a long handle to reduce stooping.

For a higher-tech approach, there are bulb augers, like this one from Protech Tool Supply, that attach to power drills. Might be a good idea if you’re planting hundreds of bulbs at once.

I’m partial to a dibble, like the one made by Rumford Gardener (View image). You just poke it in the ground to the depth line marked on the spike, twist it around a bit to widen the hole and you’re done.

To discourage squirrels, rabbits, moles and other bulb-hoarding critters from making a winter meal of your spring garden, add a handful of crushed oyster shells to the hole when planting bulbs. The pests find the texture of the shells irritating and will keep away, plus you get the added bonus of nutrients leeching from the shells and nourishing your bulbs.

There are three basic planting techniques for bulbs:

Layering means planting one bulb directly on top of another. For instance, a tulip or daffodil bulb can be planted at 6 inches, partially covered with soil, and an earlier flowering bulb like a crocus, can be added right on top of it. The crocus will surface and bloom first, and the tulip or daffodil will follow, providing a longer season of color from the exact same spot.

Naturalizing is by far the most fun planting method, but it’s not for everyone. It involves putting your bulbs in a bag (or in a closed fist,) tossing them in the air and planting them where they land. It’s more pleasurable if you close your eyes and spin around first, but of course this isn’t mandatory.

The third method, to which I’m partial, involves planting bulbs in order of their appearances – early arrivals in the rear, late bloomers up front. This way, spent blooms and foliage are hidden behind the newer entries. As long as leaves are green, they’re busy producing food for next year’s flowers. For this reason, it’s important to leave them in place until they’ve completely yellowed and withered.

I know someone who painstakingly rolls down each tulip stem and secures it with a twist tie to avoid an unsightly mess in his garden. Why bother, when you can leave it be and hide it behind a later-arriving perennial?

Regardless of the method, remember to water after planting, and then regularly when buds appear in the spring.

Do you have any favorite bulbs or bulb-planting shortcuts? Let me know.