Showing results by narrator "Mike McGrath" in All Categories

Do you dutifully water your plants every day, keep their soil covered with wood chips, feed them frequently, spray every insect, and still aren't having much luck? That's because you're already committing four of the most common mistakes gardeners make! Mike McGrath will reveal the other six in the Question of the Week.

What can you do when you show up at your vacation beach retreat and the outside of the house is covered with mosquitoes instead of vinyl siding? Mike McGrath will reveal how he handled this very problem this summer, without any of the mosquito-fighting tools he has at home, and without turning to toxins! We'll also tell a year-long island resident how to keep the local insect life out of her house.

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.

Have you received the email warning about termite-infested mulch heading our way from Katrina damaged trees? Mike McGrath will reveal the truth behind those rumors, and explain how your current mulch may already be inviting local termites to dine on your domain. Plus: Mark Tebbitt from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden joins us to discuss the amazing diversity in the surprisingly wide world of begonias. Tebbitt has written Begonias; Cultivation, Identification and Natural History.

Michigan State University turf grass expert Dr. Trey Rogers, the "Yard Doctor", joins us to discuss the proper techniques for growing great grass; with a special emphasis on turfs that have to take a lot of traffic. Plus: In the Question of the Week, Mike will discuss how to handle bees, wasps, and yellow jackets living in lawns, congregating in compost piles, and buzzing inside bedrooms!

Are you tired of losing your plants to garden-devouring pests? Insect expert Linda Gilkeson joins us to reveal easy organic ways to keep bad bugs out of your beds. Her new book is West Coast Gardening: Natural Insect, Weed & Disease Control. Then, are chipmunks cute little critters or are they just as pesky as squirrels? Mike McGrath will reveal what kind of damage chipmunks do in gardens, and suggest non-lethal ways to keep them at bay.

How can you tell when your melons are ready to pick? Should ripe tomatoes sit out on the vine? Should you wait if plants are wet? Host Mike McGrath will reveal the secrets of harvesting like the pros.

Groundhogs can eat a garden to the ground overnight, and their treacherous tunnels are a leg-breaking danger to people and livestock. Mike McGrath will reveal options for keeping them from coming into your garden, and explains how you can drive them away if they have already set up camp. Plus: A Kansas researcher has discovered that indoor pesticide use increases the number of dangerous spiders in your home.

Have you tamed every weed in your lawn except those exasperating wild violets? They may be tough to get rid of, but they are really pretty! Mike McGrath will explain what makes them so close to invulnerable, and he'll reveal the surprising violet advice of a distinguished university turf-grass professor. He will also discuss the health benefits of these purple beauties.

What's more annoying than a big, fat fly buzzing around your house, looking for nice clean things to land on? Flies in your garden! Mike McGrath will discuss indoor and outdoor fly control. He'll explain how to easily dispatch a roomful of the pests overnight with an organic remedy that's over a century old. And he'll discuss your outdoor fly control options, including the famous "shoo fly plant" that sterilizes house and white flies.

Tired of planting your garden of good eating year after year? This week on You Bet Your Garden, host Mike McGrath, will discuss the perennial vegetables you plant once and enjoy for decades!

You've all seen the ads for "amazing zoysia grass". On this week's You Bet Your Garden, host Mike McGrath will reveal the pros and cons of this warm-season turf that survives northern winters! Plus: plans for a beautiful three-bin compost system.

You may have heard rosemary being called "the herb of remembrance", but two top researchers say that many other easy-to-grow edibles are also capable of helping prevent or reverse age and Alzheimer's related declines in mental function. Mike McGrath will reveal the top 20 plants you can grow in your own garden to prevent "brain drain".

Garden success begins with raised beds, and during this hour, Mike will prepare our listeners for Spring by explaining how to create the perfect growing space. We'll cover the best dimensions for raised beds, how to frame them, what to fill them with, and what to use for mulch.

Looking for a lush, fragrant, fast-growing screening plant that supplies a highly valued cash crop and grows virtually anywhere? This week on You Bet Your Garden, we'll hop onto the idea of growing your own hops!

Corn Gluten Meal is an organic lawn-owner's dream. It prevents dormant weeds seeds from sprouting while giving your turf an all-natural, high-nitrogen feeding. Mike McGrath will explain how and when to use corn gluten meal, and what other areas of your landscape it will work on. He'll also discuss why some cheap products sold as Corn Gluten Meal in animal feed stores won't work!

Are you worried that the recent decline in honeybee numbers means your posies won't be properly pollinated this season? Don't "bee"! Most garden pollination is performed by native bees, like the ones nesting in lawns right now! They are harmless creatures but often scare gardeners because of their size or seemingly aggressive behavior. Mike McGrath will tell you how to attract and protect these priceless pollinators and keep them happy.

Black spot is the scourge of rose growers everywhere. Mike McGrath will tell you how to prevent rose disease in general, and he'll name eighteen rose varieties that are naturally resistant to black spot and mildew, including a number of grandiflora and floribunda types, and even some hybrid teas!

Common Sense Pest Control expert Bill Quarles reveals a new insecticide that�s safe for people and pets but deadly to pest caterpillars, beetles, thrips, termites, and even fire ants! Bill is director of the Bio Integral resource Center in California. Later on the show, Mike McGrath reveals holiday tree tips! He'll explain how to prevent needle drop and how to keep the tree watered without bending over.

Do you want to replace your dying summer container plants with something beautiful that will survive the winter? Jeff Jabco, Director of Grounds and Coordinator of Horticulture for the Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College in Philadelphia has been teaching workshops on winter container gardening. He will suggest plants that can survive the winter from the frozen North to the milder South, and give advice on what kind of soil mixture and containers to use.