FOR RELEASE THE WEEK OF MAY 14, 2000:
I’d like to compost, but the thought of all that turning is making my back hurt already. Do you really have to do that?
JoAnn Robbins, University of Idaho extension educator and veteran composter, doesn’t turn her compost pile. "If you construct the pile properly to begin with, it can basically take care of itself," she says. But it may take you two years to get the same finished compost that you could scoop out of a rotating drum in three weeks.
"The function of turning is to speed the process," Robbins says. "The working microorganisms are on the inside of the pile, and when you bring the inside to the outside and the outside to the inside, you redistribute those microorganisms. They have new material to work on and boom! off they go," she says.
Nevertheless, do nothing at all and compost will still happen—as long as you fill your pile with half greens (kitchen scraps and clippings from the lawn or garden) and half browns (dry leaves, straw, shrub trimmings, wood) and make sure air can move through it. The microorganisms are dependent on oxygen for their very lives, so you’ll want to be sure your pile is not too densely packed. Add big chunks of weeds, clods of dirt or sticks—or perforate some PVC tubes and lace them through the pile. Building the pile on top of sticks or a pallet is especially helpful, Robbins says, because that allows air to go under and up through it.
Grocery shopping with my 6-year-old can be a real disaster. He wants everything in the store, and my saying "no" can turn into an embarrassing scene. Any tips on how to handle this?
"This is a pretty challenging situation for many families," says Harriet Shaklee, University of Idaho extension family development specialist. "But don’t blame yourself or your child: stores are set up to tempt children."
Instead, before you enter the store, clarify to your child what this trip is all about and what time constraints you face. For example, "We’re going into the store to get tuna fish and mayonnaise and we’re in a hurry so please stick with me and be my helper." Alternatively, a child may be mature enough to find the tuna fish while you find the mayonnaise.
To satisfy your child’s need to decide some things for himself, you might let him choose which of several cereal brands or which flavor of yogurt to buy. But make it clear that the rest of the decisions are yours.
"Set expectations appropriately before you go into the store—and then teach your child to work within the constraints you provide," Shaklee advises.
Should I prune a flowering almond the same way I would prune a forsythia? Rosemary Hugo, Idaho Falls
Prunus triloba, often called flowering almond, is a large shrub that’s hardy to USDA Zone 3 but isn’t an almond at all. Nor does it always flower: although cold-hardy in most of Idaho, it blooms early and its buds are often killed by frost, says University of Idaho extension horticulturist Dan Barney.
"If you were to prune this plant like forsythia, you would allow very few spurs to develop," says Barney—and it’s the spurs that bear the blossoms.
Barney recommends training your Prunus triloba into a vase shape, with three or four permanent "scaffold" limbs spaced around the main trunk about three feet above the ground. Select this cluster of scaffold limbs—which will form the woody plant’s basic shape and provide its main strength—then remove all other branches. Finally, cut off the main trunk about a quarter-inch above the topmost scaffold limb.
You can also train an older flowering almond just as you would a shrub. This technique is similar to that favored in pruning forsythia, but each of the older canes is kept for five or six years. Each spring, prune out the two oldest canes by cutting them to the ground; retain two new canes to replace them.
We bought a new house with a dirt slope in the back yard and want to plant grass on it. How can we keep the irrigation water from just running down the slope?
Proper irrigation that allows water to soak into the turf’s root zone depends on sprinkler design, says Michael Colt, University of Idaho extension horticulturist. "You’ll need to apply less water at a time but over more settings."
If you want to give your turf a strong start, be sure to improve the soil’s texture and uniformity with organic matter before planting, Colt says. But he wonders why it’s grass that you want to plant.
"If you have a true slope, do you really need a lawn?" he asks. Diversity improves landscapes—and what better inspiration for diversity than an incline?
"I wouldn’t plant grass unless it’s an ornamental bunchgrass," he says. "Try a fescue, or herbaceous perennials, or groundcovers like prostrate junipers, Oregon grapes or small roses."