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A wonderful and simple idea for the holiday is growing your own herbs for Thanksgiving dinner. If you have a garden plot, of course, the herbs may be planted there. An alternate idea is using potted herbs for your holiday dishes. Not only can many common Thanksgiving herbs be grown indoors in containers, but doing so allows them to be grown and accessed for year round cooking. Additionally, common Thanksgiving herbs grown in pots make lovely centerpieces for the holiday table or buffet....

When to Trim Azaleas The best time to trim azaleas is after the blossoms have faded, but before the new blossom buds have started. The next year’s blossoms typically start forming at the beginning of July, so you must prune an azalea bush before then. If you prune azaleas after the beginning of July, you may not get any flowers on the bush next year. Tips for Pruning Azaleas So, how do you prune an azalea?...

Pumpkin Insect Problems Pumpkins are a favorite food of quite a few insects, and pests on pumpkins can be a real problem. Most, however, are treatable or at least preventable. Here are the most common bugs on pumpkin plants and how to treat them: Beetles – Beetles are the most common but easily treated pests on pumpkins. Spray your vines with a mild pesticide and they should disappear. Snails and slugs – Snails and slugs love to eat the tender flesh of very young, giant pumpkins....

When it comes to homemade rain barrels, there are a number of variations, depending on your specific site and your budget. Below, we have provided a few basic considerations to keep in mind as you begin to make your own rain barrel for the garden. How to Make a Rain Barrel Rain Barrel: Look for a 20- to 50-gallon (76-189 L.) barrel made of opaque, blue or black plastic. The barrel should be recycled food-grade plastic, and should never have been used to store chemicals....

Can You Prune a Cypress? Cypress trees are narrow-leaf evergreens. Like other narrow-leaf evergreens, cypress do not develop new buds on the older wood. That means that cutting new shoots back to the branch may result in bare spots on the tree. On the other hand, cypress tree trimming is entirely feasible if you know what you are doing. Cypress are one of several species classified as “scale-leaf” needled evergreens. Unlike pine trees, with leaves that look like needles, cypress leaves appear more like scales....

How to Plant Your Christmas Tree Before you even buy the Christmas tree you will be replanting, you may also want to consider digging the hole that you will be planting the Christmas tree in. Chances are the ground will not yet be frozen at that time and by the time Christmas is over the chances that the ground will be frozen will have increased. Having a hole ready will help the chances that your tree will survive....

Pear Rust Mite Damage Pear rust mite damage consists of bronzing or darkening of pear leaves and fruit. This discoloration, called russetting, begins on the underside near the vein that runs down the center of the leaf and gradually spreads outward. The tops of the leaves may remain green and look healthy. Heavily damaged leaves can cause young trees to become stunted. Once the pears form, the mites move from the foliage to the fruit....

Scarecrows in the Garden Garden scarecrows are not a new idea; they’ve been used in gardens for centuries. The original purpose of scarecrows in the garden was to frighten away birds, particularly crows, which caused damage to crops. The creators of scarecrows didn’t give the birds credit for soon realizing that scarecrows in the garden would not harm them. Today’s scarecrows utilize many features that can keep pesky flying fiends away....

Sea Fennel Uses At its roots, sea fennel was a favorite food foraged on the coasts of the Black Sea, the North Sea, and the Mediterranean. Also known as Samphire or Rock Samphire, it has a rich, salty taste and has a place in a lot of traditional European cooking. Growing sea fennel opens up a lot of culinary opportunities. Sea fennel uses in cooking range from pickling to steaming to blanching....

How to Choose a Seaside Plant Many seaside landscape areas are in a full sun location, and shrubs and trees for coastal usage have to be tolerant of sea spray. High winds are common at the beach and soil is sandy, meaning water retention can be a problem with plants for a seaside garden. There are many plants for a seaside garden that tolerate these elements. Plants are categorized as having low, medium, and high salt and sea spray tolerance....

About Seaweed Soil Amendments Nobody knows who first started using seaweed in the garden, but the situation is easy to picture. One day a farmer was walking the nearby shores of his land and saw some large storm tossed kelp or other type of seaweed strewn across the beach. Knowing that this plant based material was abundant and would compost into soil, releasing nutrients, he took some home and the rest is history....

September in the Southeast Divide and cut back perennials. If beds were too crowded, this is an appropriate time to dig and divide. There is still plenty of time left for them to establish a root system in new beds before winter’s cold in some part of the south. Divide daylily, iris, and monkey grass. Deadhead those that may bloom again in fall, like coneflowers. Amend the soil before planting in areas that grew summer veggies as they likely took up much of the nutrients....

Shade Garden Decorations The list of shade garden decoration possibilities is limited only by your imagination and some of the more common options you might consider when accessorizing your shade garden may include: GazebosGatesLighting featuresStonesDriftwoodSculpturesBirdbathsFountainsPlaquesPlanters‘WreathsTrellisesDecorative wallsChimesWindsocksSerenity (gazing) ballsOutdoor dining setsSteppingstones Incorporating appropriate decorations into your garden design will add personality, beauty, and in some cases, functionality, to your garden retreat. By rotating your garden accessories each season, you also can dramatically change the look and feel of your shade garden with minimal effort....

Read on to learn about fairy gardening in the shade. Fairy Gardening in the Shade More and more people are living in condos, small bungalows, and even tiny houses. This means that their garden spaces are often equally tiny, perfect for a fairy garden, and some of these are in shade. Good news, though. Many of the miniature plants available are aptly suited for shady conditions, which mean finding shade plants for a fairy garden is not only simple but lots of fun....

Southern Pea Blight Information This is probably the most common blight on southern pea. It is caused by a soil borne fungus which develops quickly in moist, hot situations where temperatures are over 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29 C.). It is harbored in plant debris from the previous year. The one thing all the pea blight diseases have in common is moisture. Some occur when temperatures are warm and wet, while others need it cool and moist....

Symptoms of Curly Top Virus on Southern Peas Curly top virus is a disease transmitted specifically by the beet leafhopper. The incubation time of the virus in the insects is only about 21 hours, and that time shortens when conditions are warm or hot. The symptoms of the infection in plants like southern peas will begin to show up just 24 hours after transmission in hot temperatures. When the weather is cooler, it may take up to two weeks for symptoms to appear....

Southwestern Succulents in the Garden The southwest has a wide range of temperatures and precipitation. Remember, that while succulents are low-maintenance, there are still limits to when they will grow. Planting time for desert succulents and for those in the Colorado Mountains differs. Soil temperatures have a large effect on when to plant succulents in the southwest. As in other areas, a soil temp of 45 degrees F. (7 C.) accommodates many succulent plants in the southwest....

Spider Plant Propagation When you’re ready to propagate your spider plant babies, you have the option of rooting the plantlets by growing directly in soil or you can choose to root them in water. Growing Plantlets from Spider Plants There are a couple of ways to plant spider plant babies, and they’re both easy peasy. Look closely at the spiderettes dangling from your adult plant and you’ll see little knob-like protrusions and tiny roots on the bottom of each spiderette....

Propagation Methods for Spruce Trees In the wild, spruce tree propagation involves spruce seeds falling from the parent tree and beginning to grow in the soil. If you want to start growing new spruce trees, planting seeds is a common method of propagation. Other propagation methods for spruce include rooting cuttings. Propagating spruce tree seeds and cuttings both produce viable plants. How to Propagate a Spruce Tree with Seeds How to propagate a spruce tree from seeds?...

Dutchman’s Pipe Seeds You’ll find various types of Dutchman’s pipe vine available in commerce, including vigorous Gaping Dutchman’s pipe. Its flowers are fragrant and spectacular, a creamy yellow with purple and red patterns. These vines grow up to 15 feet (5 m.) and even taller. All species produce the “pipe” flowers that give the vine its common name. Dutchman’s pipe flowers do a great job of cross pollination. They trap insect pollinators inside their flowers....