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At the end of the season, most perennials start to look tatty as the foliage begins to dir back. In early autumn cut back the foliage to near ground level with shears or pruners for thicker stems and consign them to the compost heap. Shred or chop up woody stems before adding to the compost heap to speed the decomposition process.

The crowns of borderline hardy species should be covered with an insulating layer of leaves held in place with fine netting or a six inches thick layer of bark chippings. The insulating layer should be removed in spring after the worst of the cold weather is past and before new growth starts.

A few perennials, including chrysanthemums and sedums, are worth leaving intact over the winter months because they have attractive seed heads. These can be particularly eye catching on a sunny morning after hoarfrost. Hostas are sometimes subject to viruses, usually apparent as a yellowing in blotches on the leaf surface. Dig up and burn any affected plant to prevent the spread of the virus.

Old bedding plants are ideal for the compost heap. Being non woody, they rot down easily, making excellent compost. In autumn apply a mulch of garden compost around the crowns of your perennials. This will help to conserve moisture. Remove any old plants and weeds from the area.

Dig over the soil, taking care that you do not disturb the roots of nearby plants, and add well rotted organic material if the soil has not been rejuvenated recently. Work well rotted compost into the soil and break down the soil down to a fine tilth. If the soil is impoverished, add a base dressing of slow release general fertilizer and rake into the surface before sowing or planting.

It is worth staking taller growing perennials or types with large blooms that are prone to flopping in windy conditions or heavy rain. Perennials grown in exposed gardens or plants that are crammed together may also benefit from some form of support. Perennials that produce just one or two tall stems are best staked individually with a bamboo cane and string.

Clump forming perennials are easier to support with special interlocking structures, which are available from most garden retail outlets. If you are on a tight budget you can make your own support from short pieces of old bamboo cane linked together with string. Alternatively use twiggy sticks pruned from beech or another well branched deciduous woody plant during the dormant season.

The author is an expert in Ballet, Gymnastics And Health Related Topics. For more information on Ballet and Gymnastics products and information, please visit http://www.AboutBallet.com/ and for health related products and information, please visit http://www.NutritionalSupplementProduct.com/

Growing Asparagus in Home Gardens

Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) is a member of the lily family. It has been grown for more than 2,000 years and is quite popular in the home garden today. On the other hand Asparagus is an excellent source of vitamin A and contains significant levels of calcium, phosphorus, riboflavin, thiamine and Vitamin C.

Asparagus characteristics:

Asparagus is a perennial and will produce for many years when properly planted and maintained. It has underground storage roots and compact stems called rhizomes. The roots store food and the rhizomes produce edible shoots or asparagus spears. If the spears are not harvested, they rapidly develop into fern-like bushes 4 or more feet tall. The foliage produces carbohydrates, which is again stored in the roots.

Asparagus has both male and female plants. Both sexes flower and the female plants produce small, round, red berries in the fall. Female plants do not live as long or produce as well as male plants.

Asparagus growing conditions

Asparagus climatic Requirements:

Asparagus is a cool-season vegetable and prefers cool temperatures without frosts throughout the growing season. It is better adapted to the Cumberland Plateau and the high elevations of East Tennessee than to West Tennessee, but will survive and produce significant yields throughout the state given a suitable location.

Asparagus best location:

It is best to locate asparagus plantings to the side of the vegetable garden with other perennials such as rhubarb, strawberries and brambles. This will keep the plants away from cultivation and other gardening activities. Asparagus should be planted where it will receive a minimum of seven or eight hours of sunlight on sunny days. North or east slopes are preferable to south or west slopes, as they are slower to warm in the spring. Early developing asparagus spears are frequently killed by late freezes.

Asparagus soil:

Asparagus will survive in any well-drained soil. The best soils for asparagus are deep and loose, such as sandy loams. Heavy-textured clays and shallow soils should be avoided, since they restrict root development and promote root rots. Extremely sandy soils may not retain enough moisture for vigorous asparagus growth. Soils that warm up quickly in the spring promote early growth and harvest. This may be a disadvantage, as developing asparagus spears grow slowly in very cold weather and will be killed to the ground by freezes. Asparagus grows best on soils with a pH of 6.0 to 6.5.

Asparagus varieties:

‘Martha Washington’ is an old, standard asparagus variety. ‘Mary Washington’ appears to be a newer, improved cultivar. ‘Purple Passion’ is a relatively new variety with very large spears and a high sugar content.

In the last few years there have been many new hybrid asparagus varieties released. These varieties usually produce all or nearly all male plants. This increases their yield, because male plants produce about 25 percent more than female plants and because of hybrid vigor.

Asparagus fertilizer and lime:

Asparagus grows best on soils with a pH of 6.0-6.5. Take a soil sample to determine lime, phosphate and potash levels before planting. In addition, before spears emerge in the spring and after harvest, annually supplement the above fertilizer recommendations with one pound of ammonium nitrate or its equivalent per 100 square feet of asparagus bed.

Asparagus planting and spacing:

Plant asparagus early in the spring while it is still dormant, usually in February or early March.

Asparagus plants can be started from seed, but this is not recommended for home gardeners. Germination of asparagus seed is slow and weeds can be difficult to control. Plants grown from seed are transplanted to a permanent bed the following spring; so asparagus grown from seed also requires a longer time to begin bearing.

It is preferable to purchase 1-year old dormant crowns. This will cut the time before harvest by at least one year and eliminate caring for the tiny seedlings the first year.

Dig a trench 6 to 8 inches deep and place the crowns in the bottom. Space the plants 15 to 18 inches apart and leave 3 to 4 feet between rows. Spread the roots evenly and cover them with 2 to 4 inches of soil. Fill the remainder of the trench after the plants begin growth.

Do not try and fill in skips in an old planting with young plants, as the remaining old plants will inhibit the growth of smaller, younger plants. If seedlings appear in an old planting, they are best pulled out or transplanted to another area.

Asparagus irrigation:

During the first growing season, apply sufficient water to wet the soil 1 foot deep once a week. If it doesn’t rain, this may require as much as 1 inch of water. After the first growing season, watering every other week is usually sufficient. A 2-inch layer of an organic mulch such as shredded leaves or pine needles will be of considerable help in retaining moisture, as well as in reducing weed growth. Mulch will also reduce fluctuations in soil temperature during the winter which, in turn, will reduce the incidence of crown rot.

Trickle or drip irrigation is preferable to sprinkler irrigation, as it reduces the possibility of foliage diseases.

These systems may need to be run for two or more hours to wet the soil to the required depth of 1 foot.

Asparagus weed Control:

Weeds must be controlled if asparagus is to perform well. They can be pulled or removed with a hoe, cultivator or rototiller, but cultivation must be shallow to avoid damage to the asparagus roots.

Organic mulches such as grass clippings, straw or leaves help control weeds, as well as retaining moisture. Apply a 2- or 3-inch layer in the fall after the foliage dies. This will reduce weeds throughout the year. The asparagus spears will emerge through the mulch in the spring.

Do not use table salt or other salts to control weeds in asparagus. They build up in the soil and reduce yields, as well as shortening the lifespan of the asparagus planting.

Asparagus disease control:

Asparagus is subject to asparagus rust and fusarium root or crown rot.

Rust appears as small, reddish-yellow spots on the stems near the ground. Spores may be scattered by the wind and, if sufficient moisture is present, all the plants may be infected. Fusarium rot attacks feeder rootlets, main storage roots and plant crowns. It weakens and eventually kills plants. It rarely produces wilt symptoms, except on young shoots of seedlings. The fungus builds up in the soil and persists for many years. Asparagus spears infected with fusarium may show a brown surface discoloration. The varieties in this publication have some tolerance to fusarium. In addition, gardeners should always plant asparagus in well-drained soil, avoid replanting in old asparagus beds and keep crowns cool during the winter by using organic mulches.

Asparagus insect control:

Asparagus beetles are the main insect attacking asparagus. They are 1/4 inch long, blackish beetles with yellow to- orange markings on their wings. They over winter as adults in trash around the garden and in old asparagus stalks. The adults feed on young spears and attach tiny, black eggs to both spears and foliage. Larva hatch from the eggs and feed on the plant. In severe infestations, most of the foliage may be damaged.

Begin control of asparagus beetles by removing old foliage as soon as it is killed by freezing weather. Burn this residue or turn it under. Asparagus beetles are easily killed

by available home garden chemicals.

Asparagus harvesting:

Asparagus should not be harvested the year it is planted. A light harvest of about two weeks the second year will increase the number of buds on the crowns and result in subsequent higher yields. Harvest for about four weeks the third year and six to eight weeks thereafter.

Harvest by snapping the spears off at the ground level when they are 6 to 10 inches tall. This will result in less damage to un emerged spears and less chance of introducing disease into the plant than the traditional harvesting method of cutting the spears below the ground level. It is desirable to harvest at least every other day during cool weather and every day during warm weather to prevent spears from growing too tall. Too many spindly spears indicate weak storage roots. Cease harvest for the season if too many spindly spears appear. Additional fertilizer may be needed and the harvest season may need to be shortened in future years.

About the Author

Aura Angheliu is a Romanian floral designer with many ideas of natural decorations, freelance writer of nature, flowers and plants, traditional treatments and of the flower shop business. She also loves nature, flowers and to make floral arrangements.

For more information, visit http://www.flowersgrowing.com

Soft Shell Aquatic Turtle - Shell Rot? ILL? Black Shell??

I have 2 aquatic soft shell turtles (tropical) they live in the same tank - one is completely healthy, but the other has black and grey around the edge of the shell near its rear. It also has a red bit which looks like blood (but isnt blood). The poorly one seems to get a bit chased by the other - could this be why it looks like its rotting?? Thanks

It's hard to keep these turtles together with any other tankmate since any damage to their shells can cause shell rot. I had a male that I bought with this condition (the pet store was keeping it in a tank with gravel, where they should have a sand that doesn't compact so they can bury themselves - burying themselves in gravel can also cause shell damage). My turtle's vet recommended soaking it in a mixture of Povidone iodine with water until the water looks the color of iced tea. Do this about every other day for about 15-20 minutes for a few weeks. It'll stop the rot, but the shell damage never heals completely. You also need to keep the tank water top quality.

I've set up his tank with a plastic container on one end that I have on stacked patio block as a "sandbox" with rock steps leading up to it, plus a built up back of the sandbox where he can get out of the water to bask - the rest is open water for swimming, which is deep enough that he can't conveniently burrow and stick his nostrils out of the water at the same time, so I can use gravel in that part of the tank.

If your turtles are purchased or wild-caught, I would recommend taking them to a vet. In stores, most aren't kept in correct conditions, and they tend to come with a lot of problems - mine had the shell rot (obvious), and I later noticed mucus out of his nostrils (respiratory infection), plus I found a segment of a tapeworm in his tank. Turned out he had two other intestinal parasites too.

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