Outdoor Home Gardener Preferences for Environmental Attributes in Gardening Supplies and Use of Ecofriendly Gardening Practices

Home gardeners’ concerns for the environment are expressed both in the ecofriendly gardening practices they use and in environmental attributes they prefer in the gardening products they purchase. This study uses data from a 2018 survey of 601 Tennessee outdoor home gardeners and a multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) model to illustrate how outdoor home gardener demographics, expenditures, information use, and attitudes influence use of ecofriendly gardening practices and preferences for environmental attributes in home gardening supplies. Practices considered include planting pollinator plants, using rainwater collectors, composting, recycling gardening supplies packaging, using organic gardening methods, and use of soil testing. Gardening supply product attributes include decreased need for fertilizer, pesticides, and water; native plant species; organically produced products; and recyclable packaging. The most widely used practice is recycling gardening supplies packaging, and the least used is soil testing. Gardeners with a greater propensity to use the six gardening practices include male, college graduates, who spend relatively more of their income on gardening supplies, and consider themselves as being knowledgeable about environmental issues. The gardening supply product attribute most widely considered as important is decreased need for pesticides, and least widely considered as important are native species and organically produced. Gardeners more likely to prefer the six gardening supply product attributes include older gardeners, who seek other gardeners for information, and who perceived themselves as being knowledgeable about the environment. This same group likes to grow their own food and feels responsibility for protecting the environment for future generations.

Citrus Tree Care for the Home Gardener in the HLB Era

This document discusses general citrus tree care while HLB is widespread.

Earth-Kind® Vegetable Production in the Home Garden Using Mushroom and City Compost

A field study was conducted in 2010 and 2011 to determine the suitability of Earth-Kind® production principles for home vegetable gardening. Earth-Kind® production encourages water and energy conservation, and reduction of fertilizer and pesticide use. Seven vegetable cultivars [Sweet Banana and bell pepper (Capsicum annuum); Celebrity and Juliet tomato (Solanum lycopersicum); Spacemaster cucumber (Cucumis sativus); Ichiban eggplant (Solanum melongena); Spineless Beauty zucchini (Cucurbita pepo)] were grown in mushroom compost (MC) or city compost (CC). Both composts were incorporated preplant into the soil with shredded wood mulch placed over them. In each year, nitrogen (N) fertilizer (15.5N–0P–0K from calcium nitrate) was applied preplant to CC plots to bring initial soil fertility levels similar to MC plots. No additional fertilizer was applied during the growing season. Drip irrigation was supplemented weekly. One application each of neem oil and pyrethrin (organic insecticides) and chlorothalonil (synthetic fungicide) was applied before harvest in 2010, but none was applied in 2011. Results indicated that Earth-Kind® technique could be effectively implemented in a home vegetable garden. MC is better suited for Earth-Kind® vegetable production than CC for some vegetables. Banana pepper, bell pepper, and zucchini had twice the yield in MC plots when compared with CC plots. No yield differences (P > 0.05) were observed between composts for tomato, eggplant, or cucumber. With proper irrigation and soil preparation practices such as addition of compost and mulch, Earth-Kind® vegetable gardening techniques can be used for selected vegetable crops without additional N fertilizer or pesticides. Furthermore, Earth-Kind® vegetable gardening can be successful as long as the home gardener understands that low yields may result from using this production method. However, often the home gardener is more concerned about producing vegetables using sustainable, environmentally friendly methods than maximizing yields.

Organic Vegetable Gardening in Florida

This 16-page fact sheet is meant to be a companion to the Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide. It is intended for the home gardener who prefers to use natural and organic materials as well as methods that are compatible with the philosophy of organic gardening. Written by Danielle D. Treadwell, Sydney Park Brown, James Stephens, and Susan Webb, and published by the UF Department of Horticultural Sciences, June 2013. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs1215

Pruning for Flowers and Fruit

The best groomed and most productive garden is easy when you know what to prune when and how your plants work. Pruning for Flowers and Fruit covers plants in cool-temperate to subtropical climates and is suitable for the home gardener, avid enthusiast as well as the nursery trade and horticultural students. It includes annuals, ornamentals, vegetables, roses, perennials and hydrangeas, and fruiting plants that can be pruned to fit in your back garden. The author shows how to choose the best plant at the nursery, prune weather damaged plants, renovate ornamental or fruiting trees and shrubs, and maintain your secateurs like a professional. Create different landscape features such as pleached avenues, design elements like hedges and the more fanciful topiary. Show off your plant’s juvenile foliage or beautiful bark, or sustainably harvest wood for carpentry or craft by following the steps on how to coppice or pollard plants. Never get your wisteria in a twist again and learn to prune with confidence following techniques that range from the most basic through to those for the most advanced espaliers.

Grafting and Budding

Grafting and Budding is a comprehensive and clearly written, practical guide to all of the grafting and budding techniques any professional or home gardener is likely to need. The book begins with a brief history of the subject, explains how grafting works and shows why it is now the preferred technique for propagating most commercial plants. It then describes the basics of budding, grafting and multi-grafting and presents step-by-step instructions for making the special cuts used in grafting and budding. Advice is also given on the selection of scion wood, the preparation of rootstocks and the after-care of grafted plants. The methods of budding and grafting are explained in fine detail, including T-budding, chip budding and patch budding, the splice graft, wedge graft, whip and tongue graft, side graft, bark graft and approach graft, the grafting of herbaceous plants and machine bench grafting. More than 60 sketches and photographs are included to help illustrate various aspects of the skill of grafting. New to this edition are sections covering the preferred methods of propagation for Australian natives such as eucalypts, banksias, hakeas and grevilleas; cacti; conifers; general deciduous ornamentals; black passionfruit; roses and tomatoes, making it an indispensable addition to any avid gardener’s bookshelf.