Articles by Dr. Francis Gouin

EPA’s Fertilizer Rules Earn My Seal of Approval

It’s about time lawn fertilizers were regulated; they’re waging chemical warfare on the Bay

Most of Maryland’s soils are acid. Unless they are limed every three to five years, they are generally too acid for optimum growth, so that any fertilizer applied is wasted and finds its way into the Bay. During the many lectures I give, I always ask who in the audience have had their soil tested in the last five years. I’m lucky to find even a few. Horticulture is a science, not a game for guessing or intuition. But that is how most homeowners and even many lawn...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 5/19/11

Keep Pests — and Pets — Out of the Garden

Nasty smells and fake snakes do the trick

Solutions to the perpetual problem of protecting your favorite plants from deer, rabbits, groundhogs and squirrels are on the shelves of your local garden center or farm supply. There are two materials on the market that I have tested and found effective, providing you follow directions carefully. They are Liquid Fence and Repels-All by Shot Gun. Both contain some of the same ingredients, with the exception that Repels-All adds dried blood. Both have the strong odor of garlic because both...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 5/12/11

In the Beginning

Before Maryland had its Master Gardener program, there was the Bay Gardener

Back in the mid-1970s, I was the Maryland Cooperative Extension Service’s specialist in ornamental horticulture, providing technical assistance to nursery, greenhouse, Christmas tree and landscape contracting industries. Only five counties had horticultural agents at the time, and when interest in home horticulture took off, I was overwhelmed with questions from home gardeners from the 24 counties without horticultural agents. My repeated requests to the dean and vice...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 5/5/11

Putting the Curse on Bamboo

Cut it to the ground now, and be ready to spray it come fall

I’ve written here before about how to control bamboo, and kudzu, too. The column was picked up by the Wall Street Journal, and I received mail from all over the country from readers requesting more information. I also received several letters criticizing me for recommending the use of Roundup (glyphosate). In recent weeks, there has been a resurgence of requests for information on putting the curse on bamboo. I know I can’t please everyone, but I can tell you how...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 4/28/11

Bamboo Good and Bad

Clump is good; common is bad

Bamboo comes in two basic forms, clump and common. Unless you are prepared to build barriers to restrict the spread of common bamboo, use only clump bamboo for landscaping. Unlike the common bamboo that propagates itself by producing rhizomes underground, clump bamboo produces very tight-growing clumps and can only be propagated by divisions. Some of the clumping bamboos enlarge by only a few inches a year, while some of the more vigorous forms of clumping bamboos will...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 4/21/11

To Improve Your Lawn, First Improve Your soil

Fertilizers alone cannot do it

I was recently asked to prepare recommendations for the maintenance of a large property with lawns and gardens. While I was evaluating the property, I observed one of the maintenance men on a tractor pulling an aerator followed by a steel roller filled with water. I immediately advised the owner to get rid of that apparatus. Aerators of that type — nothing more than a bunch of spikes punching holes in the ground — only add to the problem of soil compaction, and the roller,...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 4/14/11

The Bay Gardener’s Guide to Spring

Expert Advice for Getting the Most from Your Lawn, Garden and Yard

PRUNING Fruit Trees Pruning is the most effective method we have to improve fruit quality. A yearly early spring trim minimizes flowers, forcing better quality fruit. Trees should be well established before you begin pruning and training. Begin a year after transplanting. A well-trained fruit tree looks like a Christmas tree, with two to three well-developed bottom branches 30 to 36 inches above the ground. The angle...

Article - Gardening; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 3/31/11

Soil Still Wet?

Don’t rototill or cultivate yet

Rototilling, cultivating or even walking on wet soil destroys its structure. Yes spring is here, but frequent rains are keeping our gardens wet. There is a tendency for many beginning gardeners to spade or till when soils are sometimes muddy. But when wet soils are disturbed, the soil’s structure is destroyed, and it then dries with large, hard lumps. You will also destroy the soil’s structure if you work it when it is bone dry. The proper...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 4/7/11

Are Your Houseplants Dying of Thirst?

Monthly dunkings will keep them moist all the way through

A reader called to ask if she could visit me with a large houseplant she purchased last summer. It was dropping most of its leaves, and the margins of the remaining leaves were turning brown. After questioning her on how she was caring for the plant — watering practices, fertilizer and quantity used, proximity to windows and room temperatures — I invited her to the farm. Soon after I hung up, I saw the car coming down the farm lane. Her husband was driving while...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 3/24/11

Attack Your Holly Now

These trees flourish after heavy pruning

Hollies can be butchered to near death and come back like gangbusters. Last year I did a pruning demonstration for a group of nurserymen to show how severely hollies could be pruned without killing them. I pruned American holly, Japanese holly and Burford holly. The American holly was 10 feet tall; I pruned all of its side branches to within four to six inches of the main stem. The Japanese hollies were pruned back to within two to three feet of the ground. The side branches...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 3/17/11