Garden Gate

To clean or not to clean We’ll soon head into that time of year in the garden when the leaves fall, the flowers fade and plants rest. Typically it’s not a time for me to rest as I try and pick up and mulch every leaf that blows into my yard and compo

Here’s a festive solution to your slug problem: Get a pumpkin! Donna cuts the top off of a pumpkin and cleans out the seeds and pulp. She places it in her hosta bed and lets it collect slugs. She then kills them with soapy water and tosses them in wi

What it looks like Even though it could very well be living in your neighborhood, it’s tricky to spot this small owl. Six to 10 inches long, the Eastern screech owl can be gray or red, has dark stripes, and blends in with the bark of a tree. It’s eas

Before you start planting, take some time to become familiar with the growing conditions in your yard. Pam has found that giving plants the growing conditions they need makes a big difference in how well they can tolerate drought. Take note of sun an

Perennial; white flowers on 2- to 3-ft. stems in late spring to early summer; waxy blue-gray leaves save water; develops a treelike trunk over time; full sun; well-drained soil; 6 to 12 ft. tall, 4 to 6 ft. wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 5 to 10 Per

It’s easy to forget about sideyards, those tricky strips of land between the house and property line. For many of us, these skinny spaces are challenging to landscape. It’s tempting to use them merely as passageways or an area to avoid altogether, wh

Why be satisfied with containers that fizzle out by the end of summer? Mixing up your plant selection a bit can give you a combination that looks better and better as the growing season goes on and provide a wealth of changing colors and interesting

A statement plant has a certain “wow” factor: It may be glorious color—an unusual shade or something shockingly bright. Or maybe it is the plant’s form—architectural lines or soft flowing shapes that set the tone for a landscape or container. The siz

The days are getting shorter, the nights cooler, your plants are starting to wind down and, after the effort of growing a garden all spring and summer, you’re ready to rest, too. But the sight of plants dying back and leaves falling spurs a plethora

When tender sages are packaged in 4-inch pots and lined up along the greenhouse benches at the nursery in spring, it’s difficult to believe that their handful of compact bloom spikes daintily dancing above tidy foliage could make an impact on the gar

It’s not too late to get a few greens going for your fall garden. While these leafy veggies are often grown in spring, now is the perfect time to get planting for a late-season harvest. Warm, late-summer soil encourages seeds to sprout quickly, but a

Connecticut garden designer Sandi Blaze has rarely met a plant she didn’t like. She’s an avowed plantoholic who loves bringing home new plants to try and has created an amazing cottage-style garden that looks good all year but is especially gorgeous

Every house has a foundation, but every house doesn’t have a planting that really shows it off to its best advantage. Boosting curb appeal adds value to your home—from 4 to 12 percent—and gives you a beautiful view every time you pull in the drive. A

Whether your home is one story or several, formal or casual, there are lots of ways to ensure the foundation planting is helping it look its best. If something seems lacking, the garden’s design may be out of balance, the proportion may be off or it

Tree; purple-pink flowers in spring followed by burgundy foliage; full sun to part shade; 20 to 30 ft. tall, 25 to 35 ft. wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9 Shrub; lightly fragrant white flowers in early summer, native shrub with no pruning needed

Boxwood blight is a fungal disease spreading quickly across North America. Although we don’t have as many boxwoods as the landscape above in our Iowa test garden, gardeners who rely heavily on boxwoods are really struggling. We haven’t seen this dise

A cross between an Osteomeles and Pyracantha, this evergreen shrub with glossy leaves can be easily trimmed to a shape or sheared into a hedge. It has a mounded habit and doesn’t form flowers. Full sun to part shade; 1 to 3 ft. tall and wide; cold ha

Why are there so many more acorns than usual this fall? C.K. Dexter Haven, PA Only oak trees (Quercus spp.) produce acorns. But all trees have boom crops some years and minimal crops other years. The reason for this has long baffled scientists. W

What it looks like Crownvetch is an attractive perennial that rapidly forms large clumps from creeping stems up to 6 feet long and underground rhizomes up to 10 feet long. A single plant may fully cover up to 100 square feet within a four-year period

When you’re eager to open your garden gate or ready to put tools away after an afternoon of chores, a finicky padlock is aggravating. But this high-tech one opens with the touch of a finger! Program your fingerprint (and up to 500 others) into the pa

There really aren’t a lot of shade-loving perennials that produce blossoms late in the season when everything else is beginning to look a little dowdy. But that’s exactly what turtlehead does during the shorter days of late summer and early fall. Thi

Autumn gardens are a feast for the senses — bold color combinations, pungent scents, the crunch of crisp leaves under your feet and a cool nip in the air. To many gardeners, it’s the perfect time of year. You can relax a bit because the hard work of

A driveway is often just a long, flat, vacant swath cut from the street up into the yard. But with a little imagination and careful planning, this strip doesn’t have to be homely. You see one good-looking example at left. Here are four more tips that