Gardening Advice
July 17, 2020
Using your own garden weeds and grass, you can make homemade fertilizer tea. It’s a great boost for your plants midsummer when they run low on “fuel.” Here’s how to make fertilizer tea for your garden.
Yes, garden plants appreciate a spot of tea now and then too—just like I do—as a pick-me-up. No expensive Earl Grey or Darjeeling for them though, instead I make a free fertilizer tea from plants, weeds or grass that they appreciate even more.
Compost tea and manure tea have been mainstays of... more
July 17, 2020
Midsummer, and yikes, is it ever hot! It may be time to start new plants for the fall from seed but conditions are just too hot. What to do? Here are a few tips and tricks.
The seeds of different vegetables have optimum temperatures for germination and right now most of them will not like this heat.
Beets and carrots aren’t too bothered by hot soil. Their germination doesn’t start to drop off until the soil gets to be over 90 degrees.
However, the optimum temperature for lettuce is around 65... more
July 15, 2020
Gardeners are often given the advice to sprinkle diatomaceous earth (DE) around plants to deter pests. Unsurprisingly, we’re often asked, “What is diatomaceous earth, exactly?” Well, here’s your answer…
What Is Diatomaceous Earth?
Diatomaceous earth (DE) is the fossilized skeletons of microscopic single-celled aquatic organisms called diatoms. Their skeletons are made of a natural substance called silica—which makes up 26% of the Earth’s crust by weight.
Deep deposits of diatomaceous earth... more
July 13, 2020
Summer is still at its peak, but the days are getting shorter and fall is on the way. Are you planning to continue your harvest into autumn this year? If so, now is the time to get planting. There are so many interesting vegetables that thrive when the weather cools!
Albert Camus said that autumn is a second spring because every leaf is a flower. For me, fall in the garden is a second spring because we are harvesting spring veggies again.
Why Plant a Garden for Fall?
Every July, I try to... more
July 13, 2020
Some bugs are good for the garden! Here’s a list of some of the best beneficial insects to have in your gardening space, with pictures and tips for attracting them.
What Are Beneficial Insects?
The average backyard is home to thousands of insects, and you may be surprised to learn that only about a tenth of these are destructive. Most are either beneficial or harmless. Beneficial insects fall into three main categories:
Pollinators: We depend on these insects—including bees, butterflies, flies... more
July 10, 2020
Letting all that milkweed grow around my yard has paid off, and we have some monarch butterfly caterpillars in there chomping away! Here’s how to create a butterfly garden—from a mud puddle to plants!
Though we don’t recall seeing any adult monarchs flitting through the garden, they must have visited long enough to deposit some eggs. We have seen plenty of tiger swallowtails and always grow extra dill for the larvae of the black swallowtails to eat.
These big black and green striped... more
July 9, 2020
Garden thugs are plants (not weeds) that quickly get out of control in the garden. They can really run amok and hog all the room if they’re not judiciously pruned, dug out, cut back, or thinned in midsummer.
Last week I was making iced tea and wanted to add some spearmint to the brew. It grows in a flowerbed near the kitchen. I couldn’t find it! Though I pass by this flowerbed many times each day, obviously, I haven’t paid much attention to this bed. It had been choked out by other plants.... more
June 29, 2020
Summer is in full swing! By now, the peas and radishes have likely all been picked, the cilantro is blooming, the lettuce has bolted, and the spinach is long gone. Don’t let those gaps sit empty; they’ll only fill up with weeds! To get the most from your garden, break out the seeds and pop in a few wherever you find an open spot.
Here are a few speedy vegetable crops that don’t take long to mature. Later in the season, as your spring-planted veggies are winding down, these new recruits will be... more
June 26, 2020
In mid-fall, most plants have stopped flowering. However, if you’d like an autumn bloomer, fall is the perfect time to plant hardy hibiscus, such as the beautiful Rose of Sharon. Discover varieties of hibiscus flowers and planting tips from The Old Farmer’s Almanac.
Rose of Sharon
Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) is one of my favorite late summer shrubs. Hardy hibiscus is so tough the plant will come back year after year as far north as zone 5. In the same family (Malva) as hollyhocks,... more
June 23, 2020
The smell of Bengay and Icy Hot mixed with bug spray is a sure sign that the gardening season is in full swing. Yes, cases of “gardener’s back” or “weeder’s wrist” or “pruner’s neck” are going around. Here’s how to avoid the hazards of gardening!
I’m not exaggerating. Repetitive motions like pruning and weeding can injure muscles, tendons and nerves, turning what is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby into a pain-filled nightmare. Even if you have never held a racket, you can end up with tennis... more
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Get inspired by Robin Sweetser’s backyard gardening tips and tricks. Robin has been a contributor to The Old Farmer’s Almanac and the All-Seasons Garden Guide for many years. She and her partner Tom have a small greenhouse business and also sell plants, cut flowers, and vegetables at their local Farmer’s Market.
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