It can be a little bit of a hassle to find the right fence for your particular situation, especially if you want something that adds to your garden’s beauty instead of being a purely functional tool. Here’s a quick and dirty guide to picking the right fence for your garden: What’s Your Budget? The first thing to think about in any garden project is budget. How much are you willing to spend?...
Mulberries are the perfect summer treats. It is even better when you can pick out handfuls of these sweet dark fruits right off your own mulberry tree! Fresh mulberries consist of 88% water. A cup of fresh and juicy mulberries (about 140 grams) contains only 60 calories, making it the perfect fruit for casual snacking. Dried mulberries are also popular and can be eaten just like raisins. The dried fruit contains 12% protein, 70% carbs, 14% fiber, and only 3% fats....
As gardeners, part of our responsibilities lie in maintaining the landscapes that we aren’t actively cultivating. Our lawns (if you have one), trees, bushes, and shrubs on our property all require care. But with that care comes yard waste — annoying branches, leaves, and shrubbery that piles up over the course of the year. Suddenly, you want the best chipper shredder for your money. Table of Contents You can break yard waste down by hand or dispose of it curbside in your local green waste bins, but why not recycle these materials back into your garden in a productive way?...
Are you having problems deciding when it’s time to water? If so, you’re not alone. That’s where the best soil moisture meter comes into play. These useful devices help you decide when you should be hydrating your plants. Table of Contents But there’s all kinds of them out there. They range from a few dollars to hundreds, and there’s a mix of types. Finding the best soil moisture meter can be a challenge....
Pak choi is a microgreen known by many names. Perhaps more recognizable as Chinese cabbage or bok choy, it’s a very easy microgreen to grow both in terms of the technique and its speed. You can get a fresh batch of pak choi microgreens every 10 days if you want, making it a great microgreen for beginners. Chinese Cabbage / Pak Choi / Bok Choy Microgreens Quick Info Flavor: A more potent version of the larger bok choy / pak choi plant....
Rock phosphate is a long-standing organic fertilizer for gardens. It’s known for keeping plants healthy and encouraging new growth. It does this by adding phosphorus, thereby helping them to make other plant nutrients more accessible. But what exactly is rock phosphate, and how should it be used for your plants? Table of Contents Our Top Recommendations for Rock Phosphate What is Rock Phosphate? Also known as phosphorite, rock phosphate is a sedimentary rock that contains high amounts of phosphorus....
The mythology behind garlic is long and storied. From vampires to devils to werewolves, garlic is purported to do anything and everything. While those stories may just be myths, garlic is both a great plant to grow in your garden, and a great plant to use on your garden. It’s a common plant used to repel bugs in the garden as well. Garlic bulbs consist of numerous segments called cloves, which can be separated and planted....
We’ve covered Sansevieria trifasciata, the snake plant, in the past. But we never delved heavily into snake plant propagation, and it’s overdue. Table of Contents So today, we’ll explore the different methods in use for starting new snake plants. Each one has its pros and cons, but they all result in an expansion of your sansevieria selection! Useful Products For Rooting Snake Plants: Garden Safe TakeRoot Rooting HormoneBontone II Rooting PowderSpartan Garden Knife Choosing Your Technique The first step in your rooting journey is to select your method....
While you might not need a bug zapper year-round, it’s a necessary device in most areas. Flying insects such as mosquitos and flies become irritating as summer approaches. It’s natural to reach for a fly swatter so those flying insects meet their end. Table of Contents But, what about bug zappers, and which is the best bug zapper to buy? Continue reading, we’ll examine how these insect zappers work and discuss the efficiency and different kinds that are widely available....
When thinking of ways to improve your soil, most people wouldn’t think of planting additional crops, let alone one that you wouldn’t normally eat! However, planting a clover cover crop is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways of rehabilitating your soil. Table of Contents Clover is related to other legumes like peas, beans, and peanuts, and is most commonly found in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere but can also be seen in South America and Africa where it occurs in a wide variety of biomes ranging from high-altitude mountains down to the coastal plain....
When it comes to nuts, one of the most beloved is the filbert or the hazelnut. Used in baking, spreads, and in desserts combined with chocolate, the buttery taste of the American hazelnut just can’t be beaten. And you (yes, you!) can grow your very own hazelnut tree at home. Table of Contents In this piece, we’ll cover three members of the Corylus genus: Corylus americana, C. avellana, and C. maxima....
Rosemary is one of the most universal herbs to grow in your garden. It is a drought-tolerant, low maintenance perennial shrub that can be harvested for a variety of uses and it looks great as an ornamental landscape plant. It produces lovely flowers that come in white, pink, purple, or blue and attracts lots of pollinators. The foliage of this plant has a pleasant scent and it’s a staple herb for culinary use....
Cover cropping with a rye cover crop is an easy way to keep your soil profile healthy and in place while you’re not using it for your subsequent crops. A season of downtime can cause the soil to erode and lose nutrients, but a grain rye cover crop can prevent this. Using a cereal rye cover crop is a good idea because you can use a chop-and-drop method to return nitrogen into the soil, meaning your next crop won’t need as much fertilizer!...
Apple scab (Venturia inaequalis) is one of the most economically damaging diseases for apple growers worldwide. In parts of Australia and Asia, this disease is also more commonly known as black spot disease. This fungal pathogen particularly thrives in areas with cool temperatures and wet spring weather. Although the geographic range of apple scab is widespread and in all parts of the world apples are grown, this disease is most severe in temperate climates....
Lettuce is one of those cool weather plants from which you may collect leaves or harvest whole heads. You can even harvest lettuce as a microgreen! With all the varieties out there, it is easy for a gardener to get confused. We will provide the ultimate guide to how to harvest lettuce greens and tips on how to properly store your lettuce harvest. To learn how to grow lettuce, check out our in-depth article that’s chock-full of gardening tips on how green lettuce grows!...
One of the most important parts of designing universal garden styles is path making. While the paths you create have an aesthetic appeal, they should also have proper form and function. Accessibility to pathways and all the parts of the garden they connect is pertinent too. We’ve dedicated this piece to wheelchair-accessible garden paths. Table of Contents Having an outdoor space that is inviting to every visitor is important! In this piece, we’ll cover what an accessible path is, and what material works best for a wheelchair-friendly garden....
There’s a lot of different names for horse manure! Horse buns, horse chips, horse hooey, horsepucky, or our favorite, road apples. To some, it’s just a mess that needs to be cleaned up. Table of Contents But to a gardener, all that waste is some of the best organic fertilizer available. Sure, it needs to be mucked out of the stalls, then composted to cure it first. But once it’s done, it’s phenomenal....
The most exotic and sought-after rare spice in the world, the saffron crocus is a beautiful bloom that people love all over the world. While the flower itself is small, if you’re growing saffron, it’s for the even smaller three stigmas that lie in its center. Once dried, the saffron loses 90% of its weight, making it worth more than several times its own weight in gold. It’s easy to learn how to grow saffron!...
If we had to describe peperomia in three words, we’d say peppy, plentiful, and… propagation! Whether you’re an experienced gardener or looking for a cool science project, learning how to propagate peperomia is a fun and easy activity. Table of Contents If you already have a peperomia plant, you know that they’re sturdy, adaptable, and sometimes a little crazy. But, did you know that some types of peperomia are considered succulents?...
If you’ve ever been to a Japanese Zen garden, you know there is so much that goes into its design. I’m always fascinated by their simplicity, their fluidity, and the attention paid to every element present. It’s no wonder temples are surrounded by them. Table of Contents Whether Zen rock gardens are your go-to or another type, it’s possible to make your own Zen garden or Japanese-inspired garden based on the principles of Zen Buddhism....
