Ever notice each spring your yard or garden seems to grow rocks?

You heard me right…where else do you think all of those rocks come from??

Well, the truth of the matter is that you’re not actually “growing” rocks. But rocks and stones do seem to appear anew every year, even after a previous spring and summer of digging them up and piling them, giving them away, or using them for decoration in your garden.

So what is the deal with rocks in your garden or yard?

If your winter is cold enough to freeze the ground then you will probably see rocks coming up to the surface of your lawn and garden every spring.

During the winter season the water in the ground freezes and thaws several times. As the water freezes it expands moving soil, rocks, etc. around it and pushing them up towards the surface.

After a thaw, the water sinks back down through the ground leaving solids – like rocks – on the top. So as you’re readying the soil for your garden, you’re bumping into rocks all over again! Kind of cool when you think about it, how the earth moves things around. It is the same with glaciers. It is said that if you drop a rock into the ice at the top of a glacier, it will eventually pop out at the bottom.

In the northeast U.S., the occurrence of rocks popping up at the surface is so regular and expected that the folks up there call their rocks “New England Potatoes”.

If you got rocks in your garden, check out Yardiac.com Garden Center,
they’ve got the tools to help you extricate stones, rocks and other solids from your garden soil, like the Corona Comfort Grip Trowel, a Heavy Duty Garden Hoe, or the Heavy Duty Garden Rake.

And that’s not all you should know about poison ivy…here are some more of the rash-inducing plant facts -

Poison Ivy (toxicodendron radicans):

• is native to North America
• grows as a shrub or vine
• every part of the plant, including the roots and stem, contain an oil called urushiol
• urushiol oil can give you an itchy rash if you come in contact with it
• even in winter, when the plant is dormant, you can still receive a rash as the urushiol oil is present all year long.

Recognizing Poison Ivy in the Winter
Although the plant will be without its distinctive three leaflets, you can still recognize it by the brown and hairy looking bare vines it wraps around tree trunks.

And beware of the trees this ivy chooses to cling to! Even if you have successfully removed the poison ivy vine from the tree the urushiol oil can still remain on the bark. If you’re using firewood that had a poison ivy vine wrapped around it, you can get a rash. Don’t burn any poison ivy vines. The smoke contains urushiol, if breathed in, the oily smoke could cause extreme sickness.

The urushiol oils will get on any object it comes in contact with including: clothes, garden tools and even the fur on your dog. This oil can remain active and can cause a rash months or even years later. So, it’s important to wash your tools, and any clothing that has or may have come in contact with the plant. The urushiol oils also remain active for several years on dead poison ivy plants.

What to Do if you Come in Contact with Poison Ivy

If you come in contact with poison ivy, wash with soap and cold water immediately. Do not use hot water because hot water can open your pores allowing more oil into your skin.

You may also want to keep some anti-itch creams around the house or the garden shed, such as
Repel Sting Eze the ultimate in pain relief from the itch and swelling of bug bites and stings, poison ivy and poison oak for older kids and adults, or Classy Kid Itchy-Boo Anti-Itch Cream which relieves pain and itchiness from insect bites, scrapes, and minor skin irritations. This kid-friendly first-aid cream also dries out oozing rashes associated with poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac.

So, when your outside getting your garden or yard prepared for spring planting or even cutting down brush to extend your garden take care and look out for poison ivy. If you get a poison ivy rash, be sure to follow the instruction above.

If you find your garden has been taken over by poison ivy, you can try to eradicate it using a product such as Bonide Poison Ivy Killer (safe and effective, it contains Trimec for effective weed control to the roots. easy-to-use quart, RTU systemic, rainfast after drying).

I was working on my new garden shed, putting some hardware on (latches and bolts and such). It was a bright sunny day – mild, about 65-70 degrees.

I was drilling some holes in the doors that I made for some latches and I started to notice a couple of tiny red bugs landing on and around my drill. They were also crawling around my neck and shirt sleeves. They were lady bugs! More and more came and landed on me and all over the garden shed. Suddenly I noticed what seemed to me, like 50 or more ladybugs all around me and on the garden shed.


Right away I was excited! As a practicing gardener, I knew that ladybugs are a very beneficial insect and I wanted to keep them around. But I was baffled…how did I get so lucky? I had tried at other times in my gardening experience to attract ladybugs, with only mild success. Now, here they were, appearing in droves and I had no idea why! But for me, the most important question was: How can I keep them around?

The answer: I had no idea! At first I thought, maybe it is the colors of paint I used on my new garden shed…white and bright red. That had to be it. I spent a few days being very happy with myself and with my choice of colors. After patting myself on the back for a while, I figured that I really should find confirm if it was indeed the colors that attracted ladybugs. After all, I desperately wanted to keep them around my yard and garden.

Once started my research, I found out more than I ever wanted to know about ladybugs. First of all, there are more varieties and types of ladybugs than any one person needs to know. I did find out that the ones that were on me were Asian Lady Beetles, so I decided to concentrate on that variety. Here’s what I found out: Continue Reading →