Winter winds can be brutal, especially for young trees just getting their footing in your yard. These delicate saplings face more than just cold temperatures; gusts can snap branches, uproot tender roots, and leave your tree struggling before spring even arrives. Protecting young trees from winter’s wrath isn’t just about survival—it’s about helping them thrive…
mulch
The One Mulch That Protects Strawberry Beds Better Than Plastic
Strawberry growers spend months coaxing out those juicy, ruby-red jewels, only to watch them fall victim to heat, weeds, rot, or hungry wildlife. Garden centers may recommend plastic mulch sheets for neatness and weed control, but plastic comes with hidden problems: overheating soil, water runoff issues, and no improvement to long-term soil health. Gardeners who…
The Garlic Planting Trick Most Gardeners Don’t Know
There’s something special about garlic. It stands bold in the kitchen, elevates meals, wards off blandness, and carries centuries of folklore on its papery shoulders. Yet, for all its culinary fame, garlic remains surprisingly misunderstood in the garden. Many gardeners plant it too shallow, too late, or too casually—missing out on larger bulbs, richer flavor,…
Stop Raking! Why Leaving the Leaves Might Save Your Lawn
Crunching leaves underfoot is a fall tradition. The rake comes out, the yard bags fill up, and somewhere in the back of your mind, you hear your grandparents saying, “A tidy lawn is a healthy lawn.” But what if they were wrong? What if all those hours spent raking, bagging, and dragging leaf piles to…
The Ultimate November Garden Checklist: Don’t Skip These Final Tasks
November in your garden is a wonderful, amazing time. The air sharpens, leaves crisp underfoot, and the entire landscape seems to exhale after months of busyness. But while everything looks like it’s slowing down, this month is absolutely packed with important tasks that set the stage for a healthy, vibrant garden next spring. Skip them…
The Secret to Fall Mulch That Supercharges Next Spring’s Blooms
There’s something undeniably magical about stepping outside on a crisp fall morning and imagining the garden that will burst into color months later. Most gardeners spend spring scrambling to fertilize, prune, and coax their flowers into greatness, but the true secret weapon comes before the snow settles in. The secret? Fall mulch. Not just tossing…
Why Straw Mulch Beats Plastic for Protecting Winter Crops
If you’ve ever tried to keep your crops alive through the cold bite of winter, you know it’s a battle between frost and survival. Many gardeners and farmers reach for plastic mulch because it looks clean, modern, and easy—but looks can be deceiving. Straw mulch, that humble golden blanket you might associate with barns and…
Stop Frost Heave from Killing Young Trees — Here’s the Fix
You’ve done everything right—you picked the perfect young tree, planted it in good soil, watered it faithfully, and even gave it a name (no judgment). But then, winter hits, and before you know it, your once-thriving sapling looks like it’s trying to escape its own hole. That, my friend, is frost heave—the sneaky seasonal villain…
11 Mulching Mistakes That Can Suffocate Roots
Mulch: it’s the unsung hero of landscaping, the cozy blanket your plants rely on to stay cool in summer, warm in winter, and free of weeds year-round. But here’s the catch—mulching the wrong way can turn that helpful layer into a suffocating, root-choking disaster. Gardeners everywhere make small, innocent-looking mistakes that can slowly strangle their…
How to Spot Overwintering Insects in Mulch
Here’s the thing about winter: while you’re bundling up and sipping hot cocoa, there’s an entire hidden world beneath your feet getting cozy for the season. That soft, earthy layer of mulch around your garden beds? It’s not just keeping your plants warm—it’s the equivalent of a five-star winter resort for bugs. Many insects use…