Manure in the garden has been a common culture for thousands of years. Using manure in the garden is an excellent fertilizer and soil conditioner. However, don’t apply fresh manure to the soil in your fruit or vegetable garden. Even…
In late fall, with beds full of worn out perennials and annuals, sad but resolute gardeners often bid farewell to their color-filled gardens and turn their attention to the fall clean-up. The talk turns to the beautiful autumnal leaves, while…
Perennial Sunflower Helianthus Probably one of the most-loved flower, sunflower is a long-time favorite for borders and for bouquets because of their huge blossoms. While not quite as large as its annual cousin, the perennial sunflower makes up for what…
Today my quest is for a natural pest control method to deter deer from devouring my gardens, preferably without sophisticated fencing or expensive pest control services. Or by enrolling in a weaponry class. I jest. Sort of. The first time…
Marigold has an old variety called Victorian (spun orange) marigold. It is an extra-large, attractive, super-double flowers with tubular petals. The color is a pleasing, clear orange rather than the harsh orange-brown so often seen in African marigolds. Plants are…
“What’s that unusual plant?” is a question that almost always indicates someone has just spied the cleome blooming in my garden. I enjoy watching their eyes widen when I tell them they are “spider flowers.” Cleome common name captures how…
I started to cage tomatoes a couple of years ago. Why did I wait so long? Partly, it was money. I didn’t want to spend $5.99 each for 16 sturdy tomato cages. That’s almost $100 for tomato cages that will probably…
We now live in the age of self-driving cars, robot vacuums cleaning the floors and your smart fridge is getting the shopping done. Now comes the technology of self watering systems. Time, then, to relax in the back yard –…
Can a gardener go on vacation in the summer time? You depart, however, with a heavy heart, full of fears and cares for your garden; and you say, “Look here. There is nothing to be done in the garden and…
By this time of the year, most people are during tomato harvest. I have been noticing blossom end rot is showing up now. This show up as a black or brown rotten area on the bottom of the tomatoes. There…
Adding some garden art to your backyard does no require a lot of money, who doesn’t love something made from nothing? Gardens seem to be a natural home for all things re-used and up-cycled…it just seems to make nature happy,…
Raccoons in the garden are nocturnal animals that are thriving thanks to increased human contact, as anyone with an unsecured dumpster or trash can will attest. Wild populations prefer areas with trees and water nearby. But more and more they…
Hackberry psyllids are small aphid-like insects that cause hackberry galls commonly seen on the underside of hackberry tree leaves. An alternative name is hackberry “gall-maker.” They are most commonly noticed, however, as a household nuisance in late summer and fall.…
Focal points in a garden design to draw and direct the eye. Think of a garden or your backyard, large or small, that was just a swath of plants. Your eye sweeps along, not knowing where to land. A sense…
Trees signal their water deficit through several symptoms. The most common changes in appearance are lighter green to yellow-green foliage, leaf scorch around the margins, wilting leaves and dropping them prematurely. Conifers will often produce an abundance of cones the…