How To Nature

Author: Sara

  • Cleaning My Pruning Shears: Inspiration For This Website

    Garden pruner sharpening and cleaningI sharpened and cleaned my pruning shears today. I’m embarrassed to admit that this is the first time I’ve ever completed this task.

    Earlier this year, I was in a #gardenchat and the topic of pruning came up, including what people do wrong when they’re pruning and tool maintenance. I realized that I didn’t have a good answers for any of the questions that were asked. I always want to prune when it’s not the right time. Then I forget to do it when the time is right. I’m the “people” they’re talking about! I usually do a little research on how to make cuts, but still wonder if I’m doing it right. I’d never maintained a garden tool properly.

    I thought there needed to be a place for people who don’t know the answers yet or are learning as they go along. And now I have this website.

    So back to the pruners — I Googled how to maintain them and here’s how it went.

    Garden pruner cleaning and sharpeningBrush with a steel brush. Looks a little better now. Still kinda…dirty? Rusty? That’s what happens when you don’t keep up with maintenance. Tsk tsk.

    Run sharpener over blade. This sharpener is a Corona tool that I got on Amazon. As I’m running the tool over the blade, I notice a ton of nicks on the pruner blade. They aren’t completely worked out of the blade after the four to five swipes I take with the sharpener. Did I make them better or worse? I guess we’ll see when it’s time to prune something.

    Oil the joints. Spray, spray, spray with WD-40. Before I cleaned them, these pruners did not spring back open after cutting something. I would have to pry them open after I made a cut. Now they’re like new.

    And now my pruners are clean and ready for a workout. I must be a real gardener now. Stripes earned? At least one stripe?

    Update: Pruned an unruly rubber plant. Like a warm knife through butter. Nice.

  • Ring Corsages And Succulent Cuffs: Wearable Garden Trends

    Who wants a boring old wrist corsage when you could have one of these cool ring corsages? Lux Wedding Florist has a post sharing more on the trend.

    Whoa. Love it. For my birthday, Valentine’s Day. Having it with me all day long. This one is from Fiona Perry Floral Design.

    And have you seen anything like these succulent cuffs from House of Sunshine now available at Plant Depot? More long-lasting than a corsage. Here’s House of Sunshine’s Etsy store. 

  • What’s The No-Fail Flower Where You Garden? #HowToNature Twitter Chat

    Calendula, shasta daisies and, of course, dandelions are a few no-fail flowers among the participants of the recent #HowToNature chat on flower gardening. Here’s a sample of the discussion, in case you missed it.

    https://storify.com/saratambascio/flower-gardening-howtonature-chat

  • Fall Vegetable Gardening: #HowToNature Twitter Chat Recap

    It’s time to talk about fall vegetables. What do gardeners think about taking on a second planting? What are their questions? If you missed it, here’s a sampling of activity from this week’s #HowToNature Twitter chat.

    https://storify.com/saratambascio/howtonature-fall-vegetable-gardening

  • Is Fall Vegetable Gardening The Most Difficult Gardening?

    Fall vegetables in seed tray: pumpkin, baby spinach, cucumber, romaine lettuce
    Fall vegetables in seed tray

    I’ve never planted fall vegetables before, but I am doing it this year. Here’s my plan:

    Seeds: Acorn squash, cucumbers, pumpkins, romaine lettuce, baby spinach. Based on the fact that these were pretty much the only seed packets for sale at the garden center, they seem to be excellent choices for this time of year.

    The seed packets mainly give sowing information relevant to spring gardening, though. For example, they tell me how long after my area’s last frost I should sow. What about how many weeks before the first frost?

    The romaine took the early lead with little sprouts shooting up three days after planting. The pumpkins caught up in a big way, though. These plants are enormous, but according to the packet, they’re still not ready to go outside. Half of the baby spinach seeds didn’t germinate. Squash was the last to come up.

    Pumpkin 'Cinderella' one week and one day after planting seeds.
    Pumpkin ‘Cinderella’ one week and one day after planting seeds.

    And I hate having to thin out seeds. Am I going to thin out the seeds that had a better chance of making it?

    I ended up pulling information from about four websites per vegetable in order to get all the information that made me feel secure enough to start. That seems like a lot.

    Containers: Earth Boxes. I have three. I hope that’s enough for the veggies I’m sprouting. I’m using plant spacing based on square foot gardening. I hope that translates to Earth Boxes.

    Pest control: MiracleGro Nature’s Care insecticidal soap. Never used it before. We’ll see.

    Still needed: Trellises, fertilizer. Scheduled watering reminders on my phone.

    It was difficult to find supplies for a fall veggie harvest this time of year. Seed starting kits are out of season, one local store told me. Vegetable plants available for sale are crispy and burned, or, at other stores, non-existent. That’s why I’m starting with seeds. I saw that one garden center closed for the season on August 1. So no fall gardening there, I guess.

    Nature, I am trying to get back to you! Where are you? Questions:

    Can you get these fall vegetable plants where you are? Or are your garden centers already hibernating? Do you grow this time of year from seeds? Do you have to buy your supplies for fall crops in the spring? Thank goodness for Amazon, that’s all I can say.

    Why don’t seed packets give more information? If not on the packet, then on their websites? Some websites don’t seem to give much more information than what’s on the actual packet.

    Why are there so many seeds in each packet? I’m not going to grow 30 cucumber plants. Are most gardeners? Even accounting for a less-than-100% germination rate, I can’t plant all these seeds. Seems like this may have been a good idea in the past, but now I just feel like I’m wasting.

    What’s been your experience with fall vegetables? Please share what’s worked for you.

  • Twitter Chats: 5 Basic Steps

    TwitterSo you’ve been invited to a Twitter chat. Ugh! Another social media thing to keep up with? What’s this all about? How do you participate? What should you expect?

    If you’ve never been in one, a Twitter chat can seem like a bunch of random and unrelated Tweets, but here’s how to decode it. A Twitter chat is a moderated online meetup — people logging onto Twitter at a designated time to discuss a topic. They’re a great way to discover people with the same interests.

    1. Go to Twitter at the scheduled time. You’ll need to have a Twitter account to participate.

    2. Find the chat. In the search bar, search for the hashtag for the chat. In this case, it’s #HowToNature. You’ll see all the messages that have already been posted using this hashtag. Once the chat starts, refresh your web browser to see new Tweets.

    3. Add the hashtag in every post during the chat. This is the only way other people in the chat will see your Tweets.

    4. Q1, A1. You can talk to anyone during the chat, but a moderator will usually ask questions to keep the conversation going. You can expect a Q1, Q2, Q3 format. For example:

    Q1 What’s your favorite flower? #HowToNature

    Responses are in an A1, A2 format. So your answer would be:

    A1 That’s a tough one. But orchids are great. #HowToNature

    It can help to follow the moderator’s Twitter account to make sure you see all the chat questions.

    5. Interact. If you include the hashtag, everyone else following the Twitter chat will see your tweets. Reply to what others say. Retweet and Favorite others’ tweets.

    You’ll find people who have the same thoughts as you and people who inspire you to think differently.

    If you enjoy your first Twitter chat, you might want to check out Twitter chats around your other interests and hobbies. And then you’ll think Twitter chats are the greatest thing ever and wonder why you’d waited so long to jump into one!

  • This Plant Is Elephant Food: What I Want To Know About The Plants I Buy

    Portulacaria aura 'Variegata' elephant food succulent
    Portulacaria aura ‘Variegata’

    I’m a sucker for the succulent display at The Home Depot. I always stop to see what’s new for sale while I’m picking up my sheets of drywall and two-by-fours. This week, I found Portulacaria aura ‘Variegata,’ a succulent with tiny leaves on sturdy stems. I thought, “Eh, pretty cute.”

    Then I read the rest of the pot label:

    “Drought tolerant when established, a form of the South African ‘Elephant Bush,’ a major food source of the native elephant population.”

    It’s elephant food. After I read that portion of the label, I pretty much had to have the plant.

    I want tags and labels to tell me how to take care of plants, but I also want this kind of information when I buy. Having a collection of stories behind my plants turns my garden into a novel. They’re more than just beautiful. They’re how I connect to nature and the wide world around me.

  • Why I Need #HowToNature Chat…And You Might, Too

    spathiphyllum on desk

    I spent years as an editor at greenhouse and garden center magazines. My background was in journalism, not horticulture. I learned about plants and flowers along the way. On-the-job learning.

    Gardening is not second nature to me. When you sit at a desk all day, nature doesn’t come naturally. I’m a computer geek who wants to be a true plant geek. I want be closer to nature in every way that I can. I want to create something beautiful. It’s not impossible, but I still have some learning to do.

    I’m still a beginner gardener. I am an infamous, chronic but reforming underwaterer. I want to get better, but I still struggle to find information online that doesn’t contradict itself.

    Let’s talk about what’s worked for us. Maybe we’re having some of the same issues. I want to hear what hacks I can use to keep my tomatoes watered. Let’s get in front of our computers so we can have more success when we get back to nature.

    I’ll see you starting on August 5 at 9pm ET and every Wednesday on Twitter at the hashtag #HowToNature. You can follow the chat on Twitter @HowToNatureChat.

  • How To Nature: Let’s Talk, Self-Taught And Beginner Gardeners

    succulent echeveriaThis is a safe space. No judgments. Let’s hear all your gardening questions so we can all get rid of our black thumbs by learning from each other.

    If you’re any of the following, How To Nature might be for you:

    • You’ve been stuck behind a desk for too long
    • You have a lawn to take care of now
    • You’re a self-taught gardener
    • You’re addicted to succulents
    • You’re looking to bring the outdoors in

    Here’s what we’re going to talk about:

    • Flowers
    • Vegetables
    • Patios
    • House plants/succulents
    • Trees
    • Lawns

    Follow along on social media for updates and trends.

    Twitter @HowToNatureChat

    Instagram: HowToNature