Thuja Green Giant Guide
Introduction There are many evergreen trees to choose from for the garden, but one of the most useful is the Arborvitae, or Thuja. These soft-leaved, upright trees grow in a wide range of…
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The Paradise Garden
Developing and laying-out a garden can be difficult, and the results may not always be what you were looking for. Part of the job involves choosing different varieties of plants, but that can…
What Does “Needs Acidic Soil” Mean?
If you are a beginning gardener, the words ‘needs acidic soil’ in the description of some plants can be confusing. Perhaps you have a hazy knowledge of acids as being things like vinegar,…
Encore Azaleas – The Flowers that Keep on Giving
Evergreen azaleas are real beauties of the spring garden, and wherever they can be grown they are immensely popular. There are hundreds if not thousands of varieties available, in all the colors of…
The Fiddle Leaf Fig – the Latest Indoor Hit
Flip through the pages of any interior décor magazine these days, and the chances are you will see a tall plant, with large leaves, being used as an accessory to the latest furniture…
Choosing the Right Boxwood for Your Garden
Boxwood is undoubtedly the most functional plant in garden history, as well as being attractive and easy to grow in sun or shade, and in a range of soil types. It has endless…
Plant in Winter for Summer Flowers
In winter, most gardeners put up their feet and dream of the coming year. Experienced gardeners do more than dream. They plan ahead so that when the glorious seasons of spring and summer…
Growing Citrus Trees in Pots
Citrus fruits are among the healthiest and most popular fruits around. Besides being great to eat, naturally or juiced, they have all sorts of uses in the kitchen, from salads and desserts to…
Some Unusual Evergreens for Your Garden
Evergreen trees make the structure of most gardens, giving permanence to what designers call the ‘bones’ of your garden, while flowering plants come and go through the seasons. Many are used for neutral…
Tough Trees for Tough Places
In a perfect world, every garden would have that perfect, loamy, well-drained soil, with just the right amount of sunshine, never too cold in winter or too hot and dry in summer……. Meanwhile,…
Get to Know the Hollies
There are a handful of trees and shrubs that most people – even non-gardeners – feel they know immediately. Holly, that popular plant for the festive season, is probably one of them. Everyone…
Planting for Winter Interest and Color
When summer is in full swing, and even in the excitement of fall, it is easy to forget about winter. This may be a long or a shorter season for you, depending on…
Right Tree, Right Location
When we consider that most trees have much longer lives than we do and that the tree we plant could easily still be here when we are long gone, the apparently simple fun…
Apple Tree Diseases
Apples are one of the best fruit-tree choices for gardeners in cooler areas. The give a good yield of the most versatile and the most popular fruit there is, and they thrive in…
How To Stake A Tree
To stake or not to stake, that indeed is the question. Once upon a time everyone carefully staked every tree when it was planted, but today the experts tell us that often it…
Maple Tree Diseases
Maples are among the most popular trees for the garden, especially as shade trees. No wonder! With their iconic leaves and spectacular fall colors, these hardy trees will grow in many climate zones…
The Complete Japanese Maple Guide
These trees have a reputation for being hard to grow, but this is largely undeserved. With attention given to their location in the garden and some minimal care, they will thrive and increase…
Calla Lily
The Calla Lily is one of the most distinctive wild flowers, but also one of the least likely to have found fame as a cultivated plant. It only occurs naturally in a quite…
Ficus Tree
At The Tree Center we think all trees are interesting, but we have to admit that some go beyond that into the territory of absolutely fascinating. A classic example of those are ficus…
Spider Plant
Many tropical or subtropical plants need a lot of care and attention to grow successfully, but there’s a much easier way to add a hint of the exotic to your home. The spider…
How Fast Do Palm Trees Grow?
Palm trees conjure up a host of images, from idyllic tropical beaches to a life-saving oasis surrounded by miles of baked desert. Mostly we think of them as the backdrop to some spectacular…
What Is A Money Tree?
Since time out of mind trees have been surrounded by myth and legend, tied to the tree itself or artistic representations of it. Perhaps the most well-known example is one which very few…
Berries That Grow On Trees
If you want to grow your own fruit at home berries are some of the simplest – and tastiest – options. There’s an amazing variety of them, from plump and succulent strawberries to…
Moss on Trees
Trees aren’t just single organisms; over time they become the center of a whole complex ecosystem. Birds, insects and small animals will all make their homes in your tree. Some of them are…
Do Almonds Grow On Trees?
An attractive and modest-sized tree native to the Mediterranean, the almond tree is renowned for the smooth, tasty and sweet nuts it produces. It’s been associated with humans for a long time; sometime…
How and When To Prune Fruit Trees
Growing your own fruit is incredibly satisfying, and it’s a lot easier than you might think, but you will need to do some basic tree care to ensure a rich and regular crop….
Indoor Palm Trees
Who doesn’t love palm trees? Their elegant and exotic shape calls up images of sunny destinations and sparkling white beaches. They make a distinctive backdrop for other tropical plants, and their feathery fronds…
Pecan Tree Leaves
There are a few reasons why people turn to the internet to ask a question about pecan tree leaves, from descriptions of the leaves to find out what those funny lumps or marks…
How To Trim A Tree
In nature trees pretty much look after themselves, but if you have one in your yard it’s going to do a lot better if you give it some care and attention. The fact…
Dogwood Tree Information
Among the many species of flowering trees you might choose to liven up your property, the dogwood family contains some of the most attractive. These trees have been grown for centuries for their…
What Is A Deciduous Tree?
The meaning of “Evergreen” is pretty clear, mostly because it’s an English word. “Deciduous” is Latin, which puts it at a disadvantage right away, and even if you do know what it means…
Christmas Tree Water
There are some excellent artificial Christmas trees on the market now, and with the holiday season approaching they’ll be appearing in stores any day now. If you really want to get the Christmas…
Indoor Lemon Tree
Growing your own lemons is easy if you live in California or Florida, but for most Americans the climate means it isn’t an option. Or does it? In fact if you know what…
Avocado Tree Care
Avocados are a great source of nutrients, including vitamins B, C, E and K, and are loaded with healthy monounsaturated fats. An avocado-rich diet can lower cholesterol levels and might have other health…
Types Of Evergreen Trees
A big part of what makes trees attractive to many gardeners is the glorious display of colors they put on in fall. Deciduous trees are a sort of living calendar, keeping track of…
What Is Tree Sap?
Filled with nutrients and minerals, sap is the blood of a tree. It carries energy out into the branches when new buds are forming in spring-time. It comes in many forms; it can…
Shade Loving Plants
When it comes to planning a new garden, or just adding new plants and borders to an existing one, there are usually plenty of different factors to take into account. You may have…
Bamboo Plant Care
Bamboo plants have a special and unique appearance that adds a special touch to the garden. They are also fast-growing plants that can be used for screening, especially in narrow spaces, since some…
What is Nitrogen Fixation
Of all the mineral nutrients needed by plants, nitrogen is unique. The others all come from the mineral fragments that make up soil, formed over millennia from the rock of the Earth’s crust….
Maple Tree Identification
The world is full of trees and many people are happy to leave it at that – loving them all or seeing them as a green background to life. But natural human curiosity…
Types of Magnolia Trees
Magnolia trees are the most ancient of flowering plants, so ancient that they appeared even before bees did, so their flowers developed to attract beetles to pollinate them instead, and they developed a…
How to Kill a Tree Stump
One of the biggest problems in a garden happens after a tree is removed. A large tree may be taken down to let in light, because it is crowding the house, or because…
Types of Maple Trees
Right in the center of the Canadian flag is a big red leaf – a maple leaf. Canadians have taken the maple tree to their hearts, but they certainly don’t have the monopoly…
What Is a Perennial?
Gardeners throw around a lot of words, from Latin names to specialized botanical terms. Special language has always been used to create private groups of aficionados, making a club for ‘members only’. So…
Types of Oak Trees
Symbols of strength, endurance and longevity, oak trees appear in literature and art as well as in our gardens. The oak is the national tree of numerous countries, including the United States, England,…
Growing Bamboo
Bamboo plants have a special and unique appearance that adds a special touch to the garden. They are also fast-growing plants that can be used for screening, especially in narrow spaces, since some…
How To Kill Bamboo
Bamboo plants are popular for screening and as beautiful specimens in gardens, especially if you are creating an ‘oriental’ theme. However they also have a reputation for turning into problem plants, growing too…
Common Tree Fungus
Go for a walk in the woods and you’ll see plenty of fungi growing on trees. Any old stump or deadfall is a potential home for a crop of them, whether it’s mushrooms…
Do Peanuts Grow On Trees
Looking at how popular peanuts are as a snack, you probably wouldn’t think that up until the 1930s most of the US crop was used as animal feed. The USDA had been trying…
How Do Pistachios Grow
Pistachios are one of the most popular nuts, but they can be expensive. Their distinctive taste and naturally split shell gives them an exotic appearance and that adds to their premium image, but…