The days are beginning to lengthen, and although we are still in the grip of winter in most areas, spring cannot be far away. Within a few weeks it will be time to hit the beach, and if you are fortunate enough to live on the coast, or have a beach cottage, then it is also time to do something about the surroundings – without...
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Over the last few years there has been an enormous growth in interest in preserving our natural environments. They are under threat from multiple directions, with everything from climate change and logging to too many visitors threatening the great natural areas of this country. In some areas there has been an additional threat – garden plants that are not native to America have escaped into...
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So many plants – so little room! The challenges in small gardens are considerable, but they all have to do with space, such as how to choose plants that won’t grow too large, and how to have continuous color and effect from a limited number of plants. There is one simple way to expand the range of plants being grown and add a whole extra...
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Shade is the gardener’s perpetual problem – just what can I grow in those inevitable shady spots that are found in every garden. Beneath trees or in the shade of buildings, it is almost impossible to have a garden without shade – either from the beginning, or gradually developing as your trees and taller shrubs grow and mature. Gardener’s can be stubborn, and all too...
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Winter is the time when evergreen trees are most noticeable in our gardens, and few stand out more than holly does. These handsome trees and bushes, with their rich-green leathery leaves, bring structure and form to the garden, and their rounded or pyramidal shapes are perfect additions to any garden. The classic ‘greeting-card’ holly, with its spiny leaves and red berries is an essential ingredient...
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The Japanese style of garden is enjoying huge popularity in the West. Perhaps it’s the huge interest in mindfulness and Zen, the desire for simplicity, or maybe the realization that it is the perfect style for a small space or enclosed garden. Whatever the reason, more and more people are turning to Japanese influences to create beautiful gardens. When we think of the elements of...
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You invest love, energy and money into your garden, so why enjoy it for only part of the year? Winter is a season too, and despite the cold and rain or snow there are ways to make your garden more enjoyable in winter than you might think it could be. With some planning and thought your garden can truly be a ‘4-season’ place, with something...
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While the perfect Christmas Tree might be a Spruce or Fir, the perfect tree to have growing in your yard at Christmas is a Holly Tree. This classic tree for Christmas is perhaps most widely known for the song, ‘the Holly and the Ivy’. That classic song may date back to the 18th century, but it was certainly already popular in the 19th, and of...
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Persimmon fruits have become hot items in the produce department in the last few years. these exotic-looking bright orange fruits, which look a little like a beefsteak tomato, are available in late fall and early winter, often at relatively high prices. They appear on the menus of many restaurants, and in recipes, and many gardeners are thinking about growing their own. What Kinds of Persimmons...
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These days it seems everyone is talking about – and eating – nuts. The peanut – not a nut at all, but a type of bean – is of course central to American culture, but today it is the true nuts that everyone is eating. Taking care of our hearts is a big concern, and many nuts contain monounsaturated fats and antioxidants, both substances that...
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So you want to grow some grape vines? Perhaps you are interested in making wine, or perhaps you want to enjoy top-quality grapes for the table, picked right from your garden. Perhaps you like the idea of growing several varieties, so you can do both these things, as well as perhaps make some jelly, or enjoy fresh grape juice. Maybe you just like the romantic...
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Protecting newly-planted trees – especially evergreens – in their first winter is a real issue for gardeners who live in cold parts of the country. Every fall and winter it comes up and everyone wants to know the best way to do it. Strangely, that ‘best way’ has been available for many, many years now, but it remains unknown to most gardeners, but widely used...
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Crape myrtles have been favorites with southern gardeners for a very long time. Their resistance to heat and drought, combined with vibrant flowers produced over a long period, have made sure of that. But with changes in gardening styles they were increasingly seen as lacking something – colored foliage. The growth in the use of colored foliage in gardens has been enormous in recent decades....
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The layout of your garden is as important as how you decorate inside, but it often doesn’t get the same attention, or budget. Yet the garden is often the main focus of life for months of the year, with barbequing, parties, and just general lazy around outdoors. As well, every estate agent will tell you that an attractive and inviting garden adds dollars to the...
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Peaches are such luscious fruits, and so delicious to eat, that it seems hard to believe they are also among the easiest of fruit trees to grow, and ideal for smaller gardens, since several will fruit well when grown alone – none of that need for a pollinator that means growing at least two of everything. They can also be planted at the foot of...
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Spring and flowering trees go together – it wouldn’t be spring without them. But the classic flowering trees like cherry trees and magnolias are hard to grow in colder climates, below zone 5 – although there are some hardy spring-flowering magnolia trees that make a spectacular display. So gardeners in cold areas can feel deprived of all that beauty – even though they do have...
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If you live outside the South, the chances are your grape-eating experience is limited to the green, seedless grapes sold in supermarkets. If that is so, then you have been missing out on a sensual pleasure that is very, very different. Imagine a large, round grape with a black skin. Pop one into your mouth, bite into it and the flesh melts like ice cream,...
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Figs hold a special place among the many kinds of fruits we eat. They have a unique quality that goes well with savory foods, especially ham and soft cheeses, or added to salads. Until recently, outside fig-growing areas, only dried figs were available, and these have absolutely no resemblance to the fresh version of this wonderful fruit. But fresh figs are always expensive, because their...
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Fresh fruit is one of the great pleasures of life, and home-grown is always superior in just about every way. But growing fruits like peaches, pears, and even apples is not easy, and those trees take up a lot of space, while gardens get smaller and smaller. But there are other types of fruit that not only take up very little room, but that are...
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Now that fall is beginning, this is prime planting season for trees and shrubs. Planted now, rather than in spring, they will establish roots over winter – even in the coldest areas – so when the first warm days arrive they will be ready to go. This maximizes the growing season, and gives you mature plants that much sooner – the garden you are dreaming...
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With fall advancing, we are into peak tree-planting season, and all across the country gardeners and home owners are choosing shade trees, ornamental trees, or planning to plant trees to screen their property or define a boundary. A lot of time will be spent choosing a location for that tree, considering where it will look best, or cast shade onto the ideal spot for lounge...
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It doesn’t matter how much or how little you garden, or how complex or simple your garden is, evergreens are going to be an essential part of it. They provide structure as screens or hedges, and they fill out empty corners with the perfect background. Around the house they give permanence to your foundation planting, and in the garden they keep things calm on the...
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Somehow, over recent years, the gardening year got turned around. Today everyone rushes into their garden at the first sign of spring, and immediately starts planning and planting for the best garden ever. This is quite a change from years ago, when spring was a secondary season, ideal for planting some plants, but not the time for most of the work. It used to be...
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We tend to think of garden flowers as something that happens in spring and summer and having blooms at those times is relatively easy. Too many gardens though, are finished by Labor Day, and yes, there is fall color still to come, but the end of summer shouldn’t mean the end of colorful flowers. There is something almost magical about flowers appearing in fall, so...
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