Myths Still Limiting Gardening 3/21/02

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Too many Americans are maintaining too many myths about what successful gardening entails, according to Kansas State University horticulturist Chuck Marr. As a result, they’re limiting their own possibilities.

Today’s flower gardening, for example, can be anything from a single window box to a complex, crowded English cottage garden. It includes Oriental designs that feature a single lily, as well as Southern U.S. estates with azaleas by the acre.

‘Eat Your Veggies’
Now a Way of Life?

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The advice of everyone from the American Cancer Society to the U.S. Department of Agriculture seems to be bearing fruit. Or rather fruits and vegetables.

"Americans may not be getting all of their recommended daily servings yet. But you have to suspect they’ve made a change," said Kansas State University horticulturist Chuck Marr. "If nothing else, look at how rapidly grocers have expanded and diversified their fresh produce sections, while adding everything from salad bars to pre-washed, packaged greens on the side."

Food cooperatives, farmers’ markets and roadside stands have gained new importance, too, Marr said, as consumers search for locally grown produce and for food with an ‘organically grown’ label.

Health benefits also are a likely reason for Americans’ recent growth of interest in home vegetable and fruit gardening.

"Most people know that growing your own is the only way to be absolutely sure about what your food has been exposed to," Marr explained. "They know you simply can’t buy anything as fresh and nutrition-packed as the produce your harvest from your own garden."

Vegetable gardening no longer requires a farmstead-size yard, either. It doesn’t automatically mean digging up a huge rectangle of lawn or enduring backbreaking labor through long, hot summer days.

"In most cases, gardening doesn’t even require much of a green thumb," said Marr, who coordinates K-State Research and Extension’s outreach programs in horticulture. "What’s important is that you enjoy it or find it interesting or good exercise. And, you have to able to follow a recipe."

The best "recipes" always are local ones, he said, because soil type and climate conditions are big factors not only in how well gardens grow but also which varieties to plant.

"You can get help on everything from soil testing to pest identification from your local Extension agents. They also can provide all kinds of useful ‘how-to’ publications. Many now post information and local garden updates on the World Wide Web, too," he said.

Nearby nursery professionals can provide advice, as well as plants that do well in local conditions.

"Nextdoor neighbors who are experienced gardeners can be a real bonus if they’re able to explain all that they do to get such good results. After all, they’ll have the best odds for knowing exactly what works best where you live," Marr said.

The horticulturist strongly recommends, however, that new gardeners "start out small."

"Too-big plans can make you too tired or too overwhelmed to keep a garden going," he said. "So if you’re going to try perennials, limit this year’s efforts to just a few kinds that almost everyone grows -- things like iris, peonies and daylilies. If you’re going to try vegetable gardening, plant some cool-season salad crops and enjoy the fact that you can start harvesting within weeks and finish before summer’s influx of weeds, insects and hot weather."

Good garden maintenance mostly comes down to giving fairly regular thought to watering, feeding and checking for pests, the horticulturist said.

"Then you provide what the plants need. No more, no less. You follow the recipe," Marr said.

K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.