5 Gardening Mistakes You Probably Don’t Know You’re Making
If your plants aren’t growing as well as you’d hoped, here are some simple things you can do to help them look their best. Gardening can require some trial and error. If you notice one of your plants isn’t doing well, for example, you might try replanting in a different spot, giving it a little extra water, or adding more nutrients to the soil. While you might have to try several different tactics to fix the problem, there are a few almost-universal gardening errors to avoid so you can keep your yard in top shape. Luckily, most of them are easy enough to correct; perhaps you need to adjust the way you water or switch to natural pest control methods. But if you make sure to avoid these common gardening mistakes, you’ll set your plants up for the best success possible. MARTY BALDWIN 1. Not Testing Soil Soil can vary from…
How to Build a Cold Frame to Protect Plants from Chilly Weather
Extend your gardening season with this easy-to-build miniature greenhouse. A cold frame is a bottomless box with a skyward-facing window. Like a miniature greenhouse, a cold frame lengthens the gardening season by protecting plants and seeds from the moderately cold temperatures and drying winds of late fall and early spring. With the addition of a simple heater, a cold frame can be used nearly year-round to grow cool-season flowers and vegetables, and to give summer plants an early start. The low-cost, easy-to-build cold frame presented here takes one or two weekends to build and uses widely available materials. You can place it on a deck or patio to grow plants in pots, or you can place it over a garden bed. Materials 4-x-4-foot sheet of 1/2-inch exterior plywood (or two 2-x-4-foot panels) plus scraps of 1/4-inch plywood for corner braces 18-gauge perforated steel angle — approximately 3 feet Two 1x3x8-foot clear pine for…
Your Ultimate Guide to Caring for Bulbs
Flowering bulbs provide gorgeous blooms year after year if well cared for. Grow beautiful bulbs in all seasons with this helpful flower bulb care guide. Flowering bulbs offer height and color to any garden in the spring, summer, and early fall. There are so many types of bulbs, and an increasing number of varieties of each flowering bulb species, that it can be difficult to know where to start. The most important part about planting successful bulbs is getting the timing right. Then, there are some must-know tips and tricks for taking care of bulbs after they are planted. Use this guide as a springing-off point to get perfect bulb-based blooms in your garden bed or container garden. When to Plant Spring-Blooming Bulbs The best time to plant most spring-blooming bulbs (including tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths) is in fall when the soil temperatures have cooled but before the ground freezes. Any time…
Here’s Why Raised Garden Beds Are a Must (and How to Make One)
Raised garden beds make it easy to maintain your plants and contribute to an orderly look in the garden. Here’s how to make your own. Skip the open ground and turn to higher ground for seeding your favorite plants. Thanks to raised beds, your garden can be virtually anywhere in your yard while maintaining ideal soil and growing conditions. Gardeners everywhere are embracing raised beds, and we’re sure you’ll love them too. Here are seven reasons why you need a raised garden bed—we’ll even show you how to make your own! Follow our easy instructions to make a 3×5-foot raised bed for your backyard space. 1. Easy Garden Maintenance Having a raised bed makes it simpler to tend your plants. There’s less bending over with beds that are elevated above the ground. Build them with wide borders, and you might even be able to sit while you work. 2. Better Soil Drainage Raised beds help…
Growing Perennials from Seed
Follow our step-by-step instructions for starting perennial seeds successfully. What You Need: Various perennial seed packets Perennial seed starting mix or potting mix Egg carton or other shallow container Labels Plastic wrap or a clear plastic bag Plastic cell packs Perennial Seed Instructions: 1. Beginners should start with those perennial seeds that are easiest to start at home: black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), catmint (Nepeta), perennial geranium, centranthus, aster, purple coneflower (Echinacea), armeria, snow-in-summer (Cerastium), or yarrow (Achillea). Nearly any shallow container with drainage holes can be used in starting perennial seeds (Check the seed packet to find out what time of year to start the seeds.) Here, a cardboard egg carton with holes punched in the bottom works nicely. Use a potting mix formulated especially for starting perennial seeds. Sprinkle three or four perennial seeds in each section. 2. If the perennial seed packet instructs you to cover the seeds with soil, sprinkle on 1/8 inch of…
Why Are Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium in Plant Fertilizer?
Not all fertilizers are the same. Here’s what you should know before you buy. Whether it’s lettuces or hollyhocks, all the plants in your garden require certain essential nutrients (17 of them) to grow properly. However, you usually only have to worry about the Big 3, called the primary or macronutrients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). Look at the label on any fertilizer package, and you’ll see three numbers separated by dashes, which correspond to the amounts of primary nutrients in the product. For example, one with three of the same number, 4-4-4, is called a “balanced” fertilizer because it has equal amounts of the Big 3 N-P-K (always shown in that order). A container of tomato food ($12, The Home Depot) might be labeled 2-5-3, which indicates higher amounts of P and less N and K. Why do these levels matter, and what do nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium do for plants anyway? Here’s…
How to Build a Brick Raised Bed
Here’s how to build a raised brick garden bed for a decorative and long-lasting addition to your landscape. Building with brick can be pleasant work, but it takes some practice before you become proficient. This handsome wall will be strong enough for a planting bed up to 2 feet high. Anything higher requires a double brick wall. It will take a couple of weekends to become competent at bricklaying, but the results will be well worth the effort. The completed project will be a permanent landscaping feature you can be proud of. Choose bricks that will survive well in continually wet conditions. Common brick may not be strong enough. Be prepared to give your material supplier the length and height of the wall you plan to build. If the bricks have holes in them, purchase special cap bricks for the top course. Arrange to have the bricks resting on a strong…
How to Save Seeds from Your Garden to Plant Next Year
Want to grow your favorite annuals, perennials, and veggies again next growing season? Here’s how to collect their seeds. Many types of plants produce seeds that you can save from one year and sow the next. That way, you can easily grow the same varieties in your garden again. Plus you’ll often end up with plenty to share with friends and family. And after the new coronavirus led to seed shortages earlier this year, it’s just a smart idea to save seeds now in case that happens again next spring. The best plants for saving seeds are heirlooms, old-fashioned varieties, and open-pollinated plants, because the seeds usually grow into plants that look just like their parents. If you save seeds from hybrids, they likely won’t grow into the exact same plants next year. But if you want to experiment and see what you get, hybrids can be fun to grow from saved…
Use This Spring Gardening Checklist for a Pretty Landscape All Year
The garden is waking up, and you’re in charge—it’s time to start planting, pruning, and preparing your flower beds. Just as you give your house a good spring cleaning to freshen it up after a long winter, take a similar approach to getting your garden back in shape for the warmer months. Once the snow and ice melt, it can feel a little overwhelming to consider tackling all the work a picture-perfect spring landscape requires. Use this checklist to help pace yourself as you get your flowerbeds, trees, shrubs, and other garden areas ready for summer. We’ve broken things down into early, middle, and late spring to help you plan your tasks so you hit each area of your landscape before summer arrives. Early Spring Start here to get your yard ready for the growing season ahead. 1. Clean the flowerbeds Clear away dead leaves or any other winter debris from the soil surfaces…
How to Create a No-Dig Flowerbed for an Easy Start to a Garden
Transform your yard with this easy-to-build, no-till, no-dig flowerbed that you can build on top of your grass for a healthy planting spot. Put down that shovel! There’s an easier way to make a new flowerbed. Similar to lasagna gardening, this method harnesses the natural forces of the weather, plus soil inhabitants such as earthworms, bacteria, and fungi to transform bare turf into a planting space. No digging, no sweat. After you layer newspaper and compost on top of the turf and wait several months, the grass will decompose into 6-8 inches of topsoil. You can start this process any time of year, but one good strategy is to do so in the fall so the soil can develop over the winter and be ready to plant in late spring or early summer during the growing season. Step 1: Outline Garden Bed Once you’ve decided where to build a new garden bed, mark the plot’s…