Studies have shown that plants in homes and workplaces help reduce stress, increase productivity, enhance employee attitudes, lower operating costs, help in “green building” design, and improve air quality.  Although many of these studies involved workplaces, the principles apply to […]

Rubber plants (Ficus elastica) are easy-to-grow houseplants and low maintenance, have few problems, and tolerate a wide range of conditions—just not cold temperatures.  For these reasons, they are good for beginners or those that feel “gardening challenged”, or good choices for […]

These two garden critters have similar names, and even may look similar at a quick glance, but they really are quite different.  Knowing something about these garden pests—what they eat and where they live—may help in their control. Both these […]

If you’re looking for a fun bonding activity for you and your kids, you may want to consider planting a garden together. No matter the ages of your little ones, everyone can get involved in gardening. Most kids love playing […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]