Every gardener makes mistakes, even the most experienced among us. Here are some of the most common missteps. Planting in the wrong spot. Plants have definite preferences for light, soil and moisture conditions. Take the time to research the conditions each plant favors before adding it to your landscape or you’ll be set for failure. [Continue]
When I first heard the term “rain garden” I thought it sounded so exotic, like something that would be located in the rain forest of the Amazon or perhaps the Pacific Northwest. I soon learned that rain gardens can be installed anywhere it rains. They are a way that all of us can improve [Continue]
Spinach is easy to grow but even varieties touted as slow to bolt succumb to hot weather way too soon each summer. There is an alternative in a plant from the beet family that is actually a chard, called perpetual spinach. It tastes like neither beets nor chard, but like spinach. In mid-October, my [Continue]
A bright orange pumpkin is not necessarily ready for harvest. Full-sized pumpkins take 90-105 days from planting until they are ready to harvest while miniatures are ready in 70-90 days. If you bought and planted seedlings, subtract seven days. If you have no idea when you planted your pumpkins, there are other ways to [Continue]
September is a busy time in the garden, especially this year when everything seemed to get a late start. If your garden is like mine, it’s just reaching peak vegetable and flower production. There is still much to be done. In the vegetable garden, harvesting of zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash and cucumbers continues. [Continue]
Just when you’re all ready to harvest big bunches of basil to make pesto, basil jam, a salad, a fruity basil drink or margherita pizza, you notice that your basil isn’t looking so good. What happened? Basil is generally easy to grow and has few problems, but there is a new basil disease, downy [Continue]
The wet spring, the late June heat wave, the lack of pollinators, and a groundhog have conspired to make this year’s vegetable garden my worst ever. I have had spectacular success with one plant though, and it’s a new one to my garden. I planted one ground cherry plant, an inch tall seedling purchased [Continue]
On these hot days of summer, it’s nice to have some cooler colors in the flowerbed instead of bright reds, oranges and yellows. Here are three native plants that bloom in cool, restful purple and are at their peak right now. As a reminder, native plants are those found in a particular area prior [Continue]
I enjoy receiving gardening questions from readers which is why I list my email address at the end of my column. I invariably learn something new while making sure to provide thorough, science-based answers to the questions posed. Sometimes I have to admit that I just don’t know the answer for sure and I [Continue]
It’s been a long winter and a cold spring, but it’s finally time to go to the greenhouse to choose the plants that you will add to your landscape this year. There are three things you should be careful of before you buy. First, if you have young children or pets, make sure [Continue]