|
|
|
|
Choosing the Right Material for Raised Beds
Raised beds can be built from many different materials, ranging from inexpensive and practical to decorative and more expensive. The best choice depends on the garden’s appearance, budget, durability and how permanent the bed needs to be.
Related Videos: How to Mix Soil for a Raised Bed: A Simple Guide to the Right Ingredients Choosing the Right Soil for a Raised Bed Garden Building Raised Bed Replacing a Wooden Raised Bed with Concrete Block A Season-Long Look at Five Mulches: What Worked, What Didn’t |
This Week in the Garden
Pollinating tomatoes with an Electric Toothbrush
This week in the garden Alainia Hagerty, owner of tomatobaby.com, shows how to pollinate a tomato flower with an electric toothbrush. When temperatures get hot tomato pollen is less viable and flowers tend to not get pollinated. The vibration of an electric toothbrush moves the pollen within the flower. Vibrating the flowers every other day will keep your tomatoes loaded with fruit even when it is hot. >>Watch
Garden Notes
Loves the Sun and the Heat: Peachie’s Pick Stokes’ Aster 
Peachie’s Pick Stokes’ Aster is a beautiful, sun-loving perennial native to the South-East United States that performs well in dry conditions. Once established in the garden, it is drought resistant and can thrive in full sun and direct heat. The plant has a compact, clumping growth habit and returns year after year, making it a reliable addition to the perennial garden. >>Watch |
|
Raised Bed Soil Experiment: Early Results
How much does the type of soil in a raised bed affect plant growth? That is the question behind a three-year experiment comparing eight different growing media. The first season is only about halfway complete, but after roughly five months, some clear differences are already appearing.
|
|
|
Birdhouses
Common Warm Season Lawn Diseases
Dividing and Potting Hostas
|
Panicle Hydrangea
|
|
Looking for more garden info?
|
|
Viewer Questions
Why are the leaves on my peppers curling? They have stopped growing.
Bell pepper plants that suddenly stop growing, develop curled leaves, and produce brown or abnormal fruit may be affected by aster yellows, a disease that can cause severe stunting and distorted growth in a variety of plants. Although aster yellows is not commonly seen in peppers, it can occur and is spread by insects. Bacterial wilt can cause similar symptoms and is another possibility, particularly when several plants in the same area are affected. >>Watch
|
Why are my chrysanthemums blooming in May?
Chrysanthemums can bloom as early as May, although the timing depends on weather, variety, and the amount of darkness they receive. Left unpinched, chrysanthemums may produce flowers from May through July, while the familiar fall-blooming plants sold in garden centers are carefully pinched back during the growing season to encourage branching and create a full, rounded plant before allowing them to flower. >>Watch
|
|
What chewed the root on my new peach tree? It fell over!
Voles can cause serious damage to young peach trees by chewing through the roots, sometimes leaving so little root structure that the tree can be blown over by the wind. Pine voles and other vole species often hide beneath mulch while feeding, making fruit trees especially vulnerable. Keeping mulch pulled back from the trunk, removing hiding places, and using traps, baits, or castor bean oil repellents can help discourage voles and protect the roots of peach trees and other fruit trees. >>Watch
|
What is this vine growing in my plants? A: Carolina Moonseed
This is Carolina moonseed, also known as Carolina snail vine. It is a native vine in the southeast and southern Midwest that can grow aggressively. Its triangular leaves and clusters of red fall berries make it distinctive, but the berries are toxic to people, pets, and children. If removal is needed, careful treatment at the base with herbicide can help control the vine without damaging nearby plants. >>Watch
|
|