Garden Ideas, Tips & Guides

If you’ve never heard of a bulb lasagne you’re probably raising your eyebrows right now.  It is a real gardening ‘thing’ though!

Are you looking for inspiration on drought tolerant plants?  This article has 50 great suggestions for low maintenance plants that will tolerate hot, dry weather.

Are you looking to create wow factor in your hanging basket or container garden displays?  This list of the best trailing plants for hanging baskets and pots has twenty fantastic varieties to help you do just that.

Are you looking for advice on the best plants for outdoor pots?

These homemade bird feeders are a great way to give your local wild birds a real treat. You can make a bird feeder at any time of year, but it’s particularly important to support wild birds in winter.

If you’re looking for a light-hearted giggle, make a beeline for this hive of bee puns and bee jokes!

Collaborative post

If you’d like some garden inspiration, there are lots of gardening quotes and sayings to give you a boost.

If you’re looking for easy seeds to grow with children, it’s hard to beat growing sunflowers in pots. If you’re not gardening with children, sunflowers are still fantastic plants to grow, and they make wonderful cut sunflowers too.

“April showers bring May flowers.” English proverb

On the morning of Saturday 4th May, in a stiff breeze, we dismantled lavender shed.

Ryan and I have been planning some major changes to the garden for about a year now, and this week they finally got underway when we had the fence replaced. On Monday it looked like this:

I was out in the potting shed yesterday morning and sowed the first seeds of my 2019 gardening season – sweet peppers, leeks, purple sprouting broccoli and some salads. They’ll all be inside for the next few weeks, as although the weather is unseasonably warm, it cannot be relied upon.

It’s a year or so now since Ryan and I looked at the garden and decided it wasn’t really working for us. We were standing in what we called the Sunset Strip, a weird additional patch of garden that faces west. It was fenced off from the main garden and could only be reached from the road. When we moved it in was filled with ‘low maintenance’ shrubs that had got out of hand. Since then I have used it as an allotment, with small raised beds for crops such as potatoes that mostly take care of themselves. They had to – it’s difficult to get water to them, and I actively dislike gardening in full view of people walking past.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Discover the secrets to a thriving f

Are you looking at plants in your garden and wondering why they aren’t flowering?

I have always wanted a fountain for my garden however, the word pricey comes to mind. :0)

As gardeners, most of us are familiar with ramblers and climbers, that hugely diverse group of ornamental plants that we rely upon to clamber decoratively up walls and over trellises, pergolas, gazebos and other decorative garden structures as well as through established trees and shrubs. Much less celebrated but every bit as useful are what I like to call “minglers”, their much smaller equivalents.

Yes, there are a lot of chores vying for attention:  whether to deadhead the spring bulbs, or edge the beds they’re growing in; divide that overgrown drift of some perennial, or pot up the annuals for a summertime show ahead; mow or mulch and so on.  But let’s not get crazy—let’s go area by area through the list:vegetable gardenMAKING NEW BEDS? A nature-inspired method for raised-bed building, using fallen branches and logs, is called hugelkultur—and it’s fascinating, and effective, if you’re expanding your growing area.TUBERS AND SLIPS: Are the white potatoes in the ground? Sweet potatoes can go in this month, too.MY NEW SEED-STARTING TOOL will tell you when to sow what, indoors and out. Also fo

THE NEW SEASON IS HEATING UP, at least visually, even as temperatures trend downward. Cleanup is (hopefully) under way in earnest, with time out to cook up the last bits from the vegetable garden into a batch of ‘Tomato Junk’ or soup, or local/homegrown apples into easy applesauce, checking on the kettles between rounds of raking and cutbacks outdoors. With such delicious reminders of summer and fall in the freezer, and the right plants in the garden, there’s no “end” to fear. Some of us even feel happy about the coming riches: berries and other fruits, bark, new birds. PEAK PLANTING TIME for bulbs and for many woody things continues through month’s end or so; make that work include some focus on the addition of fall and winter plants to the landscape.GARDEN CLEANUP, though, is the primary order of the day—and don’t forget: quickly stash your tender things as frost threatens or just after, depending on the plant, to carry them through the winter. Here we go:TREES & SHRUBSCLEAR TURF OR WEEDS fro

The fourth annual Copake Falls Day—a hamlet in Columbia County, New York, that includes a substantial tract of Taconic State Park land, part of the New York State park system—includes a lineup of events from antique tractors and cars to an art show tours of the former Iron Works (this was an iron-ore mining town back in the day). Other local gardens will also be open for visiting. My contributions to the goings-on:Garden LectureTo register for my 8:30 AM slide lecture at Church of St. John in the Wilderness, follow this link. The topic: “Nonstop Plants: The 365-Day Garden,” on my four-season philosophy, favorite plants, and a history of the garden here. The $20 donation includes a $5 coupon redeemable toward a signed copy of my recent book, “And I Shall Have Some Peace There,” for those interested. Proceeds from tickets and book sales will benefit Friends of Taconic State Park, an important charitable group within my community and one close to my heart, since my garden is surrounded by park

The new red-foliage polychroma cultivar, ‘Bonfire,’ seems to stand up better to summer, so I’m not chopping it down. Will I regret it? Don’t know…only my second year with the plant, so it’s all an experiment.Which is what cutbacks are: You observe what is going on, and if it’s not looking good, you consider administering a haircut.The pulmonarias were shorn to the ground after flowering last month, and already have a new set of showy leaves (instead of tattered, about-to-mildew old ones). They would have grown a new set right up and over the old, but I prefer to just shear them, rather than fussily deadheading each flower stem.Perennial salvias, like the popular ‘May Night’ and the nemorosa varieties ‘Snow Hill’ and ‘Caradonna,’ can do with a good, hard cutback when they’re done blooming. A new rosettes of foliage will be emerging down below, and a lower-impact second flush of bloom will eventu

GET THEM WHILE THEY LAST: That’s the message with ephemerals, plants that are happy to pop up early, do their pretty thing, then tuck back in when the heat comes on. I grow a lot of them, brightening up the first weeks of a spring garden that would otherwise be mostly minor bulbs in April-into-May, meaning more pleasure out of the same space.

OR TRY THIS ESCAPE: Force branches of spring-blooming shrubs and trees like pussy willow, forsythia, apple and cherry once buds have begun to swell. Cut on an angle and put indoors in water. I submerge them overnight, then place them in a bucket of water in my mudroom, draped with a plastic bag, until the buds push off their coverings. The closer to actual bloom date you try to force things, the higher the success rate (no big surprise).COLORFUL TWIGS from shrub dogwoods and willows would make good indoor arrangements now, and many want stooling (cutting to maybe 8 inches from the ground) every other or third year.TAKE A WALKABOUT, unless the ground is muddy (I don’t walk on sodden soil; it does such damage). Check to see if mulches are in place or if they’ve heaved, or if burlap and other protectors have come loose, exposing vulnerable plants to possible heaving damage or windburn.MOLE PATROL CONTINUES, in perpetuity: I am still re-baiting mousetraps under boxes, buckets or cans in the gard

Peak planting time for bulbs and for many woody things continues through month’s end or so; make that work include some focus on the addition of fall and winter plants to the landscape.Garden cleanup, though, is the primary order of the day—and don’t forget: quickly stash your tender things as frost threatens or just after, depending on the plant, to carry them through the winter. Here we go:TREES & SHRUBSCLEAR TURF OR WEEDS from the area right around the trunks of fruit trees and ornamentals to reduce winter damage by rodents. Hardware cloth collars should be in place year-round as well.BE EXTRA-VIGILANT cleaning up under fruit trees, as fallen fruit and foliage allowed to overwinter

“The biggest problem I encountered was with the Phlox I planted,” Dan wrote. “The leaves developed a terrible fungus and it slowed its growth terribly. When I first spotted it, I did some research and decided to use an organic fungicide. That worked alright, but the fungus came back. Then, I tried an organic remedy I found on the internet: spraying with a milk solution. That worked less well. The poor plants were so overcome with the black fungus that they eventually withered without flowering late in the summer. I finally cut them down. Now they are starting back with strong green growth and I’m pleased, but I wondered if you had any advice for treating Phlox fungus.”One of the best non-chemical ways to deal with powdery mildew, I replied, which Phlox paniculata is so prone to in our humid summer

T ODAY IS OPEN DAY AT A WAY TO GARDEN, THE FIRST THIS SEASON. It’s been a little hectic (understatement), but I’m as ready as I can get.

I KNOW, SOME OF YOU ARE ON TO THIS ALREADY, but in case you’re not: By clicking this link (equivalent to clicking the word “slideshows” in the “Topics” in the far-left column  of every page on the blog) you can browse through all the slideshows I’ve posted in two-plus years of blogging. King of fun, huh (especially if you’re someone who likes show-don’t-tell)? I love posting my photos taken in the yard here this way; what fun it has been for me.

On Saturday, June 8, join me and Adam Wheeler of Broken Arrow Nursery in my garden for tours and a giant plant sale, and select from among an entire day of plant-themed offerings celebrating both herbs and flowers in nearby Hillsdale: herb cooking and flower arranging and growing.Plus, learn to be a better birder in a morning talk and guided walk/workshop, with Kathryn Schneider, past president of the NY State Ornithological Association and author of “Birding the Hudson Valley.” Don

100 Great Plants: From the English newspaper The Telegraph, a list of 100 great garden plants. (An aside: Why don’t our newspapers have garden sections like this one?)The Ambergate Lists: From Ambergate Gardens, Mike and Jean Heger’s nursery in Minnesota, a series of great lists covering topics from plants for deep shade to plants that don’t require frequent division.Vinnie Simeone’s Lists: Vinnie manages historic Planting Fields Arboretum on Long Island, my old stomping grounds, and has taught me many things. His personal website includes links up top to lists as desired as deer-resistant plants and plants for

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CROSS A CRABAPPLE WITH AN OAK? You get a photo like the one above (if not an actual intergeneric hybrid tree). This wind-borne balancing act didn’t register at first when I spied it the other day, but then I whipped my head back around and had a good smile, and a snapshot.

IT’S A QUESTION I DON’T HAVE AN ANSWER FOR, but maybe you can help: What’s the best way to keep track of gardening records—a format or tactic that can grow with the garden? Is it index cards; spreadsheets on the computer; a series of actual journals, such as the popular moleskine notebooks? Forum member KK asked the other day, and maybe you have the secret to record-keeping success.

Seed-catalog season gets going in earnest later in the month, so early December is prime time to inventory leftover seeds and store them in a cool, dry place. A friend stashes his in the fridge, first sealing in zipper bags with the air squeezed out, then placing the bags in a sealed plastic box rather than having strays get lost among the yogurt and mayonnaise. If you want to test your germination rate now, here’s how. Toss those more than a few years old and make a list of what you’ll need. Not that any act of self-control stops me from ordering yet another gourd or pumpkin variety, or some oddity I simply must have or perish. My list of favorite s

AS YOU BEGIN to wind down and clean up, take notes of what worked and didn’t. Mark areas that would have been easier to maintain with a workhorse groundcover in place, for instance, or areas where more bulbs might fit. I have already made a walkabout and identified a few shrubs whose days are numbered; just not enough bang for the buck (well, for the space they take up).TREES & SHRUBSBE SURE TO WATER trees and shrubs now through hard frost, so that they enter dormancy in a well-hydrated state. Evergreens (needled ones and broadleaf types like rhododendron, too) are particularly vulnerable to desiccation and winterburn if not well watered before the cold and winds set in.DON’T PANIC IF EVERGREENS start to show some browning or yellowing of needles this month and next. The oldest, innermost needles typically shed after a few years on the tree.HOPEFULLY YOU STOPPED FEEDING woody plants

IDIDN’T KNOW A PINTLE FROM A GUDGEON, but I knew I had dragged home some rusty, clunky iron tag-sale finds over the years that I’d grown tired of moving around the garage ever since. And so were born my trash-to-treasure style garden gates, thanks to a crafty friend who knows his hinge parts and a thing or two more. This is not my first such adventure.

No rain.That about sums up how I feel about the so-called gardening season of 2010. No rain.  Believe me, you don’t want to hear me say much more, as it gets ugly fast.The only good parts: few fungal diseases and lots of frogs (who stayed here with me by the little backyard pools in even larger-then-normal armies–as groups of frogs are called–since there wasn’t much moisture in the vicinity otherwise). Lots of a