برچسب: Plants

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Every year, I fill my garden boxes with fall crops, full of hope. Unfortunately, my boxes are full of slugs, and by January, I’m lucky if 50 percent of my plants have made it. The same thing happens in spring—aphids, squash bugs, cucumber beetles, and…

As the summer season winds down, gardeners like myself start getting desperate to hang onto blooms in the garden. At the same time, mounds of annual mums in pots fill the grocery stores and big box stores, marketed as the perfect gift. But mums are annuals: They’re going to croak when the first frost hits,…

We may earn a commission from links on this page.Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Everyone knows a gardener. That friend who always has dirt under their nails, who owns at least one pair of overalls and goes on entirely too long about the quality of their tomatoes. What do…

If you’re a gardener, you can sense it: The end of seed sowing is near. Most of my seed trays and seed-starting equipment are washed, sterilized, and packed up already. September isn’t the end of gardening season, though. There’s still plenty to sow and grow outdoors. This year, I’m excited to celebrate the change in…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. The indoor-plant market has been hit by two factors: the same inflation affecting everything else, and the pandemic making the acquisition of indoor plants popular. As a result, the two-inch babies you could purchase for $4.00 a few years ago have now doubled in price.…

Normally, this time of year feels like a missed deadline in the garden: I am rushing to pick, process, and prune, turning over beds and trying to get ahead of fall cleanup, which makes me loathe the onset of September. But all that work gleaning, collecting seed, seeding green spaces, and changing over the beds…

It’s fair to say that the goal of many gardeners is to create a self-sustaining yard. This means that each year, plants that will self-seed, perennialize or just reliably sustain themselves are added to the yard. The hope is that the amount of annuals, whether flowers or vegetables that need to be added, are minimal.…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. We should all know by now that it’s better to change over traditional lawns to eco lawns or other ground cover. But the reality is, most people refuse to break up with their lawns. If you are currently nursing along a fescue monoculture in your…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Forget about “spring cleaning”: If you’re a gardener, you know the real cleanup happens in the fall. That’s when you’re trimming the trees, chopping down annuals, pruning everything in sight and getting things tidy before the rain and snow set in. While there are tools…

It’s mid-August, which means that between harvesting and processing, gardeners also need to be thinking about the transition to fall. That includes two important steps: top dressing with compost and mulch. There are factors to consider in terms of both the compost and mulch you choose, but the overarching message is the same: It’s time…

Planting annual flowers can be a frustrating endeavor: You spend a lot of money (either on seeds or starts) and invest all that time in planting, just to watch them die at the end of the season. That’s why you should propagate new plants every year from cuttings. Propagation is more efficient and selective than…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. It’s not new news: The climate is changing. While shifting weather patterns have dire consequences for people, they also wreak havoc on agriculture, including your own home garden. I grew up in Arizona, where gardening was frustrating, to say the least. But even in the…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. My gardening hot take is that you should stop planting zinnias—everyone’s garden darling—and plant coneflower instead. While I love zinnias as much as anyone (and have spent years and plenty of money on expensive mixes and varieties), I don’t love growing them from seed, planting…