Category: Gardening & Landscape

Outside Herb Garden

Herbs growing in metal pots

Think this year about planting an outside herb garden. It can be part of your garden or flowerbed or in grouped containers on your deck accessible for home cooking. Anyplace with more sun than shade is good. You can buy…

Garden Catalogs

Sunday I looked out the window and saw the ground in the southwest corner of the garden. Granted the rest of the garden is covered with 2 feet of snow, but there is a promise that spring will come. Time…

Growing Seeds Indoors

Growing seeds indoors isn’t hard; it’s keeping them alive that can be challenging. You can save a lot of money by growing seeds depending on how large your planting beds are, but only if they live and turn into robust plants.…

Time to Think about Spring Lawn Care

Now is the time to think about spring lawn care. First, rake up the dead grass under the growing grass. This is called thatch and if it is ½ thick or greater, you want to remove it to allow better…

Hard to Grow Vegetables

If you are a first-time gardener, these are some hard to grow vegetables to think twice about. Celery takes up a lot of water compared to other crops. Also, it likes cooler spring temperatures to properly mature. Some people blanch…

Think About Your Garden this Year

Go time to start thinking about what you want to grow in your garden this summer. Now is the time to order seeds because of a limited supply from the growers last year because of the heat and drought. I…

Proven Winner Shrubs

Some new “Proven Winner” shrubs, trees, and grasses for the year 2023 include: Sunjoy Orange Pillar Barberry boost neon orange foliage growing to a maximum of 4 feet with a 3-foot spread. Like with other barberries they have a lot…

Deadly Nightshade

This plant is popping up in gardens and people are wondering if it is a ground cherry.  This weed is called deadly nightshade and has toxic berries. The berries are sweet; however, it does not take many to get sick.…

Inside Bugs Are Coming This Fall

Inside bugs are coming this fall to your home. It will be getting time for the outside bugs like spiders, ants, boxelder bugs, and others in being inside bugs. Many will be on your lawn to start with. So, keep…

Hot Weather is Slowing Down Fruit Production

The hot weather is slowing down fruit production in the garden dramatically. My summer squash (which I planted a dozen hills) usually produces more than I certainly can use. The plants now produce maybe one fruit every few days, which…

Field Bindweed

All of us know what field bindweed is and this is the time of year it shows its white to pinkish flowers all over. I planted the garden on a field bindweed & thistle patch ten years ago and with…

Honeysuckle Shrub

It is a honeysuckle shrub. There have been a lot of questions last week about a shrub being found in areas that were not noticed before. This time of year you can tell by the “choke cherry” sized seed capsules.…

Flowering Tobacco

Most people know the flowering tobacco annual flowers. You can find them at the greenhouses or order the seed online. Easy to grow, coming in many colors: white, lavender, red, and shades in between. I plant the variety Nicotiana alata,…

Tomato Problems

Most of the questions that will be coming in will relate to tomato problems, and earlier this summer, relate to tomato problems. As in most years, the most frequent problem with tomatoes this year will be leaf spot and blight…