By and large, gardening is a forgiving hobby. Plant something too close to another plant? You can often dig it up and transplant it into a larger space. Prune a shrub wrong? Don’t worry, it will grow back. And maybe worst: put Roundup in your sprayer instead of lawn weed killer? Well, you can always reseed. The fact is, gardens are by nature works in progress; nothing is ever complete, [...]
In an old comic strip I read recently, the characters lamented the fact that even though the days of July and August are some of the longest of the year, the months seem the shortest. Indeed, summer’s balmy weather and long days are fading quickly, and as September ushers in the shortening of daylight hours and the beginning of a new season, it’s time to make the transition to early [...]
Gardeners are by nature learners. This hobby we call “gardening” is not one to be mastered—with new plants, new insect and disease issues, and weather conditions constantly in flux, the school of gardening has no graduates as we all learn more skills and gain fresh knowledge with each passing season. As spring unfolds, you may be discovering new issues around your yard you need to address, so let’s dive into [...]
I’m not the athletic sort, so forgive me for mixing metaphors when I say that we gardeners have to learn to roll with the punches when life throws us curveballs. Whatever word picture you prefer, the heat and sun we experienced late last month was a curveball we’ll talk about for a long time. As you clean up damaged plants and try to help your garden recover, here are some [...]
This summer’s long stretches of hot weather, little to no significant rain, and days of heavy forest fire smoke have made it a season for the record books. Now, with relief here in the form of cooler temperatures and more regular rain, it’s time to transition to a new season. Here are a few tips to get your yard and planters in shape for autumn. First, now is the [...]
