Find expert tips on germinating seeds, soil mixes, pumpkin growing, tree trimming and information on 30,000 plants
It pains me to admit it, but for once my sister is right. I am becoming wimpy in my old age. When I was growing up in a snowy slice of New York State, 30 miles east of Buffalo, it did not matter to me that winter sometimes lasted until Memorial Day. We had our own set of rules for […]
There are many great containers that are useful for container gardening. Plastic being the fastest to manufacture, the cheapest to purchase, many colours available to suit everyone’s tastes and easiest to handle makes it the most popular choice. The second most commonly used is clay and they have been around for many years. The disadvantages with clay are they are […]
There are not many plants that can be truly called a workhorse in a garden, yet many groundcovers are exactly that. Once established, they require no care, instead providing a large, weed-free mat of their vegetation and flowers. The choices available to a gardener are becoming unreal as well; plain or variegated leaf, bloom colour, small or large-leaved, sun or […]
Turnip This root vegetable, Brassica campestris rapa (syn. B. rapa), has been grown in Britain since the sixteenth century. The roots are global or flattish round. A well-drained sandy loam is suitable for both types—summer and winter. But if the soil is light and sandy, it dries out rapidly and turnip flea beetles flourish. A heavy soil is unsuitable for […]
For any gardener who still hasn’t been convinced about the need to garden organically, here are some statistics that may help change your mind. In March of 2001, the American Cancer Society published a report linking the use of the herbicide glyphosate (commonly sold as Round-up) with a 27% increased likelihood of contracting Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. John Hopkins University also revealed […]
These are crops grown especially for salads and those which, although suitable for other use, may also be added to the salad bowl. You should create your own salad recipe of plants. Lettuce is the foundation of most salads and the gardener may take his choice from the many butterheads, crispheads, cos and loose leaf varieties. `May Queen’ is liked […]
BUXUS — Boxwood (Bux’us). Evergreen trees and shrubs, found wild in the temperate parts of Europe and Asia, which belong to the Box family, Buxaceae. They are of neat habit of growth and have small, leathery leaves. The Box has no value as a flowering shrub because its blooms are small and dingy in color; but turners and engravers make […]
BOTTLE GARDEN A bottle garden is a special type of terrarium, an arrangement of growing plants contained within a large bottle or carboy. It is desirable that such containers have one or more holes drilled in their bottoms (this can be done by a glazier) to assure drainage, but such an arrangement is not absolutely necessary. To plant the garden, […]
Anyone who has ever doubted the ephemeral nature of gardens should go away on a two week vacation. It helps to make sure that your friends and relatives are either away or inattentive at the same time, and are therefore unavailable for even routine watering. When you return, take a deep breath and confront your beds and borders. The results […]
The mosses, or musci, form a subdivision of the plant group Bryophyta. They are very numerous. While possessing simple stems and leaves, they have no true roots. Mosses are anchored in their growing positions by rhizoids which are hairlike and without color. The physiological activities of roots are carried out by these. It should be noted that true mosses and […]