Articles by Dr. Francis Gouin

Your Garden Tools Are Calling

They work for you; now it’s time to work on them

Now is the time to care for your lawn and garden tools. Sharpen the lawnmower blades, drain and replace the engine oil, replace or clean the sparkplug and blow the dust and dirt from the cooling fins. When I service my gasoline engines during the winter months, I also like to squirt a few drops of oil in the cylinder head before I replace the sparkplug. If you have an electric mower, all you need to do is sharpen the blade and clear the vents of debris. I have an electric mower that is 41 years...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 2/3/11

Full Ciircle

Use the ash from your fires to help your garden grow

Wood ash is a great source of calcium and potassium, also providing some phosphorus and lots of essential trace elements. A 12-quart pail full of fine wood ash can be spread over at least 100 square feet of garden soil. Make certain that the ash is cool before spreading, especially if the soil is covered with dry leaves. Wood ash should never be stored in cardboard, paper or plastic containers. Always place wood ash in a metal container and store under cover. Most of the calcium in wood ash is...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 1/20/11

Pitch Those Fading Poinsettias

It’s much easier to buy next year’s colored blooms than to raise them yourself

Every January, I receive questions on how to keep poinsettia plants and have them flower again next Christmas. My best advice is to dump them in the compost pile as soon as you get tired of looking at them or when they start dropping their leaves. Leave the growing of Christmas poinsettias to growers of greenhouse crops who have both the knowledge and the facilities to produce quality plants in full bloom in time for Christmas. The poinsettia is known as a short-day plant, meaning that it...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 1/13/11

Your Christmas Tree’s Days of Giving Are Not Over

It still holds gifts for flowers and birds

If you planted pansies in your garden last fall, use branches of your discarded Christmas tree to provide the plants with some winter protection. Cutting the branches near the stem and spreading a single layer over the pansies will provide light shade, thus reducing chances of winter injury if we don’t get sufficient snow. Next spring, remove the branches just as the plants resume growing. Pansies are winter-hardy, but providing them with light winter shade will improve their spring color...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 1/6/11

Down by the Old Oak Tree

Why some oaks hold their leaves

Some oak trees retain their brown leaves all winter long, while others drop their leaves like all other trees. The reason is juvenility. It takes 25 to 30 years for an oak seedling to mature. Until it starts to produce acorns, the tree is in a juvenile state of growth and retains brown leaves all winter. As the oak approaches maturity, the ends of the branches near the top of the tree drop their leaves in the fall. The following year, the tree will drop more of its top leaves in autumn while...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 12/23/10

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; 12/16/10

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; 12/9/10

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; 12/2/10

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; 11/25/10

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; 11/18/10