Gardening Tips

November Gardening Tips – Backyard Gardener Zone 1 Thin dense-growing trees to avoid wind damage Apply mulch around plants after ground freezes Cut back chrysanthemums after bloom; mulch heavily or dig and store in basement or garage Set up burlap screens on windward sides of choice shrubs Prune deciduous trees and roses after leaves have fallen Zone 2
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By the autumn many of the summer-flowering plants are all but over and, although there are many plants which will provide a display of flowers in September and October, and even into early November, much can be done to make the garden colorful in these months by planting some of the shrubs and trees the
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A backyard compost pile or bin is more than just controlling waste. Composting keeps food and yard waste from rotting away in landfills and it may be an engaging hobby itself. If you’re an avid or aspiring gardener, compost may be the secret weapon that you need to make your garden grow.  Fortunately, since composting
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Lawn diseases don’t always appear in the summer. There are many that prefer the cool, wet weather of fall and winter. Here is a brief background on six of the most common diseases you could face during the fall and winter and how to deal with them. Necrotic Ring Spot This disease can occur when
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By the Pond Lady There are many reasons to add a waterfall. Waterfalls are beautiful to look at and the moving water adds sparkle to your pond. Waterfalls sound good, they provide a way of recycling the water and they also add valuable oxygen to the water to benefit fish. Waterfalls or moving water create
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How do I get my garden ready for Fall planting? Before you can plant anything new, you should do a simple soil test to make sure the Ph is still up at above 6.0 If not, add 1 pound of lime per 100 square feet for each .5 below that number. Hydrated lime will work
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These are less common spring-flowering bulbs that you plant in the fall as you would the more common daffodils and tulips.  Their flowers come in a range of colors, and are generally bell-shaped, either in clusters or single.  Plants range from six inches to three feet or more.  Being less common, you may need to
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After the blooming season of summer, trees are full of beautiful, colorful leaves. This beauty is short-lived, as fall is fast approaching and leaves wind up on your lawn. While young ones enjoy shuttling leaves around, they can make your property look shabby. They also create a good environment for pests to thrive. With the
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Background Compared to its more succulent cousins like cabbage and broccoli, Kale is often regarded as a “coarse” vegetable, suitable only for the winter garden. How untrue! The leaves are rich with Vitamin A & C, iron and calcium and the beautifully frilled Japanese varieties are an ornament in any garden and make a striking
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Amaryllis Amaryllis flowers are gorgeous, and they come at a perfect time of year — when our (some of us) gardens are sleeping! My neighbor has had his Amaryllis for about 10 years. He showed them to me one day and I couldn’t believe my eyes! In his windowed laundry room, there stood the biggest
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Are you a garden hygienist? In my experience, most gardeners fall into two camps when it comes to autumn tidiness: complete clear-out merchants that leave nothing out of place; or the more relaxed, let-it-all-rot-down-naturally brigade. Me? I fall somewhere in the middle. I’ll tidy if there’s a good reason for it, but leave well alone
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Grapes can be grown quite successfully out of doors in the southern part of the country, preferably given the protection of a warm wall. Plant between October and February in a rich, deep soil. Plant firmly and immediately after planting, prune the young plant to within 30cm (12in) from its base to encourage a strong
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Plums are popular for cooking, jam-making and bottling or canning, but the sweeter varieties are among our most delicious dessert fruits Damsons ripen a little later than most plums. The fruits are small, oval and richly flavoured, but not really sweet enough for the general taste for eating raw. They are, however, excellent for cooking,
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Of Mediterranean origin and flowering in late February and March, outdoor apricots demand a frost-free sunny site. Bush trees can be grown only in southwest and south-east England; elsewhere, as fan-trained trees on walls facing east, south, or south-west, or in greenhouses. Apricots prefer a moisture retentive, friable and well-drained soil: they object to stiff
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Even on the smaller home lots, there is usually a place for a few fruit trees. In many cases a small home orchard is possible. In smaller places, fruit trees can be worked in with the landscape planting. As a whole, fruit trees grow rapidly and if well cared for they are tidy and a
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