It seems like just a few weeks ago that the garden settled down for its winter nap but already the first signs of spring are appearing – seed and plant catalogs.

This year, while you enjoy the standard (and reliable) sources – Park, Burpee, Henry Fields, Gurney’s, White Flower Farm ­– you might want to check out some other suppliers that may not be as familiar, especially if you’re looking for something a little unusual.

Abundant Life Seeds

You can request a catalog with a wide selection for organic and biodynamic vegetable, flower and herb seeds, as well as garlic and potatoes. They also offer garden supplies and tools.

http://www.abundantlifeseeds.com/

Wild Garden Seeds

Wild about lettuce? Wild Garden seeds offers an array of 78 different varieties. They run an organic seed and vegetable farm in the Pacific Northwest offering farm-original varieties of many salad greens, vegetables, herbs and a few flowers.

http://www.wildgardenseed.com/

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Baker Creek offers a beautiful catalog boasting 1400 varieties of non-GMO, open-pollinated, patent-free seeds. (They’re also the new owners of Comstock, Ferre & Co., the oldest continuously operating seed company in the United States.)

http://rareseeds.com/

Brent and Becky’s Bulbs

If bulbs are your thing, check out the selection from Brent and Becky:

http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/

Burnt Ridge Nurseries

This mail order nursery specializes in unusual and disease resistant trees, vines, and shrubs that produce edible nuts or fruits. They also have a large selection of Northwest native plants and ornamental and useful landscape trees.

http://www.burntridgenursery.com/

Dixondale Farms

Do you know your onions? Dixondale Farms sure does, they’ve been onion specialists since 1913.

http://www.dixondalefarms.com/

Fedco Seeds/Moose Tubers

One potato, two potato… these folks have dozens!

http://fedcoseeds.com/moose.htm

Kitazawa Seed

THE source for Asian vegetable seeds. Since 1917, they have been the place for oriental vegetable seeds for home gardeners, retailers, and commercial growers.

http://www.kitazawaseed.com/

Lilypons Water Gardens

Since 1917, Lilypons has specialized in water gardening products; waterlilies, lotus and bog plants.

http://www.lilypons.com/

Pepper Joe

Online catalog only but if you’re looking for hot peppers, look to Joe’s:

http://www.pepperjoe.com/about/

Seed Savers Exchange

At the heart of Seed Savers Exchange are the dedicated members who have distributed hundreds of thousands of heirloom and open pollinated garden seeds since the group’s founding 35 years ago.

http://www.seedsavers.org/

The Mother Load

If those aren’t enough to get 2011 off to a “seedy” start, here’s a helpful article listing 43 sources of free seed and plant catalogs:

http://freebies.about.com/od/homegardenfreebies/tp/seed-catalogs.htm

Know other great seed and plant sources? Tell us in the comments section below!

Photo from stockXchange, by adlie

There are a lot of traditions surrounding the winter holidays. One of the most persistent is the tradition of thinking that poinsettias are poisonous. It’s simply another Suburban Myth – a popularly believed garden-variety fallacy.

Supposedly, the poisonsettia myth started in 1919 when a two-year-old child of an army officer stationed in Hawaii died of poisoning. The cause was incorrectly attributed to a poinsettia leaf.

The fact is no one has ever died from ingesting poinsettia. To disprove this undying myth, members of the Society of American Florists frequently eat poinsettias for the press in December.

I wouldn’t recommend eating poinsettia leaves – they’re bitter. And the white, milky sap of the plant can cause an allergic reaction in some people.

But, according to a book called Poinsettias: Myth & Legend by Christine Anderson & Terry Tischer, you could eat 500 leaves and all you’d get is a mild stomach ache. (Well, plus a really bitter taste in your mouth.)

So, enjoy your holidays and your poinsettia decorations!

(And if you want to worry about poison plants, worry about castor bean, mountain laurel, hydrangea, oleander and even tomato leaves. They’re all a lot more toxic than poinsettias.)

Photo by Frank Vincentz via Wikimedia Commons

It’s holiday time – time to make gift lists for yourself and your gardening friends.

Here are some of the best gift suggestions that I know of for Painless Gardeners. (I’m not a representative for any of these companies nor do I receive any commission from them. These are all just items that I personally have found useful.)

1. Bionic Gloves

I LOVE my Bionic Gloves. In fact, I loved them so hard that I’m asking for a new pair this year. These gloves were designed by an orthopedic surgeon who built in every benefit possible for folks with any kind of hand problem from arthritis to sensitive skin.

Made of full grain sheepskin and designed to be worn tight, Bionic Gloves feel great on achy fingers and thumb joints and can protect you from cold, wet, thorns, caluses, blisters and more.

There are several versions; I like the Elite series myself. These cost $29.95 a pair.

Men’s are here: http://www.bionicgloves.com/shop/?cat=4

Women’s are: http://www.bionicgloves.com/shop/?cat=28

2. Circlehoe

This is the hoe I use and I find it is perfect for painless weeding even in tightly-planted beds. The head is small, lightweight and sharp enough to easily slice weeds off with a simple backwards scrape.

The circle design lets the blade cut weeds off just below the surface of the ground – lifting and breaking it up but without transporting the soil along.

Right now through December 14, you can get savings of from 15% to 40% off Circlehoe products. For really painless hoeing, I recommend the long handle version as the best for your back.

http://www.circlehoe.com/

3. Muck boots

Neither rain nor snow nor big piles of dog poop can bother you when you’re wearing your Muck Boots. There are many options in garden footwear but these are my favorites. Comfortable, impervious to weather and warm – I wear these year-round in the yard. I prefer the shoe style but you may like the boots better.

Right now, you can get free shipping on orders over $50.

http://muckbootsdirect.net/lawn-and-garden.html

4. Radius tools

Radius garden tools are designed with a unique circular handle for better ergonomics and relief of strain on your hands. They offer everything from hand trowels to full-size spades, edgers and bulb augers.

http://www.radiusgarden.com/index.php

5. Back ReLeaf

Radius also makes a nice “grabber,” but if you want to give someone something handmade, try making my Back ReLeaf Rake with the instructions here. It’s a tool with a lot of uses and a real back-saver.

Need more suggestions? I’ll have more next time. And tell us all about great gardening gift items YOU know about below!

Photo by pirshulet, courtesy StockXchange

A few years ago, as I was bending to scoop up fallen autumn leaves, it hit me: a sharp pain in my lower back, closely followed by the thought “There MUST be a better way to do this!”

I was still hobbling stiffly a few days later when I used our pooper-scooper to clean up my Rottweiler’s recent attempts to fertilize my garden. And then it clicked: make a larger “leaf-scooper” like this and I could save my back!

So, I bought the few supplies needed and built one. It worked so well and was such a boon to my back that, before long, my greed-gland kicked in. I thought, “I could make a fortune selling these to other gardeners!”

My fortune lost is your good fortune

Well, since that time someone has introduced a product to accomplish the same tasks. I haven’t tried it out but it looks like it would work.

So, my flash of back pain and brilliance is probably not going to make my fortune.

It could, though, make your leaf collection chores a lot less painful.

Here’s how to make one yourself in about 15 minutes (not counting getting the needed parts.) It’s so easy, even the most basic of DIYers can do it.

The concept

It’s a very simple concept: Two long handles with scoops at the end. They are connected together with a screw in the middle of the handles so they scissor open and closed. Think pooper-scooping. Or if that’s off-putting, think salad tongs.

Materials Needed

• Two matching small-headed rakes

• One 2.5 inch machine bolt

• One nut or wing nut to fit

• Two plastic or metal washers

• An electric drill with bit

First, get two rakes. For ease of use, I recommend getting ones with heads that aren’t too large and that are plastic. My personal preference is two Vigoro 8-inch, clog-free rakes (number 1919500.) They’re about nine dollars each at Home Depot.

While at the hardware store, get a 2.5 inch machine bolt, a nut or wing nut (my preference) to fit and a couple of plastic or metal washers.

You’ll need an electric drill with a bit large enough to drill a hole for the bolt to go into. That’s all you need.

How to…

Lay one rake on a flat surface with the tines curved up. Lay the other rake tines down so the handles are side-by-side, just touching. This will mean that the two rake heads do not exactly meet ­– they will be offset by a tine or two on either side. That’s the correct placement.

Then, just choose a spot about midway up the handles and mark places on the outside of each handle exactly parallel to each other.

Use your drill to drill the marked holes straight through the side of each handle. (The Vigoro rake has composition handles and drilling through them is quite easy.)

Slip the bolt through one rake, add a washer, then slip on the other rake. Add a final washer and then finish with the nut or wing nut. Tighten the nut so it holds the rakes together well but not so tight that opening and closing them is difficult. Using a wing nut makes it easy to adjust the tension as needed.

Now to…

Now, to collect leaves, all you have to do is stand tall and use the Back-ReLeaf Rake to do the reaching. When you squeeze the handles, it grabs leaves and then you use just your arms to lift the load and drop it into a waiting bag. (Or compost pile.)

And that’s another benefit – I use my Back-ReLeaf to move compost and mulch as well. It’s great with wood chips or – back to its origins, manure.

Hope you try it and hope it makes your autumn leaf collection less of a pain this year!

Here are ways to ensure that your raking is as painless as possible this year.

1. Warm up

Raking and bagging leaves requires a good deal of physical effort. In short, it is a form of exercise and as with any exercise, it’s always wise to loosen up your muscles and ramp up your circulation and breathing with some light warm-ups before attacking the leaf-ladened yard.

We will start a series on garden warm-ups and exercises in the coming months; for now, just perform any simple warm-ups you know: march in place, windmill your arms, do some jumping jacks if you’re up to it.

2. Stretch

Once your muscles are warmed, you can safely add some stretching. Don’t overdo stretching, just reach with the arms, bend at the waist, perhaps do some body-weight squats, if you can.

Raking involves the arms, shoulders, back, waist and legs, so stretch all over but give special emphasis to loosening and warming the lower back.

3. Choose your weapon

The best rakes are wide and flexible. Plastic-headed rakes are lightweight and very flexible but, after using them for several years, I’ve gone back to a metal rake. They just last longer and I find the heavier head actually helps put some oomph behind the leaf-moving.

4. Assume the (correct) position

Raking is really just a form of sweeping, so the correct stance is similar to how you’d wield a broom:

Grip the rake handle with hands apart. One hand is near the top end, the other about three quarters down. (I get terrible blisters on the inside of my thumb from raking – I advise wearing a sturdy pair of gloves when you rake.)

Plant feet as wide apart as is comfortable, lower the rake to the ground, keeping your back straight and not stooping.

Bend your knees slightly, don’t stand stiff legged. This will take pressure off the lower back and allow you to move more freely without strain.

5. Sweep leaves into piles

The natural tendency is to drag the teeth of the rake across the ground and scratch up a pile of leaves. Though that may be good for scraping up thatch at the same time, the friction of the teeth pulling over the ground surface increases “drag” – it causes you to expend more effort than necessary.

Leaves are very light (unless they’re wet – the Painless Gardener avoids raking wet leaves for a variety of reasons.) You don’t need to drag them, just sweep or push them.

The fastest and easiest way is to “pitch” them, using the rake head to loft leaves into a pile.

If you keep the rake head perpendicular to the ground (between 65 and 85 degrees,) you can move leaves faster with short, more effective sweeps.

This also allows you to use the strength of your upper body – arms, shoulders, chest, lats – instead to twisting at the waist and possibly injuring your back.

Collect the leaves in moderate size piles about twice the width of your arm reach (so you can reach to the center of the pile when bagging them without strain.) You don’t want to move leaves any farther than necessary.

Of course, if it’s windy, rake with the wind. But the most painless and least frustrating way is to rake when wind is calm.

6. Change it up

Alternate your raking sides occasionally, if you can. Switching sides every five minutes or so decreases the chance of repetitive motion injuries, and gives your body more of a balanced workout.

Take regular breaks. Rest every 15 minutes and drink some water to keep hydrated. If your yard is large, break the job up into several smaller raking sessions over a period of days.

7. Bag ‘em, Danno

Bending to pick up the leaves you’ve collected in a pile is where you can hurt yourself the easiest. You don’t want a lot of repeated bending at the waist – that’s a prescription for back injury. As with any lifting, it’s better to bend and stand using the knees.

And, of course, that’s even more important when lifting filled bags.

But what if bending at the knees is painful because of arthritis or other problems?

8. Bring in Back ReLeaf!

Several years ago, after a long raking session, I nursed my painful back and said to myself: “There MUST be a better way.” Then I had an inspiration: a simple, easy-to-use tool that would take maybe 75% of the strain out of leaf collection.

I made a prototype and decided I’d call it Back ReLeaf. It was to be the first product in a growing line of products for Painless Gardeners.

Well, since then someone has introduced a product that’s similar so I guess the Back ReLeaf won’t be the making of my fortune. I still love using it and the people I’ve shared it with share my enthusiasm.

So, in my next post, I’ll show you how to make a Back ReLeaf tool in about 30 minutes. You’ll enjoy it for years.

We’re headlong into fall and the leaves are piling up. What’s a Painless Gardener to do?

One strategy is to bring in the big guns – leaf blowers or leaf vacuums – to arm yourself against strain and over-exertion.

A Blow for Freedom

The fellow who invented the leaf blower in the 1950s in California (naturally) was an aeronautics expert. He merely built a small jet engine and harnessed the exhaust.

In the years since, the leaf blower has spread from the coast to become the favorite tool of landscape maintenance companies far and wide. In fact, the standard in the service has become “Mow, blow and go.”

Personally, I’ve never used leaf blowers. If you love using yours, that’s great. I just find that, in many spots in the yard, a rake does a faster job and you’re still left to bag the blown leaves – unless you just blow them out into the street as some yard crews do. And bagging usually means bending – and backache and elbow strain and shoulder stress.

Suckcess!

When I noticed the first leaf blower/vacuum I ever saw, I did a little dance of joy (and alarmed the other Wal-Mart shoppers.) This was exactly what I had been looking for all my yard-keeping life.

And I still feel that way – with a few caveats.

I never use the blower function, only the vacuum function. That allows me to collect and bag leaves all in one process, without bending or straining. That, right there, cuts the job in half.

Even better, the vacuum shreds the leaves as it collects them, meaning I end up with chipped leaves that can be added directly to the compost bin. Another step accomplished.

It also means no need to buy as many plastic leaf bags, which is good for the pocketbook as well as the environment. If you don’t compost – and don’t know any gardener who would LOVE pre-shredded leaves for his or her compost – the shredding means you can get about eight times as many leaves in a bag as usual. That’s a win too.

Your Suckage May Vary

There are a few drawbacks to using a leaf vacuum. There are a lot of oak trees in my yard and in yards around me. That means you get not only an abundance of leaves but also acorns, small limbs and sticks. The vacuum is useless with these.

The vacuum tube clogs easily. A wad of leaves or a stick you didn’t notice can plug the tube and force you to take the thing apart and manually free the obstruction. If you have a lot of debris in your leaves or they’re damp or piled high, you may be stopping to clear the tube as often as every few minutes.

Leaf vacuums work best on light scatterings of leaves. It’s a joy to use them on your deck, for instance, and having a long nozzle to use under shrubs and in awkward spots in beds is wonderful.

So, by themselves, they can be a boon to Painless Gardeners dealing with moderate leaf-fall or those who are disciplined enough to vacuum regularly, before leaves get several layers thick.

In my experience, though, if you have a lot of leaves, you’ll still need to do some raking. We’ll look at the best way to accomplish that in our next post. And then I’ll share my back-saving bagging tool – my secret weapon that I’ll show you how to make.

NOTE: My leaf vacuum is a Black and Decker Leaf Hog. It’s four or five years old and is about ready to be retired. So, some of the problems I’ve had with mine may have been improved in later models or by different manufacturers.

If you have a leaf vacuum or leaf blower that you really like (or really don’t) share it, please, with other readers below.

Photo by chris 論, courtesy wikimedia

It’s time now for the next phase of painless autumn gardening – leaf collection. Depending on your surroundings, that can be a simple task or a sizable chore.

I live in a state that is still 50% forest. No matter where you are in Arkansas, you’re not far from trees – and a LOT of fall leaves. So I’ve spent a fair amount of time researching and refining the best leaf-collection practices and I’m going to share them with you over the next series of articles.

They won’t make raking or bagging painless exactly but they can help you maximize your results for minimum effort. And do a lot to save your back, knees, shoulders and so on.

The first question

Before a painless gardener launches into any task, he or she should ask: Is it really necessary?

If you just have a sprinkling of leaves on the lawn (or no nearby neighbors) you may not even need to collect them. Just let them sit and decompose into the soil or else get blown away by winter winds.

It’s one of the few benefits of not having trees nearby. Enjoy it.

The second question

If you have enough fallen leaves that they’ll be an eyesore or will smother plants you want to protect or the guy next door is giving you dirty looks, you’ll have to choose a method to remove them. From easiest to most effort are:

1. Hire someone to do it

2. Use a mulching mower

3. Vacuum and bag

4. Blow and bag

5. Rake and bag

Hiring someone to do it – or coercing someone to do it free – is by far the least physically taxing way to go. This time of year lots of candidates for the job put up flyers around most towns, everyone from scouts to off-duty firefighters.

A little comparison-shopping should show you the best value.

Mulch to recommend it

Or, for the cost of few seasons of hiring leaf-collecting done, you could buy a power mulching mower. These days, there are a wide variety of choices available in both gasoline-powered and electric mulching mowers (and even some powered by propane.)

Run the mower over fallen leaves and it shreds them into smaller pieces. If you have just a moderate amount of leaves you can let them fall back onto the ground to act as mulch.

If you have a lot of leaves you’ll want a mower with a rear bagging option to collect the shredded leaves for easier disposal. (You don’t want to have to rake the shreds back up after they’re shredded.)

I have gone back to a push mower for a number of reasons and so this option isn’t one I use.

My experience is that mulching mowers are really designed to mulch grass clippings, not leaves. Obviously, tender shoots of summer grass and clumps of dried tree leaves are quite different in substance.

So, effectiveness of this method for leaves may vary widely depending on your equipment.

Snag and bag

Collecting and then bagging leaves (or adding them to the compost pile) is the time-honored strategy for dealing with fallen leaves.

There are ways to accomplish this that result in not only a clean yard but also backache, sore elbows, calluses and other maladies, and there are methods that are a LOT less stressful.

We’ll look at those in our next post. See you then!

Photo by Nossirom, courtesy StockXchange.

Fall is the perfect time to do some needed renovation in your painless garden. In the last post, we looked at dividing and transplanting perennial plants this time of year. Now, let’s examine best practices for transplanting woody plants – shrubs and trees.

As with perennials, there is a cornucopia of benefits to autumn planting:

• Warm soil – The ground is still holding heat from the summer, encouraging a quicker start to putting down new roots.

• Cool air – Lower temperatures deter above-ground growth in favor of root development.

• Less watering needed – Water stays in plants longer as cooler air decreases water transpiration.

• Beneficial organisms are busy – Populations of beneficial soil microorganisms are still potent, having built their numbers through the growing season.

Plants planted in early fall can usually recover from transplant shock and become established before the ground freezes, thus helping them survive the winter.

Branching out with woody plants

Shrubs and trees are the backbone of most gardens. Fall, when other leaves and vegetation dies away, allows the painless gardener to see the more permanent structure of the garden clearly – and to more easily spot areas for improvement.

Scrub up your shrubs

Nothing can change the structure of your garden quicker or more economically than the smart use of shrubs, bushes and hedges. Merely moving around some that have overgrown their current spots can have a refreshing effect on the landscape.

Of course, the more established a shrub, the more difficulty you’ll face digging it up without damage. Best candidates will be moderate in size or perhaps those with shallower root systems such as azaleas and hydrangeas.

You know how to dig a hole

I won’t insult you with planting instructions – I assume you all know how to dig out and how to plant a shrub. If you don’t, you can find good instructions in this video. (It’s for balled and burlap-wrapped roots but the same basic information applies to all shrub and tree planting.)

The lazy but patient gardener’s way

If the shrub is too established, successfully getting the roots out may be anything but painless gardening.

In cases like that, your back would be better off if you’d simply divide the shrub. Just cut off a section of the plant with three or four divisions of leaf nodes and root the cutting in vermiculite or perlite for a month or so before transplanting in the garden.

Transplanting trees

Fall is traditionally tree-planting time and most trees respond well. There are a few exceptions, though, such as birch, dogwood and magnolia that seem to prefer spring planting.

Again, I won’t give instructions for planting a tree – it’s pretty basic gardening. I will remind you that all transplants require consistent watering for the first weeks while getting established, trees especially.

Evergreens

Spring is probably the best time to plant evergreens but fall is a good time to transplant already established ones.

Evergreens rarely need to be pruned but if you want to reduce size or remove diseased or broken branches, fall is a good time to do so. Try to conform any pruning to natural growth patterns.

As with trees, long and deep watering sessions are important for evergreens in fall and into winter – when ice and snow can hold moisture above ground causing drought conditions at the roots.

Adding a nice, thick layer of mulch – the painless gardener’s year-round helper – around your woody transplants will help hold in moisture, will keep roots warmer and will discourage weeds, as well as enriching the soil as it decomposes.

Photo by kzulo, courtesy of StockXchange

As the days start cooling and getting shorter, Painless Gardeners have the perfect time to perform some important – and money-saving – garden math. Fall is a great season in which to divide many plants and transplant them, thus multiplying their presence in your garden with fairly painless effort.

Not all garden plants are candidates for fall division and transplanting. You don’t want to mess with anything that is currently in bloom, so spring- and summer-blooming plants are the best choices.

(The classic rule of thumb is plant, divide or prune in fall if it’s a spring-bloomer and in spring if it’s a fall bloomer.)

Four Reasons Fall Is Better For Planting

• Warm ground, cool air – The reason fall division and transplanting works so well is that the weather is not so hot that plants must struggle in survival mode – and gasp for water. The ground is still holding warmth from the summer, though, encouraging a quicker start to putting down new roots.

• Roots versus shoots – Colder air and warmer soil (the opposite of what you get in spring) stimulates root growth and discourages shoot growth. So, plants are using their energies to build a strong foundation instead of top-heavy growth.

• Water stays in plants longer – Cooler air decreases water transpiration through leaves so plants stay hydrated longer.

• Beneficial organisms are busy – In fall, the populations of beneficial soil microorganisms are still potent, having built their numbers through the growing season.

Plants planted in early fall can usually recover from transplant shock and become established before the ground freezes, thus helping them survive the winter and giving the plant enough of a root base to combat “winter heave” – when frozen ground forces part of a plant up out of its hole.

Some Good Fall Division Candidates

Spring-blooming bulbs and rhizomes are simple to divide. Here are some of the best candidates:

• Crocus

• Daffodil

• Iris

• Tulip

• Scilla

• Lily

• Muscari

• Trillium

• Hyacinth

• Jack in the Pulpit

• Wood Anemone

Rhizomes

Rhizomes are like bulbs but they grow horizontally. To divide them, just dig them up, clean off excess dirt and them break them apart or cut them with a sharp knife.

Sterilize your knife between cuts with rubbing alcohol or Lysol. (Not bleach!)

If there are any green leaves or stems on the rhizomes, divide them so each part has one or two stems. Trim back the foliage and replant.

Bulbs

Clumps of bulbs can be gently dug out and pulled apart. Toss any shriveled, soft or diseased bulbs and replant the remaining healthy ones as soon as possible.

Perennials

Most perennials respond well to fall division and transplanting. Simply grab a digging fork or round-pointed shovel and lift the plant from the ground. Dig about six to eight inches away from the plant and try to dig down eight or ten inches into the soil to get as much root structure as possible.

Gently cut or pull the clump into smaller segments. Replant part of the original plant in its existing hole, backfilling with good dirt rich in organic material (but don’t fertilize until spring.)

Then plant the remaining piece or pieces in new holes dug to fit and amended with fertile soil.

Baby your babies

Baby your transplants with water for the first two weeks. Water when the top two to three inches of soil becomes dry. Even slightly trimmed roots may need help getting enough water to the plant at first.

Trimming back the top growth of the plant will help train the plant to concentrate on root-growing instead of leaf and stem production.

Finally, add three to four inches of good quality mulch around perennials when transplanting in cooler weather to conserve moisture and keep the ground warmer, promoting root growth well into autumn.

How to replant woody plants in fall will be discussed next time. Why not subscribe now (see the upper right side of the blog) and get all the informative Painless Garden updates sent to your email in-box every week – completely free.

• It’s the perfect disinfectant to clean tools!

• It’s great for sterilizing pruning cuts!

• It’s an effective weed-killer!

I’ll admit that I’m a bit of a bleach-lover. I use it to clean and disinfect a lot of things in my home (and I have the spotty clothes to prove it.) I like my eyes to water when I walk into my clean bathroom. The childhood-swimming-pool smell unlocks some heady endorphins in my brain.

But bleach – potent cleaner and perfume of youth – has no place in the garden.

The wonderful claims for its horticultural uses are another set of Suburban Myths.

It’s too cruel to tools

Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott, my favorite garden myth debunker, points out that bleach is an oxidizing agent, meaning that it is corrosive. That’s why it’s sold in plastic or glass containers, never metal.

Using it on metal garden tools will corrode them. Not a good idea. Worse, bleach is phytotoxic – it kills plants. So the next time you use your tools, you could be damaging plant tissue.

Which leads us directly to…

It’s nuts to use on cuts

Would you pour bleach into a cut on your knee? Ouch! Of course not.

There are plenty of other disinfectants that are milder and better for that job – and the same fact applies to pruning cuts on trees or other woody plants. As mentioned above, chlorine bleach is toxic to plants. That’s a little too much tough love.

Alcohol (ethanol or isopropyl) will work better on pruning cuts, as will household cleaners such as Listerine, Lysol or Pine-Sol. Dr. Chalker-Scott uses Lysol herself.

(“It’s a household sanitizer, it’s a mouthwash, it’s a pruning cut salve!”)

It WILL kill weeds – and flowers and grass and…

Yes, pouring undiluted bleach on weeds will effectively kill them. So will using sulfuric acid. The results are not very satisfying.

Bleach will sterilize the soil where it is used (and wherever rain and garden watering will carry it.) If your plan is to remove all vegetation for quite some time – perhaps years – go ahead and bring on bleach, the dollar-store Agent Orange.

But unless you are using it in very specific places, like killing everything growing between stepping-stones or in a gravel walk, you might want something less toxic.

It stops mold cold

Even Clorox doesn’t suggest using bleach in the garden except to remove mold and mildew, which it does very well. A wire brush and one half cup of bleach mixed in a gallon of water makes an effective combination to remove mold or mildew from concrete patios, sidewalks and driveways.

You can also use that solution with a scrub brush to clean stucco or siding on your home. But again, be careful not to let it splash on any nearby plants or you’ll damage them. If you do accidentally get some on your plants, flush them well with water to dilute the damage.

So, go ahead and use bleach to make your clothes whiter than white or to sanitize your toilet or to clean the mildew between the tiles in your shower. Use it as a sense-memory stimulator if you like. But don’t lug that jug to the garden.

By Meadohsum from Wikimedia Commons