Gardening Articles

The Biggest Problem with Flowering Shrubs and How You Can Fix It

Most people use flowering shrubs to enhance the appearance of their homes and along property lines and fences, but sometimes these shrubs will grow so exuberantly that they overgrow their allotted spot in your garden and must be cut back. Indeed, one of the biggest problems with these shrubs is knowing when and how to prune them. You don't want to just start chopping at the plant; instead you want to be well informed about where and how to make your cuts in order not to discourage new growth and the blooming cycle. An article in the Colorado Master Gardener Notes presents excellent...

Ways to Attract Butterflies into Your Garden

Try these ways to attract butterflies into your garden areas for summer entertainment for you and your family. As spring warms its way into summer, we see caterpillars crawling around looking for food. Try planting Spicebush to provide plenty of food for them. So…how can you bring butterflies into your garden? Butterfly on a butterfly bush bloom Ways to attract butterflies to your yard are: Keep the area protected from heavy winds Limit pesticide use Select fragrant, summer flowering shrubs & perennials for nectar Have several plants for caterpillar food like the Spicebush Have a few flat...

8 Reasons to Plant a Container Garden

Even if you don’t have a generous room for gardening plants , you can certainly grow a container garden . You can make your patio look green and fresh with beautiful potted plants . Also, the tiniest porch at your place can vaunt with beautiful hanging basket of pretty flowers or a crop of vegetables. 8 reasons encouraging the practice of container gardening : 1. Gardening plants in pots are easy - For those who are a freshman in gardening field, a container garden is one good way to create a jump-start. A small soil potted plant...

How Much Should You Spend On a Home Gardener

Can you imagine owning a gorgeous garden? You can have a lovely place where plants, shrubs, flowers and trees fill your own backyard with beautiful scenery. Even if you don’t know how to cultivate a breathtaking garden yourself, you can hire someone who can help...a home gardener . The Cost Of A Gardener Many people spend weeks toiling over gorgeous greenery to make their garden a reality. If you want to spend the time and energy on your gardening efforts, this can be an investment for the future. The more you spend time on your garden,...

The Top 8 Gardening Mistakes and How to Correct Them

Do you actually realize that gardening mistakes can even happen right in your own yard? Whether you think that your garden looks good or not, it really doesn't matter. If everything doesn't work, your whole garden will not work. Here are listed the top 8 gardening mistakes and the ways to correct them: 1. Grass is not greener. This ranks number 1. Why? Most gardens have lawn, but one may be slightly greener than the other. If your lawn looks more than the soil underneath, it is time to reassess your watering, fertilizing and mowing schedule. Think where you have gone wrong and make the...

Best Winter Gardening Tips

Greenwood Nursery is offering the best winter gardening tips that will help everyone in getting a head start on their spring as well as summer yard care. Greenwood Nursery offers factual tips in order to help everyone in making their garden beautiful and one of a kind. The first step in having a great summer is to prepare the garden creatively. Kindly turn the shrubbery and tree lines into something of beauty having light pruning. It is advisable to mulch the perennials and win fight against weeds before they even get the chance in infiltrating the yard. Next winter gardening tips is to...

Gardening Tips for Winter Garden Maintenance

Perform these winter maintenance tips to protect your garden and landscape this year. Store empty pots to prevent cracking Take candles, glass containers or hurricanes inside Containers with plants that will remain outdoors should be wrapped with bubble wrap, foam wrapping or burlap to prevent freeze damage Water the garden and container plants every few weeks if no rain or snowfall (do not water if ground is frozen) Apply a few handfuls of mulch or aged compost around delicate plants Check the antifreeze...

Plant an Herbal Tea Garden

Plants for Your Own Herbal Tea Garden . A nice cup of hot tea and a good book (or stack of mags) is something I love to enjoy on a crisp fall evening by the fire. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to snip off some leaves from your own garden to brew that tea with? Here is a list of 15 plants that would make a lovely addition to any kitchen garden and be able to provide for some of that delicious tea. Whether you are fall or spring planting, be sure to incorporate several tea garden plants into your landscape from Greenwood Nursery . ...

How to Plant Woodland Spaces with Colorful Plants That Bloom in Spring

If you have wooded areas around your home, you may be looking how to plant your woodlands spaces with colorful plants that bloom in early spring. Spring really brightens up wooded areas with lots of colors just bursting out a big “Hello!” I think that is what sparks us to want to add color to shaded areas . The artist part of us comes out wanting to splash color into our surroundings and the fun part is that it doesn’t stop with spring just as Claude Monet did at his garden in Giverny . He even planted his woodland areas with colorful plants . Monet's pond garden as well was carefully planned...

Tips to Get Your Yard or Garden in Tip-Top Shape Quickly!

When your area (finally) experiences a warm day or two, it's time to get out and do some quick garden/yard cleanup. As much as you may want to delay it - don't. Time slips away and soon it'll be right in the middle of spring and you'll probably wish you had done the cleaning earlier. I know. I've been there, too! Out of my procrastination over the years, I developed a plan that was easy to implement and results are seen immediately, which (at least for me) is an encouragement to finish this garden task. Here is my spring garden clean up plan. Following these easy spring garden maintenance...

Winter Window Box Ideas That Will Look Great All Year

Looking for window box ideas that will survive winter and look great through the holidays? Using small ornamental grasses , young evergreen trees , evergreen shrubs , potted ivy and evergreen herbs , you will find yourself with endless ideas on decorating containers , planters and window boxes . We've even provided a list of window box plants that in small containers are perfect for your project. After a year or two, plant them in the ground allowing them to finish growing to maturity. Visit Small Evergreen Shrubs for window box plant ideas. Animals are optional!

Fall Plant Care Tips to Keep Your Garden Looking Great

Fall plant care tips can make spring clean up easier. With fall in sight, there are a few projects which need to be done to move the garden and landscape into the next season. A little planning and some late summer yard maintenance can encourage a new burst of growth and color that will last for weeks, depending on where you are located maybe months, far beyond the fall equinox . Here are ways that I extend the life of my garden : Deadhead both annuals and perennials if you have a hedge trimmer, it makes this so much easier, especially for wide spreaders such as Shasta...

Growing Lavender in the Garden

If you have never grown lavender in your garden or landscape, you are missing out on the most fragrant plants available. My experience with lavenders is that they are ever dedicated to making my garden a mysterious, magical wonderland and me a better person because of it. This may sound pretty far out there, but if you have lavender in your garden, you understand what I mean. We have a small sitting area on the perimeter of my garden (next to the house) where Steve and I sit looking out over our garden. I have lavender growing along the fence (its amazing as a low hedge) and in groups on the...

Spring Mulching

Need an extra pair of hands while working in the garden? Me, too! I have found the solution to my short handedness... The Gardener's Hollow Leg . Finally, you can pick, pull and prune your plants, keeping the trash at your side, all the while you your hands are free. No bending or stooping to put trash in a garbage bag and dragging it along. This lightweight fabric sack attaches to your waist or across your shoulder and it's waterproof so you don't get dirty. Order yours today! Are the plants in your yard beginning to leaf out or swell with buds yet? If they're not,...

"Burn off" weed seeds and pests with solar power

"What exactly is solarizing?" That was a question that was sent to me recently by a reader of this column. Because the subject is somewhat unusual and the results are very effective, I thought I would share the answer with you today. "Solarizing" might sound like a cosmic phenomenon or something you'd do to the windows in your greenhouse or conservatory. However, the real definition is, quite literally, much more "down to earth." A simple definition of solarizing could be the act of trapping the heat from the sun and concentrating it on garden soil in an enclosed environment. Most often,...

“Alien” slime mold invades mulch!

QUESTION: “A couple of mornings ago, I noticed a strange yellow clump of something had appeared, apparently overnight, in one of our flower beds. It was a bright, almost neon, yellow and very moist and slimy. It looked almost like some kind of alien being! “By the next day, it had formed a skin or crust on top and was turning brown. It now looked like a very large, stale egg foo yong! The following day, a second patch appeared, about six feet away in the same bed. Is this some kind of fungus? I am planning to remove the two clumps with a shovel and replace the mulch. But I'd also like...

“Complement” your plants to create color harmony

Gardeners and landscapers can learn a lot from other artists and craftsmen. For instance, think of the people who work in the picture-framing business. Take a picture to one of these experts and you can find that what might have seemed a no-brainer turns out to require a lot of thought to achieve the desired result. They’ll naturally spend some time selecting the ideal frame. But notice how much thought they put into finding the perfect mat. The mat – that beveled piece of card that serves as a border between the picture and the frame – is essential to the optimum...

“Old Fashioned” plants appeal to modern tastes

What once was old is new again. That’s a saying that can certainly be applied to the world of plants. Quite often a specific plant becomes almost universally popular. As soon as it can be seen in almost every garden, there’s a backlash and the once-popular plant drops out of the Top Forty, so to speak. But then, a new generation of gardeners and landscapers rediscover the plant and it enjoys a resurgence of popularity. Just such a plant is Dicentra spectabilis, also known as Old Fashioned Bleeding Heart . In case you haven’t seen it recently, here’s a...

“Sickly” soil can be saved!

When you have serious soil problems, it can be almost impossible to grow anything successfully. But when you nurse your sick soil back to health, you’ll be amazed at the exciting variety of plants that thrive in your formerly barren wasteland! Let me reassure you that you CAN revive “bad” soil. Add a little “landscaper know-how” to some of the excellent products that are now available to homeowners and you’ll see a major improvement. Here are a couple of recent questions from readers who are having soil problems. Like these folks, you can send an e-mail to [email protected] if you need...

A berry good time to select delicious fruiting plants

With the Holidays and the Winter Solstice behind us and the days slowly but surely growing longer as we head towards spring, we can start to enjoy mental images of gardens and landscapes alive with colors and aromas where now we see only bleak soil and dry branches! Colors and aromas satisfy two of our senses – sight and smell. But why stop there when you can add taste to the sensual mix? Include fruiting plants in your spring planting plans and you could soon, literally, be enjoying the fruits of your labor. Here are a couple of suggestions that I...

A Bog Garden turns wet area into beautiful feature

A bog garden turns wet area into beautiful feature Unless we are very lucky, most of us have issues with at least part of our landscape. An area that is nothing but heavy clay that won’t drain, a deeply shaded section that receives little or no sunlight, or an area baked by the sun all day, for example. It’s tempting to give up on that area and assume that nothing can be done. But quite often a solution can be found, if you are creative and tenacious like this reader… “Dear Steve: Thank you for addressing the issue of soggy, boggy...

A dose of Epsom salts can help lilac bush to flower

QUESTION: “I have a lilac bush that is about ten years old and about five to five-and-a-half feet tall. I think it had one flower a few years ago. The main trunk is about one inch in diameter. It is situated quite close to an evergreen tree. What is wrong with this bush that it won’t flower? Is there anything I can do to promote flowers for next year?” – Helen Eckert ANSWER: Try putting one tablespoon of Epsom salts into one gallon of water. Water the bush with the solution to soaks the roots when dormant in late October. Then do it again just before it leafs out in the spring. I do this on a...

Is it Too Late To Plant?

Subject: a few quick questions 1. Is it too late to plant tulips, if there has already been frost? 2. It is too late to plant trees or is it better that they remain in their pots through winter and plant them in the ground in the spring? 3. Is fall too late to prune bush's, will this harm the plant? How about wild grasses, I would like to keep them more contained, rather than them grow wild, any tips for pruning them? =========================== Hello, I would think it not too late for tulips as long as you plant right away. Fall is some of the best time for planting especially potted trees...

A planting primer for trees and shrubs

Perhaps you visit a garden center or look at an online catalog and see various intriguing plants but hesitate to make the buying decision because you’re not sure about the correct planting procedure. Today, we’ll look at three ways you can buy plants (from the little guys up to the most majestic of trees) and have a quick primer on how to plant each type. Potted plants Usually, it’s the smaller plants that you can buy in pots, but you’ll sometimes find larger shrubs sold that way, and the planting procedure is the same for all of them. First of all, dig a hole approximately twice the width...

Achillea: Perennial favorite for easy, colorful gardens

You probably know certain people who are just so easy to get along with. They are popular, colorful characters. They’re great at parties because everyone likes them and they can fit in with just about any company. In fact, they’re very much like Achilleas. Achillea is one of the easiest perennials to grow and I think it’s a good choice for beginners. Pretty much all it needs is full sun and well-drained soil. It thrives in average to poor soil and is drought tolerant once established. Once the flowers have faded, you can cut the plant back by half and this will probably stimulate a second...

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