How to make Garden Stakes that will last forever
Chuck Many years ago in our Annapolis garden we used wooden stakes to keep plants orderly and standing upright. However, the stakes only lasted one season because the termites ate the…
Winterizing Plants: Using Anti-Transpirants To Prevent Water Loss
In our North Carolina formal garden we grow boxwood plants in large concrete pots. Although these plants are hardy in this geographic area they are susceptible to winter damage when…
How to Select the Right Mulch
Karen There are many reasons to use mulch and many kinds of mulch from which to choose. The mulch you select should be related to the purpose(s) you have in mind…
Shearing Plants for Rebloom
Any plant growing in my garden has to earn its keep. Some bloom for a long time, some have beautiful foliage after the flowers fade, others disappear entirely after blooming…
How and What to Deadhead to Prolong Bloom
Many gardeners find deadhead a boring, mundane job but I always like it. It gives me the opportunity to enjoy plant plants close up, touch them, smell them, and inspect…
Facts about Thrips that Eat Roses
There are many different kinds of thrips; some are beneficial (can you believe it?) others are not, and this post is only on the destructive kinds, that feast on rose…
How to Rotate Crops in the Home Vegetable Garden
As you begin to plan your vegetable garden consider the importance of crop rotation; that is, the growing of related plants in different areas of the garden in a cyclical…
How to make Forsythia Bloom
Spring would not be spring without the bright sprays of forsythias. The bushes give beauty to even the lowliest when they bloom so if you have a forsythia bush count…
How to Cut Down Ornamental Grasses for the Spring Clean
The spring clean up involves many tasks but none that I hate more than cutting down the large ornamental grasses like pampas grass or Miscanthus. The dried leaves, stalks and…
Eight Interesting Facts about Aphids and Suggestions for Control
Does your heart sink when you see a favorite plant covered with tiny insects exuding a sticky gop, perhaps accompanied by a black dust? You can see that the insects…