Simple ways to save money while you garden
A half-price plant sitting in the clearance corner can look like the gardening equivalent of finding a forgotten $20 bill in an old jacket. Maybe the leaves look a little rough, the pot has a few weeds, or the plant simply needs some attention. That bargain can absolutely become a beautiful addition to the garden,…
Garlic belongs in the fall garden, but the calendar matters more than many gardeners realize. Plant too early and the cloves can push up tender growth before winter, while planting too late can leave them scrambling to build the root system they need. That makes garlic a little different from the vegetables that demand attention…
Walk into a garden center in autumn and it can feel like every plant has suddenly developed a nutritional emergency. Bags of fertilizer promise stronger roots, better winter performance, and a more impressive garden next spring, making that end-of-season purchase seem like an easy decision. Many established plants do not need a late-season feeding, and…
Poison ivy can look like nothing more than a crispy pile of garden debris when the season turns, but that dead-looking material deserves a very wide berth. Burning it can send urushiol, the oily substance that causes poison ivy’s infamous rash, into the smoke, creating a much bigger problem than a few itchy spots. The…
A snake sliding through the garden can turn a peaceful morning of watering tomatoes into a full-blown wildlife documentary. But that snake probably did not wander into the yard with plans to terrorize the gardener. In many cases, it arrived because the garden offers exactly what a snake needs: food, shelter, water, warmth, or a…
A backyard vegetable garden can turn an ordinary patch of grass into tomatoes, peppers, herbs, pollinators and, occasionally, a very determined zucchini. Then an HOA letter arrives and suddenly that cheerful little garden looks like a legal dispute with tomato vines. The good news: an HOA does not automatically get to remove whatever it dislikes….
The first frost can turn a lush garden into a sad collection of blackened stems almost overnight, but not every plant needs to meet its chilly fate. Some garden favorites deserve a rescue mission before temperatures dip, especially plants that can move indoors, produce more food, or return next year from stored roots. The important…
The flower may look finished, but the gardening value might not be finished at all. Those crispy brown flower heads hanging from your plants can contain perfectly good seeds that you can collect, store, and use to grow another round of flowers next year without buying another packet. Seed saving turns one season of flowers…
September can feel like the perfect month to grab the pruners. Summer heat starts easing, the garden looks a little shaggy, and suddenly every overgrown shrub seems to be whispering, “Give me a haircut.” Resist the urge with many trees and shrubs, because pruning in late summer or early fall can push out tender new…