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Gardening Advice
It’s spring and the garden centers are packed with trees and shrubs ready to be planted. If you are thinking of adding a new flowering shrub or tree to your landscape, how can you choose from the many beautiful plants that are available this time of year? Too many choices! Let’s narrow the field by looking at your site.Space: Where are you planning to put this new arrival? It may be a cute…
Gardeners curse the ubiquitous dandelion and its pervasive nature; that darn taproot travels deep and far! However, all parts of the plant are edible and rich in vitamins, and that is not a bad thing! Learn more about dandelion’s health benefits.Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is a perennial weed with a long, strong taproot. It can make itself at home almost anywhere!…
It’s spring! How do you get the outdoor garden ready? We’re going to gently get started, being careful not to wake up those overwintering beneficial insects if it’s still too cool or wet. Here are my early spring gardening tasks and tips.I spent the end of February in the Texas Hill Country, where the gardens are at least three months ahead of mine in New Hampshire. The redbuds,…
What are you doing in the garden this time of year? I’m weeding asparagus beds, dealing with voles, caring for peonies, and seeing which plants from last season survived!Hopefully, by now, you’ve picked up all the sticks around the yard and freed any spring bulbs from the fall leaves that were still hanging around. Spring soil is often squishy and moist. It’s important not to step on…
Lucky Bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana) is a houseplant—not real bamboo! It’s popular because of its ability to grow in low light in the home or office. Learn more about how to care for Lucky Bamboo for years of good health and fortune!What Is Lucky Bamboo?The plant we commonly call lucky bamboo isn’t a type of bamboo at all. Despite its appearance, lucky bamboo (D. sanderiana…
In honor of Valentine’s Day, we had fun finding these 10 flowers with romantic names. Consider adding these flower seeds to your garden, or give your loved ones some special seed packets for a season of long-lasting blooms!
‘Valentine’ sunflower
1. ‘Valentine’ sunflower This sunflower grows to be 5 feet tall. Its lemony yellow blossoms with chocolate brown centers are excellent for…
It’s winter, the dormant season. Plant and tree growth has slowed to a crawl or stopped completely. This is the perfect time to try out a winter landscaping exercise we’ll call the “Four Directions” or “Four Winds.” In Native American culture (Lakota), people would pray by calling on the spirits of the four cardinal directions—South, West, North, and East. Called the…
Read your weeds! They are an indicator of your soil’s health. If you have large patches of one kind of weed, your garden is trying to tell you something. Here are common weeds and what they say about your soil—plus photos. Let us know what you learn!When weeds arrive, it’s often an index of what is wrong (though sometimes what is right) with the soil. For example, weeds with…
This time of year, Christmas wreaths are hung in every place imaginable—from doors and fences to lampposts and windows—even the front grille of the car! How did a round bit of greenery come to symbolize the holidays?Wreaths are part of many ancient traditions dating back to the earliest civilizations. The circle is a symbol of immortality; throughout history, wreaths have been…
When should you prune shrubs and trees? It depends! 1) Spring-flowering plants are pruned right after they flower in the spring. 2) Summer-flowering plants are pruned in cold months while dormant. Prune at the wrong time and you won’t have flowers! See our plant lists and learn more.Why Prune Shrubs and Trees?Most shrubs and trees do not have to be pruned, but they can benefit…
The emerald ash borer has hit my area hard and all the ash trees close to our house have been affected. The trunk was too large for our chainsaw, and the 5 other trees, though smaller, were too close to the house for us to safely take down. Time to call in the experts! So, what is an arborist and what do they do that is so special and often very expensive?One of our trees is a…
Let’s not be in a hurry to cut down plants that have interesting seed heads in the fall. The birds fully appreciate having a smorgasbord of seeds to choose from—and we love watching them feast! Listed here are 12 plants that have great seed heads for birds. While bird feeders are always nice, wild birds like to forage for their own “bird food.” Plants with seed heads not only…
