Knowing when to harvest pumpkins is essential for both flavor and storage. Picking pumpkins too early can result in soft, bland fruit, while leaving them on the vine too long increases the risk of rot or frost damage. Understanding the signs of ripeness ensures your pumpkins are ready for cooking, carving, decoration, or storage. By …
Gardening Tips
When is a watermelon ripe? Knowing the answer to this question ensures that you enjoy the sweetest, juiciest fruit from your garden. By learning the key signs of watermelon ripeness, you can avoid picking too early or leaving melons on the vine too long, and instead harvest them at peak flavor. Look at the tendrils …
Clay pots are a favorite among gardeners, but they require regular care to maintain their good condition. Learning how to clean clay pots will extend their life, prevent disease, and keep them looking fresh for the next growing season. Over time, minerals, salts, and residue can build up. This can affect both the appearance of …
Planning a vegetable garden doesn’t have to stop when the summer ends. There are plenty of vegetables to plant for fall harvests that thrive in cooler weather and even improve in flavor after a light frost. By choosing the right crops, you can keep your harvest going well beyond the summer season. Fall gardens are …
Do you love getting new plants for free? This project is for you! It is super easy to propagate spider plants from the babies that the mother plant sends out on the ends of its long, arching stems. The offsets of Chlorophytum comosum – AKA spider plant, airplane plant, ribbon plant, and St. Bernard’s lily, can …
A small-space vegetable garden lets you grow fresh produce when you don’t have room for a traditional vegetable garden. With the right setup, patios, balconies, and decks can all be spaces to grow vegetables. You’ll need containers with good drainage and a quality potting mix. Your area should receive at least 6 hours of sunlight each …
Try growing Astilbe for beautiful, showy flowers that majestically sit above fern-like leaves. This perennial plant thrives in partial to full shade, making it a favorite plant for shade gardens. Its ability to grow where other plants struggle makes it the perfect choice for low-light areas. Pair astible with other shade plants such as hostas …
Mealybugs on plants is a common pest for indoor plants and succulents. These bugs look like a fuzzy, white coating on the leaves of your plants. Signs of a mealybug infestation are a white cotton-like substance on the plants, sticky amber colored honeydew, ants around your plants, or a layer of black “soot” on the …
Pruning shrubs regularly will keep them more healthy, will maintain a manageable size for them and will help them to produce more flowers. When it comes to trimming bushes, the most important factors to take into consideration are proper pruning techniques for shrubs and when to trim bushes. The trick really is knowing where to …
Catfaced tomatoes have an unconventional and ugly appearance. Few things are more of a disappointment to a home vegetable gardener than discovering that their prized tomato plants don’t look the way they expect them to. Catfacing on tomatoes is a physiological disorder that is characterized by irregular and often distorted growth, resulting in misshapen tomatoes …
Yellow leaves on tomato plants have many possible causes — from nutrient problems to diseases and watering issues. Finding the right reason often takes some research and trial and error. Discovering that your plants have yellow leaves (which can also lead to black spots), catfacing, and other tomato plant problems can be a big disappointment and …
Many gardeners want to know how to ripen tomatoes indoors when the growing season ends or the weather turns cold. Whether your tomatoes are completely green or only partially ripe, you can try the simple indoor methods below to finish the ripening process. Basic supplies like paper bags, cardboard boxes, newspapers, sunny windowsills, bananas, and …
If you’re looking for a cool-weather root vegetable to plant in your home garden this year, try growing rutabagas. This guide will show you how to grow rutabagas from seed to harvest. Rutabagas – also called swedes, neeps, yellow turnips, Canadian turnips, or Russian turnips – have an earthy, peppery flavor when raw, and a …
Growing herbs indoors is a great way to keep their fresh flavor at your fingertips all year long. With the right setup, many popular herbs will grow inside, providing a constant supply to use in your recipes. It’s important to choose varieties that adapt well to indoor conditions. Basil, rosemary, parsley, and chives are popular …
A cottage garden blends beauty and practicality in a relaxed, welcoming way. It’s a mix of flowers, herbs, and edibles that feel natural yet intentional. In this guide, you’ll learn simple ways to create the look of a cottage garden in your yard. We’ll discuss edging ideas and features that make the style so popular. …
Propagating hydrangeas to get new plants for free can be done in several ways – hydrangea stem cuttings, tip rooting, air layering and division of the mother plant. Growing hydrangeas from seed is also possible, but not as widely done as other forms of propagatio In today’s article, I will show how each of these …
Now that summer is here, home vegetable gardeners are just starting to enjoy the fruits of their labor. A common question that I get from readers is “why are my cucumbers bitter?” Many also want to know if bitter garden cucumbers are safe to eat. Bitter cucumbers can stem from a combination of factors, particularly …
Keeping your garden thriving during the hottest months can be a challenge. These summer garden tips will help you keep plants healthy and productive. From smart watering habits to protecting your soil, small changes make a big difference. Your garden can stay vibrant even in the heat with the right strategies. Pests, weeds, and sun …
Chives grow well with a variety herbs and vegetables. The list of chive companion plants below will help you decide how to design your vegetable garden in the most efficient way. Growing chives can help protect your crops. Their strong aroma acts as a natural pest control, deterring predatory insects. The flowers of chives will attract pollinators …
Bell pepper colors can be confusing, especially when they change as the peppers ripen. This post breaks down what the different colors mean and how they affect flavor and nutrition. You’ll learn why peppers start out green and turn red, yellow, orange, or even purple. We’ll explain how ripeness, variety, and growing conditions influence these …
Using tea bags in gardens is an easy way to recycle something you would normally throw away. Used tea bags offer benefits for both your plants and soil. Tea bags help enrich the soil, support composting, and can even be used to make homemade fertilizers. Using them in the garden can improve your plants and …
Vegetable gardening mistakes happen to every gardener, whether you’re just starting or have years of experience. The good news is that most mistakes are easy to fix once you know what to look for. Overcrowding plants, poor watering habits, and not feeding your soil can all hold your garden back. Mistakes with spacing, pruning, or …
If you love to garden but don’t like working in the summer heat, check out these tips for summer-time gardening to beat the heat. For so many of us, the scorching heat of summer can be really hard on our bodies, our moods, and our desire to keep working in the garden. Don’t let the …
Fan flower (Scaevola aemula) is an excellent warm-weather plant that is often grown as a summer annual. It is useful to grow in window boxes, hanging baskets, containers, or as a border plant. Even if you are a seasoned gardener, you may not have heard of scaevola. It is a relatively new-comer to the garden …
Taking care of aloe vera plants is easier than you might think. This succulent thrives with minimal attention, making it the perfect plant for beginners and seasoned plant lovers alike. Not only is aloe vera a beautiful addition to your garden, but it also has a soothing gel inside that treats burns, cuts, and minor skin …
We are right in the middle of the hottest part of the summer. The early spring bloomers are finished, and now it is time for the tough summer blooming plants to be the stars in the garden. Summer blooming plants have to be able to withstand the high temperatures that come with summer. They also …