SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 12/20/10 -- Janet Moyer Landscaping (JML), a full service landscaping company in San Francisco devoted to addressing the unique challenges of urban garden constraints, offers these sustainable garden tips that conscientious Bay Area home gardeners can add to their 2011 New Year's resolutions list:
1. Place bananas around fruit bearing and flowering plants. They are very high in potassium, an essential ingredient for flowers and fruit. Chop them into small chunks and they will turn black and disappear quickly.
2. Use citrus peals to repel dogs, cats and insects. Orange oil is a well-known insect repellant and the same oil is in the rinds. Clean up the area of cat and dog debris first and apply chopped rinds every five days or so until the animals find a better location.
3. Eggshells repel snails and slugs. When crushed, the shells have very sharp edges that soft-bodied snails and slugs do not like climbing over. Place around tender plants.
4. Garlic repels moles and gophers (and potentially other animals) -- make garlic tea or better yet plant some cloves around other plants and when they have matured you will have a supply for the kitchen. You can also smash cloves and place them in a gopher hole.
5. Fireplace and barbecue ashes are good for reducing mossy spots in the garden. Ashes have an Alkaline PH and moss grows in acid areas. Bay Area soil has a neutral PH unless it contains a lot of water and organic material.
6. Don't throw away potting soil from containers unless the previous plant had a disease. Amend it with compost or soil amendment and some slow release fertilizer and it will be good for many years.
7. Use newspaper and/or cardboard as a weed block for large areas. Place it on unplanted areas, moisten and cover with shredded redwood.
8. Put coffee grounds around acid loving plants like Rhododendrons, Hydrangeas, Camellias, Fuchsias and Azaleas. The grounds smell good when you're working in the garden and these plants love them.
9. Hang your clothes line east to west for best exposure. Have an extra pole with two screws in the end to support the middle of the line when heavy with wet cloths. The clothes will last longer, smell fresher and will be solar sterilized at the same time.
10. Inside: put a plastic bag loosely over fresh cut basil: set in a vase in the shade with water, making sure no leaves are under water. -- basil will last 2 weeks and may even start to root for replanting.
About Janet Moyer Landscaping
Founded in 1990, Janet Moyer Landscaping is a full service landscaping company based in San Francisco, CA. It has designed and installed more than 425 unique and customized gardens in San Francisco's varied terrain. Owned and managed by Janet Moyer and Michael Hofman, JML applies sustainable practices to its residential landscape design, installation and maintain services. The company has been recognized by the San Francisco Business Times in 2008 and 2009 as one of the "Fastest Growing Private Companies" in the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information, visit www.jmoyerlandscaping.com or call 415-821-3760.
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