Borage earns plenty of attention for its star-shaped blue flowers, but gardeners have discovered that those pretty blossoms represent only part of the plant’s appeal. This old-fashioned herb can attract pollinating insects, add cucumber-like flavor to the kitchen, fill awkward garden spaces, and even reseed itself for another appearance next season. That makes borage, or…
8 Garden Materials to Stock Up on When Stores Clear Summer Shelves
Summer garden displays have a funny way of disappearing just when gardeners start thinking about next season. As stores make room for fall and holiday merchandise, garden centers often mark down supplies that still have plenty of useful life left in them. That creates a tempting opportunity, but the trick involves knowing what deserves precious…
5 Cheap Materials for Screening Finished Compost
Finished compost can look wonderfully dark and crumbly right up until a half-rotted twig, avocado pit, or mystery chunk of bark lands in the middle of it. Screening finished compost removes those stubborn bits and gives the material a more consistent texture, and the good news is that a fancy commercial sifter does not need…
Can Crushed Oyster Shells Help Garden Soil?
Crushed oyster shells can help garden soil, but they work more like a slow-moving soil amendment than a magical garden cure-all. Because oyster shells contain calcium carbonate, they can add calcium while gradually raising the pH of acidic soil, much like agricultural limestone. That makes those leftover shells more interesting than they look after dinner….
Should You Pick Apples as Soon as They Change Color?
An apple can put on its red, yellow, or golden outfit and still need more time on the tree. Color offers a useful clue, but it does not automatically mean the fruit has reached its best eating stage. Picking too early can leave apples starchy and lacking flavor, while waiting too long can lead to…
Is It Safe to Compost Plants With Powdery Mildew?
Powdery mildew can make a perfectly respectable garden plant look as though someone dusted it with flour. The good news: gardeners do not automatically need to ban every mildew-spotted leaf from the compost pile, but the answer depends heavily on how hot and active that pile gets. A casual backyard heap that slowly decomposes presents…
7 Ways to Prepare a Garden Shed for Fall Without Buying Organizers
Fall has a funny way of exposing every bad decision made in a garden shed since spring. A shovel ends up behind three bags of potting mix, twine develops an impressive relationship with the pruning shears, and somebody puts the hose nozzle somewhere so mysterious that it may require an archaeological dig. Preparing the shed…
What Should You Do With Cornstalks Before They Turn Brittle?
Cornstalks look impressive for about five minutes after the last ears come off. Then they start turning into a towering collection of dry leaves, tough stems, and garden debris that somehow seems determined to make cleanup harder. The smartest time to deal with corn plants comes before those stalks become completely dry and brittle, because…
Why Are Your Grapes Splitting Just as They Begin to Ripen?
A grapevine can spend months producing a beautiful crop, only to turn into a tiny fruit-cracking factory right when those grapes start looking delicious. Grapes often split near ripening because the berries suddenly take on water faster than their skins can stretch, especially after a dry spell followed by heavy rain or deep watering. Splitting…
6 Crops That Benefit From Cooler Nights More Than Cooler Days
Some garden crops do not need the daytime temperature to drop much to appreciate relief. They simply want the sun to clock out, the air to cool down, and the garden to get a little breathing room. For certain warm-season vegetables and fruits, cooler nights can support flowering, fruit development, flavor, and overall plant performance…