Q: I am looking for three plants that my kindergarten class could grow from seeds in small individual pots to compare their growth. -- Cathy Olson, Jonesboro
A: What a great idea! The following flowers take five to seven days to sprout: bachelor's buttons, sweet William, gloriosa daisy, ageratum, cosmos, sweet alyssum, zinnia and Mexican marigold. Vegetable seeds worth trying include corn, cucumber, bean, lettuce and watermelon. To ensure success, plant your seeds in moistened seed-starting mix and keep them in a warm location.
Q: I have a great stand of annual bluegrass. I need to know care and feeding; I do not want to get rid of it. -- Tom Karwoski, Marietta
A: As the name implies, annual bluegrass will die when summer temperatures approach 80 degrees. Although the bright green clumps are attractive, they shade out any lawn grass growing beneath, leaving dead spots in summer. Choose a grass that lasts all year, like fescue, bermuda or zoysia.
Q: In August 2010, my family moved into the home that my great-grandparents built at the end of the 19th century. We are limited in time and resources, but are trying to slowly "reclaim" the beds. We are overwhelmed with Florida betony. I need some fresh gardening perspective from you as to how to tackle the yard, step-by-step, with my kids. -- Sally Counselman, Jenkins County
A: Millen is lucky to have you making it prettier! With so much on your plate, I think your best bet is to conserve what you have, fight your biggest enemy (betony) and use copious amounts of mulch to unify the landscape. If the kids are old enough, use them to spot betony sprouts and put red survey flags by each one. Then you can come out on your own time to spray the weeds with glyphosate (Roundup, etc). Older kids could draw a scale landscape sketch, place water hose to mark bed lines, and research low-maintenance plants to install together. Once your beds are relatively weed-free, spread mulch. It's wonderful how $100 spent on mulch can make the whole landscape more pleasing. As the years progress you can decide when you're ready for a more involved landscape. Or you may decide to concentrate on your family and let the landscape remain in "basic" mode. Let this advice be your guide: If you are feeling guilty about what you haven't done in your landscape, you are attempting too much.
Q: I’m trying to make an ecological indigo vat for dyeing yarn blue and the recipe calls for pickling lime. What is the difference between garden lime and pickling lime? -- Lynn Pollard, e-mail
A: They are two different chemicals. Garden lime is calcium carbonate, but pickling lime is calcium hydroxide. Calcium hydroxide is much more alkaline than garden lime. You can’t substitute garden lime for pickling lime because you need a high pH to dissolve raw indigo and get it to infuse your threads. Other alkaline materials, such as sodium hydroxide (lye), could be used to make your vat alkaline but sodium hydroxide is quite caustic. A little bit goes a long way!
Q: For years I used a product containing monosodium acid for weed control. Now it’s off the market. What is a substitute? -- Sam Matthews, Marietta
A: Monosodium methanearsonate was taken off the market a few years ago because of concerns about soil arsenic accumulation. It was very good for grassy weed control. The chemical quinclorac is a substitute and is found in Bayer Lawn Weed and Crabgrass Killer, Ortho Weed B Gon MAX Plus Crabgrass Control and Bonide WeedBeater Ultra.
Listen to Walter Reeves Saturday mornings on AM 750 and 95.5 FM News-Talk WSB. Visit his website, www.walterreeves.com, or join his Facebook Fan Page at xrl.us/wrfacebook for more garden tips.
