How a gardener acts, or doesn’t act, in the weeks after the last of the crops are gathered and before a really strong frost hits will directly determine how well the garden will grow next spring. Winterizing a vegetable garden isn’t just about getting rid of dead plants then leaving it; if you do it…
Spring is when gardeners really get things going, and the change from winter (when gardens are ‘sleeping’) to the time for spring planting is the most important time for getting ready. What a gardener does in the weeks between the final really cold weather and when they first start planting will decide if the growing…
People often don’t use fertilizer correctly in their home gardens. Lots of gardeners think plants will grow better with more plant food, and because of this, they tend to apply it too frequently, use way too much, or feed the plants at a bad time while they’re growing. This causes all sorts of issues, from…
Gardening is made much easier, and results are significantly improved, by mulching, but lots of people completely ignore it or don’t pick a mulch that works for them. Good mulch stops weeds growing, keeps water in the soil, prevents the ground temperature from getting too high or low, protects against the washing away of topsoil,…
Using worms to compost, which is called vermicomposting, is the best way to change your kitchen waste into fantastic stuff for your soil. It’s good for a tiny studio flat, a garage in the suburbs, or a classroom at school. If you look after it properly, a worm bin won’t smell, needs under five minutes…
Most home gardeners don’t use them, but professional soil tests are amazingly valuable. They typically cost between fifteen and thirty dollars, which isn’t much when you think about how much one bag of plant food can be. A soil test will give you a very accurate reading of your soil’s pH, how much of each…
Gardeners often call compost “black gold”, and for good reason: it’s a wonderfully rich, dark, and crumbly stuff that makes almost any garden soil much better. However, a lot of people who are starting out are scared of composting, because they think you need complicated setups with exactly the right amounts of things, temperatures to…
If you’re growing vegetables at home, changing to drip irrigation is probably the best thing you could do for your garden. It uses a system of tubes and little nozzles that apply water at a low pressure, getting it right to the roots of each plant. This uses 30 to 50 percent less water than…
Lots of people grow lavender in their gardens because of its wonderfully strong smelling flowers, the fact that bees and butterflies love it, and how you can use it in things like scented bags, flower arrangements, homemade soap, and even cooking. However, a surprising number of gardeners who do manage to grow lavender don’t quite…
What houseplant owners ask about most in gardening forums, at plant stores, and with local extension services is why their plant’s leaves are turning yellow. What makes this even more annoying is that yellow leaves can be a symptom of many things – too much water, a lack of food for the plant, or just…
