Tips for Growing Boston Ferns Outdoors
15.05.2024 - 04:11 / finegardening.com / Fine Gardening editors
Spring cleanup can be a real mess. If you cut your own ornamental grasses, that’s especially true if it’s a windy day and you’re dealing with taller grasses (e.g., Miscanthus, Panicum) blowing everywhere as they’re cut and fall over.
To prevent this, I take a roll of jute twine to the garden on grass-cleanup day, along with my pruners. I cut an appropriate length of twine, fashioning a little lariat before segmenting a clump of grass into halves, thirds, or quarters (depending upon the girth of the plant). I run the twine end around the grass stems and through the loop, pulling it tight to create a lasso and then tying it off about halfway up the height of the plant. I then prune those stems and have a tidy intact sheaf to put to the side. When I’ve pruned the entire plant this way, the bundles are ready for the compost pile.
—Tony Fulmer, Arlington Heights, Illinois
Before cutting fresh flowers from the garden, I fill an insulated travel mug with very hot water. I bring the mug out to the garden. The wide base steadies the mug so I can set it down safely. While I explore the garden, the water stays hot and is ready for each cutting to be plunged in, immediately sealing the stem. If I’m only cutting a few flowers, I’ll keep the top on the mug and open its spout. After cutting all the flowers, I bring the mug inside and arrange the flowers in a pretty vase. My cut flowers remain fresh much longer.
—Patty Regojo, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
My mother is in her eighties, though you would never know it. She is also an avid gardener, and my visits always consist of a garden tour followed by a tongue lashing (aka cussing out) of the squirrels terrorizing her yard. This fall she noticed they were taking the fallen husks off
Tips for Growing Boston Ferns Outdoors
INTEREST AND AWARENESS around native plants has been trending in recent years, and it makes them feel almost new. But of course natives are the original plants of an area, and even in certain specialty corners of the nursery industry, they’ve been around far longer than they’ve been making headlines.
Are you looking to revamp your home before putting it up for sale? It’s important to understand that some design ideas are not optimal in the long run if you’re planning to sell your home.
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When many gardeners hear the word “modern,” they often scrunch up their noses like they’ve suddenly caught a whiff of something foul. It’s true that many of us classify our landscapes as something other than contemporary. But even the most traditional of designs can benefit from an infusion of plants that one might describe as having a “modern look.” These plants serve as dynamic elements in a bed, easily becoming a focal point where perhaps one was missing. They can also seamlessly impart a space with a distinct sense of sophistication. With sleek architectural forms or moody foliage hues, these botanical elements give order to chaotic borders or simplicity to a color palette that has gotten out of control. Embracing these novel plants can help a staid design come alive. If you already have a modern home or landscape and are looking to fill in some blank spaces, the following selections are just what you need. But if you’re more of a traditionalist in search of some perennials that can breathe new life into tired beds and borders, the options below can also do the trick.
In the arc of an Irish gardening year, May is the month of magical things. The first rose. The first swallow. The first properly hot day. The first beech tree in full leaf. The first sighting of wisteria in magnificent lilac bloom, draping itself languidly against a high, sunny wall. As nature flashes its brilliant feathers, it’s also our last real opportunity before summer finally arrives to make a substantial difference to our gardens or allotments, whether that’s filling them with fast-growing annuals to provide plenty of homegrown produce for the months ahead, planting up spectacular summer containers, or fine-tuning flower borders for maximum impact. With all of this in mind, here’s a handy little to-do list to help you stay on course.
If you’ve owned a TV set, chances are you’ve come across QVC before.
How to Plant and Grow Parris Island Cos Lettuce Lactuca sativa ‘Parris Island Cos’
Are you planning to install a pergola to enhance your outdoor space? Whether it's creating a shady retreat in your backyard or adding an architectural element to your patio, installing a pergola can be a great way to improve your outdoor living. But before you start building, there are some key things to consider to ensure your project is successful.
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Winter is for enjoying time in your home, and summer is for enjoying time in your yard. But shoulder seasons—fall and spring—are for preparation. In spring, we venture outdoors to nurseries and begin looking to fill our gardens with the best flowers and greenery the year has to offer.
Repotting aloe vera becomes necessary for a few reasons, especially when your plant starts to outgrow its pot. It can also be done when you have a baby aloe plant growing alongside the original. Referred to as a pup, this wee little aloe can be separated and repotted in its own container. Aloe plants require repotting anywhere from every three to five years or so. I often will save two or three houseplants to repot at the same time while I have my soil out and the table covered. In this article, I’ll explain how to repot an aloe plant—and a pup if you have one. Aloe was among my first houseplants when I got my first apartment. Having watched aloe vera gel applied to friends’ cuts and burn