Clear Answers for Common Questions

Leaf mold is an excellent mulch, protecting your garden over the winter, and with some additions, it can be a superb compost as well. Many gardeners enjoy using leaf mold because the cost is minimal, and it's a splendid way to use leaves that have accumulated in the garden ...

Any good gardener knows that aggressive, smart pruning of a rose bush will pay off in a bumper crop of beautiful blooms all summer long. April is the perfect time of year to rejuvenate your rose bush with a "prune-up" to get it ready for the summer growth cycle ...

Growing a pumpkin can be a fun choice for a beginning gardener or young children who are learning about plants. There are many types of pumpkins, and most are relatively easy to grow. There are several tips and strategies to help the beginning grower to create a large pumpkin to ...

Bulbs are a great and low-maintenance way to brighten up a garden. Many gardens around the country use their first shoots to herald the beginning of spring, and they come in a wide array of shapes, sizes, and colors to please every gardener. Planting bulbs can be a fun ...

Pruning fruit trees is vital to their longevity, and an orchard can last for over 100 years if the fruit trees are cared for properly. Pruning can be intimidating for gardening novices, but fruit trees are actually quite forgiving, and small mistakes will not result in disaster. Pruning is paired ...

A flower garden can be a lot of fun, especially if you have children. Kids just love seeing all the different colors and watching the butterflies and other insects that can be attracted to your garden. The first step in setting up a flower garden is to decide where you ...

To keep your garden healthy and looking beautiful, you should winterize your garden annually. If you winterize your garden, you will keep it looking neat through the winter and give plants in the spring a head start. In addition, you can protect delicate plants from the elements so that they ...

When you prepare to plant a garden, there are many steps you should follow in order to ensure success. The first step is to decide what type of garden it will be. If the garden will be used for growing fruits and vegetables, the necessary conditions may be a bit ...

A chainsaw can be a very helpful tool, if used properly. If you are not familiar with a chainsaw or with how you should operate one, read the manufacturer's instructions. If you are still uncertain, it is a good idea to seek help from someone with a little more ...

Hammocks have existed for centuries. Sailors used them as beds on long sea voyages, as the elevation factor meant they could sleep peacefully and avoid mice. For some people, the idea of lying in a hammock on a hot summer day, cool drink in hand, is their concept of bliss ...

Starting a vegetable garden is a great idea for many reasons. First, when you have your own vegetable garden, you are more likely to eat vegetables because you have easy access to them. You can grow things that you like to eat, teach your children about where food comes from ...

Playing in the sand is like a rite of passage for childhood. Every kid loves to play and dig in the sand, and unless you happen to live on the beach, odds are you’d have to create a sandy playground the old-fashioned way. If you are considering a ...

Lacking a better method to store a garden hose, many people choose to coil it up at the foot of the spigot. While neater than leaving it lying across the yard, coiling a garden hose is often tedious and messy. Moreover, that last coil always seems to succeed in whipping ...

Whether one likes or dislikes cats, it is generally agreed that they are often a nuisance in the garden. While cats do not mean to be harmful, they can uproot plantings and cause other damage by digging or rolling in the garden. Fortunately, there are a number of humane and ...

In addition to thinking about water conservation when watering the garden, gardeners should also consider the health of their plants. Fortunately, the needs of plant health and water conservation actually coincide, and the same advice about watering holds true for people in drought areas as it does for those with ...

Slugs and snails in the garden can be extremely frustrating, as these pests feel unpleasant to touch and destroy plants in remarkably short order. Fortunately, there are a number of natural techniques which can be used to get rid of slugs. There's no need to resort to slug bait ...

Deer in the garden can be devastating, as they tend to eat plants indiscriminately while trampling others. Therefore, keeping deer out of the garden is a priority for many rural gardeners, who often invest a substantial amount of time and money in an assortment of schemes aimed at keeping deer ...

Butterflies are insects in the order Lepidoptera. Many people find butterflies pleasing to look at, since they have distinctive, beautiful wings covered in rich colors and patterns. It is possible to hang out a feeder to attract butterflies, but butterflies can also be enticed to visit a home with flowers ...

While it’s easy to purchase dried and fresh herbs from your local supermarket, there are many advantages to growing your own cooking herbs. Fresh herbs are surprisingly versatile. They can be used to season food, create natural dyes, or provide fragrant centerpieces for your home. Cooking herbs can be ...

A container garden or pot gardening may be a saving grace for people with little available planting space, or for those who have concrete patios only. Another reason why many find container gardening attractive is if they plan to move in a few years to a place where they will ...

Autumn gardens never have to be dull and dreary. Even when summer flowers are gone, you can still add plenty of color to the fall garden with beautiful flowering plants for fall. While many people think instantly of chrysanthemums, which are a great choice because there are so many varieties ...

Jasmine is a flowering vine with a distinctive smell that many people find attractive. It also has small, delicate white flowers that can look stunning on fences and in garden arbors. Integrating this plant into a garden does require some planning, as when well cared for, the vine can get ...

If you have a sunny yard, congratulations. Gardening in sunny spots is easy because of the huge variety of plants that grow well under sunny conditions. The main thing you have to worry about in a sunny garden is that your plants are getting enough water. Here are some of ...

Tomatoes are a juicy, delicious fruit -- though most people think of them as vegetables -- that are packed with nutrients. They are used in a wide variety of recipes and can be eaten by themselves, both reasons why they are among the most popular crops to grow. If you're interested ...

In many parts of the world, gardeners seek out drought resistant plants as an attractive and less resource-heavy way to decorate a garden. Although these plants have a reputation of being dull and not very showy, the truth is that there are some beautiful ones that can enhance any ...

An old fashioned garden is a flower garden which explodes with a riot of largely undisciplined color every spring. Many homes in England have old fashioned gardens along with more formal gardens, and they are traditionally viewed as a place to relax, enjoy the scents of the garden, and get ...

Growing potatoes is a fairly easy thing to do, and they can be a fun crop to produce in the garden. Potatoes can be grown in regular vegetable beds, or in containers, and while they are at risk of developing certain diseases and insect infestations, managing potatoes is usually not ...

Many gardeners seek to establish gardens of flowering plants which require little water. In addition to demanding less work from the gardener, this also helps to conserve water, which is an excellent environmental practice. In some regions, cities enact water restrictions during the dry months out of concern about water ...

Gardening is a great way to beautify your home, lower your grocery budget, and get outside to enjoy beautiful weather. For people unfamiliar with it, gardening might seem intimidating, with terms like “USDA zones,” “mulch,” and “irrigation” being thrown around. Fortunately for beginning gardeners, many plants flourish with minimal care ...

A poinsettia can grow from a cutting. In fact, this is one of the main means by which the plant is propagated, and people can purchase cuttings in many large gardening stores. Though people normally think of the poinsettia as a Christmas flower, cuttings generally have to be purchased in ...

Hydrangea blooms can make for fabulous floral arrangements, especially the mophead varieties, which are so large, they can fill a vase with its many tiny flowers. They also keep very well, especially with a few precautions. Since new flowers frequently bud on old wood, cut the green part, not the ...

Plant cuttings are parts of a parent plant that are severed and then placed in a rooting medium, such as peat moss or water, until the cutting roots and can be replanted as a new plant. As opposed to thinning a plant, which involves separating a plant’s roots and ...

There is considerable debate on the pruning of a Japanese maple. Some people even suggest that if you have one of these beautiful and delicate trees you should leave it alone, never pruning it. This wisegeek author must confess that following this path for ten years has resulted in a ...

Most children love to help mom and dad with whatever they’re doing at the moment and this extends to gardening or yard work. Children also love to plant things and watch them grow. So what are some good plants to grow with children? The pleasure of seeing the flowers ...