In Your Yard

Garlic, Allium sativum, is a bulbous plant easily grown in East Lansing gardens and common at the farmer stalls at the East Lansing Farmers Market in the spring and early summer. While the whole plant is edible, most people eat the mature bulb, which is formed from 6-10 cloves divided by a papery skin. In the next few weeks, garlic bulbs should be ready for harvest.

Honeybee collecting pollen for developing offspring. 

Image: mature purslane, photo courtesy of Oregon State University

Several years ago, I returned to East Lansing in mid-July from a week-long vacation and found innumerable purslane plants that had grown considerably among our staked tomato plants. I recognized the plant from the edges of sidewalks in town and paths on the MSU campus but had not paid much attention to it.

After the most recent rain, the cottonwoods of East Lansing have begun releasing their cottony seeds. The eastern cottonwood, Populus deltoides, is a huge hardwood tree native to the eastern U.S. and common in damp areas and the banks of rivers and streams of Michigan. A young tree can grow more than six feet a year and a 150-foot-tall, mature tree can develop a vase-shaped crown 75 feet across.

Above: Canada Geese adults and goslings yesterday on the MSU campus near the Red Cedar River

Spring is a time of graduation and, over the last several weeks, the young of East Lansing, outfitted in their youthful finery, have been trying out their wings and leaving the nest. Fledging and immaturity are risky times for young birds, as for all young animals. Sharp-eyed East Lansing residents may come upon young birds in the community this time of year as they try out their new environments.

In the spring of 2013, Glencairn neighborhood resident Beth Prince had to remove some dying pine trees from her yard. The result was a wide open expanse of sun, a hot (no pun intended) commodity in Glencairn. While being known for mature trees that tower over the historical homes, many areas of the neighborhood are subject to omnipresent shade. In fact, instead of lush, manicured lawns, many homes utilize shade gardens and ground cover plants to complement their perennial gardens.

Image: A butternut squash seedling planted in the “no till” mode in the author’s garden; the glass jar, the bottom of which has been cut off, is used to protect the plant from frost and nibblers.

Editor’s note: The full title of this piece is “A Dialogue Concerning Two Chief Tilling Systems, or, To Till or Not to Till—That Is the Question.” (If you don’t get the reference, click here.)

It’s hard to imagine that your yard may be bone-dry in just a few weeks, but during the hot summer months it is likely that you will need to water it.

An easy, economical and green way to capture water now and store it for the future use is via rain barrel. Collecting rainwater for use during dry months is actually an ancient practice, dating back as far as 2,000 years ago.

Above: Photo of a Norway Spruce in East Lansing, showing many small, tan male cones (staminate cones) as well as a single, large, pink, and receptive female cone called an ovulate cone

Today we bring you a very special ELi on Earth . . .

As a lover of vegetable gardening, I look forward each spring to the first “meals from the garden.” Even with our jerry-rigged greenhouse of three old storm windows laid across a repurposed sandbox, the lettuces, spinach, and arugula planted a month ago aren’t yet anywhere near ready to pick this early in the spring.

Above: The author now has seedlings under glass and also exposed in his East Lansing backyard

A gardening reader asks: What is the chance of a frost yet this spring in East Lansing?

Yard waste collection will begin on Monday, April 6, so this week we bring you answers to common and environmentally-oriented questions about yard waste.

What counts as yard waste? According to the City, “Yard waste includes leaves, plant materials, grass clippings and brush/limbs.”

How does it have to be packaged for pick-up? There are three ways to package your yard-waste for pick-up: