Your Backyard Garden Information Source
Learn the August garden tasks for your gardening hardiness zone. Do you know what your hardiness zone? Once known, then find the required task. Zone 1 Sow seeds of wildflowers and fall veggies Aerate, dethatch and fertilize the lawn As first frosts threaten, pick mature green tomatoes to ripen in a dark, cool place indoors Purchase containerized trees and shrubs […]
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 flavouring it; potatoes and chives or lovage, tomatoes and basil, spaghetti sauce and oregano, and many more. Herbs like other plants fall into […]
Two things are very important in the garden. They are privacy and shelter. The latter is often a problem in gardens that are exposed to cold prevailing winds. Both these points are important not only for the gardener himself but also for the plants in his garden. Young growth can be severely damaged by cold winds and frequent buffeting will […]
Edging your garden provides a clean crisp look. Your garden borders will stand out when there’s a clean edge between the planting area and your landscape paths, driveway, sidewalk, and your lawn. Common edging, such as stone, wood, or brick, provide an optimal appearance keeping the plants in the garden bed while keeping the lawn out, but it isn’t always […]
Yes, there are right and wrong ways to plant a tree. By following correct planting practices, you can ensure trees will avoid a slow decline and possible death from several causes. This is especially important for trees, which can be a large, long-lasting, and worthwhile landscape investment. Choose the right tree for the right site, not just a tree you […]
Although the calendar may say spring, here in the north country, March only hints at the warmer weather to come. For gardeners this can be a frustrating month with late season snows, fluctuating temperatures, and mud limiting outdoor activities. One way to shorten the waiting period until the gardening season is to force branches of spring flowering shrubs like forsythia, […]
Purple Ragwort – SENECIO (Jacobaea) – Purple Groundsel (Latin from senex, old man, refers to gray pappus of seeds) In English gardens one finds a lovely dwarf annual listed as a Jacobaea, Senecio elegans, which grows less than 18 inches tall and is completely covered with double purple, crimson or white flowers, not unlike a double Cineraria of the greenhouse. […]
Planting the vegetable seed There is no part of the garden work which calls for such nice judgment and careful attention as the sowing of seed. Most of the failures originate right here, and a large share of the blame devoted to the seeds and seedsman, if traced back to its original source, would be found to rest on the […]
Beautiful hardy Fall Chrysanthemums October and November are the months which marshal in the Chrysanthemums and if these months be cold and rainy, the flowers do not develop well, but if the days are warm and the nights frosty, but not freezing, these flowers are in the height of their glory. “All through the budding Springtime, All through the Summer’s […]
Centaurea – Knapweed, Hardy Cornflower, Hardheads, Mountain Bluet The Centaureas are some of the most graceful flowers to grow in any garden. The flower heads are like showy, ragged thistle blooms of bright red, deep purple, golden yellow and blue. They grow from 2 feet to 3 1/2 feet tall and bloom during the Summer months. SPECIES. The Golden Knapweed […]