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,…
gardening tips
Found a Snake in the Garden? What It’s Doing There May Surprise You
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…
Don’t Throw Away Those Dead Flower Heads — They Could Save You Money Next Spring
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…
Before Buying Fall Plants on Clearance, Check These 5 Things at the Garden Center
A garden center clearance rack can feel like the gardening equivalent of a treasure hunt. The prices look tempting, the plants still have plenty of green leaves, and suddenly that sad-looking perennial seems like a bargain worth rescuing. Before tossing it into the cart, though, take a closer look because a discounted plant can become…
September Isn’t the End of the Vegetable Garden: These 8 Crops Can Still Go in the Ground
September does not have to mean waving goodbye to the vegetable garden. Depending on your climate and first frost date, plenty of cool-season crops can still go into the soil now and give you fresh food long after the tomatoes start looking exhausted. The key involves choosing vegetables that actually enjoy cooler weather instead of…
Don’t Compost These 7 Plants When You Clean Out the Garden This Fall
Fall garden cleanup creates a mountain of tempting compost material, but not everything that came out of the garden belongs in that pile. Some plants can carry diseases, spread from stubborn pieces of root, or dump a fresh crop of weed seeds into the compost you plan to use next year. That does not mean…
A Few Minutes of Fall Garden Maintenance Could Prevent Expensive Problems Next Year
A few minutes of fall garden maintenance can save a surprising amount of money, work, and frustration when spring arrives. A garden that looks finished for the season still holds plenty of unfinished business, from diseased foliage and lurking weeds to dirty tools and forgotten hoses. Fall cleanup does not require turning the yard into…
7 Seeds You May Be Better Off Buying Fresh Next Year
Not every seed packet deserves a long retirement in the back of the garden drawer. Some vegetable seeds lose germination power much faster than others, which means an old packet can turn next spring’s carefully planned garden into a patchy experiment in optimism. That does not mean every seed left over from this season has…
Should You Buy Garden Supplies Now or Wait Until Spring?
Garden shopping has an odd little calendar of its own. September and October can bring clearance prices on tools, pots, hoses, raised-bed supplies, and other gear as stores make room for the next season, while spring brings fresh inventory and plenty of choices. The smartest answer usually involves doing both, rather than filling the garage…
Your Garden Hose Could Be Quietly Adding to Your Water Bill
A garden hose can look perfectly innocent while quietly sending money down the drain. A worn washer, loose connection, damaged fitting, or hose left running longer than necessary can turn an ordinary watering session into an easy-to-miss source of water waste. The sneaky part comes from where many hose leaks happen: right at the spigot….