pittsburgh earth day – Doug Oster

Tribute to Pearl With a Pearl Bush: A Memorial Garden to Honor Loved Ones

Doug Oster — Sat, 08 May 2021 17:46:44 +0000

May 5, 2021

When I posted a picture of my pearl bush (Exochorda) in full bloom on my Facebook page, Karen Tarr commented, “OMG, I have one blooming in honor of my mom, whose name was Pearl. Love the bush.”

This pearl bush was planted my Karen Tarr in memory of her mother Pearl Davis.

I reached out to Tarr, to find out the details and learned there was so much more than just that one plant in her garden, planted to remember love ones.

It was a decade ago when she and her husband Dick began to search for something to plant in memory of her mother. Karen knew right where the plant should go, near the driveway where it would on display every day.

The couple often shop at Snavely’s Garden Corner, near their home in Chambersburg, Pa.

“They have great service, she says, you can ask them anything.” When Dick stumbled onto the pearl bush, they had plenty of questions for owner Chris Snavely about the culture of the plant.

The planting site had morning sun until 11 a.m. and then shade. Snavely gave the couple a rundown of the plant and they left the nursery to go home and plant.

“I was still working,” Tarr says. “Every time I’d come in, I would see it, every time I would leave, I would see it. Kind of like saying, hi mom, goodnight mom.” It was reminiscent of their life together. Tarr would call her mother every morning at 5:30, checking on her before work and then often call in the evening too. “Kind of like when you were a kid, you’d see your mom every day, she says of the shrub.

The plant has not only survived by thrived, it’s certainly special while in bloom, but is a reminder of her mother year-round.

“She had a big heart and helped a lot of people. Davis worked at a school cafeteria and loved the children,” her daughter said. “When we sit on my front porch, I get to see it bloom,” she said happily.

The pearl bush is an unusual plant that you don’t see that often in the landscape. The neighbors came over to check out the unique shrub and were amazed at the special meaning it had for the family.

“Everybody in the neighborhood just loved it,” she says proudly. “It’s for my mom, and everyone thought that was such a neat idea.”

Her childhood fascination with stargazing continues, as she shares evenings looking skyward with the pearl bush next to her.

Her late father Garnet Davis has also inspired the plantings in the garden. Tarr moved irises from their family home, they bloom in purple, lavender and yellow. She has embraced native plants in the garden too, by adding pretty purple wood irises which also remind Tarr of her father.

Wood irises remind Karen Tarr of her father.

Spruce trees throw their seeds throughout the garden, sprouting wherever they are happy. They conjure childhood memories for her.

“As a kid, we wouldn’t buy a Christmas tree, we would go into the woods and cut one willy nilly,” she says with a chuckle.

Tarr moved one of the seedlings when it a sapling, now it’s nearly five feet tall, growing right outside her window.

“I’m just so happy, she says, I’m going to decorate it for Christmas. That’s the type of tree we had in our house because it was free.”

Her mother-in-law’s peonies were transplanted before her property was sold and now bloom annually in her garden.

“I always get purple petunias,” Tarr says. “My mother-in-law loved purple.” She liked portulaca too, so the couple always buys portulaca in her memory.

A hydrangea was planted at her childhood home, now there is also one in her garden.

“We always had one outside of my front door when I was a kid,” says Tarr. “We called them snowball bushes.”

She’s finding a space for a spirea bush which also was part of the landscape when she was growing up. Trumpet vines climb on a fence away from the house as another reminder of childhood.

Mae Davis was Tarr’s beloved grandmother who never wore perfume in favor of a little bit of Avon’s Lily of The Valley Cream Sachet behind her ears.

“It was kind of overwhelming,” Tarr says with a laugh.

She planted a small pot of lily of the valley, which has spread around the house and is blooming now.

Lily of the valley is blooming right now in Karen Tarr’s garden and brings back memories of her grandmother.

“I always cut them and bring them in the house because they remind me of my grandmother,” she added quietly about the sweet fragrance. “She never wore trousers — always in her little dress and apron. I can just see her sitting on her porch when we would go visit her on Sundays,” Tarr says affectionately.

When thinking about the pearl bush, wondering what her mother’s reaction would be, she says, “I think my mom would love the fact we bought it for her, and I didn’t kill it,” Tarr said laughing.

This year she pruned it a little late and the blooms aren’t quite as spectacular as they’ve been in the past. “I think she would say, ‘you pruned it at the wrong time, Karen!’”

“I’ll do better next year,” she said, just like she was responding to her mom. Then, after thinking for a moment, Tarr added, “She would have approved.”

The post Tribute to Pearl With a Pearl Bush: A Memorial Garden to Honor Loved Ones appeared first on Doug Oster.

Surprise Spring Cold Snap Tested Pittsburgh Gardens

Doug Oster — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 14:26:35 +0000

Buds of this magnolia tree were hit hard with a cold snap. Every several years magnolia buds are frozen during spring. Photos by Doug Oster

HERE’S A SAFE PLANTING SCHEDULE TO FOLLOW MOVING FORWARD

By Doug Oster

April 7, 2021

On my mature tree, the buds held their color as long as they could but they eventually lost their beautiful hue, transforming to a dull and disappointing brown, frozen as temperatures dipped to the 20s.

I wasn’t alone. On my Facebook page, many gardeners lamented the loss of their magnolia flowers. It’s nothing new, and it happens every several years — but that doesn’t make it any easier. Like those buds, we’ll all wait patiently until this time next year, hoping for a tree covered in flowers.

As the forecast worsened, questions abounded about what to do: cover, protect, pray? My answers were always the same. Anything out in the garden that is supposed to be there doesn’t get covered — they are on their own as far as I’m concerned.

Yes, the daffodils drooped, tulips looked awful, small flowering bulbs like corydalis were bent under snow, but covering them would have done more damage than good, in my opinion, unless expertly done.

Two days later, sans magnolia, the garden is thriving again. Daffodils, tulips and other spring bulbs are on the rebound. Sprouting peas, radishes and leafy greens laughed at the cold weather, not missing a beat.

For newer gardeners especially, the spring garden is filled with fear and frustration. Although veterans still feel the pain, experience tells us, when one thing fails, another will persist.

For spring bulbs, perennials, trees and shrubs already in place, what happens to them is out of our control. But when it comes to planting many other plants, timing is everything.

After a spring freeze, daffodils bounced back.

My gardening mantra was repeated again for this story about how to garden and it comes into play again today. It goes like this — improve the soil, know when the plants go in the ground and don’t let them dry out and you’ll have the start to a successful garden.

It is that second part, about when to plant, that comes into play right now.

Another week of 70 degrees sends the uninformed masses to box stores packed with flats of tender plants, but lacking the information needed to stop newbies from planting tomatoes, peppers, impatiens and others before they should be out in the garden.

If you see someone yelling, waving their arms and jumping up and down near that store, it’s probably me warning gardeners their plants are in peril.

Buy your plants at a good nursery, staffed with friendly, knowledgeable people who WANT to hear your questions. You’ll get plants that have been cared for properly and might even meet a few characters in the process.

Spring bulbs like this Glory of Snow didn’t mind the cold at all and were looking good two days later.

Another piece of advice from this old man, take your time when looking for plants, as it should be fun. Fantasize about the sting of a hot pepper, texture of an heirloom tomato or beauty of flowers on a full-grown plant at the end of the season. They should be planted in the garden when the soil and air warm-up, usually in the middle of May.

As a people watcher, it saddens me to see people rush through a good garden center. There are wonders and fascinating treasures to be discovered in the corners and back areas of nurseries.

It will get cold again, it always does and tender plants will struggle or die before then. Every year I meet a young couple who feel like they have a brown thumb after losing all or part of their garden to frost.

If you’re so inclined to try and beat the system and get warm weather plants in the ground during cold weather, just get a couple of things to experiment with. Don’t risk your entire garden hoping the stars will align, as they rarely do.

Celebrating the success of a few plants is always much more fun than replanting the entire garden.

In gardening there is always hope too, I continue to look up to the top of that magnolia as the days have warmed up, hoping that maybe a few buds survived to unfurl.

Doug’s General Planting Guide for Western Pennsylvania or zones 5/6

Direct sow vegetable seeds in the garden or containers in April

Lettuce

Other greens

Radish

Carrot

Beets

Swiss Chard

Peas

Turnips

Onions

Kale

Spinach

Transplant vegetable seedlings to the garden or containers in April

Lettuce

Other Greens

Beets

Swiss Chard

Turnips

Onions (plants or sets)

Cole crops (cabbage, broccoli, kale, etc.)

Spinach

Plants for transplanting into the garden or containers in April

Pansies

Perennials

Shrubs

Trees

Vegetables direct sowed in the garden in mid-May Beans

Cucumbers

Other vine crops

Beets

Carrots

Swiss chard

Lettuce

Other greens

Vegetable/flower seedlings transplanted into the garden in mid-May (Check the weather for possible frost before planting)

Tomatoes

Peppers

Lettuce

Other greens

Annual/tender flowers

Doug Oster writes a weekly column for The Green Voice Weekly Newsletter. He also the host of The Organic Gardener Radio Show every Sunday morning at 7 a.m. on KDKA radio 1020AM.

The post Surprise Spring Cold Snap Tested Pittsburgh Gardens appeared first on Doug Oster.

Everything You Need to Know About Growing A Lush, Organic Lawn

Doug Oster — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 13:47:01 +0000

Anyone can have a beautiful organic lawn like this one by creating the right conditions to make the grass thrive. Photos by Doug Oster

STOP BELIEVING “THE GREAT LAWN LIE”

It takes a lot for me to jump up on my soapbox when it comes to organic gardening. Usually, it’s a diplomatic tone used, when explaining the benefits of a chemical-free landscape. When the ads touting a weed-free lawn doused in pesticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizers start appearing — usually with beautifully composed shots of children playing on a lawn drenched in all three — my blood boils.

It gets old for my wife when I start yelling at the television or computer screen, but the anger is driven by the fact people have been brainwashed by Madison Avenue to think having a beautiful yard, means spending their hard-earned cash on a litany of products that can have such a negative effect on our environment.

I call it “The Great Lawn Lie.” The truth is, nothing can outgrow grass when it’s happy. That’s why we try so hard to prevent it from invading our vegetable garden and flower beds.

How We Came to Love Perfect Lawns

It was during the dawn of the suburbs that the lawn became part of our cultural lexicon. At first, grass seed was sold as a mixture, and it included clover. It was a brilliant idea, as the clover forms a symbiotic relationship with the grass. Clover does something called nitrogen fixing. The plant can make nitrogen available to the grass, obviously helping it grow.

Anyone old enough to remember running barefoot across those “quilted” lawns and stepping on a honey bee feeding on clover, will understand what I’m talking about. The yard wasn’t just a monoculture of perfectly manicured grass, it was filled with all sorts of other plants and no one cared. It was green and beautiful.

At some point, a marketing genius figured out the best way to sell the big three lawn chemicals was convincing suburban homeowners of extreme prejudice toward clover and that all the other plants, too, were invaders and needed to be stopped.

A Brief History of Herbicide

It was the introduction 2-4-D, an herbicide that could be applied to broadleaf plants which especially made the job easy. The thin blades of grass were unaffected as amateur “yardeners” happily spread the chemicals all over the lawn in an effort to quell these noxious weeds. Add a liberal dose of fertilizer to emulate the fairway of a golf course and then pesticides to kill anything that might threaten the precious plants and the rest of the weekend was for cooking out.

Homeowners were hooked, literally. Without a dose of all three, their lawn would go into withdrawal, and the soil life was detrimentally affected by the synthetic products. There was not much left to support the grass, so it was another trip to the store for another round to keep the color and texture just right.

By the way, 2-4-D is one of the ingredients of Agent Orange — an herbicide used during the Vietnam War which has been causing problems for veterans ever since.

“This is what you’re going to let your kids play on? These are the things you want washing downstream into our rivers?”

As I deliver my fire and brimstone sermon from said soapbox, I explained a much safer and, in my opinion, better way to have an awesome lawn. But like anything worth doing, it’s not without some challenges and it won’t happen overnight.

How to Grow Great Organic Grass

It’s all about creating an environment for grass to thrive.

Step 1: Testing Your Soil

The first step is to get a soil test, your local county extension will have one that’s the most accurate and is also inexpensive. It involves taking soil samples and sending them off to the extension lab. The results will give you a scientific basis to get the pH and fertility back to optimum levels.

Those numbers will be accompanied by information on how to apply organic products to get everything right.

It’s going to take a few seasons to get everything working perfectly, but it’s worth it. Not only for pets, kids and others at your house, but everyone living downstream too.

Step 2: Choose an Organic Fertilizer

When it comes to improving fertility, Western Pennsylvania homeowners and others have a great, inexpensive resource called ReVita fertilizer from Ohio Earth Foods. These pellets are basically dehydrated chicken manure and available locally from Hahn Nursery and the Pittsburgh Agway Stores. I’m sure there are other retailers and there are many different great organic, granular fertilizers that would work if you couldn’t find the ReVita.

As the lawn is being improved and the soil comes back to life, it will get easier as everything under the ground will help the grass grow.

Step 3: Lawn Care

Keep the grass long, three and a half inches or more, this will help shade weeds. Be sure to sharpen the mower blade annually — this assures the grass is cut, not torn, which benefits the health of the turf. Water in the morning when rain is scarce and soak the lawn, not just sprinkle the area. A deep watering once a week, if we don’t get rain, will force the roots deeper, making the grass more resilient when the summer heat arrives.

Clover is actually beneficial to grass as the two have a symbiotic relationship.

Love your dandelions, they are tasty and good for you. They also provide a great food source for pollinators when the flower.

Don’t kill your dandelions, enjoy them, they are beautiful.

Step 4: Grass Clippings Are Great

Leave the grass clippings on the lawn as long as they are not forming a mat. They make excellent compost as they decompose and do not create thatch. In fact, an organic lawn rarely has any issue with thatch build-up. In the fall, rent a machine called an aerator. I like to share the cost with a neighbor. The machine will take thumb-sized plugs out of the soil which reduces compaction and allows fertilizer and water to get down to the root zone easily.

Step 5: How to Prevent Crabgrass Organically

There is an organic weed and feed called corn gluten meal. It’s a great crabgrass preventer as it stops seeds from completing the germination process. The product is benign to us and is the product of the corn milling process. It can be purchased in two forms which are ground differently. When bought from the garden center, corn gluten meal will go through a spreader. When bought as livestock food from a feed store, it’s applied by hand but is usually less expensive. The key to using it is timing. It must be applied before the weed seeds sprout, our indicator for that is when the yellow forsythia shrubs begin to bloom. Wait too long and it’s useless, as the seeds sprout. It’s applied in the spring and then again in the fall around September.

Corn gluten meal works on all seeds, not just weed seeds. For overseeding, wait at least six weeks after an application of the organic product.

Step 6: Maintain Your Lawn

Adding fresh seed annually to the lawn helps too. The new plants are more vigorous than what’s been there for years.

Step 7: Learn to Love A Bit Of Healthy Variety

As an aside, did you know that dandelions are one of the most nutritious plants on the planet? Every part is edible except the seed head. The flowers are a great food source for a multitude of pollinators and are beautiful. They are only reviled because gardeners have bought into the Great Lawn Lie.

Find a safe patch of emerging dandelions — an area that has not been sprayed by chemicals or the family pet. Pinch the center greens from a plant, and see what you think.

They are traditionally prepared with bacon grease, so you get the best of both worlds: healthy dandelions and tasty bacon.

Don’t Believe You Can Improve Your Lawn Without Chemicals?

There are organic lawns thriving all over the country. In Pittsburgh, a drive-by Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden’s extensive organic lawn should convince anyone that this can be done by following these simple steps.

A chemical-free lawn will be beautiful, but safe to use as a play space and best of all, walk barefoot through the pretty green blades. Just be sure to tiptoe around those honey bees.

Doug will be teaching four free virtual organic gardening classes every Thursday at 4:30 p.m., beginning on March 25. The classes will cover indoor and outdoor seed sowing, composting, soil amendments, organic pest and disease management, gardening with children and much more. Classes sponsored by Farm to Table of Western Pennsylvania. For details and registration information go to dougoster.com

Doug Oster writes a weekly column for The Green Voice Weekly Newsletter. He also the host of The Organic Gardener Radio Show every Sunday morning at 7 a.m. on KDKA radio 1020AM.

The post Everything You Need to Know About Growing A Lush, Organic Lawn appeared first on Doug Oster.

Everything You Need to Know About Growing A Lush, Organic Lawn

Doug Oster — Thu, 25 Mar 2021 17:15:03 +0000

STOP BELIEVING “THE GREAT LAWN LIE”

I call it “The Great Lawn Lie.” The truth is, nothing can outgrow grass when it’s happy. That’s why we try so hard to prevent it from invading our vegetable garden and flower beds.

How We Came to Love Perfect Lawns

A Brief History of Herbicide

By the way, 2-4-D is one of the ingredients of Agent Orange — an herbicide used during the Vietnam War which has been causing problems for veterans ever since.

“This is what you’re going to let your kids play on? These are the things you want washing downstream into our rivers?”

How to Grow Great Organic Grass

It’s all about creating an environment for grass to thrive.

Step 1: Testing Your Soil

Those numbers will be accompanied by information on how to apply organic products to get everything right.

It’s going to take a few seasons to get everything working perfectly, but it’s worth it. Not only for pets, kids and others at your house, but everyone living downstream too.

Step 2: Choose an Organic Fertilizer

As the lawn is being improved and the soil comes back to life, it will get easier as everything under the ground will help the grass grow.

Step 3: Lawn Care

Clover is actually beneficial to grass as the two have a symbiotic relationship.

Love your dandelions, they are tasty and good for you. They also provide a great food source for pollinators when the flower.

Don’t kill your dandelions, enjoy them, they are beautiful.

Step 4: Grass Clippings Are Great

Leave the grass clippings on the lawn as long as they are not forming a mat. They make excellent compost as they decompose and do not create thatch. In fact, an organic lawn rarely has any issue with thatch build-up. In the fall aerate the lawn by renting something called a Verticutter. I like to share the cost with a neighbor. The machine will take thumb-sized plugs out of the soil which reduces compaction and allows fertilizer and water to get down to the root zone easily.

Step 5: How to Prevent Crabgrass Organically

Corn gluten meal works on all seeds, not just weed seeds. For overseeding, wait at least six weeks after an application of the organic product.

Step 6: Maintain Your Lawn

Adding fresh seed annually to the lawn helps too. The new plants are more vigorous than what’s been there for years.

Step 7: Learn to Love A Bit Of Healthy Variety

Find a safe patch of emerging dandelions — an area that has not been sprayed by chemicals or the family pet. Pinch the center greens from a plant, and see what you think.

They are traditionally prepared with bacon grease, so you get the best of both worlds: healthy dandelions and tasty bacon.

Don’t Believe You Can Improve Your Lawn Without Chemicals?

A chemical-free lawn will be beautiful, but safe to use as a play space and best of all, walk barefoot through the pretty green blades. Just be sure to tiptoe around those honey bees.

The post Everything You Need to Know About Growing A Lush, Organic Lawn appeared first on Doug Oster.

How to garden: There’s no such thing as a green thumb!

Doug Oster — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 21:49:05 +0000

Anyone can garden, I promise you. This story will help allow you to grow what you love!

Anyone can garden, I promise.

The post How to garden: There’s no such thing as a green thumb! appeared first on Doug Oster.

Something new, something old for you to grow!

Doug Oster — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 18:38:27 +0000

Salvia ‘May Night’ was the Perennial Plant of the Year in 1997. It’s still a stalwart favorite though.

I’m proud to be writing for The Green Voice, it’s the newsletter for Pittsburgh Earth Day, where every day is Earth Day. Here’s everything I’ve written for them.

Tried and true plants along with new introductions.

Winter Adventures in Gardening: Happy Accidents, Houseplant Tips and More.

Peace, Wellness, Plants, and a Sense of Community at Angora Gardens.

Local inventor introduces Plant Traps.

Tired of varmints, he built a cage around his garden!

Try microgreens for winter, windowsill gardening.

Easy to grow, unique houseplants.

Last minute gifts for gardeners.

Growing Together Aquaponics helps students with disabilities.

These plants have great winter interest. Extend the season by adding these plants to the landscape.

Love Your Leaves! Don’t rake them, they are a valuable resource in the garden.

Saving seeds from the garden is easy, fun and saves money too.