winter garden prep

A Few Minutes of Fall Garden Maintenance Could Prevent Expensive Problems Next Year

September 11, 2026 by Brandon Marcus Leave a Comment

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…

11 Ways to Stop Mice From Nesting in Mulch

January 27, 2026 by Catherine Reed Leave a Comment

Mice love a cozy, hidden spot, and a thick mulch layer can feel like a five-star winter rental. The good news is you don’t have to ditch mulch to make your beds less inviting. With a few small changes, you can keep moisture and weeds under control while making mice move on. Most fixes are…

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…

Should You Buy Clearance Trees and Shrubs in Fall? Check the Roots First

A $60 shrub marked down to $20 can make the garden-center clearance rack very difficult to walk past. Fall discounts on trees and shrubs can be genuine bargains, particularly when retailers simply need to reduce inventory before winter, but a low price doesn’t automatically make a struggling plant worth rescuing. Plants that have spent months…

Can You Plant Potatoes From the Grocery Store? Here’s the Catch

We’ve all found one: a forgotten potato at the back of the pantry with several determined-looking sprouts growing from its eyes. Throwing it away feels wasteful, especially when those sprouts make it look ready to become an entire crop of free potatoes. Technically, planting grocery store potatoes can produce plants because the potato itself is…

Before You Bag Your Fall Leaves, Try These 5 Free Uses for Them

Every autumn, homeowners rake up something surprisingly valuable, stuff it into bags, and send it away—only to spend money on mulch, compost, and soil amendments a few months later. Fallen leaves contain organic matter and nutrients that can be recycled right where they land, and Penn State estimates that the leaves from one large shade tree can provide…

Leaving Soil Bare All Winter? You May Be Creating More Work for Spring

After the last tomatoes are picked and exhausted vegetable plants come out, a perfectly bare garden bed can feel satisfyingly clean. The problem is that soil doesn’t necessarily benefit from spending the next several months exposed to pounding rain, wind, weeds, freezing temperatures, and repeated freeze-thaw cycles. University of Minnesota recommends keeping garden soil covered…