Gardening Tips

This is the time to set Poinsettias under way. If last year’s plants were kept for growing on for another season they should now be brought from their resting quarters and given a location in which the maximum of light is available. Light is a vital need if Poinsettias are to form worthwhile bracts. Lack

This is a question often heard shortly after the new year starts and the colorful bracts on this favorite Christmas flower have begun to fade and fall leaving only the sickly yellow flowerets to exude their sticky juice on window sill or flower stand. Many persons will answer their own questionby setting their poinsettia on

Are you a trivia buff? If so, perhaps you’d be interested in knowing a little bit more about the poinsettia plant you buy every Christmas. For example, did you know that the poinsettia’s main attraction is not its flowers, but its leaves? The flowers of the plant are the yellow clustered buds in the center.

Nothing tastes better than fresh, crisp vegetables on a summer day.  But, did you know that summer is not the only time you can grow fresh vegetables?  Most people think that if you live in Portland or other cold places, it’s hard to enjoy fresh vegetables year-round.   But, with some help and guidance, your

It’s the end of another glorious gardening year. Regardless of your region, it’s time to evaluate your garden and think about any changes you might want to make for next year. What were the aspects you loved about your garden? What did you not like so much? Ideally, photos and a written record of your

How are you set for tools for this gardening season? There are so many more tools now than in the past, both power and manual.  Having the right tool for the right job, you’ll be amazed how much easier (on your body) and quicker your garden activities will get done.  Here are a few of

Provided is a list of tasks you need to perform in your garden during November. Please understand your gardening zone which is identified in the menu above. Look for Hardiness Zones. Zone 1 Thin dense-growing trees to avoid wind damage Apply mulch around plants after ground freezes Cut back chrysanthemums after bloom; mulch heavily or

Hello fellow Earthlings, and seasons greetings to all of you. As the days get shorter and our gardening time is either eliminated because of snow or cold or because we’re just too busy making sure that our other family members have a happy holiday season, let’s take some time to think about the garden. So

At the first killing frost, when the growing season ends, it is time for the gardener to give attention to maintaining the various man-made features of his home landscape. Fall is a perfect time for this-cool weather, and no pressing need to hurry to some other task, make these jobs a pleasure. Walls, Fences and

PEST-PROOFING THE GARDEN AND OTHER NOVEMBER GARDENING TIPS In November Mother Nature begins to put things to bed for the long winter. It’s time for gardeners to do the same by protecting plants for the winter, storing garden tools, and tidying up the garden for the next growing season. If you haven’t cleaned up old

Gardening in November Pruning and Training A good month for planting or moving roses, too. Cut them well back to stop wind-rock and to encourage strong new growth next year. Fix some wire hoops around multi-stemmed conifers in snowy areas to stop sudden heavy falls spraining the stems under the weight of snow. Where diseases

November Gardening Tips – Backyard Gardener Zone 1 Thin dense-growing trees to avoid wind damage Apply mulch around plants after ground freezes Cut back chrysanthemums after bloom; mulch heavily or dig and store in basement or garage Set up burlap screens on windward sides of choice shrubs Prune deciduous trees and roses after leaves have fallen Zone 2

By the autumn many of the summer-flowering plants are all but over and, although there are many plants which will provide a display of flowers in September and October, and even into early November, much can be done to make the garden colorful in these months by planting some of the shrubs and trees the

WHAT IF… If the garden magazines, web pages and other information sources are to be believed, the world is full of gardeners who worry a lot about cause and effect. Most of them are busy—too busy sometimes to do the things that they think they ought to do in the garden. This is a frequent

Yes, now is the time we put our gardens to rest for the coming winter months. As the tree leaves turn colour and drop to the ground, frost has also landed on our plants in our gardens. By now, the cold nights have made us bring our houseplants inside and should prompt us to do

A backyard compost pile or bin is more than just controlling waste. Composting keeps food and yard waste from rotting away in landfills and it may be an engaging hobby itself. If you’re an avid or aspiring gardener, compost may be the secret weapon that you need to make your garden grow.  Fortunately, since composting

Lawn diseases don’t always appear in the summer. There are many that prefer the cool, wet weather of fall and winter. Here is a brief background on six of the most common diseases you could face during the fall and winter and how to deal with them. Necrotic Ring Spot This disease can occur when

There are many kinds of chrysanthemums, some annual and some perennial. The garden annual group that blooms in late summer is easy to grow from seeds sown in open ground as soon as it can be worked. They are suitable for mass color effects. These should be thinned to 12 to 24 inches apart to

By the Pond Lady There are many reasons to add a waterfall. Waterfalls are beautiful to look at and the moving water adds sparkle to your pond. Waterfalls sound good, they provide a way of recycling the water and they also add valuable oxygen to the water to benefit fish. Waterfalls or moving water create

How do I get my garden ready for Fall planting? Before you can plant anything new, you should do a simple soil test to make sure the Ph is still up at above 6.0 If not, add 1 pound of lime per 100 square feet for each .5 below that number. Hydrated lime will work

These are less common spring-flowering bulbs that you plant in the fall as you would the more common daffodils and tulips.  Their flowers come in a range of colors, and are generally bell-shaped, either in clusters or single.  Plants range from six inches to three feet or more.  Being less common, you may need to

After the blooming season of summer, trees are full of beautiful, colorful leaves. This beauty is short-lived, as fall is fast approaching and leaves wind up on your lawn. While young ones enjoy shuttling leaves around, they can make your property look shabby. They also create a good environment for pests to thrive. With the

Welcome to the original pumpkin record page. This is the official page identifying the heaviest pumpkins in the world per country. This is the current 2020 list of the Top 10 largest pumpkins grown to date.  The majority of these pumpkins were grown in the USA, but 3 of the pumpkins were grown in Europe

Background Compared to its more succulent cousins like cabbage and broccoli, Kale is often regarded as a “coarse” vegetable, suitable only for the winter garden. How untrue! The leaves are rich with Vitamin A & C, iron and calcium and the beautifully frilled Japanese varieties are an ornament in any garden and make a striking

Amaryllis Amaryllis flowers are gorgeous, and they come at a perfect time of year — when our (some of us) gardens are sleeping! My neighbor has had his Amaryllis for about 10 years. He showed them to me one day and I couldn’t believe my eyes! In his windowed laundry room, there stood the biggest

Are you a garden hygienist? In my experience, most gardeners fall into two camps when it comes to autumn tidiness: complete clear-out merchants that leave nothing out of place; or the more relaxed, let-it-all-rot-down-naturally brigade. Me? I fall somewhere in the middle. I’ll tidy if there’s a good reason for it, but leave well alone

Grapes can be grown quite successfully out of doors in the southern part of the country, preferably given the protection of a warm wall. Plant between October and February in a rich, deep soil. Plant firmly and immediately after planting, prune the young plant to within 30cm (12in) from its base to encourage a strong

Plums are popular for cooking, jam-making and bottling or canning, but the sweeter varieties are among our most delicious dessert fruits Damsons ripen a little later than most plums. The fruits are small, oval and richly flavoured, but not really sweet enough for the general taste for eating raw. They are, however, excellent for cooking,

Of Mediterranean origin and flowering in late February and March, outdoor apricots demand a frost-free sunny site. Bush trees can be grown only in southwest and south-east England; elsewhere, as fan-trained trees on walls facing east, south, or south-west, or in greenhouses. Apricots prefer a moisture retentive, friable and well-drained soil: they object to stiff

Even on the smaller home lots, there is usually a place for a few fruit trees. In many cases a small home orchard is possible. In smaller places, fruit trees can be worked in with the landscape planting. As a whole, fruit trees grow rapidly and if well cared for they are tidy and a