Welcome to our blog’s advice on growing plants. Here you’ll find tips to green your thumb, whether you’re new to gardening or want to take your skills up a notch.
We dish practical guidance from planting to harvest. Learn how to start seeds, deal with pests safely, and reap abundant veggies and blooms.
Our farming experts break information down into simple steps. Follow their instructions to grow thriving container or raised bed gardens that fit your space.
Stop by regularly as we add new posts to help your garden thrive! We want to see you succeed at urban farming right at home.
Early Fall frosts can decimate crops such as tomatoes and peppers. Use row covers to create a warm micro-climate. It is Fall and night-time temperatures are getting into the 40s and the sunshine of summer is replaced by rain and overcast. Pole beans are still producing and carrots are not yet ready to harvest. There…
You can lug large container plants into the greenhouse or garage for the winter, or you can provide each plant with frost protection right where it lives. All serious gardeners have special plants; they spend large amounts of time and money on these beauties and will do almost anything to protect them from damage. When…
Gardeners love to grow plants that will not survive the winter outside. Overwintering tender plants successfully takes a little preparation. Tropicals and tender perennials add beauty and charm to a patio, deck or garden in the summer. To insure that these tender plants survive to beautify the yard another year, it is necessary to bring…
While some tropical and subtropical plants will be fine at temperatures above freezing, most sustain damage at temperatures below 40 degrees. Living in a subtropical or tropical area is a wonderful experience for gardeners. Year-around gardening without a greenhouse is every serious gardener’s dream. While temperatures in subtropical and tropical areas rarely dip below 40,…
Preparing your lawn for wintertime is easy and inexpensive. Simple things you can do now will help make your grass green next spring. Our yards are similar to our bodies in basic needs. We both require good food, air and water to thrive. Before the cold weather sets in, there are some basic things to…
Living in an apartment without a yard doesn’t mean gardening is out of reach. Container gardens work well for those with limited outdoor space. Renters need not shy away from gardening because of the lack of outdoor space. All that is needed is an area that receives five hours or more of sunlight each day….
Most backyard-for-dogs guides are a feature wishlist: a splash pad here, an obstacle course there, a photogenic dog bed under a pergola. What they skip is the actual design problem. A dog doesn’t care that a flower bed looks nice, it cares that the dirt underneath is diggable. The real question isn’t “what features would…
The ficus is one of the most popular and perhaps most temperamental houseplants in the world. Here is a quick guide to this beautiful houseplant and tips to keep it happy The Ficus family is among the most popular houseplants in the world. Varieties range from lush trees up to six feet high to tiny…
Here are 9 easy tips and tricks for happy, healthy houseplants. From blooming tricks to ways to repel pests, these tips and tricks will help your plants look their best. 1. Get stubborn violets to flower For African Violets that are green and healthy but just won’t bloom, make sure they aren’t hungry. Use a…
Have you ever wondered why some plants struggle to thrive in dim corners of your home or office? The truth lies in the critical role of light for plant health. Choosing the Plants for Low Light Areas is not just about beautifying these spaces but ensuring the plants you select can grow and flourish despite…
The right soil is crucial to your plants. Without it they won’t thrive and may even die. Here is a look at potting soil and a guide to choosing the right one. Houseplants need many things to survive and thrive-light, water, fertilizer, and soil. Many people underestimate the importance of choosing the right soil for…
They may look gorgeous and healthy in the store, but once they are brought home, things may go downhill fast. Here are the most common causes of houseplant death. It’s always disappointing when a houseplant dies, but most of the causes are easily preventable. Here’s how! Related: Why Do Your Plants Die And How To Avoid…
Shade has cooling effect on a home and garden. When trees, the best sources of natural shade aren’t available or practical, there are alternative plants. Shade is cooling and quieting in a yard or garden. It is the canopy from the sun. Trees offer shade but sometimes aren’t feasible to grow due to space, climate,…
Landscaping gardens to conserve water not only saves a precious resource, it also saves money. Use smart watering techniques plus mulch to create a water-wise landscape. During a hot, dry summer, a landscape overflowing with colorful flowers and lush green leaves usually only comes after hours and hours of watering. Fortunately, your landscape doesn’t have…
Marigold flowers are an annual flower that you only need to purchase once for years of beautiful flower gardens. Marigolds are a hardy flower that will continue to bloom all summer long. With proper sunlight and water, these colorful flowers will fill out any garden and add beauty to any yard. There are two basic…
A simple How-To tutorial on creating a beautiful perennial garden that is gorgeous in every season! Imagine seeing your garden in a different light. Instead of cold days with only snow and ice; you see transformed → your little plot of Heaven. This is the Four Seasons Garden … A Four Seasons Garden is not…
Worm composting is a great way for anyone with limited space to turn kitchen waste into compost for the garden or houseplants. Composting food scraps with worms, known as vermicomposting or vermiculture, has its advantages because it takes so little space and it takes very little work to make the best fertilizer. A can of rich,…
Aside from their obvious usefulness as pollinators, butterflies are lighter-than-air creatures that bring magic to the garden and lighten visitors’ hearts. Though butterflies are not as quick and busy as bees, they are just as important when it comes to pollination. Butterflies are beautiful additions to any garden and gardeners the world over yearn for…
Turn smelly compost bins and cold compost piles into sources of rich organic humus for the garden with these composting tips. Compost should form the foundation of an organic garden, so it’s understandable that a gardener can get discouraged when the compost bin that was supposed to produce black gold yields foul odors or surprise…
Recycle your household waste into useful items for the organic garden. Organic gardeners spend a lot of time and ingenuity thinking of new items to add to the compost bin. However, even if that wicker chair did eventually break down into something resembling organic matter, we must concede that many of our discards weren’t meant to become…
Organic gardeners can experiment with winter sowing methods to start seeds of hardy vegetables, flowers, and cover crops outdoors; no greenhouse is required. Traditionally, there has been a time in the winter months when the gardener must appraise the success of the past season while the garden lies fallow. The duration of this fallow period…
