Trees Ideas, Tips & Guides

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Plants need a certain amount of specific nutrients to grow well. Most of the time, garden and houseplants do fine without any help from you. But fertilizing actually gives plants a boost that helps them flourish. “Photosynthesis is how plants make food,” says Stacey Hirvela, horticulturalist withSpring Meadow Nursery andProven Winners Color Choice Shrubs. “But fertilizer is like giving them vitamins.”

What left the fluffy, white deposit on this zinnia stem?

Many varieties of fruit trees produce bountiful harvests even when grown on decks and balconies. Pick your favorite fruit tree for your patio from this list and get a supermarket-like yield with healthier, better taste.

There is no plant in the landscape as stunning as hydrangeas. There, I said it, and I stand by it. They're a truly show-stopping (yet surprisingly low-maintenance) option for so many different environments, from coastal to mountainous.

Moss is a primitive green plant with threadlike stems and tiny leaves and can form a spongy, dense mat over the soil surface. While it’s pretty in certain settings, such as a shady forest trail, you may not like the looks of it in your lawn. But is it hurting your grass? And will it eventually take over your whole yard?

How to Grow and Care for Queen Palms Syagrus romanzoffiana

I’m often asked for advice on visiting gardens in the UK.

Most of us consider plants to be docile living creatures capable of no harm, but they must also protect themselves from threats while rooted in one place. This list of the most painful plants to touch will reveal their secret weapons of defense.

Most invasive plant species were originally introduced for ornamental use in landscapes. But because they have naturalized at aggressive rates, they have caused habitat destruction and the loss of native species throughout the Northeast. They present an ever-evolving environmental challenge, with new species taking hold and increasing their ranges as the climate changes and native habitat disturbance continues. It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with common invasives in your area and keep current with your state’s invasive list so that you can recognize and remove these destructive species when they appear on your property. Reviewing state watchlist plants is perhaps even more important. These are plants that aren’t banned from sale but are locally invasive or potentially an environmental problem. Keeping informed of additions to these lists puts gardeners on the forefront of preventing invasive proliferation.

Hi GPODers! Today we’re off to Wisconsin to get an update from Anna Tsai’s garden (you can check out earlier posts of Anna’s garden here: 21 Years of Hard Gardening Work Pay Off, Anna’s Wisconsin Paradise, and Anna’s Wisconsin Garden). Despite dealing with the harsh winters in Wisconsin, Anna is able to create timeless garden beauty with a multitude of fabulous flowers.

If you’ve ever seen a weeping cherry tree in bloom or sat beneath the branches of a stately weeping willow, you know how lovely this distinctive growth habit can be. With branches that cascade from the trunk like water down a mountainside, weeping trees are coveted treasures in gardens and yards everywhere. Whether they’re flowering, evergreen, or deciduous, planting a weeping tree in your landscape adds an eye-catching focal point to the design. Types of weeping trees There are many types of weeping trees, but for the most part, weeping is not a common plant trait. Weeping

When and How to Harvest Bay Leaves

Some horticulturists might have trouble choosing a favorite evergreen tree. Not me. If you ask, I won’t hesitate to tell you the evergreen tree I adore above all others is the weeping Alaskan cedar. Botanically known most commonly as Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (or occasionally by its newer genus, Xanthocyparis), this tree is a winner in every sense of the word. I’d like to tell you more about the weeping Alaskan cedar in hopes that you’ll fall in love with it, too. What is a weeping Alaskan cedar? One look at this beautiful tree and it’s easy to see why so many people adore it. The texture of

Learn About Dutch Elm Disease Ophiostoma ulmi, O. novo-ulmi, O. himal-ulmi

These incredible blooms, including the world’s largest flower, are teetering on the verge of extinction largely due to human activity. Since we’ve excelled at putting them in this perilous plight, perhaps it’s now time to show off our planting skills in saving the most endangered flowers on the planet!

How to Identify and Manage Armillaria Root Rot in Pear Trees Armillaria mellea

Q: We were planning on using a native hawthorn as a boundary hedge around our country garden. But a friend has warned us off it, saying that there’s a disease spreading throughout Europe that’s killing hawthorn trees and hedges. Should we use something else instead? Kate H, Co Wicklow

When the rewilded garden by Urquhart & Hunt won ‘Best in Show’ at RHS Chelsea in 2002, it triggered a debate about whether rewilding could be called gardening at all.

Hi GPODers! While most gardens could certainly be described as “special” this space gives that adjective even more meaning. Today we’re looking at the memorial garden that John Svinos created for his late father in New Jersey:

When and How to Fertilize Persimmons

Hi GPODers! Today we’re visiting Dan, who didn’t let a yard with a small footprint stop him from creating a magical garden that has become the perfect space to create special memories with his young family:

Pruning fruit trees encourages a good size and shape, keeps the tree productive and helps remove dead and damaged wood. Many fruit trees, such as apples and pears, are pruned in winter, but plum trees can be susceptible to silver leaf disease if pruned at this time. Plum trees are therefore best pruned in spring or summer.

Hi GPODers! Today we’ve got an incredible garden story from a frequent GPOD contributor that is a demonstration of how magically small our big world can be. Bas Suharto has previously shown off gardens he has designed and built (check out some of those submissions: Building a Garden With Bas and Building a Japanese-Inspired Garden) as well as his own incredible home gardens (Parterre Garden in Ottawa and A Japanese-Style Garden in Ottawa). But the garden in this most recent submission caught Bas’ eye long before he was asked to lend a helping hand the space.

How to Identify and Control 9 Common Plum Pests

While pruning a neighbor’s much neglected Hydrangea paniculata recently, I found myself musing on the history of this genus in American gardening, whose popularity has waxed and waned through the years. Grown throughout the country in its many forms and employed in countless ways, Hydrangea has found prominence in every style of garden. Often, hydran­geas have been taken for granted and left unattended, like this one I was pruning. Yet even among such disregard, this versatile ornamental lives on, winning over new generations of fans.

Hallmark

A harmonious Dorset rose garden designed by Isabel and Julian Bannerman

The botanical realm is quite pliable like that. Take, for instance, these plants—complete shapeshifters! From spicing up a dull entrance in a standard pot to emerging as behemoths in your backyard, here are plants that can be trained as vines, shrubs, or trees!

Happy Friday GPODers!

If you've already encountered a few or a group of spotted lanternflies in your yard, you may need to take extra steps to protect your yard since this invasive pest can damage the ecosystem around them.

Fruits often take center stage thanks to how quickly they appease our taste buds. But what about food for our eyes? It’s simple: grow these fruits with beautiful foliage, and you’ll get two things: a delicious homegrown harvest and a display of decorative leaves.

Edimentals is a new term for growing flowers and vegetables together. Gardens today are often too small to have a separate ‘veg patch.’

Planting up a flower bed can seem a bit daunting to begin with. Initially, it’s important to consider factors such as the size of your bed, how much sun it gets, the quality of your soil and what kind of planting and colour scheme will suit your house style and your own preferences.

Want your backyard to be a personalized fruit market? Then, prune your favorite established fruit plant, gather its cuttings, and start multiplying.

Hi GPODers! Today we’re in Sharon Holmes’ Dallas garden that faces its fair share of obstacles and challenging conditions. Despite punishing weather, clay soil, and a whole host of wildlife and insects that visit her garden, there are plenty of plants that have survived and even thrived.