Gardening Basics

Have you ever found yourself in June looking at the bountiful harvests of local gardeners, while your own garden only seems to be producing weeds? Experienced gardeners develop a routine for...

Having a beautiful patio garden can be a wonderful way to create a relaxing place to enjoy a cup of tea on a pleasant evening. Incorporating lights to illuminate your patio plants is not only...

Your local Cooperative Extension Service is involved with soil conservation and the production of plants in the city and the community. You need to know how to avail yourself of this free public...

Rabbits will get into gardens and plants. They can be a serious pest and a gardener's enemy. There are a few ways to keep the rabbits away from your plants without hurting your plants. Try some...

The art and craft of hydroponics can be as simple or complex as the liquid gardener wants it to be. When you first take an interest in growing a few (or a bunch) of plants at home and then hit the...

Bone meal is a high phosphorus fertilizer source, normally made from crushed animal bones that are ground into a fine powder. Many fertilizers contain a bone meal or phosphorus rock element to...

In winter, most plants enter dormancy for the cold months. Preparing your outdoor plants for winter ensures they will wake up in spring healthy and undamaged. Continued care throughout winter also...

Composting is an environmentally friendly way to use old food scraps and lawn materials to create fertilizer. Composting is accomplished by adding plant and food waste to a compost bin and...

A trellis is an implement that creepers and climbing plants grow on. Many types of trellises can be used, depending on the your needs. When attached to a house, a trellis can be made of any...

You may have times when you want to give your garden a fresh start or need to remove a sickly or invasive flower in your garden, and yanking out the plant seems like your only option. Before you...

A small backyard doesn't mean you can't enjoy both a productive garden and a flock of egg-producing chickens. Plan and measure during the winter months so that you're ready to undertake the...

Composting allows homeowners to reduce household waste and create rich soil for use in the garden. Compost bins can be in small containers kept in the kitchen or large receptacles kept outside.

Recycled wine barrels can give an outdoor space a rustic, vintage look. And using them as planters can enhance their look. Because of their height, wine barrels are ideal for vine plantings,...

Vegetable gardening can be easy and does not require a large area. Plan what vegetables will be grown according to personal preference and space available. Determine the condition of the soil that...

Preparing a garden bed properly can be what eventually leads to a healthy and thriving garden. Peat moss is a popular addition to many gardens because of its versatility, availability and many...

Properly preparing the soil, or foundation, of a garden bed can be what eventually leads to a healthy and thriving garden. It also helps reduce the amount of work--cutting, tending, watering,...

Whether you cover a raised garden bed with plastic to warm the soil in the spring to extend the growing season or you cover it with plastic as a mulch barrier to prevent weeds, the process is not...

Biointensive planting focuses on how plants and vegetables are grown, placing special emphasis on the soil and using available space as efficiently as possible. Improving the soil is the main goal...

Collecting rainwater is not a new idea. Before the advent of municipal water systems a cistern was a standard feature at every home. The cistern was connected by pipes to the eve troughs and...

According to Washington State University, three types of worms are best for composting: the Eisenia foetida, Lumbricus rubellus and Lumbricus terrestris. Compost worms thrive best in compost...

Raised beds are a simple way to control the quality of your gardening spaces. Native soil, which may not be well-suited to growing, is mixed with quality soils, allowing you to have a rich garden...

Using a green manure means growing a cover crop and then plowing it under the soil surface to enrich the soil. Green manures aid in controlling erosion and garden pests such as root knot...

Lining garden beds before planting helps preserve moisture in the soil and prevents weeds. For annual vegetables and flowers, black plastic mulch is a suitable liner because it also warms the...

Honeysuckle, a hardy plant that grows quickly and well under many growing conditions, makes a good beginner gardener's flower. It roots quickly and easily and requires very little maintenance...

Eating freshly picked herbs or ripe tomatoes straight from the vine is a fascinating experience. You know very well the health benefits of having daily servings of fresh vegetables and you also...

There are many ways to display your plants attractively, from landscaped planting beds to window boxes to container gardens. One option that displays your plants to their best advantage is the...

Everyone wants to turn that piece of land in the backyard into a beautiful garden, but many people aren't aware of how intricate the whole process is. It is not a matter of merely throwing seeds...

Composting is encouraged by governmental agencies, environmentalists, gardening groups, universities and community organizations because of the many benefits composting offers. More than 70...

Treating planting material is vital when it comes to avoiding a diseased crop. It is very important to treat the plant material to make sure that you have a successful crop and to prevent illness...

Raised garden beds have been used for centuries. Not only are they attractive, they also offer an efficient way to garden. In them, it's easier to keep weeds out, drainage is improved and the soil...

Have you ever taken a vacation and come back only to find that your precious plants had suffered through lack of water while you were away? Or that you had arranged for a neighbor to water your...

Fertilizer from farms and gardens can wash off into the watershed and enter surrounding bodies of water. Chemical buildup of fertilizer ingredients can pollute the environment and affect not only...

Plant selection, placement of beds and quality and depth of mulch can all contribute to protecting outdoor plants from cold weather, but if the weather is going to be worse than normal, the plants...

Hydroponics, a growing method that eliminates the need for soil, has been around since the ancient Babylonians and Aztecs, though the term hydroponics has a much shorter history. It was coined in...

For a successful organic garden you will need to take control of the soil and one of the first steps is regulating the pH (potential hydrogen) to support your crop. Certain vegetables and flowers...

Who does not love to see sprawling petunias, smiling purple and yellow pansies or a burst of red geraniums in hanging baskets at their door, their favorite coffee shop or lining the streets of...

Drip irrigation is a method of applying water to plants via a hose (drip tubing) that lays on the ground and releases low volumes of water through holes situated along the length of the tubing....

Most fruit trees don't require pruning to produce fruit, but it is still recommended that you undertake this task to make the most of your fruit harvest -- both quantity and quality wise. By...

Composting using a compost pile is the most efficient way to recycle organic material, including kitchen and garden waste. You can dig organic waste directly into soil, but it will need time to...

An alternative to chemical fertilizers, compost is composed of plants, food and manure that decompose to produce carbon and nitrogen. Nitrogen is found mostly in grass clippings and manures,...

Earthworms make an excellent addition to any backyard compost pile. In fact, compost piles provide the perfect food source for earthworms so it's yet another reason to start composting waste. This...

Winter mulching can be done in a number of ways, but the principle is always the same. Mulching provides a blanket of protection for your plants by keeping roots from freezing or at least keeping...

Composting of organic food waste and yard trimmings is relatively easy and has a number of environmental benefits when compared with alternative disposal methods.

Pine trees grow big, tall and impressive, but they don't start very quickly. Pine trees will typically grow as little as a foot in the first year, and many seeds might not be hardy enough to even...

Knowing what to plant and when to plant it can be confusing. A seasonal planting guide will help keep trees, shrubs, bulbs, perennials, biennials--to say nothing of vegetables--and all of their...

Newspapers can be recycled in a variety of ways. You can save your old newspapers instead of placing them on your curb once per week. In the spring, you will want to take these newspapers and use...

Tomato plants are a popular plant to grow in home gardens, as they require minimal upkeep, do not take up much room, and often yield large quantities of produce. If you plan to grow tomatoes at...

Hydroponics is a method of gardening that eliminates the need for soil. The word hydroponics is derived from Latin and Greek words, hydro, which means water, and ponis, which translates loosely to...

Everybody knows that heirloom tomatoes are uniquely delicious choices for salads and appetizers, but what exactly does that "heirloom" in the title mean? As it turns out, there is no universally...

Weeds can be a nuisance which can destroy large areas of cultivable plants and fruits. They are unwanted for a number of reasons, ranging from their ability to deprive other useful plants of...