A garden budget can disappear surprisingly fast. A few seed packets here, a bag of potting mix there, then suddenly a perfectly innocent trip to the garden center has turned into a receipt that deserves its own zip code. Fall gardening does not have to work that way, though, because the garden already contains plenty…
composting
Should You Compost Diseased Plants? The Answer Depends on How Hot Your Pile Gets
Composting diseased plants sounds wonderfully efficient: the tomato plant gets sick, the garden removes it, and the compost pile turns the whole mess into something useful. Unfortunately, the compost pile does not automatically know which microbes are helpful and which ones came along for the ride. If the pile never reaches adequate temperatures throughout the…
6 Ways to Use August Garden Clippings Without Sending Them to the Curb
August can turn a garden into a leafy crime scene. Tomatoes have sprawled across paths, zucchini leaves have swallowed nearby plants, spent flowers have piled up, and the hedge suddenly looks like it needs its own postal code. Before stuffing all those clippings into bags for the curb, take a closer look because much of…
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….
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…
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…
7 Frugal Garden Projects to Finish Before Daylight Shrinks
Summer has a sneaky way of making the garden feel endless. Then one afternoon arrives when dinner somehow needs to happen before the sun disappears, and suddenly every unfinished garden chore starts waving from across the yard. Thankfully, several worthwhile projects cost little or nothing, and finishing them now can make next season easier, cheaper,…
What Can You Do With Empty Grow Bags After Summer Crops Finish?
When summer tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and potatoes finish their garden careers, those floppy grow bags often end up looking like sad little gardening pancakes. Before tossing them into the trash, take a closer look because a quality grow bag can serve the garden for several more seasons, provided you clean it, inspect it, and store…
5 Reasons a White Film Appears on Garden Soil
A white film across garden soil can make a healthy planting bed look like it belongs in a science experiment. That powdery layer often signals changes happening beneath the surface, and identifying the cause helps gardeners protect their plants and improve soil quality. Thankfully, a white coating does not automatically mean disaster has moved into…