What better way to enjoy the romance of the garden than by growing roses? Rose gardening has gotten a bad rap in recent years. Growing roses doesn’t have to be a challenge. Choose the right plant for your garden and you’re halfway to having a spectacular rose garden. Learn the basics of caring for roses and your gardens will be the envy of the neighborhood. In a nutshell, there are four magic ingredients for making your roses happy and your garden a reality. The Soil Roses prefer a … [Read more...] about Tips for Choosing and Growing Local Roses
Lain
The Secret Garden: Living Christmas Trees Planted as a Natural Screen
As the autumn colors drop the last of their leaves, the gardens can feel naked. Without strategically placed evergreens in the yard, it easily feels like prying eyes look right through your home. Not only does your own privacy seemingly disappear, but that neighbor’s debris pile can be witnessed through winter. The solution to both of these unwanted invasions of privacy is not rocket science. November is an ideal time to plant a wall of living trees to block the messy view and to create the … [Read more...] about The Secret Garden: Living Christmas Trees Planted as a Natural Screen
Boxwoods Make A Garden Look Better
Thanks to its versatility, boxwood can fit into any landscape, whether a formal or casual design. In winter's sparse garden, this shrub’s strong shape, rich green color and air of old-world formality can dominate the scene. In summer, when the garden is in full bloom, it blends into the lushness, providing shape and structure. There are about 90 species and over 365 different kinds of boxwood. They vary tremendously in size, shape, leaf characteristics, growth rates and hardiness. The secret to … [Read more...] about Boxwoods Make A Garden Look Better
Eight Gardening Tasks You Must Complete This Month
October is a critical month in landscape maintenance and should not be ignored. As we transition into autumn and the first frosts in November, these key steps keep our landscapes healthy, weed-free and ready for their long slumber through winter. These strategic steps also will provide a rich harvest from the vegetable garden through the holidays. Broccoli at Christmas is possible with task #6, weed prevention with #8, and vibrant green evergreens right through the coldest winter days with #1. … [Read more...] about Eight Gardening Tasks You Must Complete This Month
Design a Rose Garden in Five Steps or Less By Ken Lain
Ah, roses. From bud to bloom to falling petals, no garden, from cottage to contemporary, is complete without at least a few of these dreamy flowering shrubs. Their broad variety of growth habits, sizes, colors and textures can fill any niche in the home landscape, and as breeders have made improvements in disease resistance, they’re less work, too. As long as the site is right, there is no reason you can’t have roses in all parts of your garden. Here are five favorite ways to use them. Create … [Read more...] about Design a Rose Garden in Five Steps or Less By Ken Lain
Ten Foolproof Plants Fun to Grow with Kids
Some of our fondest memories are gardening together, collecting worms from under the tree pots at the nursery, picking a basket full of flowers and the summer harvest. When my kids were small, they worked with me, and instead of money we would visit the pet shop, buy a goldfish and release them into the pond. This was always after the ice cream shop, of course. My grandson and I now hang together in the same way. His unofficial nickname is “Garden Guy Junior,” and we love gardening together. … [Read more...] about Ten Foolproof Plants Fun to Grow with Kids
Nine Steps to an Easy Garden
A good garden results in coffee time with your thoughts, watching a sunrise, the majesty of a butterfly or the buzzing of hummingbirds. “Gardener” is a label proudly worn, but there are some unpleasant tasks that can be eliminated. Weeds are my nemesis, watering is a bane, and chemicals must be avoided for a life lived well. Simplify is my motto in the garden. “Do something right the first time” and “quality over quantity” are mottos posted above my monitor that I take into account before … [Read more...] about Nine Steps to an Easy Garden
Ladybugs: Do they Really Work in the Garden?
There are many reasons to love ladybugs. This little red beetle started as a legend during the middle ages. European farmers, about 1000 A.D., struggled with insects that would eat and destroy their crops. At the first sign of crop damage, farmers would pray to “Our Lady the Virgin Mary” for help. The little bugs would come and eat the harmful insects, so farmers, assuming that ladybugs were in answer to their prayers, named the bugs "Our Lady's Beetles," which eventually morphed into … [Read more...] about Ladybugs: Do they Really Work in the Garden?
Preparing Garden Soils for Spring Planting
We know that the better the soil, the larger the harvest, the brighter the flowers, the easier the gardening. Once you've tried digging the first planting hole in a mountain garden, you learn that our native soils are HARD! That’s why successful mountain gardening has always come down to soil quality. Skimp on spring soil preparation to “soften” the ground and a garden’s production can drop close to zero. January is my month to amend garden beds, turn the soil and let the garden rest before … [Read more...] about Preparing Garden Soils for Spring Planting
Holiday Evergreens are Ready for Planting
During the coldest months of the year, evergreens are the anchors that hold together our landscapes. Up to 25 percent of any mountain landscape should be allotted to evergreens. Get this ratio wrong and that winter landscape will appear bare, especially if neighboring yards have evergreens galore. This is a good time to assess the balance of your yard and if it’s found lacking, plant new evergreens. They are at their best now through March, as the chilly months are when they show off their … [Read more...] about Holiday Evergreens are Ready for Planting