Your garden still has a few chores left before it settles in for winter, and pruning is at the top of that list. Get the timing wrong, and you risk losing next year’s flowers or leaving your plants vulnerable to disease all winter long. Here are 10 plants that actually need a trim this month,…
Halloween decorating can go two ways. You either throw a few plastic pumpkins on the porch and call it done, or you go big and turn your whole yard into something people slow down to look at. I’m a fan of the second option. I pulled together 15 Halloween front yard ideas that range from…
Your Christmas cactus has been in the same pot for years. Maybe the leaves look a little pale. Maybe water runs straight through and out the bottom before the soil even gets damp. That’s your plant’s way of asking for more room and fresher soil. Repotting sounds intimidating, but it’s one of the easiest things…
If your tomatoes just gave out and you think planting season is over, think again. October might be the best-kept secret in gardening. The soil is still warm from summer, the air has cooled down, and most pests have called it quits for the year. That combination gives roots a head start before winter sets…
October keeps you guessing. One week I’m still picking tomatoes off the vine. The next, frost hits overnight and the whole garden looks different by morning. That in-between feeling makes this month hard to plan for. Move too fast, and you waste good growing weeks. Move too slow, and frost catches you off guard. So…
Your dog has a favorite spot in the yard. You know the one. It’s the muddy stripe by the fence, or the crater next to your favorite shrub. Good news. You don’t have to choose between a beautiful yard and a happy dog. You can have both. I gathered 12 backyard landscaping ideas with dogs…
You sit down on your patio with a coffee. Then you spot your neighbor’s window staring right back. Time for a screen. Fast growing bushes can fix this, and they can do it soon. But planting one row of one plant is a gamble. One disease can wipe out the whole line. So I’m sharing…
I get this question every October: what can I actually plant right now? The answer surprises people. While your friends up north are packing away their garden tools, you’re just getting started. The heat breaks, the pests back off, and your soil finally gets to do its job again. But here’s the catch: what works…
Plant your tomatoes too early in zone 7, and a late frost wipes out weeks of work. Plant your fall lettuce too late, and it never has time to size up before the cold shuts things down. Zone 7 gives you a longer season than most of the country, but that only helps if you…
You grew a gorgeous coleus all summer. Then frost hit, and you tossed it. Sound familiar? I get it, but you don’t have to do that every year. Coleus is tougher than its reputation. Give it the right spot indoors, and it’ll keep showing off those wild colors straight through winter. Let’s get into what…