Gardening

September is often an odd month. If you’ve got school-aged children, you go from a noisy house to a silent one. At least, until they start bringing germs home from …

One of the great things about hostas is how low-maintenance they are. Of all the perennials in your garden, hostas are probably the closest thing you’ll find to a set-it-and-forget-it …

Mulching flower beds is a sure sign that warmer weather has arrived each spring. Suddenly, everywhere you look, it’s nothing but flower beds sporting a fresh layer of dark brown …

Agapanthus, often called the “African Lily,” is immediately recognizable with its stunning, spherical clusters of blue or white flowers that bloom on tall stalks above lush, green strap-like leaves. They’re …

When you think of planting perennial flowers, spring might automatically come to mind: birds creating a cacophony of noise, gusty breezes drying out the mud, and the excitement of new …

I don’t grow a garden without mulch. Period. Putting down a protective layer over the bare soil in my garden provides a multitude of benefits. Unfortunately, after three successive seasons …

There are plenty of reasons to love growing determinate tomatoes. As bush-type tomatoes, they are biologically limited to a height of around four feet. They grow until the terminal bud …

Houseplants are wonderful in and of themselves. They provide a lot of beauty and liveliness to our homes and offices.  But what if your houseplants could also provide you with …

Agapanthus is one of the few plants I can think of where the word “regal” is well and truly fitting. You have a plant with a full crown of emerald …

If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about the plants that you grow, what would that be? Predictably, my answer to this question varies with the …

Mint is a nightmare. To the uninitiated, you’re probably scratching your head and thinking, “Really? Mint doesn’t seem so bad. Can’t you make tea with it?” To those of us …

Hoo boy. I get asked this question all the time by Rural Sprout readers. One minute, your tomatoes are doing fine, and then, within a day or two, you have …

When I started writing this article, my first draft was titled The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Gardeners, an obvious riff on the self-help bestselling classic. But the more I …

I love volunteer plants. You know, the ones where you plant it once, and it self-seeds every year after that. I can’t tell you how nice it is not to …

Lavender is one of those plants that nearly everyone has in their landscape or garden. And why not? It’s easy to maintain, the pollinators love it, and its classic scent …

Summer is a time to eat al fresco and have ice cream; and maybe lounge in the hammock. Yes, theoretically I know that. But what do you think happens when …

It’s that weird part of the summer where you know there’s still plenty of warm weather left, but that little voice begins to whisper in the back of your brain …

If you garden long enough, you’ll eventually experience the joy of waging war against a plant you just had to have, only to find out later that it was bent …

When you’re growing vegetables, you rarely want your plants to get sick. We put a lot of work into making sure they don’t. So, it’s usually an upsetting surprise to …

Hostas are great. Everyone loves hostas. You’ve probably got a few yourself. Hostas have a lot going for them. They’re ridiculously easy to care for (basically ignore them). You can …

Lavender is a classic plant prized as both a flower and an herb. It is a classic plant that makes its way into gardens all over the world. Just the …

With summer temperatures climbing higher each year, many gardeners suddenly find it harder to grow tomatoes. Plants that used to burst with fruit come July now seem stuck. Thankfully, an …

Gardeners – and especially those who garden organically – ought to be well-acquainted with nitrogen. As the N in N-P-K, it’s the first nutrient you’ll learn about as a budding …

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. We tomato growers are a bit touched. We’ll try just about anything to grow the tastiest tomatoes, the earliest tomatoes and …