Category Archives: Early Spring

Plants for Wet Soil

More water is always good for plants, right? Wrong! When water stands in the soil, air is displaced, which in turn smothers the plant roots. Once the roots are damaged many symptoms appear on leaves and shoots including wilting, marginal and inter-veinal browning of leaves (scorch), poor color and stunted growth. But the excess water […]

Cool Wave Pansy

Make way for Cool Wave Pansy! New and improved, bigger and brighter, the familiar little monkey-faced pansy is the new garden darling. These flowers are even more versatile and easier than ever, and ideal for so many beautiful landscaping options. New Pansies Cool Wave Pansy is a relatively new cultivar that has so much to […]

Soil 101

How well do you understand your soil? It’s more than just dirt, and the more you learn about soil, the better you’ll be able to care for it to ensure a stunning landscape, healthy lawn and productive garden. All About Soil The four elements of soil are minerals, water, air and organic matter. Different combinations […]

What is “pH?” Why Is It Important?

Devised in 1909, the pH scale measures the concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution. The scale ranges from 0-14. Pure water is “neutral” and has a pH of 7, midway between 0 and 14. If a solution has a low concentration of hydrogen ions, the rating will be a higher number and is considered […]

Peach Leaf Curl

If you grow peaches, you have most likely experienced peach leaf curl. Recognizing the symptoms of this infection and understanding what to do about it can help you keep your peach crop peachy keen. About Peach Leaf Curl Peach leaf curl (Taphrina deformas) is a fungal disease that infects the immature leaves of peach and […]

Trees For Small Spaces

There’s something about putting a tree in the ground that just feels right. In many cases, you start with just a bare trunk with a few branches and then, rather quickly, it begins sprouting new growth. You nurture your new acquisition and each year it increases in height and girth. Finally, one day, you look […]

Tree Peony: The Ancient Empress

From the ancient palace gardens of China comes an elegant empress, the tree peony. Native to China, the tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa) has been grown by Chinese herbalists, gardeners and nobility for more than 1,500 years. In 1994, China named this beauty as its national flower, giving it a treasured place in history and sparking […]

Nurturing Spring Bulbs

Spring bulbs faithfully reappear at the most advantageous time – after a long, cold winter, just when we’re longing for bright colors to relieve the monotony of winter snow and ice. Most spring bulbs are perennial and multiply in number every year, bringing more beauty to the flowerbeds each spring, but some problems can destroy […]

Hurry Up the Harvest — Ways to Extend the Growing Season

Have a hankering for homegrown tomatoes? Eager to see the signs of ripening in your garden without waiting weeks and weeks? Even though it’s early spring, you can extend the growing season and hurry up your harvest by trying some of these tips and products: Gain three weeks on the growing season by pre-warming the […]

Damping Off Disease

Arguably the most common, and certainly the most frustrating, seedling disease has to be damping off. Damping off is a common term used for several fungal diseases that cause sudden seedling death. Seedlings get very thin where the stem meets the soil. Young seedlings will then fall over, shrivel up and die. The loss of […]