Beg your garden?
Rotarians learn tips for tending to their gardens
The St. Marys Rotary Club had one of their own members speak this weeks instead of a guest, this time focusing gardening and how to take care of our homes ecosystem.
Mike Lee, president elect of the Rotary Club, took the stage April 7 to provide some friendly advice to those wanting to keep their home gardens thriving and their lawns healthy for the coming spring and summer. His focus was mainly inspired due to the meeting the week before focused so much on the periodical cicadas.
“It was a great talk, but it was mainly focused on insects,” Lee said at the beginning of his talk on the subject. “We needed questions answered on gardening, so I volunteered myself.”
He talked about how there are a ton of different ways to find certain people who can answer questions on certain things dealing with nature. Bulletins are regularly sent out as well, sending out emails once in a while, so that people are constantly informed. How to take care of their gardens is a common topic.
Lee expanded on this by reading out certain questions as examples. Many of these which came from the people in St. Marys themselves.
One of the topics talked about was how weeds can be controlled in certain areas such as alleys, which Lee did his best to give tips for. There a variety of solutions that have a similar, if not the
same, effect. It depends entirely on what a person is willing to do to get rid of them.
Spraying chemicals can be a useful tool, but only used judiciously and used within certain EPA guidelines. Too many chemicals or using the wrong one can kill the leaves, but not the root, along with provide a serious effect on other plants in the area. Essential oils are another option, but could be toxic to pets. Of course other options can be effective, if only more extreme.
“There is also the most entertaining form of weed control and it’s a flamethrower,” Lee joked. However, he did say that when permits are used and its used in certain areas, it can actually be effective. It all depends on where a person lives and who gets notified about it.
Grub control was another topic that is brought up, especially on what kind of products are best for killing them while not effecting the environment too badly. Certain types of products are good, but others can kill fish or other organisms when used incorrectly.
People had also asked Lee about spring bulbs, more importantly on cutting the leaves. While Lee does suggest that keeping them on for a while is okay, especially if it means letting the plant form up food stores when it’s needed the most.
Other tips include having tree food spikes that are rich in nitrogen so they absorb more nutrients and spread it carefully, with ammonia and sulphate also working, making your garden unwelcome to certain pests is the best way to keep them away, and how drip irrigation is the most efficient for keeping waters flowered.
Lee encourages people to question anyone in their local government or gardening organizations to figure out more on proper techniques and correct gardening procedures. Hopefully the tips provided will give people incentive to do so in the future.