Summer is at its height, but the smart gardener is always thinking ahead. Fall will be with us all too soon, and if you want to continue the garden fun and beauty into that special season, it’s time to take inventory and add some plants that will make it an even better season for you. We always think of fall leaves when thinking about the…

Boxwood shrubs – as hedges of different sizes, clipped shapes or growing naturally – are the backbone of the structure of many gardens. Boundaries and edgings are the easiest way to bring order to a garden, and make your other plants stand out. Whether its edging a path or driveway, adding accents around your home, or simply putting evergreen permanence into a bed of deciduous…

As we enter the hot days of August, our gardens can begin to look a bit tired. The heat and drier conditions mean that the flowers of spring and early summer have faded, and often there is little color to be seen. Smart gardeners plan for this, and make sure they grow some plants that will carry on through the heat and drought, brightening the…

Crape Myrtles (Lagerstroemia) are very popular shrubs for warmer areas, and no wonder. They have spectacular blooms for an extended period, grow well in poor soil, and are heat and drought resistant. They also come in many sizes, so there is a plant for every purpose around the garden, from specimen tree to low shrub or container plant. If you grow Crape Myrtles in your…

Planting a tree is always a great moment – most trees have longer lives than we do, and although a newly-planted tree will be a beautiful addition to our gardens after just a few years of growth, we can expect most trees we plant to live longer than we do, reaching their full glory when we are gone, so tree planting is always a special…

Across most of the country, you will see, and probably have in your garden, cedar trees. The name ‘cedar’ was given by the early settlers to several tall evergreen trees they found in the new land. In the east we have ‘white cedar’, and out west there are two trees called ‘red cedar’, ‘Alaskan cedar’, and ‘incense cedar’. As well there is ‘eastern red cedar’,…