What to Do with Arugula
Tips for delicious ways to use arugula and a recipe for Arugula Mint Pesto
Last Chance for June Cutbacks
Life is too short to fuss with staking perennials to keep them upright and looking good. It's easy to control the eventual height of many perennials if you cut them back early. Cutting back stimulates new branching.
Dealing With Daffodil Foliage
Ripening daffodil foliage is not a pretty picture. But knotting, braiding,bunching, wrapping with rubber bands, bending leaves or cutting them down too soon is detrimental to the health of the plant. Look for good companions to hide and support bulb foliage.
Step Up Your Eco-Game: Part 1. Brainstorm and Lay Out Gardens On-Site
How to get rid of lawn - equivalent to an ecological desert - and create perennial beds under trees. An eco-friendly garden coach and homeowner brainstormed together and laid out new beds to create an attractive eco-friendly yard that attracts wildlife and is easy to maintain.
Get the Jump on Invasive Shrubs
Not bound by the same interrelationships, many invasive plants get the jump on natives by greening up earlier, growing faster, photosynthesizing longer. March offers a window of opportunity to recognize and remove them before native plants leaf out and gardeners get too busy to notice.
Learn How to Make a Plant Love You
Soon after settling in beside the wood stove with Summer Rayne Oakes' How To Make a Plant Love You and a comforting cup of tea one recent cold Saturday, I had to lay that book right down again - and turn to plants.
Eat a (Least Toxic) Rainbow
We're often advised to "eat a rainbow" of colored fruits and vegetables for their fiber and healthful phytochemicals (biologically active chemical compounds produced by plants). But when deciding to purchase organic produce or conventionally grown, how do you know which crops are most or least contaminated with pesticides? The Environmental Working Group issues an annual report - The Dirty Dozen and The Clean 15.
Plant Blue Asters that Last All Fall
Fall is aster time, and asters are one of the most important pollinator food sources. Nancy DuBrule-Clemente tells how to plant a succession of blue asters that will bloom in your garden from late summer right into November.
Collect Native Plant Seeds in Fall
Sow seeds collected from nearby wild areas, or from plants thriving in your own yard, for well-adjusted offspring. Growing your own is a good way to save money, get your hands on hard-to-find plants, support local foodwebs and promote genetic diversity. Seeds of summer and fall blooming plants, and even some spring bloomers, are ripe in September and October.
Make Your Own Herb Salt
Make your own herb salt and you’ll never have to wait for an occasion special enough to dip into such a costly condiment. Read how Karen Bussolini makes fast and easy herb salt with cheap, organic herbs that she grows herself.