By Denny McKeown

This year will be my 50th in the gardening industry. Where has the time gone? I’d like to share some of the top gardening myths that need to be debunked. These are among the top concerns of yours during my gardening tenure.

Myth #1 - When Planting in Lousy Soil, Replace it with New, Very Good Soil.

Common sense should dictate to us the fact that once the new roots start to grow, they soon will be growing in our natural soil that exists beyond the hole we dug. Replacing all the existing soil with new soil or over amending the soil causes a condition we call ‘bath tubbing’ When it rains or we water, the water runs through the new soil very quickly hitting the heavy soil bottom and sides and fills up like a bathtub. This condition will cause the roots to sit in wet soil where they will soon rot and die. You always use the soil you dig out to go back in the hole around the soil clump. You can add a small amount of peat, humus, or manure (about 20% by volume) but do natural amend the existing soil making sure that all the back fill particles are no bigger than a golf ball. Use your spade or shovel to chop up the larger clumps of soil. Then water the back fill in thoroughly to settle the soil around the root clump.

Myth #2 - If a Product Label says to Mix Two Ounces per Gallon of Water, Four Ounces will be Twice as Good.

It’s a guy thing - more is better. Manufacturers of various products go to great lengths and expense to calculate how much of a given product should be used and how often it should be applied. Just because you want the weeds dead by noon does not equate into doubling or tripling the dosage. Many a lawn and various trees and shrubs have been severely damaged by over spraying. Please read the label and then follow the directions including how to dispose of any unused spray.

Myth #3 - Four to Six Step Lawn Programs are great for the Do-it-Yourselfers.

Initially the four steps or more programs were designed to compete with the lawn service companies. The fertilizer companies do a good job convincing home owners to just follow the directions and put each step down in a timely fashion. The homeowner could do just as good a job as the lawn service for a lot less money. Timing in life is everything. Remember that and that’s the problem with the multi-step programs. Step one goes down in mid to late March which some years could find your lawn still sleeping from winter. Step Two says to put it down to kill broadleaf weeds like dandelions in sixty days after using step one. Do the math and sixty days is mid to late May. But wait, my dandelions are blooming in mid-April. What do I do? You ask. Well, I’ll tell you what you probably did. You put down step two thirty days after step one. Results - too much fertilizer in a month causing the lawn grass to become weak and you’re mowing the grass every three days if it doesn’t rain. Step three has pesticide that goes down when the insects are active, not necessarily sixty days after step two. Step four is lawn food for the fall. Turf experts from surrounding universities have concluded that proper lawn fertilization should be done as follows. Feed your lawn lightly in spring, and heavy nitrogen in Early Fall around Labor Day, and late fall, Thanksgiving. I call it the holiday lawn feeding schedule. That late fall feeding gives your lawn great winter color and great spring green up. So why the four to six step programs? It sells lots of bag products in early spring helping retailers with their cash flow. Nuff said.

Myth #4 - Pile Mulch High around your Plants to Keep the Weeds from Growing.

This is serious business. Please listen up. To begin with, weed seed can germinate in mulch as well as in soil. The most serious crime caused by too much mulch is the serious harm that the piled up mulch does to your plants. Mulch around your plants does not want to be deeper than two inches. The plant stems and trunks do not want to be covered with soil (as in planting too deep) or mulch. Even when putting two inches of mulch down on your planting beds, none of the mulch should touch your plants.

Use your fingers to pull the mulch back a couple of inches from the stems or trunks. Be sure to keep the mulch loosened if you’re using the processed or shredded mulch so air and moisture can penetrate and go into the soil. Another problem with too deep an application of mulch is in the fact that most roots grow very shallow in the soil. Piling on mulch will cause these plant roots to grow up into the deep mulch making the plant roots more vulnerable to draught damage in the summer and cold damage in the winter. Remember - two inches, no more.

Speaking of no more, since I’ve gotten so wordy with my first six myths, I’m out of room for the last six. I have to ask you to please wait until next Sunday when I’ll present the balance. It might be better for you to absorb these myths before I finish the other six.

Myth #5 - When Watering your African Violets, never get any Water on the Leaves.

Do you suppose that every time it rains in the tropical areas of Africa, tiny elves run out and hold umbrellas over the violets to keep the leaves from getting wet? Of course not! In fact, African Violets have very fuzzy leaves. That means that they are one of the best plants for trapping dirt out of the air on their leaves. Those same leaves need to be washed off from time to time like the filter on your furnace. I think where the "no water on the leaves" rule came into play was by homeowners who watered their violets at the kitchen sink and without checking, watered the violets with water that was still hot from washing the dishes. This hot water burned the leaves causing the leaves to turn black. The best way to water violets is by placing the pot in the sink. Rinse off all the leaves with room temp water and water the soil till water runs out the bottom of the pot. Leave them sitting in the sink until all excess water runs off and return your violet pot to a north facing window where violets do best.

That’s five of the misconceptions out there in gardening land. I will give you five more next week.