Articles by Dr. Francis Gouin

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 12/16/10

Deck the Halls with Greenery from Your Yard

Your evergreens will get a good pruning while you clip and snap

The tradition of bringing greens indoors comes from Europe and Scandinavia. The winters were long, and bringing greens in the house gave hope that spring would soon be coming. It must have worked, as we still do it today. If your evergreens are overgrown, now is the time to prune them back into shape and use the greens for decorations. Don’t be afraid to take the pruners and whack those evergreens. To be safe and to have a cleaner home, avoid using boughs of Norway spruce because they...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 12/9/10

Choose a Safe Christmas Tree

Not all Christmas trees are created equal

Not all evergreen trees are equally fire resistant. The Douglas fir is the most fire resistant tree, while the popular Fraser fir is the most combustible. Freshness has nothing to do with it. Douglas fir is a low-resin tree while Fraser fir is a high-resin tree. Assuring that your Christmas tree is a fire-safe tree begins with selecting the right tree. The State of Maryland fire marshal has declared that the most fire-resistant species are Douglas fir, Colorado spruce and Scots pine. This...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 12/2/10

11th-Hour Tasks for Next Spring’s Garden

Put out bulbs and bring in geranium cuttings

Plant spring bulbs now before the ground freezes To help your tulip bulbs produce large flowers for several years, dig the planting holes at least eight inches deep so that the top of the bulbs are no less that six inches below ground. Plant in well-drained soils amended with at least one-third compost by volume. There’s no need to place a handful of sand under the bulbs. Sand is used by bulb growers in the Netherlands and in Holland, Michigan, so that when the bulbs are...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 11/25/10

Putting Leaves to Work

Composting returns all those nutrients to the garden

The soil in my first garden at Upakrik Farm in 1991 was mostly hard clods of silt. Because I have added liberal amounts of compost over the past 19 years, my soil is now loose, friable and highly productive. I attribute the change entirely to the use of compost. Ninety percent of the leaves that I rake become mulch under my shrubs and in the flower gardens. The remaining leaves go to the compost pile. To hasten their composting, I run the lawn mower through the pile of leaves, grinding them...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 11/18/10

Don’t Bag Those Leaves

They’re Mother Nature’s mulch

In the fall, I hate to see black plastic bags full of leaves lining streets. Next spring, I’m likely to see empty bags of mulch, peat moss and fertilizer waiting to be collected by the solid waste municipal workers. Of all the 42 years that I have owned a home in Maryland, I have never discarded leaves. Nor have I ever purchased a bag of mulch. Fallen leaves are Mother Nature’s natural mulch. Upon decomposition, leaves replenish the soil with the very same nutrients that the roots...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 11/4/10

Brian Murphy: A Peach of a Researcher

He’s the 2010 Francis R. Gouin Scholarship winner

Brian Murphy, winner of the 2010 Francis R. Gouin Scholarship Grant, is helping solve the problem of storing peaches. With advisor Dr. Chris Walsh, he is conducting research on improving the quality of peaches in storage. Store-bought peaches are frequently unedible. The most delicious peaches are grown locally and sold immediately upon harvesting. It’s impossible to harvest fully ripe peaches without bruising them, so they’re harvested after the skin appears yellow but while the...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 10/7/10

Fall’s Favorite Fruit

You’ll love persimmons — once you learn the to eat them

Now that I have returned to the Deale Farmers’ Market Thursdays from 3 to 6pm with persimmons, I get lots of questions: What do you do with persimmons? What do they taste like? The persimmons I grow and sell are the Asian type, almost as large as tomatoes and with very few seeds, if any, depending on seasonal conditions. This year, persimmons have more seeds than usual. Persimmon Pie Dissolve two packages of unflavored gelatin in 1⁄4 cup boiling water. Blend the dissolved...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 9/30/10

The Stink Bugs Want In

Don’t welcome them!

If you thought the Japanese beetles (aka ladybugs) were bad last year, get ready for worse this fall, when invading stinkbugs join the Japanese beetles. This is the worst year I have ever witnessed for stinkbugs. Stinkbugs are harmless to humans and pets, but they are a nuisance and difficult to control. They derive their name from the foul odor they release when you squeeze the abdomen. It reminds me of smelly dirty socks with a slightly sweet odor. I have hung a fly-swatter outside so...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 9/23/10

From Humble Origins

Following a few simple rules, you can grow a mighty oak from a tiny acorn

A master gardener recently asked me how to germinate acorns because she had repeated failures. To be successful, collect the acorns soon after they have fallen from the tree. Never collect acorns that have caps still attached because those acorns are most likely empty. Only solid, firm acorns that have fallen from the tree without caps should be collected. A healthy, well-developed acorn is one that has separated from its cap while still attached to the tree. After you have collected a...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 9/16/10

Not Sour Enough to Kill Weeds

There’s a big difference between household vinegar and horticultural vinegar

A few years ago, I wrote about using horticultural vinegar to kill weeds. At a recent Deale Farmers’ Market, a customer who bought peaches from me insisted that my recommendation to use vinegar does not kill weeds. She even went to the trouble of boiling the vinegar, thinking she would be concentrating it. What she did not realize is that boiling vinegar dilutes the acetic acid, which is why vinegar gives off a strong odor when heated. Regular cider vinegar or white vinegar contains only...