by Keri Byrum | Mar 29, 2015 | Around Our Yard |
It just never seems to fail. After answering a friends email about finding lubber grasshoppers in her yard I am shocked to then find them in mine! See this lovely clivia flower? Look closely at the black insects all over the flowers and you will see why it caught my attention. I waited several years for my first orange flower and I was not about to let it be eaten by these nasty lubbers. Lubber grasshopper control in full force! I only found a few in my yard, and they all seemed to be concentrated on this plant. In that case, the easiest control was simply to fill a 5-gallon bucket with water and knock them all into it. For the bunch that was on the single leaf I just cut that part off and threw it in the bucket.… Read Full Post
by Keri Byrum | Mar 18, 2015 | DIY Garden Projects |
Getting your children or grandchildren involved in gardening can be a very rewarding experience, but where do you start? Connecting kids with the outdoors, getting exercise, and creating lifelong memories all go hand in hand when you spend time gardening with children. Growing your own live grass Easter Basket is a really easy and fast way to get results for children. This project will show you how to grow your own live grass Easter basket and provide quick rewards to produce a beautiful project that your children will be able to show off to friends and family. I love how easy this project is to do in an hour or less! Supplies to create a live grass Easter basket: Basket or container for planting Garbage bag Garden soil or potting mix Scissors Annual ryegrass seed (any fast growing grass seed) Spray bottle Step 1: To begin, chose a container that you would like to make your “living Easter basket” out of and remember that containers that are shallow will work just fine.… Read Full...
by Keri Byrum | Mar 12, 2015 | Around Our Yard |
The time has come. This garden renovation needs to happen. I can no longer stand to look at my “catch all” bed any longer. I’ve been patient, I’ve been frugal, and I am tired of looking at this any more. The nice thing about writing this blog is that I can take any garden project and say that I am doing it for blog content. Perfect! For a long time I have been admiring a yard in our neighborhood that is absolutely beautiful. It is well composed, there are unique and interesting plants, and at the same time it has a very peaceful and meditative feeling to it. Every Sunday Capone and I go for a walk and I almost always go by this house just to see their landscape.… Read Full Post
by Keri Byrum | Mar 31, 2015 | Around Our Yard, Plant Spotlight |
Asiatic Jasmine, or Asian Jasmine, Trachelospermum asiaticum, is one of the tried and true ground covers for Central Florida. This drought hardy plant is evergreen, pest-free and requires very little care or maintenance. Driving through older neighborhoods this is the plant that Mike and I often point at and say, “someday ours will look that good” or “whoa, check out their jasmine.” Truly, these are the things I say when we are driving around! How long does it take to establish Trachelospermum asiaticum? It depends. There are several things that factor in for this: Size of plants. Will you be planting 4″ plants or full gallons? The larger plants will establish more quickly and fill in faster. They will also be more expensive.… Read Full Post
by Keri Byrum | Mar 6, 2015 | Around Our Yard |
As I came walking in the front door yesterday I noticed the tell-tale white trails of leafminer on the leaves of a petunia plant. Lethal? No. Unsightly? Yes. There are lots of different types of leafminers, and each feeds on a different type of plant. Citrus leafminer, azalea leafminer, and other shrubs are very commonly effected by this pest. You can see examples of leafminer on other types of plants in this University of Florida publication. Each leaves the very telltale signs of infestation: the silvery-white circuitous paths that weave around the leaf. This is the pathway of a small larvae (kind of like a teeny, tiny worm) that has hatched within the leaf and is eating his way through, leaving that little pathway behind.… Read Full Post
