Gardening Q&A

I added compost last year to my vegetable garden beds. Do I need to do it again?

Yes. My rule is every time I take a crop out of the garden, I add compost. It only lasts a few months and the benefits far outweigh any inconveniences. My favorite is composted chicken or turkey manure. Sometimes it has a bit of an odor, but if you mix it with your garden soil, you'll get rid of any odors.

I planted basil last year in March, and the plants sort of dried up at the base and fell over and died. What happened?

It's a disease commonly called "damping off." It is most common early in the gardening season. It's a sure sign you're planting too early. Contributing factors are high humidity and poor air circulation. The most commonly affected seedlings in my garden have been tomatoes and basil. I find if I wait until the temperatures begin to warm before planting, and the ground is a little warmer, I don't have any problems with damping off.

I have clay soil and want to plant a couple of trees. The soil still seems pretty slick and thick. Is it OK to plant now?

The answer is no. Clay soil is nutritious soil, but it's very dense, and in winter the problem is worse because of the rain. Try to wait until the soil is drier. Mix compost with the soil before putting it back into the planting hole.

We cut down several trees and had the debris chipped. Can we use it in the garden?

I love this sort of material as mulch to protect the soil. It keeps moisture in, prevents weeds from growing and gives the garden a tidy look. However, you cannot mix it into the soil. As the chipped material breaks down, it uses nitrogen in the soil. As a result, that nitrogen is not available to your plants. Keep the chipped mulch on top of the soil, not in it.

I want to plant garlic for braiding. What varieties are best?

Garlic comes in two types: soft neck and hard neck. The soft neck varieties have pliable stalks, allowing them to be bent and braided easily. Soft neck garlic develops many cloves in each head of garlic. Hard neck garlic makes a flowering stem that produces many tiny bulbs, as well as an underground bulb with a single row of garlic cloves. Both are flavorful, although many gardeners say hard neck garlic is more strongly flavored. For braiding, go with soft neck.

I saw a beautiful plant in Vermont climbing up a chimney and was told it was a climbing hydrangea. Is that true? Are hydrangeas cold-hardy?

There is indeed a climbing hydrangea. It grows best where the vine can attach itself to a hard surface (it makes suckers to stick to a surface). It is spectacular in bloom. If they can survive Vermont winters, they can certainly survive anything California has to offer. Most people don't know hydrangeas can be quite cold-hardy, with some varieties even able to tolerate zone 3 of the USDA Zone Hardiness Map, the coldest zone in the country.