Showing results by author "Mike McGrath" in All Categories

Every garden and landscape needs compost, the rich black super soil that feeds your plants, and prevents disease better than any chemical fungicide. Ergo, every gardener needs a composter! So to kick off our seasonal gift suggestions, Mike McGrath is going to describe several units you can purchase, or make yourself, to get that special gardener of yours on the road to black gold!

Would you like to make your landscape a better place for wildlife like beautiful birds, toads, and amphibians? David Mizejewski, author of Attracting Birds, Butterflies, and Other Backyard Wildlife offers tips and simple steps to provide shelter, food and nesting spaces in your yard. He'll also explain how gardeners can get their yard certified as a habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. Then. there's a chill in the air, and that means miserable mice are gearing up for lots of mischief.

Are squirrels driving you crazy with their outdoor antics? Mike McGrath will tackle the most rascally rodent of them all when he comes to the rescue of a listener whose poor dogs are being driven crazy by tormenting tree rats! We'll get expert advice from a professional squirrel trapper who will share his secret bait formula with us. (No squirrels will be hurt during this program, they are trapped live and relocated!)

Tired of seeing your prized plants perish when frost comes calling? Mike McGrath will reveal his favorite gardening trick; bringing peppers, begonias, and impatiens inside for the winter. You can enjoy good eating and beautiful color through the cold season, and start out with nice, big plants next Spring. He'll also explain which herbs can over-winter outside in which garden zones, and which ones have to come inside.

Are multi-legged crawly things creeping all over your house? Mike McGrath will explain how to tell if your "house guests" are pestiferous millipedes or highly beneficial centipedes and what you can do about them. We'll also find out how tomatoes protect themselves from pests with signals that travel an inch a minute through the plant.

This week on You Bet Your Garden, Penn State Professor Don Davis joins us to discuss the house and car-staining fungus that breeds in shredded bark and other wood mulches. Later in the show, Mike suggests ways to deal with grasshoppers! He'll reveal the all-natural product that can kill this Biblical garden foe and name the bird that puts hoppers at the top of its 'to eat' list. He will also explain how molasses can protect your plants.

Do you want to avoid giving blood to summertime mosquitoes but don't want to douse yourself in chemicals like Deet? Mike McGrath will talk about two natural repellant products that have been shown to be very effective in scientific studies. He'll also suggest some aromatic garden plants that can be used to fend off the pests, and discuss new repellants based on catnip, Osage orange and even tomatoes.

It used to be that only Japanese beetle grubs savaged lawns, and only in the Northeast, but now other beetle babies are learning to terrorize turf all over this land. Mike McGrath will begin a two-part series on grub damage control with a close look at milky spore disease; can it really grub-proof your turf? Plus: More bad news from the world of science for people who still use lawn chemicals.

The terrible taste of store-bought tomatoes is enough to get even non-gardeners to put a few plants in the ground. Luckily, growing tomatoes is fun and easy, if you give them a few things they crave and require at planting time. Mike McGrath will help you achieve love apple success with his Top Ten Tips for Terrific Tomatoes!

It's finally Spring bulb planting time! Mike McGrath will talk about all the planting basics, and he'll discuss how to protect those beauties-to-be from squirrels, voles and other vermin. We'll also suggest some Spring bulbs that like growing in wet soil. Already planted your bulbs? Go out and buy more; they're a real deal this time of year!

Are nasty pests planning to hitch a ride on your incoming houseplants? Mike McGrath will explain how to prepare plants that have spent the summer outside for overwintering in your house, without bringing pests like aphids along. Plus, he'll offer specialized cures for fungus gnats and scale. We'll also hear about a new way for pipes and tree roots to peacefully coexist.

Roses are the most popular garden flower, and Mike McGrath strongly believes that their reputation for being difficult to grow is completely unwarranted. Poor planning at planting time often results in plants that never really had a chance at a happy, disease-free life. Mike will reveal the 10 Secrets of Rose Planting Success in the Question of the Week.

The terrible taste of store-bought tomatoes is enough to get even non-gardeners to put a few plants in the ground. Luckily, growing tomatoes is fun and easy if you give them a few things they crave and require at planting time. Mike McGrath will help you achieve "love apple" success with his Top Ten Tips for Terrific Tomatoes!

Nationally acclaimed garden writer Barbara Damrosch joins us to talk about her new book The Garden Primer: The Completely Revised Gardeners' Bible. Together with her husband, Eliot Coleman, Barbara runs the famous Four Season Farm in Maine (fourseasonfarm.com). During the Question of the Week, Mike tackles questions related to vegetable gardening. With grocery prices rising steadily, many people plan on growing some of their own food this season.

Stinkbugs come in a variety of colors, but they always have the same shape. They make a mess of lots of different kinds of plants, and can ruin your season in a heartbeat. Mike McGrath will reveal the best ways to control stinkbugs, on both flowering and non-flowering plants. He'll also tell you about two look-alike bugs that are garden friends, not foes!

Do you use wood chips, "triple premium shredded bark", dyed mulch, root mulch, Right Dress or other forms of wood mulch near your home or car? Penn State Professor Don Davis will explain how these mulches can breed nuisance fungi that ruin those expensive items with impossible-to-remove stains - and what you can use safely instead. Plus how to handle grasshoppers, and the secret behind "locusts".

New federal laws may make it easier for homeowners to chase away those pestiferous Canada Geese. Ron Kokel of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service joins us to discuss these new regulations. Plus, on the Question of the Week: Do you turn your garden soil every spring and then fight weeds all summer long? Mike McGrath will explain how a "no-till" system can do away with all that work of weeding and soil turning, not only for your garden beds, but also your lawn.

It's been a great growing year if you're a weed! Mike McGrath will reveal how you can eliminate weeds between your pavers, on your patio, walkways, and in your garden. He'll explain when to use flame, radiant heat, soap, or what are known as "horticultural vinegars". Plus an Insect Fear double header: Fire ants on vacation in Virginia Beach and yellowjackets building nests the size of a car!

Defoliating "webworms" build tent-like nests in trees; "bagworms" spin pine cone-like structures. But despite their names, neither pest is a worm. They are caterpillars, and Mike McGrath will offer the all-natural solution to get rid of these tree terrorizing troubles, no matter how high up in the tree they are hiding!

Are the leaves on your poor plants stained, splotched, and smudged? Mike McGrath will discuss the dread diseases that cause spots to appear, and explain how you can prevent the problem without any sprays, chemical or organic! Plus: Science isolates the sweaty smell that makes some people unattractive to mosquitoes, midges and other bad biters.