Do tomatoes need pruning? Garden experts disagree. The bottom line is that tomatoes will do just fine without pruning . . . but there are some good reasons to prune. Pruned tomatoes take up less space than unpruned ones and are less likely to become top-heavy and topple their support cages. There will be [Continue]
Chives have a place in your garden, whether you have an herb or vegetable garden, or just a flower bed. They are truly the easiest herb to grow and they are perennial, coming back year after year. Chives are one of the first plants to poke through the soil in spring. They grow [Continue]
Because of the cool spring this year, we were fortunate to enjoy the blooms of daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and other early flowers for many weeks. In June we are left with unsightly bare flower stalks and ugly, droopy leaves. What to do? Use a scissors or clippers to cut the spent flower stalks [Continue]
Potatoes have always been cheap in Wisconsin and for that reason I never grew them until I began to have concerns about the chemicals that may have been used on them for fertilizing and pest control. I also became interested in trying some unusual potato varieties that I couldn’t find in the grocery store, [Continue]
Face it. You KNOW that synthetic chemical fertilizers and herbicides are bad for the environment and for your own health. Those little white signs that lawn care companies place on the lawns warning people to stay off aren’t kidding. But your lawn is addicted and you’re afraid that if you give up the chemicals [Continue]
Mint is an easy herb to grow and it comes in many different flavors along with the traditional peppermint and spearmint. There are mint plants flavored with chocolate, orange, apple, pineapple, basil, lavender, lemon, banana and more. Some varieties are hardier than others, but all grow well in our climate. A few, like [Continue]
Some gardeners love moss. Some gardeners hate moss. Some gardeners love moss in some places but hate moss in other places. Moss growing in your lawn is actually a symptom rather than the cause of a poor lawn. Moss grows in shade where soil is compacted and has a low pH. Poor drainage [Continue]
If the only “greens” you’ve tried is the big green head of no-taste lettuce from the grocery store, you need to expand your horizons. The past few years have seen an enormous growth in the variety of greens that are available to grow, at farmers markets and even in the grocery store. Greens [Continue]
The International Herb Association has named calendula its 2008 Herb of the Year. Calendula is also known as pot marigold, but it isn’t the marigold you think of when you go to buy bedding plants. “Pot marigold” doesn’t come from the fact that it is grown in pots, although it is an excellent container plant, [Continue]
Roses are the typical fare for Valentine’s Day giving, but there are lots of plants and flowers with more romantic names associated with hearts and love. The first one that comes to mind is bleeding heart. This perennial plant blooms in late spring and has flowers that resemble tiny pink or white hearts [Continue]