garden fences

Can You Train Cucumbers Across a Fence Late in the Season?

August 16, 2026 by Brandon Marcus Leave a Comment

Cucumbers can learn a new direction late in the growing season, and a fence can make a surprisingly useful trellis. The trick involves guiding the vines gently rather than treating them like unruly garden spaghetti that needs immediate discipline. If the plants still look healthy and continue producing new growth, redirecting the vines can help…

7 Tiny Fence Fixes That Keep Snow From Destroying Panels

January 13, 2026 by Brandon Marcus Leave a Comment

Winter doesn’t always arrive quietly and politely. No, sometimes it slams into your yard with icy elbows and a wicked grin. One heavy snowfall can turn a proud, straight fence into a leaning mess of cracked panels and loose posts, and it always seems to happen overnight. Snow isn’t just cold and annoying; it’s also…

How to Build a Garden That Keeps Deer Out—Without Fencing

September 25, 2025 by Brandon Marcus Leave a Comment

If you’ve ever poured your heart into planting a lush garden only to wake up and find deer have turned it into their midnight buffet, you know the frustration is real. These four-legged foragers don’t care about your hard work or your favorite heirloom tomatoes—they’re just looking for an easy meal. While fencing is the…

How To Get Free Seeds From The Government by Amanda Blankenship Seeds might seem like a small expense, but any seasoned…
Should I Use Enviro Ice On My Plants? by Kathryn Vercillo Every week, I receive food from Hungryroot. It's a great…
From Trash to Treasure: Transform Shredded Paper Into Garden Gold by Amanda Blankenship Should you use shredded paper as garden mulch? It might…
What Happens to Plants If You Use Enviro Ice on Them? by Amanda Blankenship About a year ago, I wrote our first article about…

Can Your HOA Force You to Grow Grass? One Maryland Couple Is Fighting That Battle

Can an HOA really tell a homeowner to rip out a garden and put grass back? In Maryland, the answer gets surprisingly interesting, especially after Janet and Jeff Crouch fought their HOA over a yard filled with native plants, flowers, trees, and habitat instead of a conventional carpet of turf. Their dispute helped spark a…

7 Ways to Make a Garden More Useful After Sunset

A garden does not have to clock out when the sun disappears. With a few smart additions, the same patch of soil that produces tomatoes, flowers, herbs, and leafy greens during the day can become a comfortable place to relax, entertain, cook, or simply enjoy the cooler evening air. The trick involves designing for nighttime…

What Should You Do When Ground Cherries Fall Before Ripening?

Ground cherries have one wonderfully strange harvest signal: they fall off the plant when they ripen. But when those little papery husks hit the soil while the fruit inside still looks green, the garden suddenly feels like it has changed the rules halfway through the game. The good news is that a few early drops…

6 Crops That Can Be Blanched for Better Flavor

Blanching does more than prepare vegetables for the freezer. A quick dip in boiling water can soften harsh flavors, tame bitterness, loosen tough textures, and make certain garden vegetables taste noticeably more pleasant at the table. It sounds like a small cooking trick, but the difference can be surprisingly dramatic. The key lies in timing….