Doug’s Garden Blog

Where the author gets to speak his gardening mind

Dear Friends

The posts below are varied and who really knows what strikes my gardener’s mind.

Which is another way of saying, this is my personal garden blog and I tend to write whatever strikes my fancy about my garden – both the good and the bad.

• Be Careful When Using Bluestone For Pond Algae Control
  You’ve probably heard somebody say they used bluestone for getting rid of algae in ponds or you’ve read somewhere about this miraculous method. Let’s put our enthusiasm aside for a few brief moments and consider the reality of what happens when you add this to water. Image by Gerhard Gellinger from Pixabay Bluestone is copper sulfate and ...
• Free Organic Gardening Downloads
  This is part of the eCommons System at Cornell U. Photo by Seyedeh Hamideh Kazemi on Unsplash Here’s a treasure trove of free organic downloads. (Do scroll down past the dairy farm information.) The only “problem” is the information is aimed at farmers so the scale to the home garden is going to be a bit “off”. But the data — particularly around things like the ...
• Why Growing Long Stem Roses Won’t Work In The Home Garden
  Growing long stem roses is something you can do in your home garden but you might find it a bit time-consuming. It also depends on the weather (which is why most long-stemmed roses are grown in greenhouses). Photo by Meghan Schiereck on Unsplash Grading Long Stem Roses Long stem roses are graded according to the stem length and the bud size. The longer ...
• Horticultural Glue: The Simplest, Easiest Method To Reduce Insect Problems
  Tanglefoot or other horticultural glue is one of my biggest garden friends. This is a glue that doesn’t dry right away – has the consistency of putty, is really, really sticky and is an amazing little bit of hort “stuff”.  And these homemade sticky traps are simply the easiest way to control insects in your ...
• Can I Turn My Swimming Pool Into A Pond?
  I had a reader who wrote, “Can I can turn my swimming pool into a pond because we got tired of swimming in it?”Here’s my response:Sure you can, but… The decision point though is what kind of pond you’re looking for. If you’re looking for a pond for fish,Some folks say you don’t have to change much ...
• How To Understand a Landscaping Contract
  There are 3 important things in a landscaping contract (and as a consumer you really want one of these if there is major work being done). First – those signing must have the ability to enter into a contract. In other words, you have to own the house or have the right to make modifications, you ...
• Bad Gardening Tips and Doug Shakes His Head
  Good grief but it really annoys me (I wrote another word here but realized it wouldn’t pass the family-acceptable standard I like to publish) when I see the amount of really, really bad advice in online forums and social media sites. The fall garden season is almost over, gardeners are flocking online to help each ...
• What I Learned From Building A Dry Stone Wall
  The lessons were worth the tired back and the smashed fingers. I’d always wanted to build something from stone and a wall surrounding my garden seemed like a good idea at the time. My dry stone wall under construction I’m a retired specialist plant nurseryman who needs firm boundaries to control his plant collecting. If I want to expand ...
• It’s A Major Overhaul.
  Subscribe For Updates (See top or sidebar menu) You can subscribe for updates in the right hand column. As I add new posts, you’ll get an automatic email (and no spam from me) This is a little-known Google email service. What I’m Doing Is republishing some of the blog notes and adding more pictures and cutting back ...
• Reflections On A Crazy Year: 2020 In The Garden
  This garden year started for us in early March with a mad dash from our Southern place to our island refuge. (As a friend noted, it’s a wonder the state troopers didn’t stop us (but I was far from the fasted machine on I-95) And with that introduction to a blog that hasn’t been updated ...
• Garden Tool Review: Korean Plow Hoe
  This Korean plow hoe review (also called a ho-mi or weed-eze or EZ-Digger) is based on my own gardening experiences and opinions and may vary from yours. It is also based on over 30 years of practical gardening experience. (that’s what you call a disclaimer) 🙂 This tool is advertised as being a planting, cultivation and ...
• My Nine Gardening Rules
  These are the same nine gardening rules I used in my nursery and they’ve worked for over 40 years now. Image the author and Canva I’m Doug Green, a semi-retired nurseryman, and award-winning author who used to grow 1600 varieties of perennials and 600–800 varieties of annuals and vegetables in my nursery before closing it down to write full ...
• How To Upgrade An Ebook On Amazon
  Why Am I Posting This? I’m currently upgrading my ebooks to better formatting (easier to read) and adding bonus content to every ebook – like Q&A forms and special hints and tips. Here are the steps for upgrading an ebook on Amazon Click the “Hello <your name> to create a drop down menu Click on “Your Content and ...
• Why You Won’t Get A Wisteria Tree from Seed
  How do you start a wisteria tree from seed (which I already have but don’t want to start it until I know what to do). Please also include starting wisteria vines.Thank you, and look forward to your news letters.Charlie Doug says Wisteria seed isn’t hard to start. It doesn’t require any special treatment. However! An important point at ...
• Garden Organic Website Resource
  I’m not sure how many of you have seen this website It is the oldest organic gardening organization in the U.K. (Used to be the Henry Doubleday Research Association) Fifty years old now. They have a ton of resources and a free 3-month membership trial period. One of the freebies ...