Gardening Know How Ideas, Tips & Guides

What are the methods of rhubarb preserving that will help to store this versatile vegetable year around? Rhubarb is a vegetable but is often thought to be a fruit. It is mostly used in sweet applications but can also be a savory addition. It has a short season, only blushing during the spring in most regions. So can you freeze fresh rhubarb? Learn how to preserve rhubarb and enjoy the tart goodness of this gorgeous vegetable even in winter.

It’s no secret that getting outside is good for you. A little sunshine, fresh air, and outdoor exercise can banish stress and encourage an elevated mood. Even if you’re not interested in taking long hikes or playing touch football, gardening is an excellent way to harvest the benefits of the outdoors.

This holiday, bring joy to a loved one for months – or even years to come – with one of our best plants to gift at Thanksgiving.

Some adventures in nature leave you feeling relaxed and peaceful. Think of a walk in a forest or gathering wildflowers for a bouquet. But did you know interaction with your own plants can also be calming and even improve your mental health?

Bees are some of our most important pollinators and are crucial to our food sources and biodiversity. Beekeeping is a fun hobby that can help keep the insects in your garden for maximum blooms and yields. It also helps increase the general population of these threatened insects. Keeping bees over winter takes a bit of preparation, but knowing how to preserve the colony to sustains its usefulness year after year.

Taking our ecosystem for granted is no longer the norm, and thinking people the world over spend part of every day making choices that can help the planet. While there are no easy solutions to the damage human kind has done to nature, small decisions – like what kind of tree to plant in the garden – can make a difference in creating landscapes that enhance local ecosystems.

Use your garden’s rich bounty to create Thanksgiving table decor ideas that will enhance the occasion with natural textures and fall colors.

Mums are synonymous with fall. Thanks to their late bloom period, these beautiful flowers make a much-welcomed addition to the home landscape. Potted mums from garden centers adorn porches, patios, and even indoor spaces. Though some choose to treat these flowers as an annual, many have found success wintering mums in garden beds. You may also wonder if you can divide mums. “Can you split mums” is a question we often hear during the fall months.

Many gardeners grow sweet peas – aromatic annual vines with lovely varied colored blooms, but there is also a perennial sweet pea vine. Also referred to as everlasting sweet pea, this perennial pea vine is an old fashioned bloomer that will continue to reward you with color year after year. Interested in growing your own everlasting pea vine? Read on to learn all about a sweet pea vine perennial.

Most gardeners treat tomato plants like annuals. They are nurtured during the garden season and then tossed on the compost heap sometime in the fall, but what if you could overwinter tomato cuttings? Can you overwinter tomatoes? Overwintering tomatoes is possible but it does require some knowledge. Read on to learn how to overwinter tomato plants.

Understanding the terminology used in reference to seeds will ensure you get exactly what you want. For instance, the differences between GMO and hybrid seeds revolve around science. Add heirloom seeds to the mix and the differences become even more unknown, albeit with a more natural genesis.

Archaeological evidence points to the use of wound-healing plants and herbs dating back to 8,000 years ago in China, although the practice of healing with plants likely occurred much earlier. Many modern medicines are derived from these millenia old plants for healing. Today, many people use healing plants and herbs solely or combined with pharmaceutical drugs to heal both the body and mind. The following contains information on a variety of healing plants for home use and how to grow them.

Vehicles are going autonomous, so why not weeding machines? Weeding robots are real, and some farms have already put them to use. These autonomous weed killers should reduce labor costs for farms, many of which are experiencing labor shortages. Robots could also be important in reducing the use of harmful chemicals in agriculture.

The wide world of plants is fascinating and diverse. One interesting thing that some plants do is mimic the shape, color, and general appearance of something else. Plants that look like other things are sometimes random and coincidental, but others have resulted from evolution to get an advantage. Regardless of the cause or reason, these whimsical plants are fun to grow indoors as houseplants or in the garden.

Papaya is a tasty tropical fruit that can become a fairly large tree in gardens in warm climates. If you don’t have a warm climate, growing papayas in pots indoors is an option. It requires some special care and adequate space, but is doable.

Perennials are plants that live at least two seasons, and some can live for many years. Home gardeners often cut back perennials in fall, but not every perennial needs to be cut back, so it’s good to know what perennials to cut back in fall. Or, more particularly, what perennials not to cut back in fall. Read on for the information on fall pruning.

Trends come and trends go, and some of them involve “outdoor art” using trees and plants. One new trend is called yarn bombing. This involves using knitted or crocheted yarn to “decorate” outdoor structures, like lamp posts, benches and… trees. Are you wondering whether yarn bombing trees is detrimental? Read on for more information.

Intergenerational gardening lets older people and children come together for their mutual benefit. Intergenerational gardening is a great way for children to learn, and offers older adults an important role in mentoring and teaching them, as well as some fun and pleasant company.

Maximalism is experiencing a big comeback in interior design. Once thought to be old fashioned or cluttered, younger generations are embracing the look and making it shine. If the trend appeals to you, consider designing a maximalist garden to show off all your favorite plants, garden art, patio furniture, and more.

DANVILLE, ILLINOIS — An elementary school was razed to the ground In 2006. The school was 92 years old and named after Stephen Douglas who debated Lincoln in the adjacent city park in 1858. Many Vermilion County Master Gardeners are retired teachers who wanted to maintain the site as an educational venue. Partnering with the city of Danville and local organizations, these ambitious Master Gardener/teachers formed a committee and created a community garden. Now the old school is fondly commemorated in the garden with a permanent plaque.

Fall is a great time for garden chores. This is the time to clean up before winter, protect vulnerable plants, and wind down the growing season. This isn’t the right time for all tasks, though. Know what to do with your garden in the fall and what not to do — for instance, what plants should not be cut back in the fall — to best prepare it for next year.

You might not be able to live in the tropics, but you can enjoy the atmosphere with the right plants. Knowing how to keep tropical plants alive in winter ensures you get to enjoy them year-round. If you understand your particular plants’ needs, it’s easy to keep them going.

Is watering your garden one of your most time consuming chores? Do you wish you had a more efficient watering strategy that would save time? Ditch your old strategy and consider how to create hydrozones for smarter, more efficient irrigation.

Shrubs are the perfect garden plant: too small to cause problems but too big to get stepped on. Shrubs are great for windbreaks, hedgerows and foundation plantings, and many grow quite rapidly as well. This is important if you want fast growing shrubs for privacy hedges or any type of hedge for wind protections.

While our lawns thrive and grow green and lush during the spring months, planting grass seed should actually happen in the fall. Fall grass seeding is ideal for cool season turf grasses like bluegrass, fescue and ryegrass. While there is an optimal time for reseeding the lawn in fall, if you’ve missed the window, don’t despair; there is yet another method for laying grass season for fall. Keep reading to learn how to seed your lawn like a pro.

Cleveland, Ohio — Way back in 1904, a 5-acre community gardening program was built in Cleveland Ohio’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood. In 1922, the neighboring Ben Franklin Elementary School began to offer elementary-age students an education in growing food as well as the science involved in gardening. Unfortunately, in 1977 the school program was canceled. It was not revived until the 1990s when Ohio State University’s Extension agency, through their Master Gardener Program, resurrected the garden and renovated the old garden classroom. Over time, the Master Gardeners created and refined a complete 4th grade gardening curriculum.

There are several slightly unpleasant chores related to yard maintenance, like mowing and weeding. But at the season’s end, raking the leaves can be tedious, back breaking and a seemingly thankless gesture. The job can be made a bit easier with some tips on how to rake autumn leaves with less strain, proper tools, and a better plan.

The idea of keeping at least some of a garden natural and relatively uncultivated is growing in popularity. Even in traditionally well-manicured suburban enclaves, the concept is taking root.

As many of us gardeners know, tomatoes are a warm-season crop. Even a light frost can damage both the foliage and the fruit of tomato plants. In addition, many areas of the US can experience an early fall frost that is followed by several weeks of warm weather. Providing frost protection for tomatoes can extend their growing season.

Landscape plants in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan are plentiful. Choosing the best shrubs, trees, and perennials can be overwhelming. Here are some of the best options for upper Midwest gardens based on attractiveness, ease of maintenance and appropriateness for the climate.

Human beings have been adorning themselves with botanical jewelry made from seeds for thousands of years, and so can you. Dried bean beads for jewelry are inexpensive and come in an array of colors and patterns, and you can even grow your own. Jewelry made from seeds is a relatively simple project — the only difficulty being drilling a hole through the bean.

Nearly one third of the food produced in the world is thrown away. Much of it is damaged fruits and vegetables. If you have your own garden, you may be tossing away less than perfect or even slightly damaged vegetables. In our culture that is skewed toward perfection, even the tiniest pinhole on some kale is often considered food waste and is tossed into the garbage bin. Is it safe to eat kale with holes in it? It often depends on what made the holes rather than the holes themselves. Curious if you can eat vegetables with holes? Read on to learn about eating damaged produce.

Choosing trees for your garden can be fun, but choosing the right tree is a critical step in the process. Few acts bring more satisfaction than planting a tree. It’s an optimistic wager on the future. Digging the planting hole, installing the young tree, and watering and tending it bring a great sense of happiness and fulfillment. Wondering how to choose a tree? We’ll give you lots of tips to help make the experience a total success.

We all want the best for our garden, but what are good quality seeds? The terms can be confusing. Heirloom, open pollinated, hybrid, resistant, and more descriptors pervade the language when it comes to seeds. Are some seeds better than others? We will investigate the terms and meanings behind seed definitions and get to the bottom of the characteristics of good quality seeds.

It’s always a pleasure to speak with our neighbors in Canada, and it’s clear the community garden movement there is alive and thriving. Judy Stafford and Naomi Kulhawy are two of Kin Park Community Garden’s biggest supporters, with Judy as executive director and Naomi as the farm director.

While cannibalism is rare among the human species, it is fairly common in the animal and insect kingdom. Until fairly recently accounts such as female praying mantis eating their mates was considered to be a one off, but newer scientific research shows evidence of caterpillar cannibalism.