Photo courtesy of NC State University
Annual G Garden G Guide
‘Honey Bear’ is an acorn squash, among the group known as winter squash. It has a sweet flavor when cooked. ‘Honey Bear’ is bushy and compact, growing 2 to 3 feet tall with a spread of 4 to 5 feet (no vines). It has a high yield, producing 3 to 5 squashes per bush. The robust production of 1-pound fruits is due to the plant’s tolerance of powdery mildew. At the end of the season, many acorn squash varieties succumb to mildew, and fruit doesn’t mature. From seed-sowing to harvest time is about 100 days.
A blue chip butterfly bush One of the most unusual new butterfly bushes (Buddleia davidii) to hit the shelves is a compact variety developed by Dennis Werner at North Carolina State University. ‘Blue Chip’ has a dense, compact form—typically 2 to 3 feet in height and spread. This freeblooming dwarf shrub is loaded with bluish-lavender flowers. ‘Blue Chip’ is suitable for the garden and pots.
Take the strain and pain out of gardening We now have a wide variety of options to make gardening easier and more accessible. People with impaired mobility and limited strength can benefit from specially designed tools and accessories, as can gardeners who want to prevent repetitive-motion injuries and back strain. Tools with ergonomically designed handles help keep the hand in a natural position: wrists straight, hands rotated and relaxed, fingers curled and thumbs straight. “Pistol-grip” and curved handles encourage this posture. Tools with permanent or
'Blue Chip' is the first of what will be a series of compact butterfly bushes sold under the name Lo and Beh old. add-on arm braces and support cuffs further reduce hand strain, transferring strength from the forearm directly to the blades or tines. Yard tools with telescopic handles help extend reach and are particularly useful for gardening in a sitting position, such as from a bench or wheelchair. This design is available in rakes, cultivators and trowels. Extended-reach pruners are also available. Pruners and loppers with racheting mechanisms help boost cutting power. They grip and hold a branch, allowing the user to release and squeeze again, cutting a single branch progressively. Oscillating hoes have hinged, stirrup-shaped blades that cut on both the forward and backward motion. Since dirt doesn’t stack up behind the blade, there is less stooping and bending that causes back strain. The blades can be attached to a regular tool handle or broom handle.
Add-on T-grip and D-grip handles are available for straight-handled tools such as rakes and hoes. They help increase lifting/pushing power and leverage while decreasing back and wrist strain.
Gardening up A raised bed is a cinch for creating good drainage and eliminating the arduous task of digging new beds. Growing vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers in raised beds also allows you to put more plants in a smaller area. The compact mini-gardens are easier to maintain than gardens laid out in rows. Walls for raised beds may be made of lumber, concrete blocks, bricks or any other material that will sufficiently contain the soil. Keep the size manageable, with beds no wider than 3 or 4 feet so that weeding and harvesting is practical. You can find simple solutions for construction and design at http://extension.missouri.edu/ explore/agguides/hort/g06985.htm.
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Carla Burgess writes the monthly Carolina Gardens column for Carolina Country magazine. Carolina Country MARCH 2009 11
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