Uncategorized Archives - gardenmyths.com

10 Bat Myths Busted

Bats have long been shrouded in mystery and misconception. Their nocturnal habits, unique appearance, and association with darkness have fueled numerous myths and superstitions. This article aims to dispel these falsehoods, revealing the true nature of these vital mammals. Learn to appreciate and understand them.

small brown bat sitting on a finger — What a cute little guy, source: Depositphotos

Key Takeaways

Bats are extremely useful in the garden where they eat a lot of insect pests in colder climates and pollinate fruits in warmer climates.
There is very little threat to humans or pets.
It is rare for them to carry rabies.

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Are You Paying Too Much for Fertilizer?

Fertilizer prices have gone up quite a bit in the last few years and that is especially true for commercial gardening products. There is also a wide range of prices for similar looking products.

Are the higher prices worth it? Are you paying too much?

In this post, I’ll show you a simple way to compare the real cost of fertilizer so that you can make an informed buying decision.

girl pushing a wheel barrow full of money in the garden — Stop wasting your money on fertilizer, source: Depositphotos

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Top Garden Myths of all Time – 20 Million Visitors

Last week we reached the 20 million visitor mark on this blog and I want to thank all of you for supporting this site.

The very first post was called, What Does Organic Mean, and it was posted on September 6, 2012. I was getting fed up with all the myths I was seeing in gardening literature and online and thought that I might be able to change a few minds. At the time, I figured I had enough material for about 100 myths. I have now posted 688 articles containing some 2,000 myths and have another 326 drafts started. I won’t run out of material any time soon!

I’d like to thank you for reading my posts and I want to ask for your help. Go to your favorite social media outlet and post a link to this post. Let others know how much you like this site. Let’s get to 30 million soon.

To celebrate I thought I would go back in time and review some of the most important articles.

fireworks with 20 million visitors written across them — 20 Million Visits to Garden Myths – Time to Celebrate

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Podcast With Joe Gardener – Microbe Science for Gardeners

I had the pleasure of being a guest on the Joe Gardener Show Podcast where we discussed my new book, Microbe Science for Gardeners.

Join Joe and myself as we discuss interesting things about microbes and their interaction with plants.

Their importance to organic gardening
How much does science know
Role of microbes in soil building
Soil Aggregation
Bacteria in soil
Fungi in soil
Do you need to add more to your garden?
Role of microbes in compost

Listen to the Joe Gardener podcast now

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The Myth of Clay Pot Heaters – Do They Work?

Homeowners and DIYers call them clay pot heaters while commercial outlets make them sound fancy using terms like Tea Light Oven, Ceramic Radiators or Terracotta Candle Heaters. Fancy ones on Etsy will run you $300 US? DIY options can be made for $15.

This idea may have started on TickToc a number of years ago and it is still being promoted to heat rooms, trailer homes and greenhouses. If you need to heat a space at a low cost, clay pot heaters might fit the bill – but do they work?

The Myth of Candle Clay Pot Heaters - Do They Work? — The Myth of Candle Clay Pot Heaters – Do They Work?

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How To Name Plants Correctly – Botanical Names vs Common Names

Knowledge of plant names is the foundation of gardening and they help gardeners select plants and determine how to grow them. Many gardeners obtain or share knowledge by communicating with other plant enthusiasts from around the world. A good grasp of plant names and how to use them, will save you significant time, effort, and money.

The proper use of plant names becomes more complicated when we consider varieties, cultivars, hybrids, and regional differences between common names.

A rose by any other name might not smell as sweet…because it’s an entirely different plant!

Use the correct plant names, source: David J. Stang, Liné1

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Top 10 Gardening Myths of 2019

To celebrate the new year, lets look back at the top gardening myths of 2019. These myths were selected based on a number of criteria.

Importance to the gardener
Popularity based on the number of comments
Personal preferences

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22 Myths About Christmas Trees

Hoe, hoe, hoe ….. its Christmas time and a good time to expose myths about Christmas trees. How do you keep Christmas trees hydrated? Should you add diapers to the tree stand? Are artificial trees more eco-friendly? Do they still contain lead? Can you reuse trees grown in pots? How do you cut the bottom of the tree? These and many more questions will be answered in this holiday gift to you.

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Guelph Organic Conference Review

The Guelph Organic Conference is an annual event that attracts organic minded people from across Canada and northern parts of the US. Much of the focus is on farming, producing organic food and smaller backyard operations. This year, I was an invited speaker and talked about Growing Food in Ponds. The publisher of my book, Building Natural Ponds, New Society Publishing, is a sponsor of the event and we wanted to find a topic that would interest organic gardeners and help promote my book. It was an extremely popular topic.

The conference also holds a large Trade Show which gave me the opportunity to speak to a number of vendors. I thought it would be fun and educational to review some of my discussions and observations.

If you are one of my regular readers you will know that I am organically minded, believe in the basic organic philosophies, but I don’t blindly follow all of the dogma that is preached. Unfortunately there are many snake-oil salespeople in the organic movement.

Organic conference, Guelph Ontario 2018 — Organic conference, Guelph, Ontario 2018

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10 Top Gardening Myths of 2017

2017 was a great year for GardenMyths.com as we reached almost 3.5 million visitors, since starting the blog. I also managed to publish two books Garden Myths and Building Natural Ponds and sneaked in another video on my YouTube channel before the end of the year.

The new Facebook Group; Garden Fundamentals now has 334 members and is growing quickly. If you have not joined yet, do so now so you don’t miss some any of the great discussions going on there.

Please join Garden Fundamentals Facebook Group now!

I was looking through the unpublished posts and found several in draft form that are ready for 2018. With a large back log of ideas I expect this blog to continue for years.

Thanks to all of my readers for making this such a success.

It is now time to look back at 2017 and review some of the best posts of the year: the 10 Top Gardening Myths of 2017.

Aspen Grove Gardens, my garden winter 2017 — Aspen Grove Gardens, my garden, winter 2017

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The “Science Does Not Know Everything” Conundrum

What happens when science says one thing and you believe something different? Our brains are designed to fight such situations and we try to apply logic to justify our beliefs – we basically make stuff up so that we can continue to accept our beliefs.

One of the most common reasons to dismiss science, is to point out the fact that “science does not know everything”. If it does not know everything, then it might be wrong in all cases.

That seems logical, but it’s not.

Link to the source of this image

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Aspen Grove – The Garden That Started It All

GardenMyths.com started 3 years ago (September 2012), and to date I’ve had about 600,000 visitors, with 75% of those coming this year. Thank you to everyone who frequents this blog.

This post will be different than my normal post. Today, I’d like to show you my garden, Aspen Grove, as well as announce some new initiatives that have been started – Garden Myths has a baby brother and sister!

Aspen Grove Gardens - the garden that started it all — Aspen Grove Gardens – the garden that started it all, by Robert Pavlis

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