Spring To Do’s

There may be snow still on the ground, but March and April are still a great time to start planning and getting ready for the spring. In no particular order, many gardeners start to plan their gardens, get their seeds, start their seeds, get their tools ready, prune trees or shrubs and check their houseplants.…

BRINGING HOUSEPLANTS INDOORS!

Have your houseplants been away on summer vacation? We love adding their tropical lushness to our porches and patios. However winter is coming and it’s time to start preparing the ones you brought outside to come back indoors. Don’t worry–we’ll tell you everything you need to know!   As the days get shorter and temps…

WATER WISELY

What’s Up With Watering? All plants need water, and new plants need the most as they’re getting their roots established. But how to water sustainably? We have some ideas: Collect rainwater: Plants love rainwater, so set some 5-gallon buckets out when we’re expecting a good rainfall to collect it or add a rain barrel or…

PLANTING GARLIC AT HOME

HOW TO PLANT GARLIC Why grow garlic at home? Because its creamy, nut-like, fresh-from-the-garden-flavor is heavenly! Garlic is easy to grow and produces numerous bulbs after a long growing season. It is frost tolerant. Beyond its intense flavor and culinary uses, “the stinking rose” is good in the garden as an insect repellent and has…

PRECISION PRUNING

Pruning Spring Flowering Shrubs   Pruning can benefit landscape plants by maintaining size, promoting flowering, removing dead and diseased limbs, focusing growth on younger or more vigorous stems and helping to control insect and disease problems.  However, timing can be critical on flowering shrubs, especially spring blooming shrubs.    Spring flowering shrubs, like viburnums, lilacs…

BARE ROOT CARE

Handling and Planting “Bare Root” Plants in the Home Landscape Chances are good that you’ve bought or ordered bare root plants before — those plants that come with no soil around their roots. Lots of plants are sold as bare root plants, including some roses, ornamental trees and shrubs, fruit trees, asparagus, and some perennials.…

GROWING A NEW LAWN FROM SEED

Irrigate, irrigate, irrigate, but don’t create a swimming pool Keep the seed bed watered as often as necessary to keep the top half-inch of soil constantly moist, but don’t create pools of standing water or let it dry out. In May, this may only be twice a day and in June, it will probably be…

HOW TO TRANSPLANT

HOW TO TRANSPLANT You’ve invested time and money in your landscape, but landscapes evolve and mature over the years. At some point you may need to make changes. These changes could include moving established trees or shrubs.   Reasons to Relocate a Tree or Shrub Transplanting mature trees and shrubs is possible, although the process…