Your Backyard Garden Information Source
When I was growing up, my father’s friend, Richard Pastecki, grew lots of eggplant. He did not eat them grilled or in salads, and it would never have occurred to him to use them in something as unfamiliar as ratatouille. Richard Pastecki raised eggplant for only one reason—Eggplant Parmesan. In the Pastecki household Eggplant Parmesan was taken very seriously. Richard’s […]
Common sense would dictate that I do not need any more garden beds to care for. This does not stop me, addict that I am, from having an insatiable desire to create new planting schemes. In fact, my affliction is so bad that I sometimes look covetously at my neighbor’s more generous acreage and dream of what I could do […]
The short, gray days of winter in the north, coupled with snow, often create landscapes that resemble a black and white photo. Winter landscapes need not be drab and dreary and can have color, by choosing plants for interesting bark. One of my favorite shrubs for its bright red stems is the Red-osier dogwood (Cornus sericea). For even better color than […]
House walls, garden walls, fences, archways, pergolas, trellises, poles, either single or erected tripod fashion and other vertical or near-vertical features, provide the gardener with another dimension in which to grow plants. There are attractive plants available for this purpose, many of which benefit from the extra shelter provided by a wall or fence. Types of plant Suitable plants include […]
Bedding plants are the answer to a gardener’s prayer for instant color and faster growth in a summer flower garden. With our short growing season, why wait for seeds to sprout and plants to grow when you can achieve the same end result–and a lot quicker–with bedding plants? “Bedding plant” is the industry’s term for a young plant that has […]
If you’re wondering what gardening tasks to perform in October, first you need to understand your gardening zone. Now you understand your gardening zone, below defines the tasks to perform for your garden. Zone 1 Finish planting container-grown trees and shrubs Plant needle-bearing evergreens early in the month If the month is dry, repeat the September soaking Check ties on […]
Your transplanting success will increase if you’ll observe a few simple rules that take into account the plants’ needs. Basic as they are, simple as they may seem, they are still the fundamentals around which successful transplanting is built, so follow them and give the plants the best of care following their transfer. These are the general rules. Those which have […]
Standing in the middle of my back garden, I am immediately struck by two things: the number of weeds in every bed, and the constant singing of birds in neighboring trees. Usually I ignore the weeds (at least until I am in need of some mindless, stress-relieving toil), and focus instead on the bird song. Here, in one of the […]
The longer I garden, the more I think that I need a little gardening every day. This can be as little as ten minutes spent raking leaves or tending the houseplants or reading a good garden book. In a pinch it can even be the time I spend getting the apple peelings out to the composter and giving the cylinder […]
Container gardening makes it possible to have a garden where plants wouldn’t otherwise take root and gives those of us without a “real” garden a chance to flex our green thumbs! A balcony or deck can be easily transformed into a lush oasis. We’ve all seen spectacular displays of flowers overflowing pots but now it’s time for vegetables to take […]