For a Greener Hill: Eco-gardening tips
Submitted by Editor on July 14, 2011 – 10:55 pm | Print or Email »One Comment
by Jessica Miller (Emery Street) | This column provides tips on reducing waste while saving money.
Here are true and tested tips for your vegetable garden. I’ve only been gardening for 2 years, so these may be obvious for the seasoned gardener. But hey, maybe not. It’s worth sharing.
1. Spread some broken-up eggshells around your tomato plants. This will enrich the soil and prevent blossom-end rot.
2. Plant some marigolds throughout your garden plot: they have a smell disliked by plant-eating insects. At the end of the season, collect the dry flower heads that contain seeds. Store in a dry place, and plant in the spring again.
3. Plant green beans: bacteria contained in their roots makes the soil more fertile.
4. Use grass clippings to control weeds: spread a thick layer around your plants to stop weed growth and fertilize the soil.
ECPD Non-emergency Phone
The city has an exception to the weed ordinance requirements of grasses cut to 7″ or less when native species are intentionally planted: “8.28.105 Waivers. The weed commissioner may waive the provisions of this chapter in whole or in part, when in the weed commissioner’s opinion, an application for waiver is in compliance with a checklist for land management utilizing native grasses and other plants…”