Jessica Walliser

Cucumbers are among the most popular crops for home gardeners. They’re easy to grow and just a handful of vines can provide enough cucumbers for fresh eating from mid-summer through late fall. But proper cucumber plant spacing can mean the difference between healthy, productive plants and disease ridden, low yielding ones. Let’s take a look at how far apart to plant cucumbers based on your growing technique and the method you use to plant them. Why properly spacing cucumber plants matters Before we dive into the details on proper plant spacing for cucumbers, let’s take a

Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) are among the most popular herbs for home gardeners to grow. They are easy to plant and care for, and since they are a hardy perennial, they return to the garden year after year. The fragrant and flavorful leaves of the chive plant are delicious to people, but the deer and rabbits leave them alone. To add yet another benefit, chive flowers are a favorite nectar source for many of the pollinators who also help pollinate other edible crops. Learning how to harvest chives for use in the kitchen is key to enjoying this easy-to-grow herb. Let’s take a look at several different ways to harvest chives for both fresh use and for preservation. The best time to harvest chives Before we get to the information on how to harvest chives, it’s important to understand

Growing corn in containers allows you to enjoy the sweet flavor of homegrown corn in a smaller space. While you do need the right pot, soil, seeds, and technique to grow corn in pots, it’s not difficult to do. In this article, I’ll share everything you need to know, including how to hand-pollinate your corn plants to get fully developed ears from just a few plants. Why start growing corn in containers Aside from saving space, growing corn in pots lets you harvest from unconventional spaces, i

Purple is a powerful color, and purple perennial flowers are a wonderful way to introduce more of this color to the garden. While I don’t know much about using purple for interior design, art, or fashion, I do know how to use it in a garden. The power and bravado of purple in the landscape is undeniable, especially when it comes to perennials. Today, I’d like to share 24 of my favorite purple perennial flowers. Whether their shade of purple is dark and regal or light and luscious, these beauties add depth, richness, and a pop of color to your garden. Types of perennials with purple flowers Fans of purple in the garden are always pleased to learn that there are violet-hued bloom

If you’re looking for an easier way to garden, elevated raised bed gardening may just be your new best friend. With this technique, you can harvest oodles of fruits and veggies, armloads of flowers, and endless bunches of herbs with minimal effort. It’s seriously easy to garden in elevated raised beds! To help us share the joys of this super-simple method of growing, we’ve teamed up with Gardener’s Supply Company, a Vermont-based, employee-owned company that manufactures beautiful raised planter boxes and lots of other tools to make gardening both fun and trouble-free. Introduction to elevated raised bed gardening Gardening in elevated raised beds is basically a hybrid gardening technique. It’s h

While fresh parsley is useful in the kitchen, it also pays to learn how to dry parsley so you can extend your homegrown harvest for many months to come. While many cooks think of parsley as a mere garnish, it is quite a flavorful herb that can add a touch of freshness to recipes. Gardeners who grow a bumper crop of either flat leaf or curly parsley can dry parsley one of three ways. In this article, you’ll learn these techniques and additional tips for success. Why dry parsley Some culinary herbs are best used as fresh herbs in a green, recently harvested state, including basil, cilantro,

Potatoes are among the most productive vegetables for home gardens, and knowing how to plant seed potatoes properly ensures your success. For every pound of seed potatoes you plant, expect to harvest three to five pounds of spuds in return. That’s a great investment! Plus, with the long storage life of potatoes and the myriad of ways you can prepare them, they are a must-grow crop for many gardeners. And, to sweeten the deal even more, potatoes are a simple crop for beginner gardeners to grow. In this article, we’ll look at what seed potatoes are, how to plant seed potatoes, and how to grow them successfully—no matter how much, or how little, space you have to grow. What are seed potatoes? Seed potatoes are not actually seeds at all. Instead, they are small potato tubers that are used for plan

When garden space is at a premium, growing beets in containers is an easy way to cultivate this favorite vegetable. By adding beets to your garden-vegetable list, you’re getting a double harvest: Both beet leaves and beetroots are nutritious and easy to prepare. Beets can tolerate frosts as well as warmer weather, giving you a container-gardening crop throughout the seasons. Whether you prefer to start your beets indoors or to direct sow them, you can grow them out in a pot in just 2 months or less after germination. In this article, you’ll read about why and how to grow beets in containers, from beet seeds and seeding to potting mix and fertilizing.

Coneflowers (Echinacea species) are a favorite perennial of millions of gardeners, and growing Echinacea from seed is fun and easy, if you follow the strategies I’m about to share. In this article I’ll introduce 3 methods of planting Echinacea seeds and the correct timing for each technique. With a little patience and forethought, you can grow hundreds of coneflower plants for the price of a single packet of seeds.

Cross summer-blooming begonias with some of their cold-tolerant counterparts and you get the Rieger begonia—a great option for a pop of tropical color during the winter season. Pronounced “REE-ger,” the Rieger begonia is a winter flowering plant with blossoms like tea roses. Although these hybrids don’t have any scent, they more than make up for it with their riotously colorful, creamy blooms. Riegers range from reds, pinks, and bright yellows to shades of orange and stark white. What’s more, under the right conditions, they can bloom indoors for several weeks and they’re fairly easy to propagate, too.

This article is all about Russian sage pruning, including when, why, and how. Learning how to cut back Russian sage properly is essential for plant health and maintaining the ideal growth habit of this hardy perennial. Read on to learn why millions of gardeners worldwide grow this beautiful flowering plant and how to trim it properly. You’ll also find general plant care tips for this popular perennial.

If you’re looking for a low-maintenance groundcover that also flowers, look no further than creeping lilyturf. This tough perennial has thick, blade-like foliage and forms attractive clumps. In this article, I’ll share more details about creeping lilyturf, along with how easy it is to grow and care for.

The reasons for growing your own seedlings are many, and making your own DIY seed starting mix is a good way to reap even more benefits. Starting your own seeds not only allows you to grow a greater diversity of varieties, it also saves money, gives you more control, and is downright fun. If you’re still buying commercial seed starting mixes, now is a great time to try making your own. This article explains the ingredients you’ll need, how to mix up a batch, and even offers a few of my favorite seed starting soil recipes.

Applying the right amount of Japanese maple fertilizer at the right time is a lesson in attentiveness and restraint. Exercise both of these when offering your Japanese maples supplemental nutrition and you’ll be rewarded with consistent, healthy growth. This article discusses how and when to feed Japanese maple trees and what products are the best ones to use.

Millions of gardeners around the world enjoy growing their own veggies, but not fencing a vegetable garden means the local wildlife may enjoy the garden even more than you do. Whether it’s deer, rabbits, groundhogs, or any number of other garden interlopers, learning how to fence a vegetable garden properly can be the difference between an ample harvest and a non-existent one. In this article I’ll cover the most popular vegetable garden fence ideas and share some tips for using them successfully.

Gardeners who grow in containers may find themselves asking “Can you reuse potting soil?” In this article, I’m going to answer that question, along with a few others you might have about recycling used potting soil. Commercially made potting soils are expensive, and even if you follow ourDIY potting soil recipes and make your own mixes, the cost can still take a bite out of your gardening budget. Reusing potting soil can help. But it won’t work in every situation, and you have to follow a few guidelines to ensure the health of your container plants. Let’s dig in!

Knowing when to trim boxwoods—and which methods and tools to use for the job—is as important for establishing new, young plants as it is for properly maintaining older, larger boxwood bushes. Luckily, with a few snips here and there, it’s easy to spur new growth or simply preserve an existing, desired shape.

Propagating houseplants is a fun and fascinating activity that everyone can do, and Chinese money plant propagation is among the easiest. There are three simple ways you can make more of these unique plants for free. All you need is a mother plant and a few tools. This article outlines all three methods and offers tips for success.

Figuring out when to cut back hydrangeas is so confusing for new gardeners and homeowners! Heck, it’s even confusing for long-time gardeners. Most articles offer information about hydrangea pruning solely based on the plant’s species or by whether it blooms on “old wood” or “new wood”. But what does all of that mean? Isn’t there an easier way to determine when to cut back different hydrangeas? Yes! In this article, I share a very simple way to determine the best pruning time based on the shape and color of the blooms, even if you don’t know what species your hydrangea is.

Whether your plants produce pink, yellow, or orange flowers, knowing when to cut back daylilies can keep these perennials looking tidy and blooming well. Though each flower is only open for a single day, daylilies are a much-loved perennial around the world. In this article, you’ll learn about three different times to cut your daylily plants back to keep them in tip-top shape.

Even when summer gardens wind down, the hardy begonia (Begonia grandis) is still going strong in most shade gardens where it’s planted. In fact, this herbaceous perennial generally blooms from about midsummer through October until the first frost. This long bloom time is just one of many reasons gardeners appreciate the hardy begonia so much. Because the hardy begonia thrives in part shade, it’s perfect as an understory plant. (That means you could include hardy begonias around the base of your trees and shrubs or even plant them in the shade of taller perennials next season.)

If you’ve ever wondered when to prune Japanese maple trees this article should prove very helpful. Japanese maples (Acer palmatum) are among the loveliest small trees you can add to your landscape, but people are often confused about their care, especially when it comes to pruning. There are so many different forms and cultivars, each one more beautiful than the next, but sadly, you can destroy their beautiful shape and foliage by pruning incorrectly. The good news is that by understanding how and when to prune Japanese maple trees, you’ll maintain their health and form. Read on to learn more about Japanese maple pruning and how to do it right.

If you’ve been wondering how to get rid of poison ivy without developing an itchy poison ivy rash, you’re in the right place. Roughly two out of every three people are sensitive to the chemical compound called urushiol which is found in poison ivy. If you’re one of them, you’re probably used to giving poison ivy a wide berth. But what if it finds its way into your garden beds or it’s growing too close to high-traffic areas where you and your family regularly walk? By taking the right precautions in advance, you can safely remove poison ivy plants—without harming your family, pets, or area wildlife.

Growing onions is a popular task for millions of gardeners and knowing when to harvest red onions – along with yellow and white varieties – is important for success. If you harvest onions too early, it means a limited storage life. But, harvesting too late could mean a split or rotten bulb. In this article, I’m going to review two perfect times for harvesting red onions. One is ideal for fresh use and the other is best for optimizing storage life.

Whether you like to use your homegrown green beans in a good old-fashioned green bean casserole or in modern stir-fries, learning how to freeze green beans for later use is important, especially when the garden is producing them like crazy. Thankfully, freezing green beans from the garden is an easy process, but there are some essential steps to follow for success. In this article, I offer simple step-by-step instructions so you can enjoy the fruits of your garden for many months to come.

In her new book, “Plant Partners,” Jessica Walliser looks at the scientific evidence and shares pairings that can help us minimize weeds or improve soil or attract needed pollinators or other beneficial insects.Jessica is a horticulturist and self-described devoted bug lover who gardens near Pittsburgh. She’s the author of the earlier books “Attracting Beneficial Bugs to your Garden,” and “Good Bug, Bad

For those seeking to cultivate a resilient, healthy organic garden, Jessica Walliser’s book “Plant Partners: Science-Based Companion Planting Strategies for the Vegetable Garden” should be one of your essential reference books.We link to vendors to help you find relevant