Gardeners spend plenty to get the perfect yard
By Dolly A. Butz, Journal staff writer | Posted: Monday, June 18, 2007
After a long day at work, Sue Deem escapes to her backyard garden to relax.
There, water trickles from a terra cotta statue of a woman holding a jar. White blossoms spring forth from a Japanese lilac tree expelling a fragrant odor. Green leafy vines wind their way up a wooden fence.
"It seems like I've been gardening forever," Deem said. "It's kind of my way of just getting away from things."
In 1996 Deem moved from California to her Morningside area home. The drastic climate change forced her to rethink her garden -- and further open her wallet.
"I didn't spend as much money there as here," she said. "I spend more money here. I buy more perennials than annuals."
With an array that includes lettuce, strawberries, Oriental poppies and a dogwood bush, Deem's garden is a "mash of everything."
"Every time I come home with more," she said. "I don't know where I'm going to put it."
This season, Deem estimates that she will spend a few hundred dollars on her garden, which is on par with the national average.
According to the National Gardening Association, Americans spend an average of $400 a year on plants, fertilizer, tools and other products. A staggering 85 million U.S. households contribute annually to the growing $34.1 billion gardening industry.
"It seems like there is a lot of interest," Mimi Shanahan, a horticulturist for Woodbury County Extension, said. "I think it's a hobby that anybody can do no matter what your age."
Shopping for the garden
Kathy Newberg, a graduate of Woodbury County Extension's Master Gardener program, said she is "obsessed" with gardening. Newberg spends between $500 and $1,000 annually on her sprawling one-acre garden. Most of her purchases are made at Home Depot, Lowes or the Sioux City Garden Club sale.
"I'm always adding new things every year," Newberg said. "If I like something and I've had it before, I'll just continue to buy it."
Newberg's garden is composed of distinct outdoor "rooms" filled with butterfly bushes, honeysuckle, lilies, hostas and various lawn ornaments.
"Sometimes I try to have some type of unity and rhythm within the area," she said.
Getting flowers to bloom takes time, according to Newberg. She planted a trumpet vine four years ago and saw the green leafy plant produce its first bud this spring.
"I'm getting excited to finally get some bloom off of it," she said. "It takes about three years for everything to look really good."
Gardeners are shelling out cash on more than just seeds, bulbs and sod, according to Lisa Nordstrom, a sales associate at the downtown Bomgaars.
"Weed trimmers have been going like hot cakes this year, big time," she said. "All styles, makes and models, which are gas, electric and battery."
The Garden Weasel, a manually operated five-way tool that loosens soil and weeds, and the Garden Claw, a tool that cultivates, loosens, aerates and weeds all types of soil, are popular. Preen, a powdery garden weed inhibitor, Nordstrom said, is probably the store's No. 1 garden seller.
"It's been going really good this year," she said. "Once you have gotten your weeds pulled, you shake this stuff around your flower gardens, your vegetables and plants, and then the weeds won't grow there anymore."
Going organic
Bob Blenderman of Sergeant Bluff is going the organic route in his vegetable garden.
"At this point I haven't put any kind of chemicals on anything," he said. "I try not to if I can help it."
Blenderman, a Master Gardener, could make a large salad with all of the produce in his back yard.
Buttercrunch, romaine and trout's back lettuce, peppers, green beans, cilantro, peas, squash, beats and onions are just some of the vegetables Blenderman is growing. He planted edible soybeans for the first time this year.
"I've always liked fresh vegetables," he said. "It's always interesting to grow different things. It's something different every year."
Shanahan said organic gardening is a growing trend because it promotes a healthful lifestyle.
"A lot of people are concerned about what is on their food -- whether it's been sprayed and how long ago, if it's a chemical that's safe for you," she said. "In order to really know what's on your food, the best way is to grow it yourself."
Growing your own food doesn't mean you have to spend a lot of money, either.
This year, Blenderman said he spent $25 to $30 on seeds and more than $100 on plants that will return year after year, such as blackberry bushes and grape vines.
Blenderman recommends testing garden soil every year through the Woodbury County Extension Office.
"They analyze it for you and then send you back what your soil needs and exactly what to buy and how much to put on," he said. "Without that you would have no idea what to do. This year if I would've just fertilized everything, that would've been the absolute worst thing I could've done."
There, water trickles from a terra cotta statue of a woman holding a jar. White blossoms spring forth from a Japanese lilac tree expelling a fragrant odor. Green leafy vines wind their way up a wooden fence.
"It seems like I've been gardening forever," Deem said. "It's kind of my way of just getting away from things."
In 1996 Deem moved from California to her Morningside area home. The drastic climate change forced her to rethink her garden -- and further open her wallet.
"I didn't spend as much money there as here," she said. "I spend more money here. I buy more perennials than annuals."
With an array that includes lettuce, strawberries, Oriental poppies and a dogwood bush, Deem's garden is a "mash of everything."
"Every time I come home with more," she said. "I don't know where I'm going to put it."
This season, Deem estimates that she will spend a few hundred dollars on her garden, which is on par with the national average.
According to the National Gardening Association, Americans spend an average of $400 a year on plants, fertilizer, tools and other products. A staggering 85 million U.S. households contribute annually to the growing $34.1 billion gardening industry.
"It seems like there is a lot of interest," Mimi Shanahan, a horticulturist for Woodbury County Extension, said. "I think it's a hobby that anybody can do no matter what your age."
Shopping for the garden
Kathy Newberg, a graduate of Woodbury County Extension's Master Gardener program, said she is "obsessed" with gardening. Newberg spends between $500 and $1,000 annually on her sprawling one-acre garden. Most of her purchases are made at Home Depot, Lowes or the Sioux City Garden Club sale.
"I'm always adding new things every year," Newberg said. "If I like something and I've had it before, I'll just continue to buy it."
Newberg's garden is composed of distinct outdoor "rooms" filled with butterfly bushes, honeysuckle, lilies, hostas and various lawn ornaments.
"Sometimes I try to have some type of unity and rhythm within the area," she said.
Getting flowers to bloom takes time, according to Newberg. She planted a trumpet vine four years ago and saw the green leafy plant produce its first bud this spring.
"I'm getting excited to finally get some bloom off of it," she said. "It takes about three years for everything to look really good."
Gardeners are shelling out cash on more than just seeds, bulbs and sod, according to Lisa Nordstrom, a sales associate at the downtown Bomgaars.
"Weed trimmers have been going like hot cakes this year, big time," she said. "All styles, makes and models, which are gas, electric and battery."
The Garden Weasel, a manually operated five-way tool that loosens soil and weeds, and the Garden Claw, a tool that cultivates, loosens, aerates and weeds all types of soil, are popular. Preen, a powdery garden weed inhibitor, Nordstrom said, is probably the store's No. 1 garden seller.
"It's been going really good this year," she said. "Once you have gotten your weeds pulled, you shake this stuff around your flower gardens, your vegetables and plants, and then the weeds won't grow there anymore."
Going organic
Bob Blenderman of Sergeant Bluff is going the organic route in his vegetable garden.
"At this point I haven't put any kind of chemicals on anything," he said. "I try not to if I can help it."
Blenderman, a Master Gardener, could make a large salad with all of the produce in his back yard.
Buttercrunch, romaine and trout's back lettuce, peppers, green beans, cilantro, peas, squash, beats and onions are just some of the vegetables Blenderman is growing. He planted edible soybeans for the first time this year.
"I've always liked fresh vegetables," he said. "It's always interesting to grow different things. It's something different every year."
Shanahan said organic gardening is a growing trend because it promotes a healthful lifestyle.
"A lot of people are concerned about what is on their food -- whether it's been sprayed and how long ago, if it's a chemical that's safe for you," she said. "In order to really know what's on your food, the best way is to grow it yourself."
Growing your own food doesn't mean you have to spend a lot of money, either.
This year, Blenderman said he spent $25 to $30 on seeds and more than $100 on plants that will return year after year, such as blackberry bushes and grape vines.
Blenderman recommends testing garden soil every year through the Woodbury County Extension Office.
"They analyze it for you and then send you back what your soil needs and exactly what to buy and how much to put on," he said. "Without that you would have no idea what to do. This year if I would've just fertilized everything, that would've been the absolute worst thing I could've done."
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Starry wrote on Jun 29, 2007 2:38 PM:
Fed Up wrote on Jun 18, 2007 10:25 AM: