Ground Ideas, Tips & Guides

Although pollinator populations are diminishing worldwide due to habitat loss, climate change, pesticides, and disease, gardeners can slow this decline through cultivating and maintaining safe environments where winged garden visitors can find sustenance and take shelter. Combining well-chosen trees, shrubs, perennials, and vines to create a varied habitat will attract and support a broad range of bird, mammal, and insect species. Incorporating a strategic array of ground covers into this mix is a great way to maximize the wildlife benefits your garden offers.

One of the greatest drawbacks to successful gardening is badly drained ground. Wherever water lies in the ground at a depth easily reached by the roots of most cultivated plants they do not thrive, except where the water is constantly on the move, such as the bank of a river, brook or lake; there many plants will flourish. There are some wild plants that succeed in soil that has reached a water logged state, but generally such land is useless for gardening, farming or forestry purposes unless steps are taken to free it from superfluous moisture.

This is another variety, italica, of Brassica oleracea. Both purple and white sprouting produce a profusion of young shoots invaluable for prolonging the supplies of winter greens. Purple sprouting is the most hardy and will safely overwinter in most open situations.

How to Grow Terrestrial Orchids Orchidaceae

Choosing a palette of plants that will sustain pollinators throughout the growing season is a great start. However, the way you plant and care for your selections can provide additional advantages for the pollinators you’re seeking to attract. Here are some ways to make the lower layers of your garden even more beneficial.

In the world of gardening, the practice of companion planting has gained popularity for its remarkable ability to enhance the health and productivity of crops. When it comes to spinach companion plants, the strategic selection of plants to grow alongside this leafy green can make a significant difference to your harvest.

From kitchen counters to potted plants, gnats have a knack for intruding in the most unexpected places, leaving many wondering- where do they come from? Let us uncover the origins of these tiny pests and learn how to eliminate their relentless invasion.

You don’t need to plant new herbs to multiply them! Just grow the ones on this list, and you will have a lifetime supply, as these plants will keep reseeding!

It’s been said of Ginger Rogers — the dancer best known for her partnership with Fred Astaire — that she did everything the man did, only backwards and in high heels. As a container gardener, you will be following the same basic principles of ordinary, in-the-ground gardening, but you may face a few extra challenges along the way. This is largely because the plants are strictly confined and depend on you to be ready to notice problems and to intervene. With practice your show can be as spectacular and effortless-looking as Ginger’s performances.

Looking for a unique design element for your landscape? This stone wall will add beauty and function.

Early shoots are now beginning to emerge – a welcome treat after the garden’s winter slumber. Crocus peep their heads above ground in shades of purple, white and deepest gold, while the subtle blooms of hellebores are a discreet pleasure. Once snowdrops have gone over, it’s time to divide them while they’re ‘in the green’. And don’t forget to cut back ornamental grasses like calamagrostisand sow sweet peas.

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.

Q: I have a winter flowering jasmine, growing profusely on a 3m-high north-facing wall. For most of its six years, it has produced an abundance of flowers, from early November until March. During the recent summer, I took a lot of its stems, which had bunched at about 2m, and gently stretched them out along a series of horizontal wires. This November I can only see a handful of flowers (less than 10). Did my gentle summer manipulation cause this drop in flowers and if so, how? CD, Co Dublin

If there’s something TikTok loves (besides hauls and dances), it’s cleaning and organizing. There is even a side of TikTok dedicated to cleaning hacks and organizational tips (CleanTok, of course)—and with this comes endless ways to organize your home.

Celebrate Mother’s Day at Le Manoir

Kathy Sandel has shared her gardens with us before (More of Kathy’s Calabasas Garden, Kathy’s Garden Transformation in Sacramento), but today she’s sharing the garden she created for her daughter in Sacramento, California.

No garden is complete without at least a few containers for seasonal color. I always specify locations for planters when I create a new landscape design, with the intention of keeping them filled in every season. Although many gardeners keep their containers filled with annuals in summer and cut greenery in winter, there is another option. Planting a dwarf evergreen that can remain in its pot for several seasons will provide structure and texture every month of the year.

Planting ginger is easy, but you have to do it properly and at the right time if you want to get a decent crop.

These days, it's certainly acceptable to think beyond the traditional all-white kitchen, but you should be mindful when making your color selection.

A mini organic garden can give you wonderful vegetables which are pesticide-free and delicious. It is not really necessary to have a large garden area to grow plants or vegetables. All you will ever need in veggies will grow in a reasonably small plot.

Vinca minor is, as my father used to say, neat but not gaudy. Sometimes known as periwinkle or myrtle, this creeping perennial appears everywhere. Like a good soldier, vinca hits the ground running, and does its task efficiently, even under adverse conditions. Parts of the suburbs are virtually upholstered with it, but you can even find this undemanding evergreen stalwart keeping vigil among neglected monuments in long-abandoned cemeteries.

Garden rutabaga, such as ‘Bronze Top’ and ‘Purple Top Improved’ often replace winter turnips. Rutabaga are hardy, and the large roots may be left in the ground until Christmas at least. You can also lift the roots in October, cut off the foliage and store the swedes indoors in dry sand.

Q: I want to transplant a “dwarf” buddleia – which is much bigger than I expected – from a built-up flower bed to the ground. Is it too late/cold to do this? Should I cut back all the stems before I move it? It only finished flowering mid-November. Grainne Ward, Co Kildare

TRY NATIVE SHRUBS IN YOUR LANDSCAPE

Not long ago, I was talking to a gardening friend. The subject was spring bulbs, and her lament was that she just didn’t have the time to get them in the ground. “I’ve given up buying bulbs,” she said, “because every year they end up rotting in my garage.” I can sympathize with her, because of every fall, at least in my little corner of the world, sinister forces conspire to take away the weekends that I intended to spend planting all the bulbs that I ordered back in August.

I admire tenacity. It is a trait that I strive for myself and have tried to instill in my child. I am moved when I hear stories about people who overcome adversity or achieve great things by trying repeatedly until they reach their goals. And yet, when a great example of tenacity occurs right in my own backyard, I find myself strangely unmoved.

The Blueberry is a native American fruit harvested from wild plants since the country was settled. About 1910 the late Dr. F. V. Coville of the United States Department of Agriculture began the domestication of the High-bush Blueberry. A breeding program based on selected wild types has produced through the years a number of varieties vastly superior to their wild ancestors. Considerable research on cultural problems has developed a body of knowledge on which a highly profitable and extensive commercial industry is growing rapidly.

Most shrubs are low-maintenance plants that grow well for years with little attention. However, it is important to start with species well adapted to the local climate and soils. Thousands of shrubs range from dwarfs that hug the ground to tall, tree-like specimens. Before selecting any for your garden, it pays to look around and study those thriving in established landscapes of nearby neighborhoods. Remember that mature shrubs often look very different from their young counterparts sold in pots.

Recently I went to see a big garden—seven acres to be exact. It was located on some of the priciest real estate anywhere, and it was gorgeous. It took a big crew to maintain it and a big chipper shredder machine to keep it in wood chips. Needless to say, it was bankrolled by someone with a big pocketbook. It also took a lot of big-leaf plants to cover the ground. Small and delicate plants have their charms, but when you have acreage to cover, eyesores to hide, or lots to do other than gardening, big plants are the ticket.

There are exceptions, as may well be imagined, among the wonderful variety that is found in roses at the present day. The first exception is found in those varieties that make vigorous growth even when hard pruned; this would seem to indicate that the orthodox method is not for them. Neither, in fact, is it suitable.

A friend called not long ago, and she sounded desperate.

Cornell Epiphytic Soil Mixture Recipe

Well it’s here!! It rained all night and strong winds as Storm Darcy battered out bedroom windows upstairs. But as we were eating our breakfast the rain began turning to snow. Because the ground was very wet I wasn’t expecting it to settle, but as the morning went on it became heavy snow and very large flakes, so it started to cover the ground. It was sub zero, but apparently felt like -8 with the wind chill. And it felt like that when I went to give the chickens their breakfast this morning.

It’s hard to believe that one week ago was just above zero and there was still snow on the ground, with the weather this weekend it seems a million miles away.

Good afternoon all. Didn’t realise it’s been such a long time since I’ve put a blog up. If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter (X) or Instagram I’ve been putting photos up regularly. But this has just slipped my notice.

During the winter months many plants reveal subtle patterns, fine details, and a new range of colors that help us to see familiar beds and borders with fresh eyes. This is an excellent time to get outside, evaluate your garden’s bones, and make some plans for spring planting. In this episode Danielle, Carol, and their guest will explore some of the plants that fly a bit under the radar in winter months, but certainly deserve more attention. Do you have any of these underappreciated wonders in your landscape? If not, you may want to start digging holes as soon as the ground thaws to ensure that some of these unsung heroes get some well-deserved garden real estate. Will any of these winter beauties make it onto your wish list this year?