Hard Pruning Forsythia to Rejuvenate Shrubs

Shrubs add structure and depth to the landscape as substantial mid-story forms that function as specimen plantings, backdrops to lower profile plants, and transitional armature between ground and canopy layers.There are also compact varieties suitable for sma

In the world of landscape design, it’s hard to go wrong with a heap of green shrubbery. And when that shrubbery is none other than a cherry laurel, it just feels oh so right.The glossy green broadleaf foliage is alluring, what with the

The front door or the porch are the very first elements of a home that come into play for welcoming one and all, and that’s why they must be appealing and of course, beautiful to look at. But over the years, things seem to lose their curb appeal and get all worn out and old. However, just a few steps of creative makeover can add new life to the same. Here are 25 Marvelous Curb Appeal Ideas That Can Rejuvenate Your Home With Gorgeousness.

Hydrangeas are a great way to add summer interest to the home landscape. Ranging in both size and color, hydrangea species available to flower gardeners are sure to delight. Though most of these plants are considered to be easy to grow, some seasonal care will be needed in order to ensure that each continues to produce an abundance of blooms.

Basil, Ocimum basilicum, is an aromatic culinary and medicinal herb that’s perennial in USDA Hardiness Zones 10 to 11 and a summer annual in other regions.We link to vendors to h

I find that the best way to succeed with hardy annuals is to sow them in the autumn – that way they establish a really good root system and romp away before the slugs start munching their way through their spring sown cousins. I’ve just potted on my (at times neglected) seedlings and was delighted to see the quality of their roots.

In the quiet, post-holiday weeks of winter, nothing livens up a gardener with cabin fever like a fresh-off-the-presses, colorful and enticing seed catalog.This time-honored resource has its root

The hardy annuals I sowed a few weeks back were getting a bit leggy in their seedtrays so I’ve now pricked them out into pots and cells where they can grow during winter.  At the moment they are in the shelter of the greenhouse, but before the weekend I will move them to the far more bracing coldframe where they can grow slowly until early spring and planting out time. ..

I just finished reading the recently published gardening handbook, Midwestern Native Shrubs and Trees: Gardening Alternatives to Nonnative Species, by Charlotte Adelman and Bernard L. Schwartz. It’s available on Amazon, and I can’t wait to tell you about it.I first learned about Charlotte in another book I reviewed, The Humane Gardener

Does the threat of cold weather and the changing of the seasons bring a tear to your eye? Pre-winter blues got you down?Just because it’s turned crisp and co

Unlike tender annuals, cold-hardy herbs live beyond the growing season, going dormant in the winter and returning again in spring.We link to vendors to help you find r

Croton, Codiaeum variegatum, a native of Australia and Southeast Asia, may be cultivated as a garden specimen or as a houseplant.We link to vendors to help you find relevan