spring growth

9 Plants That Look Dead in Winter but Come Back Strong

January 24, 2026 by Catherine Reed Leave a Comment

Winter can make even experienced gardeners second-guess themselves. One week your beds look fine, and the next they’re a jumble of brown sticks, collapsed stems, and patchy soil that screams “failure.” Before you start yanking everything out, remember this: plenty of perennials and hardy plants naturally go dormant and truly look dead for months. That…

14 Winter Soil Preparation Tips That Boost Spring Growth

December 8, 2025 by Brandon Marcus Leave a Comment

Winter can feel like a dead season for gardeners, with frost covering the ground and the garden looking like it’s taking a long nap. But beneath that cold, dormant surface, soil is quietly waiting for spring, and the work you do now can transform next season’s garden into a lush, vibrant paradise. Preparing your soil…

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…

8 Garden Materials to Stock Up on When Stores Clear Summer Shelves

Summer garden displays have a funny way of disappearing just when gardeners start thinking about next season. As stores make room for fall and holiday merchandise, garden centers often mark down supplies that still have plenty of useful life left in them. That creates a tempting opportunity, but the trick involves knowing what deserves precious…

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….

Should You Pick Apples as Soon as They Change Color?

An apple can put on its red, yellow, or golden outfit and still need more time on the tree. Color offers a useful clue, but it does not automatically mean the fruit has reached its best eating stage. Picking too early can leave apples starchy and lacking flavor, while waiting too long can lead to…