Category: Gardening & Landscape

Christmas Decorating with Poinsettias

Think about doing some Christmas decorating with poinsettias in the home. So, you’re thinking about getting a poinsettia – excellent choice! These festive beauties come in all sorts of colors and types these days, making it a real party in…

Hottest Pepper List of 2023

Hey there, spice enthusiasts! The much-anticipated hottest pepper list of 2023 has finally dropped, and it’s not for the faint of heart. If you’re an advanced gardener or an adventurous cook, these insanely hot peppers might be just your thing.…

Pesky Broadleaf Weeds

Hey there, fellow gardeners! It’s that time of year again – time to tackle those pesky broadleaf weeds invading your lawn and garden. I’ve been out there myself, and here’s what I’ve been up to: Before the rain rolled in,…

Vines in the Landscape

Sweet Autumn Clematis

A lot of people overlook planting vines in the landscape. They provide height to an otherwise flat area, create a private area, hide a cover for unsightly views like around garbage cans, and create shade by growing over an arbor.…

In the Garden this Week (Sept 21)

In the garden this week, get ready to start spraying the perennial weeds like thistle, bindweed, and dandelions in the lawn and garden. In the lawn use a selective herbicide like a mix with 2,4-D. In the garden after harvesting,…

In the Garden this Week (Sept 14)

In the garden, this week is the weeds. For annual weeds like crabgrass, annual bluegrass, kochia, etc., there is not much to do since they are producing seeds. Try to keep them from producing seeds by mowing or removing the…

This Week in the Garden (Sept. 6th)

Flowering cucumber vine

This week in the garden, a plant called the wild cucumber has been noticed mainly in pastures along creeks climbing on plum thickets. It is an attractive vine with large white flower panicles growing over 25 feet over everything. You…

This Week in the Garden (Aug 29)

This week in the garden is the proliferation of the monarch and swallowtail butterflies along with the dragonflies. These are good things; however, it also has been the week of squash bugs. These fleshy bugs run along the squash vines…

This Week in the Garden (Aug. 21)

Shippy Realty & Auction Blog walk around the garden

This week in the garden is the squash vine borer showing up. A black and orange moth lays its reddish eggs on the undersides of the leaves. The larvae hatch and burrow into the stems (usually where the stem comes…

This Week in the Garden for Aug 15th

Shippy Realty & Auction Blog walk around the garden

This week in the garden the Colorado potato beetle showed up. These are reddish-orange fleshy larvae turning into the striped beetle adult. It does not take them long to decimate a potato plant. They are later this year so if…

Powdery Mildew

Powdery mildew on a squash leaf.

Last week I mentioned powdery mildew which was on point since quite a few people brought in and sent pictures of this fungus. Let’s go into a little more depth about this topic. The fungus gets into the leaf tissue…

This Week in the Garden (August 6th)

Powdery mildew on a squash leaf.

This week in the garden, let’s start with powdery mildew that is starting to affect certain plants like squash vines. It looks like talcum powder sprinkled on the leaves. This fungus can attack most plants, especially lilacs, but rarely does…

This Week in the Garden (Aug. 2nd)

Picture of zinnias

This week in the garden, it seems a new pest is coming to our area. This is the Japanese beetle which will lay eggs on grass. The eggs hatch and feed on grass roots then hatch into adults. Like grasshoppers,…

This Week in the Garden

This week in the garden, some people who bought or raised pepper plants from seed are getting different types of peppers than they anticipated. They call this Jalapenogate, Peppergate, or the Great Pepper Mix-up of 2023. This happened when a…

In the Garden this Week

Swallowtail caterpillar on a dill plant

In the garden this week some vine crops, especially cucumbers have been forming brown to black spots on the leaves. This is a fungus disease called anthracnose. Usually, the disease shows up after the plants have mainly produced their season’s…