Growing the Perfect Tomato!

There is nothing better than picking a nice ripe tomato from your own garden! Aside from the satisfaction that one gets from growing tomatoes in their own garden, the taste is undeniable.  Imagine slicing a nice ripe tomato into your salad or inbetween bread with some basil leaves = heaven!  One taste of a home grown tomato and the fruits of your labor will be realized!

If your planting tomatoes for the first time, here are some tips for you to keep in mind.

Tomatoes need plenty of sun. A good rule of thumb is to ensure they get at least 6-10 hours of sun a day.

The best time to plant tomatoes in Zone 6 is the middle of May as tomatoes like a nice warm soil to flourish.  When planting a tomato garden it's important to plant in a rich, organic, well drained soil. Adding compost, leaf compost, or cow manure is a great way to enrich your garden crop. 

Determinate vs. Indeterminate - What's the difference?

In order to first answer this question, one needs to determine what kind of space you want to put your tomatoes in. Determinates have vines that grow to a determined point and stop, making them more compact and bushy (some varieties will even have the name "Bush" in them). They are also an earlier type of tomato and are best suited for small gardens or containers. Indeterminates are more viney, will continue to grow all season long and will eventually need support. They will also do well in containers with a cage or trellis.

Types of tomatoes? What are you looking to achieve from your harvest?

Some gardeners want to grow tomatoes for distinct reasons. Perhaps you just love making salads & sandwiches with them? Others may enjoy a nice meaty tomato to make sauce? While others just love to have a simple picking tomato such as a cherry tomato. Rest assured, there are a number of varieties now for you to choose from.

Standard Tomatoes - Nice for slicing
Beefsteaks & Beefmasters
Better Boy
Big Boy
Rutgers
Bee
Early Girl

Plum or Sauce Tomatoes
Roma
Super Marzano

Small fruited - Great for picking off the vine!
Sweet 100's
Tiny Tim
Red Cherry
Patio

Heirlooms - Seeds that have been passed down generations!
Brandywine
Mortgage Lifter
Mr. Stripey
Oxheart

Heirlooms tomatoes are often various colors as well. Yellow, purple, almost white, mixed colors on one tomato, striped and bulb shaped too!

Love tomatoes but the acid is discomforting? No problem, try a yellow tomato, they are very low in acid and provide a great taste no matter what your looking to add them too!

The Nuts & Bolts about Tomato Gardens

You've planted your garden, your watering it every morning (never at night as this leads to fungus), flowers are starting to appear, tomatoes are appearing and then... the humid days of summer hit and you're noticing some things that may look like trouble on your plants.

There are quite a few garden pests that will migrate towards tomato plants. However, if you keep a close eye on your garden there are ways to prevent and cure insect problems in your tomato garden.  The most popular insects on tomato plants are aphids & whitefly.  An easy application of insecticidal soap early in the insects life cycle can control these pests. Don't want to use a chemical?  Try some lady bugs or praying mantids.. they feed on aphids and whiteflys.

There's a fungus amongst us!

By far the most common fungus on a tomato plant will be "Blossom End Rot". Symptoms may occur at any stage in the development of the fruit, but, most commonly, are first seen when the fruit is one-third to one-half full size. As the name of the disease implies, symptoms appear only at the blossom end of the fruit. Initially a small, water-soaked spot appears, which enlarges and darkens rapidly as the fruits develop. The spot may enlarge until it covers as much as one third to one-half of the entire fruit surface, or the spot may remain small and superficial. Large lesions soon dry out and become flattened, black, and leathery in appearance and texture.

There really isn't any commercial product that totally protects or cures this disease. However, you can try to prevent it by following the proper watering guidelines of tomato plants.

-Plant your tomatoes in a well drained soil.
-Avoid watering at night and only water in the morning. Soaker hoses are wonderful for this!
-If your plants are wilted later in the day, only water the plants around the base of the soil avoiding the leaves.
-Keep to a schedule when watering avoiding skipping days or eratic watering.

Watering? How often should one water a tomato plant?
Try to keep to a regimented deep watering schedule (accounting for any long periods of rain) but typically every other day unless very hot then every morning.

Pinching out the suckers!

Tomato suckers, or side shoots, are the growth that appears in the crotch between the stem and a branch. If left to grow, they will become another main stem with branches, flowers, fruit and more suckers of their own.

What are you waiting for?


Now, are you ready to start your tomato garden? 
Imagine this plate before you and being proud that you grew the tomato inside it! 

Adding Tropical Eye Candy to your Landscape!

Want to add a tropical splash into your landscape? Now's the time to start thinking about where you would like to add the "WOW" factor around your patio, pool or landscape.

There's a reason why these plants are called "tropical" because most of them are grown in Zone 10 or higher, however, during the summer us Zone 6'ers can enjoy their breathtaking beauty and then some can be taken indoors during the fall.

Some examples of beautiful tropicals that can easily transform your outdoor entertaining into a tropical oasis are:

Banana Trees
Tropical Hibiscus
Jasmine
Gardenias
Mandevilla
Bougainvillea
Tree Palms

Crotons

Elephant Ears

For added interest, try different combinations of tropicals within your garden design paying attention to various colors and texture.

An easy way to add them within your existing landscape is to bury the pots they are in within your soil being sure to mulch around them to keep them moist.

Want to dress up your patio? Why not put a tropical plant in a beautiful piece of pottery!

Banana plants add texture and a dramatic appeal to areas around pools and hot tubs!

While some tropicals are known for their exquisite leaves, others fall in love with their beautiful flowers which are incredibly bright and will bloom continuously all summer when in full sun.

Don't be surprised to see butterflies and hummingbirds stopping by your selection of tropicals too as they love the nectar that is hidden deep in the flowers of tropical plants.  

Looking to start your own tropical paradise? Stop by the nursery and see our fine selection of tropicals as they'll arriving very soon!

The Buzz on Hummingbird Gardening

It's getting close.. the buzz of the hummingbirds..

 Their shining iridescent colors and 'humming of wings' make hummingbirds among the most beautiful and fascinating birds to attract. The Ruby-Throated Hummingbird is the only species of hummingbird found in northern New Jersey. Male Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds have a brilliant, metallic-red throat that can appear black in the shade, while females have a white throat. Both have bright iridescent green backs and wings.

Habitat
The Ruby-Throated Hummingbird is the only Hummingbird that breeds in the eastern US. Hummingbirds migrate seasonally and are attracted to woodland edges and openings near streams where their favorite nectar producing plants grow. The nectar provides the necessary energy for the Hummingbird's rapid flight movement - a Hummingbird may beat its wings up to 75 times per second.




Feeding
Although Hummingbirds feed from nectar-bearing flowers of all colors, they are mainly attracted to bright red, pink, and orange tubular flowers. The most important thing you can do to attract these birds to your garden is to plant flowering annuals, perennials, shrubs & trees.

Also, these birds will eagerly come to special feeders that are stocked with sugar water. There are several models of Hummingbird feeders available to suit your budget and taste. It's recommended to fill the feeders daily, with fresh "nectar solution". Every four to five days clean the feeder thoroughly with hot water and a little vinegar to prevent mold establishment. Scrub the feeder with a bottle brush and rinse thoroughly before refilling.

Recommended Plants

The following garden plants provide color and nectar that can help attract Hummingbirds to your garden:
•Red columbine
•Scarlet sage
•Trumpet vine
•Nicotiana
•Lobelia
•Veronica
•Delphinium
•Four o'clocks
•Impatiens
•Bee balm
•Lilies
•Fuschia
•Verbena
•Honeysuckle

A garden with a combination of these flowers (and a nectar feeder!) can assist in attracting these unique birds to your garden.

The Hummingbird
by Harry Kemp
The sunlight speaks.
And it's voice is a bird.
It glitters half-guessed half seen
half-heard
Above the flower bed. Over the lawn ...
A flashing dip and it is gone.
And all it lends to the eye is this --
A sunbeam giving the air a kiss.

Gardening That Makes "Scents"

Gardening that
makes
"Scents"

There is nothing more pleasurable than a whiff of the first fragrant bloom in your garden! It's like food for the soul and since our sense of smell is deeply connected to our memories just one smell can bring back wonderful memories from the past.

When planning out your landscape there is always room for fragrance. Just remember to plant your fragrant garden close to your home that way you can enjoy the fragrance through your open windows. Also, the heat from a wall or patio can often intensify the fragrances.

Here's a list of plants you will want to plant in your fragrant garden:

Magnolia

Flowering Quince

Daphne

Mock Orange

Carlessii, Cayuga or Juddi Viburnum

Wisteria

Japanese Snowbell Tree (Styrax)

Sourwood Tree

Exbury Azaleas

Butterfly Bush

Beautybush

Henry's Garnet Itea

Fragrant Sumac

Roses

Honeysuckle

Summersweet Clethra

Lavender

Catmint

Agastache

Garden Phlox

Monarda

Sweet Pea

Russian Sage

Sweet Autumn Clematis

Artemisia

Sweet Woodruff

Thyme

Stock (Annual)

Nicotiana (Annual)

Scented Geraniums

Lemon Balm and Lemon Grass

Stargazer Lilies

Witchhazel

Basil

Rosemary

Whether you want fragrance in the spring, summer or fall there are multiple plants for you to consider. However, just as we adore the fragrance these plants can provide, remember that there is no such thing as a fragrant plant that does not attract bees. Why? Because bees help to produce the fragrance by distributing the fragrant pollen that these plants hold.

There are many plants that can provide you with all year fragrance from trees, perennials, shrubs to annuals and practically the entire year. Don't forget the scent that a white pine or juniper can bring to the palate in winter and of course the sweet smell a witchhazel can provide when all other trees and shrubs are still dormant. There are an abundance of desireable plants that you can plant to enhance the fragrance and beauty in your garden!

Just remember... take time to smell the flowers!  

Relishing the Beauty of a Redbud Tree!

Nothing says "Spring" has arrived more than a beautiful flowering Redbud! It's a stunning tree for any landscape.  Redbuds (Cercis Canadensis) are also called the Judas tree.   They are one of the most familiar spring blooming trees and typically bloom about a week before a dogwood.

Redbuds are small deciduous trees that seldom get over 30 feet. They are easy to grow and will adapt to any well drained soil. They will flower in light shade but to produce the most blooms planting in full sun is recommended.  Another unique point of interest is the heart shaped leaves of the Eastern Redbuds.

There are many varieties of the Redbud, including the ever popular "Lavendar Twist" Weeping Redbud that provides a focal point to any garden.  Another interesting fact about the Redbud is that its flowers can be put into salads or fried and eaten!

Another variety of Redbud is the "Forest Pansy". While the flowers resemble the Eastern or Oklahoma Redbud, the leaf is dramatic purple and it typically blooms later than the other varieties of Redbuds.  All Redbuds will flower first and then produce leaves afterwards. However, you'll need to be patient for the leaves as it takes an enormous amount of energy for the redbud to push out its leaves. When the weather stays consistently warm the Redbud will then start to push out leaves, small at first and then watch as the weather gets warmer the leaves will begin to get larger!   Now you know.. when you see the flowers of this beautiful tree, you know that Spring is finally here!

Lichen on your Trees

What are these green patches growing on my trees?

This is lichen. It is a combination of green algae and fungal tissue.

Is it harmful to your trees? Most often not. Lichens grow on the surface of the tree and do not harm the tissue of the tree nor do they cause plant diseases.

In fact, some believe that it makes a tree more picturesque.

Lichens act as an air pollinator. They help regulate the composition of gases in the air. They act as sponges and catch excess gas like carbon dioxide and help cleanse the air we breathe!

In some cases lichen actually helps return valuable nitrogen to our soil. So, if you see lichen on your trees, consider it a good thing!

April Gardening Tips

April Gardening Tips

When ground has thawed out, start digging
/prepping new beds

Remove all winter mulches
and composts

Start weeding, where necessary

Water all new plantings frequently (2-3x/week) and thoroughly (30+ min)

Plant trees, shrubs and perennials, containers or ball and burlap

Replant shrubs, trees and perennials that have "heaved" out of the soil

Finish all transplants (must be done before buds have pushed out)

Finish cutting back ornamental grasses

Formative Prune all summer and fall blooming shrubs

Cut dead wood out of hydrangeas, cut all live branches back to 2 buds


Transplant and divide summer and fall blooming perennials

Re-mulch all beds

Add compost to perennial beds

Plant annual seeds

Repair lawn patches that need seed/sod

Deadhead spring flowers, prune when done flowering

Save the dates for our upcoming April seminars

 

April 10 - Landscaping on a Budget

April 17 - All About Japanese Maples & Ornamentals

April 24 - Landscape Insects and Diseases