Your Backyard Garden Information Source
Acclimatizing houseplants, dividing daylilies, and controlling slugs are some of the garden activities for this month. Gradually condition or “acclimatize” indoor plants that have spent the summer outdoors to lower light conditions. Move them to a shady spot outdoors for a week, then move them into the sunniest spot indoors for a couple of weeks before moving them to their […]
Storing your own fruits and vegetables at home at the end of the growing season, following a few simple guidelines, will enable you to have food of good nutrition and flavor into the fall and winter. It is a good way to keep extra produce you can’t eat right away from the garden, and to save money later at the […]
You may like the smell of burning leaves, but did you know you were sending an excellent soil conditioner up in smoke? Instead of burning leaves or stuffing them in garbage bags for the trash haulers to take away, compost them. Compost improves the garden soil by increasing its organic matter. This, in turn, improves soil drainage. Organic matter is […]
Trees and shrubs need moist, but not thoroughly wet, soil in order to grow well, resist insects and winter injury, and, in some cases, to produce flowers and fruit. If fruiting plants fail to fruit, or produce few fruit, it may be due to drought during flowering or fruit production. From early spring until about September 1, apply water adequately […]
With a changing climate, droughts seem to be getting more frequent and sometimes of a longer duration. Proper mowing, watering, and fertilizing are some of the strategies you can use to help a lawn deal with droughts and to survive. During periods of intense heat or drought, lawns will go dormant. They’re still alive, just not growing, so won’t need […]
Milkweeds have many benefits—they are hardy, low maintenance, good in rain gardens as well as in dry soils and during droughts, tolerate deer, the mid-summer flowers attract butterflies and the leaves feed monarch butterfly larvae. Milkweeds are not weeds at all (a plant out of place that you don’t want in your garden) unless, perhaps, you have a formal garden. […]
Growing butterfly milkweed, harvesting garden produce often, and keeping container plantings watered are some of the gardening activities for this month. Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is not a weed at all (a plant out of place that you don’t want in your garden). Better common names are butterfly or orange milkweed, as it is in the milkweed family, has orange […]
Herbs, in my opinion, should be grown in every garden. Not requiring a lot of space or care, the benefits are immense. Think about various dishes that are made and you will find at least one herb flavoring it; potatoes and chives or lovage, tomatoes and basil, spaghetti sauce and oregano, and many more. Herbs like other plants fall into […]
Sustainability means using fewer non-renewable resources to ease the burden of extraction, production and consumption of these resources puts on the environment and on society. Starting a garden is one positive step you can take toward living a sustainable life, especially when you focus on low- or no-waste methods of growing food. You can easily start a sustainable garden […]
Gardening is a healthy, enjoyable and both mentally and physically rewarding activity. But while planting your own vegetables and flowers provides a much-needed break from the robotic work and life schedules, it is important to make sure that you do it right. One of the most important decisions you will have to make at some point is whether to use […]