At least once a year I think about testing our garden soil to see what the pH balance is then I get onto something else and it slips my mind for another year.

I can dig in one spot of our yard and the soil is pretty good but move ten feet to the left or right and the soil can turn into such dense clay it’s hard to get the shovel into it. So it can vary from place to place in our own yard.

My previous understanding was that I would have to collect sample of the soil in our yard, mark down where I got them, and then send the sample away to be tested.

I put in a lot of work amending our gardens so the dense clay would drain faster than a couple of days. I did this by adding peat moss and compost each year since I started home gardening.

Bought A Garden Soil PH Balance Tester

Soil pH

The soil pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity in soils. pH is defined as the negative logarithm (base 10) of the activity of hydronium ions (H⁺ or, more precisely, H₃O+
aq) in a solution. It ranges from 0 to 14, with 7 being neutral. A pH below 7 is acidic and above 7 is basic. Soil pH is considered a master variable in soils as it controls many chemical processes that take place. It specifically affects plant nutrient availability by controlling the chemical forms of the nutrient. The optimum pH range for most plants is between 5.5 and 7.0,^[1] however many plants have adapted to thrive at pH values outside this range. Wiki – Soil pH

Get Down To Where The Roots Live

After reading and watching a few videos I know that it’s important to remove the top few inches of soil and debris to get to where the roots live as that’s where they will get their nutrition.

What a gorgeous weekend for getting more of our yard clean up done. It was sunny, warm and no breeze or wind to blow our hard work around the yard again. Up until this past week everything looked brown and drab but through the week the lawn started turning green again. What a difference in just a week.

All the trees and shrubs have tiny leaves started which is giving everything a light green hue, looks pretty cool. Especially the lilac bushes when the sun was setting last night.

Raking Under Rose Bushes And Sprawling Pines

Last weekend we cleaned up the open areas in the yard and left the rose bushes and sprawling pines until we gained some energy back again. So this past weekend was time to get in and under everything to get the garbage from the winter winds out of them. That’s a dangerous job around our rose bushes as they are thorny and dangerous.

That took most of the weekend and was quite exhausting. I don’t mind the work as the end results are so worth it. Jenny was quite stiff getting ready for work this morning but I wasn’t in any pain at all. I guess I didn’t work as hard as I thought I did.

Before Jenny was up and about I was out checking the job I did at cutting back the rose bushes on our north property fence. Those roses were already growing. Some were just an inch or two long but a few must have started last fall and were already 4 and 5 feet long and crawling across the ground. Probably hoping I wouldn’t find them.

Last Year’s North Property Fence

Here is a picture of part of our north property fence, about a third of it’s length. It was a very busy summer for me cutting the rose bushes back and why it’s so important to me to keep it under control now.

You can see a section that I started getting under control. I was cut back completely and was more than 5 feet tall again within a couple of months. From the lowest point in the picture the rose bushes just keep getting taller and tall. On the left of the image is our house, you can just see the rain spout in the bottom left.

That section of rose bush went right up the side of the house and behind the house. It grew to more than 15 feet tall and grew out over the top of the fence behind the house for about 10 feet. It was beautiful when in blossom but it goes all the way around our entire property. It’s about 6 feet out from the fence. The amount of property we can’t use is bigger than most people’s entire property.

Here is what it looks like this spring, after a long hard summer of cutting back last year.

This past weekend it was pretty easy going along the fence and just cutting back what I don’t want and leaving the rest. We can now see the fence again and Geoff was able to finish the siding on his new garage.

We have some trees and vines on the fence that will be able to grow so now we should have some variety along the north fence. I have already started cutting back the rose bushes on the east property fence. Our neighbours will be so happy I’m sure.

So first thing Saturday morning I was out cutting away anything I don’t want growing on the north fence and trimmed a bit of what we do want to keep.

I love the rose bushes when they blossom. It’s the rest of the year they are such a pain. So I am only keep a few that I can actually control and see how they look.

I’m sure you know by now how much I like to reuse, recycle and repurpose things rather than putting them in that garbage bag to be taken to our local landfill.

This little experiment involves a 2 litre plastic bottle and I just happen to have a few I’ve been keeping to repurpose for something and now I’ll use a couple in our backyard and home garden to control mosquito populations.

Even though I try not to leave anything that can collect rain water where mosquitos can breed we still have certain things that are out of our hands, like our neighbours, and is why I want to try this method of free mosquito control.

I know plenty of people who wouldn’t bother trying something like this as they feel homemade stuff just doesn’t work so for these people there is always the easy way, just buy premade mosquito traps.

However too many times we ignore a simple solution because it’s too cheap and easy to actually work so we look for something more costly to control mosquito populations. Many people still turn to harsh chemicals. Well this morning I was checking my Facebook account and saw that my sister had posted this homemade mosquito trap solution that’s more in my price range and thought I would share it with you.

Homemade Mosquito Trap Requirements

• 200 ml water
• 50 grams of brown sugar
• 1 gram of yeast
• 2-liter plastic bottle

How To Make Your Mosquito Trap

1. Cut your plastic bottle in half making sure the bottom half is a little bigger than the top half so the top fits into the bottom with some extra room to spare.
2. Wrap the bottle with something black, leaving the top uncovered, and place it outside in an area away from your normal gathering area. (Mosquitoes are also drawn to the color black.)

The Magic Mixture

Mix brown sugar with hot water, then allow it to cool completely. Once it’s cool you can pour it into the bottom half of the plastic bottle. Next, add the yeast which will create carbon dioxide. This is what will attract those pesky mosquitoes. Put the top half, which is like a funnel, into the bottom half, neck pointing down.

You can use tape to keep it together and to seal the joint so mosquitos don’t escape out any gaps where they join together.

I’ve read that some homemade mosquito traps can turn into a breeding ground so it’s important to clean your mosquito trap even week and change the solution.

It’s only been about 5 years that we have been gardening here in Moncton, New Brunswick but we never saw any hummingbirds. Then last year I got to see one up close for just a couple of seconds.

It was enough to make me want to see more of them so now I’m learning how to attract hummingbirds to our backyard garden.

Hummingbird have always been one of my favourite birds, just never saw one until now. That’s more than 50 years loving them without actually seeing one in person.

I was checking out some of our tomato plants when I thought I saw something fly past me. I turned and saw a hummingbird enjoying the blossoms on our pole beans. I had just enough time for my brain to recognize it and then it took off like a rocket into the next yard.

What Varieties Live in New Brunswick

The ruby-throated hummingbird is the only hummingbird I learned about way back in grade school but I was curious to know if there are other varieties here in New Brunswick and I found we have at least four varieties: Ruby-throated, Rufous Black-Chinned, Broad-Billed.

Here is a video that has helped me.

Recycling To Make Hummingbird Feeders

I bought a little hummingbird feeder a year ago to see if I could attract hummingbirds but never saw a single one using the feeder. I think the location was a poor choice and this year I will put them in a less sunny spot.

Items Required For My Hummingbird Feeder Project

For the hummingbird feeders I will make this year I am choosing to recycle products that would normally end up in the trash. Maybe a couple of water bottles and yogurt containers. Use a little bright red lipstick to draw some flower petals around the drinking holes and they should be good to go. Come on hummingbirds.

I won’t need many items to make my birdfeeders.

• Plastic water, soda or pop bottle with cap
• Small Shallow Tub, 3 to 5 inches across
• String or thin wire for hanging the feeder
• Drill and small drill bits or nail and hammer
• Bright red lipstick or permanent marker

I couldn’t find any bright red containers to use but I did find a couple of bright red plastic coffee containers that I will cut up. If I do it right I should be able to roll a strip up and put it inside the bottle. Then hopefully the rolled up plastic will unroll and cover the sides making the contents appear red.

Note: As I was reading things online I remember one article mentioning problems with ants. If you have problems with ants finding your feeders you can just put petroleum jelly on the string or wire you use to connect your feeder to whatever is holding it off the ground.

I also read that it’s not good to use food colouring as it can cause sores on the hummingbird’s mouth. It’s better to use simple syrup made from 3 or 4 parts water to one part sugar. This is why I will try to have a red container or red plastic I can put inside to make it appear red to attract them.

Related Hummingbird Info Sites

I found a site that shows a Google map with locations of hummingbirds in North America. It says it’s a global map but really it’s pretty much U.S. only.

It wouldn’t be a complete page on hummingbirds without including The World of Hummingbirds and Hummingbirds Around The World.

I love images of hummingbirds and found this hummingbird Flickr page. I wasn’t quick enough to get a picture of the hummingbird I saw last summer but hopefully I will this summer and I’ll add it to that Flickr page.

Well now it’s off to see how well I do at building my own hummingbird feeder.

I’ve already said I like to reuse, recycle and repurpose rather than sending things to the local landfill. I was waiting until our city wide trash pickup which happens once a year, in the early spring so that we could maybe find some gems people throw away.

Yesterday I saw the people up the street putting a lot of stuff out in the big garbage bin. It looks like someone skipped out on their rent and just left the big things behind. Things like their wooden bed frame and dresser drawers.

I didn’t see exactly what was being tossed until we went for breakfast at Hynes, like we do every Saturday morning. When I saw what they had thrown away I could hardly wait until we got back home so I could see if it was anything I could repurpose for the backyard and garden.

Their Bed Becomes Our Raised Bed

The first thing, right on the top, was the boards from their bed. Must have been a gorgeous bed but now it’s going to become a gorgeous raised bed garden in our backyard. Actually the bed frame is so big I can easily make two good sized raised beds.

I just went back out to the garage where we stored them to see how long the pieces are. The bed was 8 feet by 5 feet, not a bad size bed at all. I think I will cut it up so that I can make two raised beds, 4 feet by 2 1/2 feet.

Repurposing Dresser Drawers Into Flower Beds

At first I thought there was just one dresser but it turned out there was one big dresser and one smaller but with wider drawers. I am going to repurpose those drawers as flower beds I can stake to make an interesting raised bed flower garden.

There was other wood being thrown away with the bed and dressers which I can use to make a couple of small raised beds. I’d like to make a tepee out of branches and use them to grow pole beans.

Now I can hardly wait until spring is here and I can start putting my new raised bed gardens together, before planting time.

I wake up early, about 4am each day, but I’m not really wide awake yet so I like to look through gardening pictures and enjoy my coffee before starting my work at home work day.

Because I just joined Pinterest a week ago I have been going through dozens of Pinterest accounts looking at home garden related pictures on Pinterest.

Just a few minutes ago I watched a cool video about a tool that makes seed starter blocks out of soil. It’s called the Soil Cube Tool and I love the idea, which can save me money as I won’t need to be buying pre-made seed starter pods.

The thing is the pods I usually buy are in a mess so the dirt doesn’t fall apart while being watered. The fact the seed blocks don’t have any container had me worried that they would break apart at the first watering. I have been assured that this won’t happen.

Here is the video that caught my attention this morning. Check it out and let me know, through comments, what you think about the idea.

I was also thinking it would be a mess getting them out of the tray but when I saw the set of tongs he was using it made it look even more appealing.

The product isn’t expensive but when I see an idea that I might be able to duplicate myself, well I just have to try it. I think I have all the tools and materials to make my own soil cube maker. Although I have some PVC pipe that is the perfect size so I might just use that to make soil cylinders instead. Making the tongs would be easy with scrap wood I have in the garden shed.

I love home gardening tips and this tool is a great way to save money year after year. No more running to the garden center when I run out of seed pods.

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It’s not very often we have temperatures in the minus 20s with it being caused by wind chill but this week it just keeps getting colder. This morning it felt like I was sitting outside when I came in to my office to turn on the computer.

I can’t see my breathe but I feel like putting on a my coat. Gotta turn the heat a little more this morning. Honey’s not going to want to go out there again this morning. On days like this she doesn’t take long and jumps around like a jack rabbit.

These are the days I am so happy I work at home.

So yesterday I started going through John Walker’s The Garden Planner looking for plants I’ve seen in other peoples yards and garden so I can put some of them in our yard. I can not only find the plants I don’t know the names of but also get enough info on the plant to know where to plant it and how tall it will grow.

We will have annuals as usual but this year we want to add a few more perennials to the yard. We will do that each year so that little by little we will have the yard we’ve dreamed about. I’d like to have wild flowers growing along our north property fence. It would give us more privacy.

I actually don’t get a lot of exercise when I go for walks because I spend most of that time taking pictures of flower, trees, shrubs and vegetable gardens.

A friend gave us The Garden Planner by John Walker. It’s full of trees, shrubs and flowers. This book is cut into five section and I mean cut. The sections flip individually. The top section is the taller trees. The left side of the book gives the detail while the right side shows a picture.

Well I guess summer is really gone for another year and now it’s time to get ready for the long winter.

It was minus 6 yesterday morning and I guess that was just the right temp for leaves to start dropping.

I work from home so I got to watch the leaves falling from the big maple trees in our neighbours yard yesterday. It was non-stop leaves falling like rain, for hours.

Very cool to watch but I didn’t get a lot of work done. Well I guess I did get inspired to write about it.

Maple Tree Losing Leaves Rapidly

I don’t care so much for raking up those leaves but I do like the fact they make such good compost plus they look very cool while falling and our driveway never looked so pretty. The leaves will end up in our vegetable garden or in the compost bin, eventually. Right now I just want to watch them fall.

Our Driveway Filled With Fallen Maple Leaves

I saw this blue jay out in the backyard. It looks like he is playing in the leaves but I would imagine he was really looking for breakfast.

It looked like he was playing hide and seek looking for something as he was lifting leaves and dropping them. Probably looking for some food he hid earlier. The think is the squirrels and crows watched him hide the food and quickly stole it once he was gone.

All summer long our property fence was covered with grape vines and gave us some privacy in that part of the yard.

The leaves started turning from green to yellow a week or two ago and yesterday they all dropped off, just like the maple tree leaves.

As we clean up the fence and get rid of some other invasive plants I want to plant more grape vines so we can have more grapes for ourselves as well as the birds.

Watching the maple trees dropping leaves reminds me of home on the farm. We had about a dozen huge maple trees lining the driveway and it was always a beautiful scene when they changed to fall colours and filled our driveway with leaves.

If we rake any leaves up this year I want to put them into our vegetable garden and dig them into the soil. The rest we will put into the compost bin and make more compost to use later.

The compost bin we have right now is great but as we keep increasing the size of our gardens I’m thinking we need another compost bin. Maybe we will find some old palettes and make a bigger compost bin. The bigger that better and the less goes to the local landfill.

Last spring I started about a dozen Nasturtium seeds indoors so I could plant them in our backyard garden once the weather turned a bit warmer.

I had enough to put a row in front of our clematis vines which we have in a raised bed garden. The rest I kept until I was finished created a new flower garden for a shrub we bought.

When it was sitting there as just a pile of dirt Jenny started calling the burial plot so I had to go out and plant that shrub before the term ‘burial plot’ stuck. She’s so cute.

I have really been able to enjoy them right from my office window but now it’s October and they are looking a little raggedy, although they are still producing flowers.

This morning I went out to look at them and noticed a handful of seed pods lying on the soil so I got a container and started collecting them for next year.

I even brought in some of the green pods that were still on the plant but I only collect those that fell off as soon as I touched them. The others will be read in a few more days I think. I have three dozen at the moment. They are on a paper towel drying before I seal them up and put them away for next year.

I always like to watch video showing me how to do things so I looked around Youtube for a bit and located this short video that shows a guy collecting Nasturtium seeds like I just did. I hope you will like it.

Home gardening which includes flower gardens, container gardening as well as vegetable gardening can draw many garden bugs both good bugs and garden pests.

We know that not all bugs and insects in our gardens are beneficial so it’s important to know which are your friends and which you should get rid of.

The five insects or bugs listed below are beneficial to your garden so be careful not to kill them like I was doing before I realized what I was doing.

1. The Common Ground Beetles

I see the common ground beetle in my garden and yard but usually only when I turn something over that they are hiding in for the day as they are mostly nocturnal.

I remember as a kid on our farm I would catch them and put them in bottles to take to school to show my friends.

Why do I like the common ground beetles today? Well they help me keep the slug population under control, although I have to help them if there has been too much rain as slugs seem to multiply a whole lot more in damp conditions.

More info on the Common Ground Beetle.

2. Ladybugs

Ladybugs are one garden friendly bug people actually purchase for their gardens as they are great helpers when it come to garden pest control.

Part of their diet include such pests as aphids, mites, white flies and other harmful insects. Keeping ladybugs in your home garden will help to keep some of your garden pest problem at bay.

For more info about the garden friendly ladybug.

3. Honeybees

The bees in your garden aren’t going to eat other garden pests but they have another talent that helps your garden.

As honeybees and bumblebees fly from flower to flower eating nectar they can’t help but to collect pollen on their legs and body which helps to pollinate the flowers in your garden.

I love watching them go from blossom to blossom on our rhododendrons by the dozens.

In recent years there has been a noticeable decrease in honeybee numbers which could quickly become a real issue for the farmers needing bees to pollinate their crops. Going green and staying green is a great step in helping the bees.

4. Dragonflies

I really don’t ever see dragonflies in our gardens but I do see them where people have some kind of water feature or when I go fishing of course.

I can sit and watch them buzz around like little helicopters and how they hover and land on things. However, they are more than just great to watch as they love munching down on garden and yard pests like those mosquitoes I love to hate.

5. Lacewings

The lacewing is another garden friendly insect who loves to eat aphids for breakfast, lunch and supper. So they are a good insect to have in your home garden.

They don’t stop at just aphids though. They also like caterpillars, mealy bugs, and leafminers, and can eat hundreds of pest every single week.

It’s good to know and learn that not all garden insects are pests or harmful but instead are beneficial and help you avoid using harmful pesticides in your garden.

Related articles

• Home Gardening Tips: Natural Garden Pest Control (backyardgardeningtips.com)
• Dealing With Home And Garden Bugs (backyardgardeningtips.com)

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I love rhododendrons. We actually had three in our yard when I moved here but I didn’t know what they were and thought they were ugly.

I did my best to get rid of them but my strength at the time didn’t last long. I managed to dig one up and trash it. The second I only cut of at ground level and the third, well I was just to beat and left it.

Then that one blossomed and I got so depressed. I had destroyed two of the best looking flowering shrubs in our yard. But that one I cut off at the ground came back to life after a couple of years and is now ready to produce it’s first bloom in seven years. It’s not quite ready to display quite year but I will as soon as it’s ready.

I woke up just before 5 AM and was ready to jump out of bed when I heard the birds singing and chirping so I had to stay there for a while to enjoy their songs. Last year at this time all we heard was crows. It nearly drove our son Steve mad.

One of the crow babies fell from the nest early. I named him Chris the Crow and watched him live in our backyard, mostly under the bushes and shrubs. But his parents stuck with him and even taught him how to eventually fly out of our yard and join them in the air. It was the most amazing thing I’ve seen.

After enjoying the birds singing for a bit I got up, had a coffee, some breakfast and then went for a nice long walk to see what happening in the yards in my area. I prefer to get out early to avoid walking when it gets too hot.

Just a few days ago our big rhododendron hadn’t started showing signs of blossoming yet but a day later and we could see the silky blossoms getting ready to pop into view once again. Something I look forward to each year.

So when I looked outside and saw them starting to blossom I knew it was going to be a great day for walking. But first I had to take a few pictures of our own rhododendron and share it’s beauty.

The image below shows how they start their blossoms. They look like little silk hankies folded up into a flower or blossom. The picture in the top left of this post is a blossom that was popping out. It was on the opposite side of the rhododendron and I didn’t see it until I went out to take a few pictures.

Next it was off for my walk so I headed in the direction of the Moncton City Hospital as I usually see a lot of trees in blossom around there at this time of year. But before I even got to the next block I saw the rhododendrons below already in full bloom. I didn’t see any blossoms even started a couple of days ago.

Everywhere I looked I had to take a picture of something beautiful. It wasn’t long before I found another rhododendron which was even more gorgeous that the first one.

Their home was off the street just enough I couldn’t get a clear picture but I didn’t want to step on their property as I don’t like people doing that to us. Maybe next time someone be in the yard I can ask for permission.

My new camera allows me to zoom in without so much shaking but still it was just out of my reach, even with the zoom. I hope it’s enough for you to see just how awesome looking it really is.

It’s hard to get a good healthy walk in at this time of year. I just can’t pass an opportunity for a good image so I stop walking to . The picture below is a good example. How could I walk past a cute little scene like that?

Jenny thought this was the cutest picture of the day so I had to include it. Speak No Evil, errr I mean, Croak Croak Croak.

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I have the opportunity to get out for a day of trout fishing with my friend Casey. It’s been a couple of years since I fished for trout and usually use a fly rod. This time we are going to try both so I’m heading out to our little vegetable garden and see what I can dig up.

The robin above was watching me closely and as soon as I was done he/she flew down to pick up any worms I left behind. I think it was looking at the shovel trying to tell me to keep digging worms.

I’ve been watching our clematis so that I can help them grow on the trellis behind them. While I was checking them I noticed this big fat and rather ugly garden slug.

His life ended rather abruptly. I think I need to train those robins and blue jays to eat slugs instead of worms.

Next I wanted to cut back the rest of last year’s growth on our hostas and noticed we have garden slugs there as well. Another slug bit the dust today.

I have ways of dealing with slugs but my top home gardening tip for getting rid of them is to watch your yard and garden. When you see a garden slugs or any other garden pest remove them from the garden and destroy them.

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Poor Blue Jay. He hide a nice little treat in the corner of this raised bed but didn’t realize there were a couple of squirrels watching is every move. He wasn’t gone two minutes and they had his treat and were gone.

I used my new video camera to take the picture of that poor blue jay. He was looking so confused and it’s not the first time he’s been fooled and all because of those squirrels.

Later I noticed something moving in the bushes, no not a perv, it was a blue jay hopping around through the thorny branches. Man those things can impale you and won’t let go but this guy doesn’t even notice them.

I took the video below in just a few second but it took me the next few hours to figure out how to get it from the camera to my Backyard Gardening Tips Youtube Channel and a couple of coffees, at least.

Forgive the jittery camera movement. I had the camera zoomed in as far as I could to get close enough to see the blue jay. I’m very satisfied with the video quality and can zoom so easily. It even takes great still shots.

It sounds scary or even terrifying for your lawn. A grass scarifier should intimidate your grass into behaving exactly as you want it to. But that’s not what a scarifier is.

Brief Description of a Scarifier: A grass scarifier is simply a tool that removes compacted grass, thatch, moss or weeds from your lawn.

If too many grass clippings or leftover leaves are left on a lawn to compact, the grass underneath can’t breathe. A scarifier, also known as a roller or dethatcher, breaks up the compacted grass so that your lawn can start to grow vigorously again.

There are basically three different types of lawn scarifiers. The electric scarifier model is the most popular, while the model powered by gasoline works best when large areas of lawns need to be dethatched. A hand scarifier is the least expensive, but it is most effective when used in small areas.

Most lawn scarifiers can be purchased for $500 or less, although gas-based models can be more expensive. Reviews of scarifiers show the BRILL 30 VE Scarifier works well with a 15-meter electric extension cable, compared to standard 12-meter cables. BRILL scarifiers have a reputation for doing the work well that is expected of them. A Mountfield VE 32 Electric Lawn Scarifier features a 1,300 watt induction motor and 12 metal blades that churn up and dethatch a smaller lawn efficiently.

Gas-powered lawn scarifiers such as the Apache SC42 and the VT40 offer motors that start easily. The scarifier blades can be adjusted up to three-quarters of an inch deep in a lawn. Apache scarifiers feature bags to collect the thatch so that it doesn’t have to be raked up after it’s removed. The largest Apache scarifier, the AR601, is perfect for very large residential lawns or institution landscaping such as hotels or office parks. While this model handles large jobs very well, it costs close to $1,000.

A hand-powered lawn scarifier requires much more work than an electric or gas-powered model, but its lower cost makes it a great choice for small areas. Push model scarifiers such as the Parasene Lawn Scarifier are easy to use and cost under $100.

It’s not a scary experience preparing your lawn for summer weather. Removing the thatch and compacted vegetation that prevent healthy growth can be easy with a lawn scarifier. One of these models can help you restore your lawn to health in no time.

Related articles

• When And Why to Top-Dress Your Lawn (backyardgardeningtips.com)

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