Archive for August, 2010
Jazz up your outdoor living space
Friday, August 27th, 2010
Outdoor furniture has come a long way from the white wicker chairs, porch rockers, canvas sling chairs, folding plastic lawn chairs, sand chairs and metal gliders that once were the standard for lawn, beach and porch.
But those icons started it all, made us think, hey, how much can we bring outdoors? And when in New England, where there is a small 10 week window of outdoor-living-friendly weather, it’s all about maximizing that time and being comfortable.
So let’s make that backyard, that patio, that lawn, the most inviting, engaging and comfortable space that we can.
Let’s expand the footprint of our house, just for a little while, and let’s eat lunch, sip cocktails, chat with friends, serve dinner or read, in a special space outside, and on and around furniture that is comfortable, and unique.
Maybe it’s teak, maybe aluminum, or perhaps steel, but whatever it is that feels right to you, if you want more choices, stroll around and check out what we have at the nursery.
53,600,000 results for organic gardening
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
Just now, when we googled “organic gardening”, there were 53, 600,000 results!
We think there is an easier way: Dr. Earth. Go straight to Dr. Earth. Do not pass go, do not take any detours.
This company, founded 17 years ago by plant biology expert, Milo Shammas, is the best source, we feel, for knowledge, products, and inspiration. You will discover the root of organic integrity and along the way, the best garden of your life.
The Dr. Earth products are the very first to combine beneficial living soil organisms, (microbes), with organic fertilizers, to create a bio-technical breakthrough that is revolutionizing the gardening and landscape industries.
At Thayer Nursery Landscaping and Garden Center, we’re proud to offer the Dr. Earth line of products.
A Vivid Example of Art and Functionality
Monday, August 9th, 2010
One of Martha Stewart’s favorite potters is Guy Wolff, and we agree.
http://www.guywolff.com
Based in Washington Connecticut, Guy was discovered by Martha on one of her many excursions through the state to seek out the best craftspeople and artisans. He has since become her favorite potter and her homes are filled with examples of his pieces, many of them custom-made for her.
Wolff has been doing his art since 1971 and is a strong believer in architectural pottery, pots that stand the test of time, both in terms of their functionality and their style. Drawing inspiration from the 18th and 19th centuries, Wolff is as prolific as any of the great masters.
On his site, Guy writes that the over the years the pots he has made may have taken on different jobs and were made in different kinds of clays, but with every project the key that drives his work has been his interest in understanding what makes old pots so vital, so alive, and so good.
The architecture of the piece is his passion. He looks at 18th and 19th century English flowerpots and centuries old Asian vases and sees the architectural integrity of the pot and the potter’s reverence and knowledge of the materials he is using. He believes that this where traditional craftsmanship is born, in the knowledge of a particular material and its attributes after years of working with it, and respecting the true potential of that material.
Guy’s father, Robert Jay Wolff, was an Abstract Expressionist and wrote in 1949 a thought that has stayed with Guy for many years. “Tradition is not a form to be imitated but the discipline that gives integrity to the new.”
You can experience the vibrancy and integrity of Guy Wolff’s work at Thayer Nursery 270 Hillside Street Milton this week.
Most Un-Wanted: Cedar–Apple Rust
Sunday, August 8th, 2010
Wanted For: defoliating apple leaves & for just being gross!!
Description: bright yellow-orange-red spots on apple leaves and orange galls with ‘horns’
Hangout: juniper (eastern red cedar) & apple trees including crabapples
Kryptonite: Lime –Sulfur Spray, Home Orchard Spray
The fungus that causes this disease moves back-and-forth between Eastern red cedars (actually junipers) and both fruiting & ornamental apple trees. In order to complete its life cycle this fungus must spend part of its life on both. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the disease by eliminating the cedars within the given area of the apple tree. However, the spores can be wind borne up to 2-3 miles, so eradication of the disease is often impossible or impractical. Nonetheless, if cedars are not too numerous on your property, the removal of junipers around the immediate apple tree can certainly reduce the spores reaching the apple foliage & fruit.
The spores drift through the air mostly at night and early morning. If it lands on the apple’s leaves & fruit and remains wet for 4-6 hours, the spores infect the leaves of the apple tree. After several weeks, yellow spots develop on the infected apple leaves and fruit. By mid-summer the spots appear slightly raised and light-colored & are visible on the underside of the leaf. Spores are released and the wind carries them to nearby junipers. Infected juniper needles and twigs show no symptoms of infection initially. Inspect them closely the next spring for small, green swellings (immature galls). The galls reach full size by the end of the next growing season but do not mature and develop the orange gelatinous tendrils until the following spring (about 20 months after infection.) This bizarre-looking structure is actually the fruiting stage of the fungus. The “horns” release the spores that infect the apple trees.
Many sulfur fungicides are effective against rust. Begin spraying in spring and repeat throughout the summer as needed. Spraying the juniper is not recommended because cedar-apple rust rarely causes significant damage to this host. Prune dormant galls from juniper during the fall, winter and early spring before the orange tendrils begin to erupt from galls.
planting for the future.
-By Maggie Oldfield Thayer Nursery
Most Un-Wanted: Lily Leaf Beetle
Sunday, August 1st, 2010
Wanted For: an invasive species that dines on & destroys ornamental lilies, also exhibits an interesting habit of personal hygiene – covering themselves with their own excrement
Description: beetle has bright scarlet body & black legs, head, & antennae and the Larvae resemble slugs with swollen orange, brown, yellowish or even greenish bodies and black heads
Hangout: asiatic lilies
Kryptonite: Neem, Spinosad, Pyrethrins
The adult beetles stay alive throughout the winter and emerge early in the spring, when they begin looking for food and a mate. The adult females lay their eggs on the underside of lily leaves and the females produce between 250 and 450 eggs. The eggs appear in April or May and hatch within eight days.
The young larvae feed on the underside and the upper surface of lily leaves and sometimes on lily buds. This feeding period, which lasts 16 to 24 days, is the most destructive. From there, the beetles drop to the soil and pupate, emerging as adults about 16 to 22 days later & feed throughout the rest of the growing season.
And their personal hygiene leaves something to be desired: they secrete and carry their excrement on their backs. While they feed, the lily leaf beetles cover their bodies with their own excrement, giving them a grotesque appearance. It is some sort of defensive mechanism – it makes them look like a bird dropping, warding off predators and parasites.
If you only have a few plants in your garden, hand-picking adults and eggs can be effective (we prefer not to handle larvae, although there is no danger in doing so). Neem is most effective – it will repel beetles and kill young larvae, but must be applied every 5 to 7 days after the eggs hatch. Spinosad will kill the larvae.
planting for the future.
-By Maggie Oldfield Thayer Nursery
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