If you’re like me, you hate tossing old takeout containers in the recycling bin. I always try to find ways to reuse them around the house. But there are also some great ways to use takeout containers in the garden that I’ve discovered as well.

Whether it’s the beginning of the growing season, the heat of summer, or plants are winding down in the fall, there are plenty of uses for takeout containers in the garden. These easy ideas turn trash into garden treasure and help you grow a better landscape without spending any money.

In this latest installment of the Dirt Cheap Gardening series, I share the reasons why I always save old takeout containers to use in my garden – and how you can use them in your own yard.

More Dirt Cheap Gardening Ideas

• Why Smart Gardeners Are Stocking Up on Cardboard Boxes
• How to Turn Toilet Paper Rolls Into Useful Gardening Tools

1. Seed Starting Trays

Plastic takeout containers make great DIY seed starting trays. The containers from my local Chinese takeout restaurant are particularly well-suited to this purpose. The shallow plastic container comes with a lid – that’s often clear, which is perfect for turning the tray into a mini greenhouse.

Before you plant, you need to create some drainage holes in the bottom of your takeout container. You can do this with a drill, an awl and mallet, or you can even heat up the sharp tip of a metal skewer with a lighter to make it easier to puncture the plastic.

Poke or drill at least a handful of drainage holes into the bottom of the container, then fill it with a high-quality seed starting mix – I’ve always had great results with this seed starting mix from Miracle-Gro – and plant your desired seeds.

Make some holes in the clear lid, if your container has one, and you can use that to help hold in moisture and heat while seeds germinate and start to grow. This turns your old takeout container into essentially a mini greenhouse for free.

2. Keep Bird Baths Cool

Summer heat can turn bird baths into breeding grounds for mosquitoes, bacteria, and algae. But that takeout container from your dinner last night can solve this problem. Instead of simply refilling your bird bath every few days with water, you can use the Tupperware trick to turn it into a clean cooling station for the local birds.

Fill a plastic takeout container with water and put it in the freezer overnight. In the morning, you’ll have a giant ice cube that you can put into the bird bath in your yard to give your feathered friends a refreshing surprise. As the outdoor temperature rises during the day, the ice cube will melt and create a cool, clean new splash zone for your neighborhood birds.

This trick not only helps birds cool off during late summer heat, but it also keeps your bird bath cleaner for longer and cuts down on pests. Warm water is the ideal environment for mosquito larvae to grow as well as harmful bacteria and algae. Combine this DIY trick with a copper bird bath disc from Amazon that naturally purifies the water and keeps it algae-free.

3. Create an Ant Trap

If your garden is overrun with ants, then pull that takeout container out of the trash and turn it into a DIY ant trap. You first need to poke some holes in the bottom of your plastic takeout container – the same way you did to turn it into a seed starting tray.

Then add a tablespoon each of baking soda and powdered sugar, which you can pick up online from Target, and mix well. Don’t use regular granulated sugar because the ants will be able to separate the larger granules from the baking soda. The powdered sugar attracts the ants, but the baking soda creates a deadly reaction with their stomach acid.

If you only have a small infestation of ants, you can put the lid on your container and place it near the anthill in your yard. However, if you have a large infestation, mix in a little bit of water to create a paste. The paste is easier for them to carry back to their anthill and will eradicate some of the ants back in the hill as well as the ones who brought your concoction there.

4. Store Leftover Seeds

Takeout containers aren’t just good at storing food, they’re also good for storing leftover seed packets or large quantities of seeds you harvested from your own garden. If you have an abundance of seeds you weren’t able to plant in the spring and summer, then place them in an airtight takeout container to keep them dry and organized until next spring.

If you have any seeds that require cold stratification, you can also use a takeout container to give them a head start. You can either place the seed packets inside the takeout container in the back of your fridge in late winter (exactly when depends on the type of seed) or you can sprinkle some seeds on a damp paper towel, fold the towel, and place it inside the takeout container in your fridge.

Cover cropping isn’t just for big farms. Ordinary gardeners can use this strategy in beds of all sizes. Cover cropping means growing a crop over winter that will benefit the soil rather than as a crop to harvest. September is a good time to sow seeds for a cover crop because the soil is still warm enough for germination, and there’s time for seedlings to grow before the first frost.

So, why should you take the time to use this old farming technique in your home garden? Cover crops protect bare winter soil from erosion, add nutrients, reduce compaction, reduce weeds, and feed beneficial microbes, improving overall soil health. Here are a few ideas of cover crops you can plant now and work into the soil in spring for healthier, more productive soil.

If you're not looking to fix a single problem and just want a reliable cover crop, try this seed mix from Amazon. It contains most of the crops listed below, plus some wildflowers for good measure.

1. Winter Rye for Cold Winters

Winter rye is a tough cereal grain that germinates quickly and isn’t easily killed off by cold winter conditions. It should survive the season and grow again in spring, when you can chop it up and work it into the soil. Don’t delay doing this spring task, as winter rye grows rapidly as the weather warms and can become difficult to kill if you wait too long.

Winter rye has deep roots that break up compacted soil and reduce erosion. It’s also allelopathic, meaning it releases certain chemicals that prevent germination of other seeds. This makes it a good option for weed suppression. To sow winter rye or any cover crop this year, scatter the seeds over prepared soil, rake them lightly, and keep the area moist as seeds germinate.

2. Oats for Quick Coverage

As a cool-season crop, oats germinate and grow quickly in the cooler weather of fall. Choose this option for quick cover and a root system that holds soil in place very well. Although it might not survive the winter, oats give you a quick option for covering vulnerable soil in fall.

Although it will likely die over winter (depending on your climate), oats create a protective mat over the soil. Oats are also easy to work into the soil in spring. The dead foliage will add nutrients to your beds, and you don’t have to worry about it growing rapidly in the warmer weather.

3. Crimson Clover for Adding Nitrogen

Crimson clover is a pretty, flowering clover that offers both benefits for the soil and an attractive cover for fall, and even winter, depending on your climate. It will germinate and establish. In spring, the clover will start growing again, blooming and supporting early pollinators before you turn it back into the soil.

One of the biggest benefits of clover as a cover crop is nitrogen fixation. Clover is a legume, meaning it turns atmospheric nitrogen into a usable form, enriching the soil with nitrogen. This is a bonus for whatever plants you grow in the bed next year.

4. Hairy Vetch, Also for Nitrogen

Hairy vetch is a legume, like clover, so it’s another option you can choose if you want to enrich your bedding soil with nitrogen for next year. Hairy vetch is a little more vigorous than clover, so be prepared to work it back into the soil early in spring before it grows too much.

There are some benefits of hairy vetch compared to clover. It produces more green material, which adds more organic material to the soil in spring. It also has a stronger root system, so it is useful if erosion or compaction are big issues in your beds.

5. Field Peas for Nitrogen and Easy Spring Turnover

The last legume on our list is field peas. Like hairy vetch and clover, it fixes nitrogen to enrich the soil with this essential nutrient. It is less likely to survive winter than the other legume options, but it does grow quickly in fall, creating a carpet of green vines that will cover the soil and hold down weeds even after it dies in winter.

One benefit of field peas over other legumes is that it is very easy to turn into the soil in spring. Even if it hasn’t totally died over the colder months, it’s not difficult to control and incorporate it into the soil.

6. Annual Ryegrass for a Quick Root System

If your goal is to get roots into the soil quickly, choose annual ryegrass. Once the seeds are sown, this grass will quickly develop a dense root system that holds soil together, reduces erosion, and improves soil structure if it has become compacted over the growing season.

Annual ryegrass may survive winter to grow in spring, depending on how cold your winter gets. If it does survive, it can grow rapidly in spring, so be prepared to chop it up and turn it into the soil early before it starts to take over your beds.

The type of cover crop you choose depends on your needs. Whichever one you choose, be sure to water regularly as it establishes to give it a chance to grow before winter weather hits. In spring, each of these will need to be turned into the soil, so consider how much effort you’re willing to put into that chore. Although this is an extra task for September, growing a cover crop is a great way to get your beds ready for the next growing season.

It’s hard to believe Labor Day is upon us. Where did August go? Though it may still feel like summer (in Ohio at least…), fall is on its way and so are all the requisite garden and lawn cleanup tasks. Now is the perfect time to score some deals on those tools and equipment you have been eyeing in the garden center all summer.

Labor Day weekend sales don’t always live up to the hype, but I have taken the time to find some of the best garden deals this year! A low price isn’t the only factor in weighing a good deal, though. These are gardening tools that the Gardening Know How team has used in our own yards and items from brands that we trust.

Let’s dig into all the great deals you’ll find this Labor Day weekend!

Great Deals at Home Depot

Great Deals at Lowe's

Great Deals at Amazon

Great Deals Elsewhere

In one of his famous poems, Robert Frost wrote: “Good fences make good neighbors.” Does this apply to hedges as well? It might, if the hedge is on your property line.

Hedges are eco-friendly alternatives to fences and walls. They can provide hiding and nesting places for local wildlife, while also marking the property line.

But planting a hedge on the edge of your property is shadowed by legal concerns. Your best bet is to know the law before you begin then act carefully to make sure the hedge stays on your side of the fence.

I cover more questions like this in my Gardening Lawyer series, drawing on my experience as both a gardener and former attorney.

Benefits of Hedges

Who wouldn’t prefer a natural, lovely boundary of shrubs on the property line instead of a wall or fence? A hedge offers privacy, environmental benefits, and structural protection, but it’s green and growing. The best hedge plants have foliage dense enough to create a privacy screen, blocking your backyard from the views of curious neighbors and muffling traffic noises.

And hedges are lovely, with ample aesthetic appeal. The greenery - sometimes with seasonal colors, flowers or fruit - softens your property line but also serves as a wind block. It can also act as a sun buffer, shading backyard areas in summer while also limiting chilly winter drafts.

Finally, hedges can stabilize the soil and also provide wildlife habitat. Hedge plants with deep root systems prevent soil erosion, while the dense foliage offers nesting sites, safe areas for birds and mammals, and food sources for birds and pollinators.

Property Line Perils

Planting near your home is easy. You don’t need to worry that your neighbors won’t be happy. It’s your land and you can plant whatever you want. But when you plant anything near the property line, your neighbor might be involved. This includes property line hedging.

It’s easy to understand why you should hesitate to plant an oak sapling near the property line. That tree is going to grow tall and wide, and its branches (and maybe even the trunk) will expand into the neighbor’s backyard…and they may not like it. Hedge shrubs may be trimmed neatly, but a property line hedge raises the same issues as border line oaks. Hedges are shrubs, and shrubs can grow even faster than trees.

Laws About Property Lines and Plants

Every state has their own laws regulating plants on property lines, and some cities and even housing communities have rules too. The general law in most states allows a neighbor to cut down any part of a tree or shrub planted by a neighbor on your property line that extends into your own property. They don’t even need to ask permission.

But that’s not all. Many communities limit the height of any tree or shrub planted on a property line. Some cities and HOAs limit the species of trees and shrubs you can plant. Others won’t allow trees that block views or shade neighboring backyards.

Steps to Take Before Planting a Property Line Hedge

You can prevent problems with your neighbors over your property line hedge by acting carefully. These are the seven steps you should follow before planting your hedge.

1. Learn all of the laws relevant to planting shrubs on the property line. Check for state laws, municipal regulations, and HOA or bylaw requirements - if you live in a housing community with an HOA or a housing development where bylaws apply. Find out if species or mature heights are regulated and whether there are any setback requirements. While you are researching, see if there are laws prohibiting planting that blocks a neighbor’s view or shades a neighbor’s backyard.
2. If you are still unclear on the law, consult with an attorney.
3. Develop a plan for your hedge. Select the type of shrub - taking into account your hardiness zone and the sun exposure of the area. Note the mature height and width of the species of shrubs you have selected. If you have any questions, ask a plant expert or an arborist to be sure the species is appropriate for the location.
4. Review city records that show the location of the property line between you and the neighbor.
5. Map out where you will plant your hedge. Set plants up to 3 feet (1m) back from the property line so branches do not cross into your neighbor's yard when fully grown. Add even more access space behind the hedge so that you can maintain the hedge without walking on your neighbor’s property.
6. Talk with your neighbors. Tell them what shrubs you want to plant and their mature size. Show them your hedge map. Walk the property line with them to make sure that your understanding about its location is the same as theirs. Listen to their concerns and address them if you can.

Toilet paper – we all use it. But our daily bathroom visits result in a million little cardboard rolls that either end up in the recycling bin or the trash. What if there were ways to reuse toilet paper rolls in the garden that benefited our plants and kept this unavoidable waste from piling up in a landfill somewhere?

There actually are several clever ways to use toilet paper rolls in the garden. I’ll share how you can turn trash into garden treasure that solves a handful of common issues. From pests to pollinators to seed starting and composting, toilet paper rolls have varied applications in the home landscape.

Here are the best ways to use old toilet paper rolls to grow a better garden.

1. Stop Hungry Pests

One of the best uses for toilet paper rolls in the garden is to protect plants from pests. Seedlings are especially vulnerable to pests like cutworms and slugs, which can suddenly chomp through a stem overnight. Use a toilet paper roll like a collar around your young plants to protect their stems from hungry pests.

Squash vine borers are another pesky insect that can quickly kill your squash plants. Cut lengthwise down a toilet paper roll and wrap it around the stem of your squash plants to protect it from these burrowing pests. Cover the toilet paper roll in tin foil and push it down into the soil a bit at the base of the stem.

You can also create an easy earwig trap by filling a toilet paper roll with a damp paper towel. Place the toilet paper roll trap on its side next to the plants affected by earwigs, then the next day check to see how many pests you trapped. Place them in a bucket of soapy water to kill them.

2. Start Seedlings

This is a popular gardening hack that seems to take over the internet every spring, but it keeps resurfacing for good reason. Most of us have tons of toilet paper rolls lying around and want to save money when starting seeds in the spring. So using toilet paper rolls as seed starting pots seems like the perfect solution.

Although most toilet paper rolls are made from biodegradable cardboard, some are reinforced with glue that makes them break down slowly. If you plant them directly into the garden once your seedlings are big enough to transplant, it can cause circling roots that never reach the native soil.

To solve this issue, cut slits into the sides of your toilet paper rolls before planting, then simply fill the rolls with a high-quality seed starting mix, like this one from Miracle-Gro, plant your seeds, and grow! When it’s time to move plants outdoors, just peel back the rolls along the slits.

3. Turn Them Into a Bee Hotel

You can turn your toilet paper rolls into a pollinator-friendly hangout spot. To create a bee hotel, like this one from Amazon, where these beneficial insects can rest and nest, gather some hollow stems and sticks – bamboo is perfect for this purpose – and fill a toilet paper roll with them. Fill several toilet paper rolls and tie them together with twine to create a bigger bee hotel.

You can decorate the outside of the toilet paper rolls with paint or colorful tape that doubles as reinforcement in case the toilet rolls start to break down in the elements. Then place your mini bee hotels around your garden. You can put them near pollinators’ favorite plants or hang them in a tree where bees can stop and chill from the summer heat.

4. Add Them to the Compost Bin

As I mentioned above, toilet paper rolls are typically made of cardboard or paper that breaks down easily. That means they’re a prime brown material for the compost pile or tumbler – this compost tumbler from Home Depot is a good choice for small backyards.

To help speed up decomposition, cut up the toilet paper rolls into smaller pieces before putting them into your compost bin or pile. But like any other uncolored paper product, toilet paper rolls are perfect for composting.

Seasonal Gardening Shopping Inspiration

As we head into the colder months, now is a great time to create next year's perfect plot. This is what our team is shopping:

I like to schedule two haircuts a year: the first in spring and the second in fall. Cutting plants back can rejuvenate and stimulate growth. That works in spring but, as a matter of pruning basics, autumn is not a good time to do extensive pruning.

New growth from hard fall pruning won't have much time to get established before frosts set in. Damaged plants will struggle next year, too.

However, there are some plants that profit from light trims in autumn. These are the ones I head to, pruners in hand, in September.

6 Plants to Prune in September

I’m ready, willing, and eager to prune plants in my garden over Labor Day weekend. Which ones should be on my list?

1. Blackberries

Blackberry canes are the woody stems of blackberry plants. The root system and crown of the plant live for many years, while individual canes grow for two seasons. They are called primocanes in year one, then bear fruit as floricanes in year two. Then they die.

Prune blackberries and other bush fruit in September. (This category includes almost every similar plant in the berry patch, including summer-fruiting raspberries, black currents, gooseberries and red currents.) Use sharp pruners to take out the fruited stems. You can easily sharpen your pruners with a Corona carbide sharpening tool from Home Depot. And always be sure to sterilize them with rubbing alcohol before and after use to reduce the spread of disease between plants.

Essentially, you want to cut down these floricanes (second-year fruiting canes) at ground level in September. Take care not to leave stubs. Don’t trim or cut the green canes (primocanes).

2. Peonies

Is your September garden overcrowded with tall and messy perennials? Now’s the time to clean up the perennial bed, starting with peonies. Peonies are long-lived perennial plants with large, lush, gorgeous flowers.

In September, remove all the dead plant material and debris, including dead flower stems and basal foliage. The dead stems are often hollow, so trim them back low at an angle to prevent them from filling up with water and rotting. If new growth has already formed at the base of the clump, make the pruning cut just above it.

3. Rosemary

Don’t worry about annual herbs like basil or cilantro. They are dead by September or will die back soon. If they are wilted already, you can just add them to the compost. But September is a good time to take the snippers to rosemary in the perennial herb garden. These evergreen plants have aromatic needles and indigo blue summer flowers.

Rosemary and other herbs that grow in the Mediterranean region in Europe will die if they are pruned in winter. These shrubs – including rosemary, lavender, oregano and thyme – should all get trimmed in September.

But don’t head over to the perennial herb garden with the idea of chopping rosemary, or any of these herbs, to the soil. The idea is a light pruning to tidy them up, snip off browning spent stems, deadhead their withered tips and reshape them.

4. Yew Trees and Hedges

In landscaping, yew is a top choice as a foundation plant in front of homes. It is also commonly used in hedging. While many hedge shrubs won’t tolerate late pruning, yew shrubs are hardy and tough enough to sail through a September clip. Lots of homeowners prefer to clip their hedges once, and only once, every year. If this is you, think September.

One of the tricky parts about clipping a yew hedge is keeping the top level. Here’s one tried and true trick: install a guide line. What does this mean? Figure out how much lower you want your hedge to be, then push stakes down into the ground at regular intervals. Tie twine to the canes at the level you want the hedge to end up, then use that twine line as a guide as you cut.

5. Shasta Daisy

Shasta daisy plants bring joy to the garden. Their bright white petals with sunny yellow centers just make you happy. Shasta daisies don’t need frequent pruning. Don’t hesitate to deadhead, however, since you are likely to get more blooms and a flowering period that is longer.

But no matter what you do, these prolific bloomers will ultimately cease producing more of the cheerful, daisy-like flowers as the growing season comes to an end. September is usually the time.

After flowering is definitively done for the season, the plant is ready for its fall haircut. Trim back stems to just above the leaves at the base of the plant. Then remove all debris from the garden bed. This cleans up the garden and can also help this perennial return stronger the following year.

6. Garden Phlox

If your garden phlox plants look bedraggled toward the end of summer, or if you are dealing with phlox mildew every year, pruning can help. Pruning phlox before winter can stop powdery mildew from infecting your plant and it can increase blooms as well the following spring.

Garden phlox blooms start blooming later in the season than creeping phlox. This type of phlox reaches its peak blooming period toward early autumn. September is a good time for pruning. Cut off the top third of tall phlox stems. This will increase air circulation and make fungal diseases less likely. After the first killing frost, chop off the plant at ground level.

Do NOT Prune in September

Ready for a “definitely don’t prune” list? There are a few categories of plants that should never be trimmed back in fall.

• Do not prune spring-blooming plants in September, since they have set their flowers already and pruning would limit or eliminate spring blossoms.
• Do not cut back plants with strong winter seedheads. The birds overwintering in your garden have other plans for those seeds.
• Do not cut back that queen of the garden: roses. These are among the flowering plants most likely to produce new shoots once trimmed, new shoots that will suffer from winter cold and may endanger the entire bush.
• Do not prune fruit trees like apple trees, cherry trees or pear trees. It’s a much better idea to wait until winter and prune while these trees are dormant. Fall pruning, again, can result in new shoots vulnerable to winter weather.

We have all heard the old saying “good fences make good neighbors,” but lawyers still get asked a lot of questions about the legality of fencing. A “good” fence is one that both neighbors agree is beneficial, but problems arise when opinions differ.

When one neighbor’s fence ideas differ from the preferences of the person living next door, the question a lawyer hears is usually: Is it legal? Unfortunately, this is usually hashed out after the fact, when the controversial fence is already standing. If you are considering screening your yard with a privacy fence, it’s important to know the laws first, including height and setback requirements, as well as the “spite fence” concept that can transform a fence into a private nuisance.

I tackle this question (and others in my Gardening Lawyer series) by drawing on my experience as both a gardener and former attorney.

The Problem with Fences

The first fences were built some 7,000 years ago as humans abandoned the nomadic life and settled into fixed farming communities. Fences were useful for keeping domesticated livestock in and wild animals out. Today, fences in urban areas are not often related to livestock or crops.

Fencing has become a way of defining property ownership and creating privacy and security. And the areas fenced today are often postage-stamp-size city lots rather than untold acres of ranchland. That means that fencing can and does have a direct impact on neighbors. A tall, solid fence can cut off a view and reduce sunshine to an adjoining property, as well as make both parcels look smaller.

It’s perhaps no surprise that property boundaries are a common source of disputes: in a FindLaw survey, 17 percent of Americans who reported a neighbor dispute said it involved a property boundary.

What Does the Law Allow?

One of the reasons that fence issues cause disputes is that there are many levels of regulation – including state laws, city codes, and even HOA or subdivision rules. And laws vary from state to state and even from one urban area to another. That makes it difficult to figure out what law applies.

But it’s critical to know the laws that apply to the installation of a new fence and whether a permit is required. Ask at the local building department to get started. Or contact a local attorney.

Is It a Spite Fence?

Have you heard of a spite fence? It’s not a term that comes up frequently in conversation, but it is still a concept in the law. A spite fence is a fence built by one homeowner – not for any beneficial use, but simply to annoy or harass a neighbor. The fence might be excessively tall or unsightly, but the element that makes it a spite fence is the malicious intent behind it.

How does a spite fence anger a neighbor?

• It might be so tall that it reduces the light to the neighboring property. (Some states have laws that define a spite fence as a structure exceeding a certain height – 10 feet in California, for example – that lacks a proper purpose.)
• The side of the fence facing the neighbor might be so ugly that it ruins the peace and beauty of the neighbor’s backyard.
• The fence might be placed in a way that blocks the neighbor’s view.
• The fence might be tall enough to cut off light and air from the neighbor’s yard.

Courts will consider the effect the fence has on the neighbor’s property and will also look at whether it provides a benefit to the person who built it. Another factor courts consider is the timing of the fence. If the neighbors had a dispute about something, and the next day the fence was constructed, it could give the impression that the fence was built for malicious purposes.

If a fence appears to be constructed to annoy a neighbor, that neighbor can take legal action. They can ask the court to declare the fence a private nuisance, order it to be removed or shortened, and award damages for loss of enjoyment of the property. This is not a pleasant event for anyone, so those constructing fences should take every step possible to avoid a spite-fence lawsuit.

Tips for Avoiding a Fence Problem

• Think long and hard before making a decision to build a fence. Keep a notebook of what you’re thinking about, whether it is a safety issue, a way to keep your dogs from wandering, or a question of privacy around your swimming pool. Consider alternatives.
• Find out what rules and regulations your state, city, and subdivision have in place that apply to fence construction.
• Talk to a contractor to get their thoughts on the height required for your purposes (and allowed in your region) as well as the different types of fencing that might meet your needs. It’s also worth measuring the proposed fence line carefully; a 100-foot-long measuring tape, like this Amazon Basics tape, will make it easier to calculate the length of fencing required and map out where it will sit.
• Talk to your neighbors and share the reasons you want to put in a fence. Don’t ask for their permission, but ask for their understanding. Tell them your thoughts about how high you need the fence to be and the material you plan to use, and get their thoughts. Share the sketch of what it will look like.
• Listen to any concerns they express and determine – with your contractor – whether you can accommodate any of them while still accomplishing your purpose.
• Get a permit, if required.
• Give the neighbor a heads-up a few days before construction begins.

Remember, good fences might not make good neighbors, but good neighbors should only make good fences. Do your best to accommodate your neighbor and include them in the discussions, and you’ll reduce the risk of ending up in a “spite fence” dispute.

It's been almost a year since we lost one of the world's greatest naturalists and animal advocates: Jane Goodall. Of course everyone knowns Goodall for her work with chimpanzees. Do a google image search, and about half the results show her sharing the spotlight with a chimp. But her passion extended to the rest of the natural world, and her outreach was often centered on convincing us humans to understand our place in it.

In an interview with Smithsonian Magazine, Goodall had something remarkable to say about plants, and humankind's connection with them:

This quote is in response to a question about endangered species: "Ecologically, when people think about endangered species, they mostly consider animals. Why should we be concerned about plants?" The underlying point, I think, is that without plants humans may very well end up on the endangered species list as well.

Welcome to Quote of the Week, a series where every Monday I'll take a look at a notable quotation about plants, gardening, and nature, and explore what it can teach us all about our connection to the garden. This week we'll be looking at the inimitable Jane Goodall.

"Without Plants, We Wouldn't Exist."

Jane Goodall's quote puts into words what most of us feel innately – that gardening and green spaces have a positive effect on human life. Here's an article on the Freedom From Torture charity in the UK that focuses on just that. And here's a study reflecting green space's ability to lower crime rates. The internet is full of studies and foundations proving Goodall's point.

What none of them mention is what I believe Goodall is getting at. She says that one of the greatest threats for endangered species is loss of habitat. Losing habitat doesn't only mean these animals have nowhere to live. (After all, you wouldn't say they've gained habitat with the construction of a new zoo). Habitat loss, for them, means losing the place they can live and thrive.

So aren't we humans, with every green space we destroy, losing our own habitat? We're creating a place we can live, sure, but not a place we can thrive.

That's why, as Dame Goodall says, we need plants in a deep psychological sense. It's the only way we can really exist in our natural state.

Planting Natural Habitat

Goodall worked tirelessly to sustain natural habitat, both for wildlife and for human beings. In a truly inspiring Instagram post, a teacher shared photos of two trees Goodall had donated to her school over thirty years earlier. You have to wonder just how many trees are out there that she's directly responsible for.

Create Your Own Natural Habitat

Gardening rules are mostly seasonal, though nobody labels them that way. Deadhead, feed, prune, weed, tidy up. Those instructions arrive in spring with no expiration date attached, so people keep following them straight through August out of pure habit. A few of them stop helping around now. A couple start doing real damage. The garden would be better off if you sat down instead.

Anyone told how to start a garden has heard most of these, usually as flat commands rather than seasonal ones. The plants themselves have moved on. Growth is slowing, energy is heading down toward the roots, and a whole category of chores has quietly become optional.

Rules That Expire Around Mid-August

None of this means abandoning the garden. The job changes, though. It shifts from pushing growth to letting plants finish what they started on their own schedule. Most of the payoff lands next spring rather than next week, which is probably why these habits are so hard to drop.

1. (Don't) Deadhead Every Spent Bloom

Deadheading in June keeps flowers coming. Doing it in late August throws away the entire point of the season. Coneflowers, sunflowers and rudbeckia turn spent heads into seed right when goldfinches are raising a late brood. That timing is not luck. Goldfinches nest later than almost any songbird precisely because they wait on that seed. Leave the heads standing and the birds find them without any help. Self-sowing annuals do that very same thing. Let cosmos, larkspur and nigella drop their seed and next year arrives free, or collect a few heads into seed envelopes from Walmart and decide where they go yourself.

2. (Don't) Feed the Perennials and Shrubs

Nitrogen tells a plant to grow. That is a fine instruction in April and a genuinely bad one now, because the soft green growth it produces has no time to harden before frost arrives. Tender shoots going into a cold snap are the ones that blacken and die back.

Woody plants have already shifted into storage mode, moving sugars down into roots and stems for winter. A feed interrupts that process at the worst possible moment. Put the bag away until spring. Container plants still flowering are the one reasonable exception, since they are annuals headed for the compost pile anyway. Nothing about their winter matters.

3. (Don't) Prune for Shape

Shrubs cut now respond the way they always do, by pushing new growth. The trouble is, that growth has weeks rather than months to firm up. Producing it also spends sugars the shrub banked for winter, leaving less in reserve for February. Taking off the outer canopy also exposes interior branches that have spent all summer shaded, and bark that has never seen direct sun scalds easily in late-season heat.

Broken and diseased wood still comes out whenever you find it, since that is removal rather than shaping. Everything cosmetic waits for dormancy, and by then the plant has nothing left to lose by being cut. The shrub will look no worse in the meantime.

4. (Don't) Pull Every Last Weed

Spring weeding decides whether seedlings survive. August weeding is mostly about how the bed looks from the driveway. Established plants have already claimed their water and light, and a few latecomers underneath are not taking much. Every pull disturbs the fungal threads and soil life that spent all summer settling in. Roots left in the ground hold a bed together through fall rain. Your back gets the rest as a bonus.

There is one hard exception. Anything setting seed comes out today, because a single pigweed left to ripen seeds a bed for years. A weeding knife from Amazon lifts a taproot cleanly without turning over half the bed. The rest can stay.

5. (Don't) Cut Back Yellowing Foliage

A plant heading into dormancy empties its leaves before it lets them go. Sugars and stored nutrients move down into the roots and crown, and the yellowing is that transfer showing on the outside. Cut the stems green and the whole shipment goes to the compost instead. Dry and brittle is the signal, not the first hint of yellow. Leave the leaves on the stem while that happens, since cutting at the base ends the transfer just as surely as stripping the foliage does. Vegetable crops winding down get the same treatment. Diseased foliage is the exception. That comes out the day you spot it, bagged rather than composted.

6. (Don't) Keep the Lawn Green

Brown grass in August is not dead grass. Cool-season lawns go dormant on purpose when heat and drought arrive, shutting down top growth while the crowns and roots stay alive underneath. Established lawns handle several weeks of it without harm. Fighting dormancy with daily sprinkling wastes water and grows shallow roots into the bargain. A dormant lawn does want a drink eventually. Water your lawn with roughly half an inch (1.3cm) every two or three weeks keeps the crowns alive without waking anything up. It greens back up on its own once nights cool and rain returns, usually within a fortnight of the weather turning.

7. (Don't) Clear Beds Down to Bare Soil

Bare soil is the tidiest a bed ever looks and the least useful thing it can be. Fallen leaves and hollow stems are where a long list of native bees, beetles and moth pupae spend the winter. Hauling all of it off in September removes next year’s pollinators along with the mess. Bare ground also crusts over and erodes through the fall rain. Rake what blows onto the lawn, leave what settles in the beds, and top it with shredded mulch from Home Depot if the look bothers you. The cleanup still happens either way. It just happens in April, once the pollinators have overwintered and had a chance to leave.

In my 20 years as a garden writer, many people have asked me for my favorite plants and garden accessories that I recommend. And I understand, because there’s nothing better than buying something an expert already uses in their own yard. So I’m excited to share my top picks with you. In fact, as I am writing this, I’m even humming “These are a few of my favorite things!”

I am definitely a tree-lover and many of my favorite trees stand taller than my house now decades after planting. So they have their limitations as recommendations. But there’s one little tree you can head out and buy that will bring you joy inside the house or out, as well as plenty of other garden tools and accessories I couldn’t live without.

This list of my favorite plants and essential gardening tools have transformed my garden for the better over the years and I believe they can do the same for you – whether you are spiffing up your own backyard or buying a gift for a garden-loving friend. Here's what I recommend to everyone who wants to know my must-have picks.

1. Meyer Lemon Tree

When you buy a potted Meyer lemon tree (Citrus × meyeri 'Improved'), there’s a really tough question you have to answer. Should you keep it indoors in a sunny window or outdoors on the patio?

For a time, I used to move my one container-planted Meyer lemon tree from inside in my bedroom to outside in the sun and back again. But this became a pain, so the obvious solution is buy two trees!

I adore my little Meyer lemon and it brings me joy in so many forms. The leaves are a happy green and the blossoms have an incredibly lovely fragrance that fills the house or the patio.

Then there is the delicious fruit – a bold yellow lemon with a thin skin and sweet, citrusy juice. A Meyer lemon is a mix between a tart lemon and sweet orange, so it’s the best of both worlds.

You can grow a Meyer lemon tree indoors or outdoors. Mine is almost a pet rather than a tree and it’s definitely one of the things I would save in a fire. You can get a Meyer lemon tree shipped to your door from Trees.com (formerly Fast Growing Trees).

2. Bird Feeder

I love birds! One of the things I like best about my little home in the mountains in Sare is the morning bird song. I’ve planted 200 trees on my land because I love trees, too, and know that they welcome birds and squirrels. The birds reward me with a surround-sound of song for about half an hour just before the sun rises each morning.

I encourage the birds by putting in bird houses. Oh the joy of hearing those twitters, then watching mom bird show her babies how to fly! All those hungry birds get food from me as well, so good bird feeders are a must.

Yes, I know there are smart bird feeders, but I personally avoid them on the theory that feeding birds is one of those old-fashioned activities one can do without connecting to technology.

I like the simplicity of the Youvip Metal Roof Bird Feeder from Amazon and have two in France and one in my backyard in San Francisco. It’s made of elegant bronze metal with a perch large enough to accommodate an entire family.

3. Solar Lights

Solar lights may not be a gardening tool per se, but they are a useful and lovely addition to any landscape. They decorate my garden just the same way that a beautiful plant does and bring me immense joy as I step outside on a dark night.

I had lots of solar-powered lights around my mountain home in France where the dark nights make them stand out like stars. But even in urban San Francisco, it’s appealing to walk to the back patio and see the “fireworks” lights I installed.

I got these solar lights from Walmart that look like mini fireworks and I recommend them to one and all. They are weather-proof and the batteries last for up to 10 hours and then can be recharged. You can program them to be steady or to flash. Plus, you can also bend the copper wire of the lights to get the look you want.

4. Limelight Hydrangea

Do you have a group of friends who you invite to every party, confident that they will show up and have a good time no matter who else is there? I do too, and I also have an inside clique for my garden. At the top of that list is hydrangeas, my reliable garden chums. They are easy to grow, tolerant and versatile, and utterly gorgeous during their long bloom seasons.

If you are just tiptoeing into the wonderful world of hydrangeas, consider starting with a 'Limelight' hydrangea. This is an easy-care shrub with an incredibly long blooming time and spectacular cone-shaped blooms.

Why are they spectacular? First, they are huge – bigger than any of the other hydrangea flowers I grow. Second, they are a gorgeous lime green from the moment they bloom in summer all the way into the fall growing season. Toward the end of fall, the flowers change into a deep pink that provides a stunning contrast with the lush dark green leaves.

Buy yours from a quality grower, not a big box chain for the best results (though you can get Limelight hydrangeas from Proven Winners at the Home Depot). I suggest Perfect Plants Nursery when buying hydrangeas because plants come from the grower with a 30-day guarantee.

5. Long Garden Gloves

When someone asks me to “give them a hand” in the garden, I never take a risk. I carry my own extra-long garden gloves with me – these gloves from Ace Hardware called Game of Thorns. Yes, I admit it, I was taken in by the cute name of these Watson Gloves. But if they’ve saved my hands/wrists/arms one time, they’ve done it a thousand times.

I happen to have a defensive hedge of pyracantha in France that loves to scratch me with its long thorns, as well as roses, hawthorn, and holly (with their ferocious leaves!). In San Francisco, the bougainvillea is armed and dangerous as well. And the skin on my arms prefers to stay in one piece.

If you need to protect your arms in the garden from sharp or stinging plants, it’s wonderful to slip on these tough gloves that come up to your elbow. They even have a knuckle bar and thumb saddle for added protection.

Earlier this year we lost Sam Neill. The star of Jurassic Park, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and Peaky Blinders, he was also a winemaker, farmer, and by all accounts lovely person.

Three years ago, while promoting his memoir (available here on Amazon), Neill was already thinking about the end of his life. When he spoke to The Guardian in 2023, he was in remission from Stage 3 blood cancer. And the thing that was weighing on him most was his garden.

He went on to say he’d like to see as much of his grandchildren’s lives as possible, too. But the trees are what stood out to me.

Welcome to the inaugural Quote of the Week, a series where every Monday I'll take a look at a notable quotation about plants, gardening, and nature, and explore what it can teach us all about our connection to the garden. Who better to start with than the late, great Sir Sam Neill?

The Best Time to Plant a Tree Was 30 Years Ago

The second best time to plant a tree is today. It’s an old proverb you hear, and one that’s been attributed and misattributed so much that no one knows where it came from. The idea is that trees take a long time to reach their full potential, so if you want a nice tree, you want one that's already mature. At the same time, today will be 30 years ago before you know it, so there's no time like the present to start.

It's a lovely message as well as good gardening advice, and it’s one that Sam Neill seemed to hold dear.

On his Instagram (which is a real treat if you need some wholesome Kiwi farm content in your life) he mused extensively about the lifetimes of trees, and how they often vastly outstrip our own.

“You don’t really plant for yourself. You plant for future generations, because you’ll never see that tree in its full magnificence like this one here,” he says, gaze traveling upward to the massive Wellingtonia, or giant sequoia, above him.

Trees, if all goes well, are meant to outlive us. They're a tether to the past, like the ones planted by Neill's great-grandfather or Witness Trees, which saw historical events no living person can remember. They're also a lifeline into the future, a way to speak to our descendants after we're long gone.

It seems clear, then, that Sam Neill knew he likely wouldn't see those olive and cypresses reach their full height. His annoyance wasn't with a life cut short, but just with time and its inexorable way of marching on. None of us are any closer to slowing time down, so it's best just to accept it and, like Sam Neill, plant trees as often as you can. Thirty years from now, someone will quietly thank you.

Trees You Can Plant Today

Gardening when the summer sun is blazing down on you, and your sweat is mixing with the yucky taste of sunscreen dripping from your nose, is no joke. When the heat index is climbing, and the humidity kicks in, weeding your vegetable garden feels like an endurance event. So, what’s the fix?

A misting fan is one of the most effective ways to make gardening in the summer bearable; the combo of airflow and fine water spray can drop the temperature around you by up to 15 degrees. If you're already taking steps to protect your garden in the heat, a misting fan is a natural companion. Modern cordless misting fans have come a long way from the cheap squeeze-bottle versions of a decade ago.

Today's options range anywhere from high-capacity floor fans with multi-gallon tanks and 40-hour battery life, to compact individual units that you can clip to a golf cart or your folding table. Some can even be connected to a garden hose for continuous misting, and others have tanks that can run on their own without a water source. We've rounded up six of the best across a range of price points, sourced from Amazon, Home Depot, and Lowe's.

This was the highest-rated overall misting fan in independent testing for 2026, and it's easy to see why. It weighs less than 4 pounds and comes with a built-in handle and integrated water tank. You can easily move it from a patio table to a deck to an outdoor grill station, and its dry-touch evaporative mist keeps you cool without getting furniture or plants wet.

Five speed settings, including a BreezeBoost mode, a tilting face, and the ability to run corded or cordless, give it a versatility no other model can match. The battery lasts up to 29 hours on the lowest setting without mist. You can also connect it to a standard garden hose, and you can add ice to the tank for an even cooler output during a heatwave.

This is currently a bestseller on Amazon in the misting fan category, and it’s seriously capable for your patio or garden. It has a built-in water pump that can draw directly from any container, and the dual spray nozzles put out an exceptionally fine mist.

Seven speed settings, 45/90 degree auto oscillation, and a remote control (with 5-meter range) make it easy to use from a chair if you’re feeling too lazy from the heat, while the brushless motor keeps the noise low so you can still enjoy some peace and quiet. The 30,000mAh battery runs continuously for 7–50 hours depending on what speed you set, and the fan head can be taken off and folded for storage.

This is a super compact but capable misting fan with a 2-litre tank; the tank is even clear so you can easily monitor the water level without stopping mid-weeding to check. The 27,600mAh battery powers four wind speeds and 120-degree auto-oscillation. It has a timer function and built-in RGB ambient lighting so you can use it for a serene evening on your patio.

This is a great middle-of-the-road option for people who want something more portable than a full pedestal fan but with more features and battery capacity than a basic handheld model. The nice thing is that it’s super light as well, so you can carry it around the garden, but it’s still sturdy enough to leave on while you work.

This is the RYOBI option for those who want more power and less noise (yes, these things exist). This 12-inch hybrid fan is part of RYOBI's WHISPER SERIES, and when “whisper” is in the name, you know it’s their quietest range. It still delivers up to 1,400 CFM and a 15-foot misting spray range when you connect it to a standard garden hose.

It has a pivoting head and HI/LO airflow switch that gives you great flexibility, and it functions as a regular fan when the misting feature isn't needed. Like all RYOBI ONE+ products, it's compatible with over 300 battery-powered tools in the ecosystem. If you use power tools regularly in the garden and already have ONE+ batteries, this is the most versatile in the range.

EGO claims this is the world’s most powerful cordless misting fan, and the specs actually back this up. Air speeds exceed 20mph with airflow from 1,500 to 5,000 CFM across five speed settings (that's double the output of a standard 20-inch box fan!) The hose can be dropped into any bucket or container for its misting source, and will cover up to 540 square feet of outdoor space (about the size of a large entertaining patio).

It runs on EGO's ARC Lithium battery system, with up to 60 hours of run time on speed 1 with a 5.0Ah battery (note: this is sold separately). The telescopic handle and super sturdy wheels make it easy to move around the yard. If you just want real cooling power, this is seriously the one to get.

If you’re looking for something that has everything included in the one box, this is the one you want. The SKIL comes with the fan, a 12V 2.0Ah USB-C battery, a 20W charger, and a charging cable. This means you’re all ready to go right away without purchasing a separate battery.

The water tank is easy to fill and move without needing a separate bucket, and the removable nozzle can be taken apart for easy cleaning. Three fan speeds, two misting modes, and an adjustable kickstand so you can use it on uneven surfaces make it perfect for the garden. The USB-C battery even doubles as a power bank for charging your phone, which can be seriously useful when you’re working on the garden for a long period of time.

The runtime is up to 4 hours with mist on low; this is shorter than larger models, but it's a compact personal fan rather than a patio unit, so we’ll let it slide.

A Few Things to Know Before You Buy

Misting fans work best in lower humidity conditions. In dry heat, the perceived temperature drop can be quite dramatic, whereas in humid climates it’s less effective (though still noticeable!) If you're gardening in a hot, dry area, misting fans are one of the most effective tools available. If you’re in a more humid climate, look for a model that with a “dry fan only” only mode so you can switch off the moisture when you don’t need it.

Something also worth noting is that misting fans can also benefit your plants as much as you. If you have plants that love moisture, the fine water droplets are great to keep them from drying out on a hot afternoon, and the cooling effect can reduce stress on container plants in particular. Note: Avoid directing mist at plants that prefer dry conditions, such as lavender and rosemary.

For more on keeping your garden going through the hottest part of summer, our full guide to gardening in a heatwave is worth bookmarking before temperatures peak.

You’re moving homes, which means your family and your pets are also packing up and moving along with you. But what about your plants? Many of us consider our plants as part of our extended family, and I am one of them. I tend to rescue plants other people toss out with the garbage. Once you’ve nursed a junked plant back to glorious health, you just can’t leave it behind when you move.

Yet moving plants to a new home can have legal repercussions that you may not see coming. I know, since I’m a plant lover and a lawyer. Part of it depends on where you are moving and part depends on whether the plants are from outside in the garden.

It’s important to understand the legal issues before you move your plants to a new home. I'll walk you through the legality of moving plants to a new home, so you don't get in trouble.

Legal Issues When Moving Plants

You love your plants and can’t help but feel that they love you, too. So it’s natural to want to take them along with you when you move. While container plants are a bit more practical to travel with than those growing in the landscape, you’ll want to take a close look at the laws before packing up any of your plants.

There are two primary types of legal issues around moving with plants. The first (and perhaps easier) challenge involves state and national borders. This issue involves the question: can I take this type of plant into a new state or country? The second issue involves plant ownership. It asks the question: whose plants are they after you sell your house?

Moving Plants Across State Lines

So you pack up the car with your suitcases, your kids, your dog, your cat and your 17 favorite houseplants. If you are headed to another town in the same state, you shouldn’t have any problems – other than squeezing everybody in.

If, however, your move will take you across state or national borders, you may have issues. Even when crossing from one state into another, some plants are forbidden. Moving plants across state lines is governed by the United States Department of Agriculture and state-specific agricultural quarantines.

In general, it is illegal to move plants between states if your plants harbor pests or diseases or have been declared federal noxious weeds, like kudzu and witchweed.

Other restrictions are in place as well, but they vary by destination. These include the prohibition to take any citrus plants into California and Florida to prevent the spread of different citrus diseases.

They also include restrictions on taking any plants that are hosts for the emerald ash borer (largely ash trees) and the Japanese beetles (plants like maple trees, birches, linden trees, roses, flowering crabapples, hibiscus, crape myrtles, and viburnum).

Finally, it is largely prohibited to take any natural soil across state lines. That means that any container plants with soil from the garden in the container cannot be transported legally. Only sterile, soilless potting media is permitted.

Moving plants across international borders is even more fraught legally. For example, if you're moving to Canada, your houseplants must have a Phytosanitary Certificate from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and must be bare roots.

Travel into other countries with plants may be even more restricted. The best rule is: know before you go. Call the nearest consulate and ask before trying to move plants into a new home in a different country.

Removing Plants From Your Old Yard

Are you sure you are really the owner of that shrub in your old yard? Before you dig it up to take it with you to your new home, make sure you know the rules about plant ownership.

Yes, you planted that hydrangea, that rose bush, or that Meyer lemon tree in the backyard some years back. You bought it at the garden store, dug the hole, planted the roots, and nurtured the plant. Now it’s time to leave and you’re thinking it would look nice in your new home’s garden.

But is it legally yours? If you rented the home you are leaving, it might belong to the landlord. In most states, plants that are attached to the soil by their roots belong to the property owner.

That means that outdoor shrubs permanently planted in the ground are considered legal “fixtures” and belong to the landlord of your old home. Even if a tenant plants the shrubs themselves, they generally cannot remove them when moving out without the landlord's permission

There may be issues even if you owned your old property. If you are moving because you sold the property, ownership of the outdoor plants may have passed to the new owner with the sale of the house.

As a general rule, outdoor shrubs that are planted in the ground belong to the buyer when the sale closes. They are classified as fixtures and automatically transfer with the house. Sellers cannot dig them up unless explicitly stated in the purchase contract that the seller will take ownership of certain plants.

What You Can Do

• Before moving day, figure out what plants you wish to take with you. Do your research to understand whether or not you can take them to your new home.
• Take cuttings from the in-ground plants you particularly love to root and plant at the new home.
• If a particular outdoor shrub is very dear to you, negotiate with your landlord, if you are a tenant, to be able to dig it up and take it with you. If you are selling your home, write in explicit exceptions for the outdoor plants you wish to take.

What You Can't Do

• When crossing borders, never lie to a state or federal agent about the plants you are carrying. This could cause you to be subject to large fines or even to be criminally charged and sent to prison.
• Never dig up outdoor plants if you are not the current owner of the property. Your landlord or the new buyer can charge you with theft and/or sue you for the replacement cost.

Tools to Help You Move Plants

I’m always looking for easy, budget-friendly ways to grow a better garden and one of my absolute favorite tricks is to use old cardboard boxes. Ever since I discovered the versatility of this underrated piece of packaging waste, I started recommending it to everyone I know. It seems like all the other lazy, frugal gardeners have figured it out, too.

Most of us have tons of cardboard boxes hanging around the house from all of our online orders, but instead of tossing them in the recycling bin you can recycle them in your yard and garden. They can help solve a variety of common gardening problems and, best of all, they’re free!

So whether you’re struggling with weeds, pests, or you want to expand your garden easily, cardboard is your new secret weapon. There are so many clever ways you can use cardboard in your yard, but here are my four favorite tricks to try.

1. Kill Weeds Naturally

Maybe you want to grow an organic garden or you just want to keep small kids and pets safe from harmful chemicals in your landscape. Either way, cardboard is your new best friend. Using cardboard to smother weeds is hands-down the most effective and safest way to kill weeds that I’ve ever found. And it t is so easy to do!

To kill weeds naturally, just lay down a flattened cardboard box over the area you want to cover. Overlap the sheets of cardboard by at least 2-4 inches (5-10 cm), then add a layer of mulch – this organic mulch from the Home Depot is a great option. Make sure mulch is at least 2 inches (5 cm) deep to slow down weeds.

Over time, the cardboard and mulch will break down and add organic material back into the soil. This method enriches soil nutrition and improves soil texture, similar to adding compost to your garden.

Depending on the severity of the weeds in your garden, you may have to reapply more mulch in midsummer. But if you put down cardboard early in spring before weeds are able to take root, then your garden should be mostly weed-free for summer!

2. Make a New Garden Bed

You can also use cardboard to make a new garden bed in the grass. To do this, you will follow the same method as you did above for smothering weeds. For the best results, though, you should edge out the garden bed before laying down cardboard and adding mulch.

First, use a hose or rope to trace the outline of your new garden bed. Then cut into the sod with a straight-blade shovel or an edging tool, which you can pick up on Amazon, to create the border of your new bed.

Next, lay down sheets of cardboard. You can water the cardboard with a hose or watering can to help it start decomposing faster or to keep it from blowing away on a windy day. Then add a thick layer of mulch – 4 inches (10 cm) is enough to start the process.

To plant, you can either pull away the mulch, cut a hole into the cardboard with a sharp trowel or boxcutter, and then dig a planting hole to install your desired plant. Alternatively, you can lay out your plants first, after edging the garden bed, and plant them before laying down the cardboard. After planting, carefully place sheets of cardboard around the plants and cover with mulch.

3. Create a Slug Trap

Forget using beer to kill slugs! You can make a humane, organic slug and snail trap in your garden with a piece of cardboard. Hungry mollusks can decimate a whole crop of leafy greens overnight, but I hate trying to drown them in a bowl full of beer. It just feels mean – and it never seems to work either.

A much better way to get rid of slugs and snails is to lay a damp piece of cardboard on the ground in your garden next to the mollusks’ favorite plants. They tend to go after leafy plants like hostas and lettuce or brassicas like broccoli and cabbage.

Leave the piece of garden in your garden overnight, then in the morning pick it up and it should be covered in slugs and snails. Carefully remove the pests and toss them far away from your garden.

4. Fill Raised Beds for Free

If you just built or bought a new raised bed, then it’s time to start stocking up on cardboard. Don’t waste your money on landscape fabric to line the bottom of your beds. It just breaks down and gets tangled up with weeds, eventually causing a much bigger problem than it ever solved.

Leaving the bottom of your raised bed open to and accessible to the soil underneath also allows plants to grow deeper root systems and hold onto moisture longer, which means less watering – yay! Instead of using landscape fabric to stop weeds growing up in your beds, grab those old cardboard boxes out of your recycling bin.

Flatten out the boxes and lay them at the bottom of your raised bed. This will stop weeds from growing up through the soil once you fill your raised beds, but it will eventually break down and let your plants’ roots grow deep into the native soil.

You can use cardboard as the base layer in a hügelkultur raised bed. After placing the cardboard, layer on logs, cut branches and brush, then add compost, your preferred soil mix – I always have good results with Miracle-Gro potting soil from Home Depot – and plant. Your beds will be weed-free and thrive all summer long with less watering.

This summer's heatwave means it’s getting too hot to garden comfortably, yet your plants need extra TLC to survive the intense conditions. The solution? These pro gardening tips that will not only cut chore time but help your plants through this hot spell.

From smarter watering to avoiding heat-stressed plants, protecting rapidly ripening fruit from birds to keeping your borders flowering abundantly, these 10 pro gardening tricks mean your garden will flourish with minimal effort from you. A heatwave isn’t the time to be doing any jobs that stress plants, either, so leave your essential July pruning until this heat dome has passed. Pause July tasks that involve more work for you, too, such as sowing seeds in midsummer for a fresh burst of color, and concentrate on helping your garden survive the heat.

Once you see how much time these gardening cheats save, and how much happier your plants are, I’ll wager you stick with them even once this heatwave has passed. After all, there’s World Cup football to be watching!

1. Deter Birds With Reflective Tape

Protecting soft fruit such as strawberries, raspberries and tomatoes from garden birds typically involves erecting a fine mesh net over your plants. It’s very effective at keeping your fruit safe but boy, it’s a faff when you need to remove the mesh so you can pick it. And in hot weather, fruit ripens so quickly, that you may find yourself having to harvest every day.

Tying strips of reflective tape such as this from Amazon to sticks or canes stuck in the ground is a great alternative to mesh. No, it won’t protect 100% of your fruit, but it does a pretty good job and it’s far cheaper and much less hassle. Freed from the mesh net, your plants will enjoy more airflow, too, meaning less stressed plants and better harvests post-heatwave.

2. Leave Lawn Clippings as a Mulch

Those grass tips you snip off your lawn whenever you mow are packed full of nitrogen, and they can be left in place to rot down and feed your lawn for free. They’ll also act as a mulch to hold in moisture.

There are a couple of provisos: you need to mow when the grass is dry and, unless you have a mulching mode on your mower, you need to mow regularly so the clippings are short. That shouldn’t create any more work as grass growth slows in dry conditions. It’s a smart move to raise your mower height a notch, too, as slightly longer grass blades will encourage deeper roots that are better able to find moisture. Both of these are simple mowing switches that lead to a healthier lawn.

3. Plug Border Gaps With Hanging Basket Plants

The edges of beds, and in particular raised beds, can dry out very quickly in a prolonged heatwave, making it near impossible for smaller, shallow-rooted perennial plants to survive. You may also get border gaps where perennial growth is more compact than usual due to the heat. A smart solution is to use hanging-basket plants to temporarily fill these bare spots.

Bred to survive life in the arid, exposed environment of a hanging basket and bloom profusely for months on end, these will tolerate heat where others keel over. You can use trailing petunia, calibrachoa and impatiens as groundcover or let stems cascade over raised bed edges, and if you use a bulb planter, it’s super-quick to add plug plants to your garden. Head down to your local garden center and see what bedding plants it has to offer.

4. Weed With a Stirrup Hoe

It’s tempting to ditch weeding altogether in this heat, but believe me, those weeds will be taking full advantage of this hot weather wherever you’re watering. Not only does this mean super-speedy growth, those pesky weeds will be sucking up valuable moisture that could be helping the plants you want to grow to flourish.

The solution is to do a weekly three-minute weed with a stirrup hoe, sometimes called a scuffle hoe, like this tool from Amazon which has an adjustable handle that can be shortened for use on raised beds. A stirrup hoe has a metal loop that you pull through the soil to slice through weeds' roots, which means you can simply leave the toppled weeds where they fall. If you do this every week, it’s really effortless as the hoe head is small enough to whizz around the plants you want to keep.

5. Embrace Chop and Drop

Chop and drop is a relatively new practice that’s become hugely popular in Europe. It simply involves cutting out the compost heap middle-man and dropping pruned plant material directly onto the soil, where it will slowly rot down and provide nutrients. While this method is primarily used when cutting down old herbaceous stems at the end of the growing season, it works equally well when you’re deadheading. So when you're snipping off faded flowers, leave them where they fall.

The benefit of this isn't just saved time, but the fallen organic material will help to reduce evaporation and lock moisture into the soil.

6. Water Earlier to Halt Evaporation

Efficient watering is key in your efforts to help plants survive a heatwave. Irrigate your plants when the sun is high in the sky and the soil has heated up and you’ll lose between 20% and 50% of that water to evaporation. Get out the hosepipe early in the morning, when air and soil temperatures are far cooler, however, and much less water will evaporate. That means you can water for less time and your plants will enjoy the same level of hydration.

Keeping the water stream directed at the soil, rather than as a shower that covers the whole plant, also reduces evaporation.

7. Bury Flowerpots in the Ground

Another trick you can employ to reduce the amount of time you spend watering is to make your own ollas by burying flowerpots in the ground. Pronounced ‘oh-yah’, an olla is an ancient irrigation method that buries porous vessels filled with water to slowly deliver moisture into the soil. This not only cuts evaporation to almost zero, but it’s far faster to aim the hosepipe stream into a pot than it is to try not to disturb the soil too much as it slowly absorbs the water.

Plants will naturally grow their roots towards this reliable, more consistent water source, too. Terracotta pots with saucers such as these from Amazon make great ollas and the bigger they are, the longer they’ll last between filling. Seal the drainage hole with an exterior silicone sealant such as this from Amazon, then bury with the pot rim just above the surface and use the saucer as a lid.

8. Dampen Down Your Greenhouse Every Morning

A bucket of water thrown over the greenhouse floor, or a quick spray of the hosepipe, can save you a ton of time dealing with heat-stressed plants. As the water evaporates, it acts as a natural air conditioner, cooling the air by several degrees. This process also adds moisture to the air, which slows how quickly plants lose water through their leaves, keeping plants hydrated and less stressed, so they’re far better able to deal with all manner of threats.

Daily dampening down also deters red spider mites that typically thrive in the hot, dry air of a greenhouse and suck sap, damaging leaves and potentially killing plants.

9. De-Stress Sun-Baked Patio Pots

Heat-stressed plants need a heap of TLC to keep them alive so, rather than fire-fighting and watering them morning, noon and night, take some preventative action to lower their needs. First, move pots into a partially shaded area to give them some respite from the sun. If that’s not possible, plant parasols such as these angle-adjustable umbrellas from Amazon can create much-needed midday shade, or hang up a sail shade.

Adding a moisture retention mix such as Miracle-Gro Water Storing Crystals, also available from Amazon, to the soil will help keep the plant hydrated between waterings, as will topping pots with clay LECA pebbles to hold onto water.

Grouping pots of plants with the same watering needs together will also save you time – both when you're watering and when you're explaining to neighbors what needs watering, when, if you’re off on vacation.

10. Grow Basil Alongside Tomatoes

Recent research has shown that basil releases volatile compounds that prime a tomato plant’s defence mechanism. So, a tomato plant with a basil plant alongside it will react faster and more vigorously to a threat than one without. So much so, that planting basil with tomatoes can increase yield by 20%. In hot weather, plants are more susceptible to both pests and disease, so beefing up their response will save you a ton of time dealing with problems later on down the line.

Greek basil (Ocimum minimum) is the variety used in the tomato stress reponse study and seeds are available from Amazon.

11. Replace Needy Plants With Low-Maintenance Lovelies

Ok, so this isn't so much a cheat as a change of attitude – but as far as gardening tips for a heatwave go, it's perhaps the most important. More and more of us gardeners are turning towards drought-tolerant plants that practically grow themselves as trad water-dependent plants such as hydrangeas start to struggle in our increasingly hot summers. If you're wondering how to help plants survive a heatwave, then perhaps it's time you did too.

I operate a strict no-diva policy in my garden: I only add low-maintenance plants and if one I inherited starts to struggle, I don’t wait for it to die, but dig it up and advertise it for free on my local online marketplace group so a gardener with more time on their hands can bow to its needy ways. And honestly, that's been the biggest time-saver of all.

I hope all these pro gardening tips save you time and stress in the garden, so you can put your feet up in the shade.

Summers have always been the hottest, driest season, but these days, with a warming climate, temperatures can become extreme. Most of us have seen our gardens dry out during summer, especially during periods of drought and/or high heat and – other than watering in the early morning – there’s not much to do about it.

As your landscape gets toasty and the plants get dry, fire risk increases. And that's not to mention 4th of July fireworks. If you’ve leaned into drought tolerant plants in the backyard, the risk is even higher given the lower moisture content. Some plants that are resilient in extreme weather can be surprisingly flammable, and wise homeowners keep these species far from homes, sheds, fences and other structures during hot, dry summer weather.

7 Garden Plants That Are Surprisingly Flammable

Some plants and trees are notoriously flammable and proud of it. We all know that pine and spruce needles have high resin content, and so do their branches and trunks. Other plants are just as flammable but a little sneakier about it. So don’t feel bad if you’re just hearing about their flammability for the first time.

It’s important to identify these “secretly” flammable plants because you just don’t want them near buildings or fences in hot summer weather. And you definitely want to keep them away from stray fireworks. We’d like to introduce you to seven of them that create quite a blaze if they burn.

1. Wild Lilac (Ceanothus spp.)

If you live on the West Coast, you are very likely to have a ceanothus in your backyard. These are among my favorite native shrubs, with the striking indigo flowers that cover the canopy in spring and attract butterflies, bees and other beneficial insects. The leaves are lovely too, small, oval and a dark, blue-green color. But not all ceanothus look alike. The genus includes some 60 shrubs, mostly evergreen, including some that are prostrate, some that mound, and some that are upright to 6 feet (2m) tall.

Another benefit of ceanothus is its drought tolerance; I’ve hardly watered mine since the first year I planted them. But this characteristic also indicates that these native beauties are flammable. In fact, ceanothus leaves are coated with flammable oils and resins. These garden staples started out as chaparral plants and nature built them for fire; the ceanothus seeds require intense heat for germination.

Few of us who love ceonothus are likely to cut our trees down because of an elevated risk of fire. On the other hand, it just makes sense to position it in the back of the garden rather than near the house, garage or shed.

Just in Case

2. Blackberry (Rubus armeniacus)

Fresh blackberries from the garden are sweet and delicious, but keep in mind that blackberry bushes are so flammable that they can be a fire hazard. You should never plant them close to your home, and if you have them in your berry patch, be sure to keep them manicured.

Left unattended, the canes can shoot up to 15 feet (5m) tall. They stay upright even after they die, creating scaffolding for new growth. The dead canes create a ladder fuel situation where a ground fire can climb up into tree branches. Replace your blackberry canes with red flowering currents, thimbleberry and Pacific crabapple.

3. Common Holly (Ilex aquifolium)

Deck the halls alright, but don’t plant common holly near your home. Its dark green, glossy leaves are unmistakable, but they are filled with resin and highly flammable. In a wilder landscape, they can also create a dense understory that can function as a ladder fuel. In addition, common holly leaves produce a flammable vapor when heated, making stands of holly a fire risk.

It’s wise to avoid planting holly near your home and don’t leave large holly piles near any structure. If you want to replace the shrub, consider sword fern, vine maple, or ocean spray.

4. Rosemary (Rosmarinus spp.)

Many of us have planted rosemary in the garden because it is extremely drought resistant and can take a hot sun. But this plant is among the more flammable of the native plants. Its needle-like leaves are filled with oils and resins - and these remain even when the needles die and dry on the stems. That translates to a plant that is appealing visually, useful in cooking, but highly flammable.

Most gardeners I know keep a shrub or two of rosemary in the herb garden, and this does not seem like a significant fire threat. But resist any temptation to suddenly install an entire bed of rosemary just beside your home.

5. Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius)

Scotch broom is considered a common weed today, but it was brought into America years ago as an ornamental. It is rather pretty, with leaves composed of three oblong leaflets close to the stem, slender stems, and a cloud of bright yellow blossoms from March to June. .

But admire fields of Scotch broom from afar rather than planting up your garden. Dense, mature stands of broom create lots of dead woody debris with a high oil content. This puts them on the “most flammable” list of plants that do not belong anywhere near your home or out buildings. Instead, plant native grasses and beaked hazelnut shrubs.

6. Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)

My grandmother used to wear lavender perfume, and the whiff of this fragrant flowering plant brings back memories to me. That’s one reason I added it to my herb garden; another is that it is as beautiful as it is fragrant.

But as those slender, flexible stems turn woody as they age and dead plant matter builds up within the plant. This makes your lovely, fragrant lavender plant flammable, very flammable. It is not recommended that you plant lavender near any structure on your property. Keep it more than 5 feet (2m) away from your home to prevent any fire problems.

7. Bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris)

Now this one surprised me. Bamboo flammable? Well it is and it isn’t.

Bamboos are vigorous and dramatic plants with a tropical air. Their graceful swaying canes and forever foliage add structure and movement to the landscape. You can find bamboo that will be happy in almost every growing condition. Some are running and some are climbing but all seem flexible and moist rather than dry and flammable.

Live bamboo canes are made up of cellulose, and include high amounts of silica and water with very few volatile oils. Live bamboo is hard - if not impossible - to ignite, but the same cannot be said of dry bamboo. The dried stems, leaves, and sheaths of bamboo are extremely flammable, and most large stands of bamboo include lots of dead stems and dried debris. All this dry bamboo can explode when burned, so keep any large planting well away from your home.

You don’t need to remove bamboo from your landscape, but you do need to maintain it, pruning out dead wood regularly and removing it from the area. If this seems like too much work, consider planting something else like

Tips to Reduce Fire Risk

You can reduce the risk of fire in your home and landscape by selecting plants wisely and maintaining your garden. Here are five tips to keep in mind.

1. Select plants that are fire-resistant, like succulents.
2. Prune back branches that approach your home.
3. Clean up and dispose of yard debris including dry leaves, canes, and branches.
4. Never plant shrubs within 5 feet (2m) of the home.
5. Choose mulch that is not flammable, like organic compost, instead of flammable mulch, like dried leaves or pine needles.
6. Cut out dead plants, shrubs and trees promptly and remove them from the property.

For years, I’ve collected vintage gardening books, scouring thrift stores, flea markets and yard sales in my search for interesting tomes. The gorgeous illustrations, faded covers, poetic words and fancy lettering – even the scent of the old paper pages: these old books have a charm of their own. But, as well as being beautiful, I've discovered they’re also an amazing source of gardening tips that are still incredibly relevant to vegetable growers and gardeners today.

These old books are packed full of the type of gardening wisdom that used to be handed down the generations as family members gardened together side-by-side. So many of us move away from our roots these days, and this sort of inherited knowledge is easily lost along the way – which is why I find vintage books such a rich source of advice and guidance. Dipping into my vintage library is rather like having the voice of a kindly grandparent passing on their gardening wisdom and experience as you grow.

It's the expert tips about growing vegetables that I've found most useful – and I guess, back in the day when everyone grew their own supplies, a decent dinner rested on such expertise. I hope you find these old grow-your-own tips as useful as I have…

1. Water Seedlings From Beneath

'When your seedlings are well through and need watering, hold the box in a bath of water till moisture appears on the surface. Dip it in very gradually or you will disturb the soil.'
The ABC of the Greenhouse by W.E. Shewell-Cooper, published 1947 English Universities Press Ltd

I've tried this out myself with trays of tiny seedlings, and it’s a great way to irrigate seedlings. It drenches the roots without damaging the fragile plants or disturbing their roots. Sadly, I don’t have a vintage zinc bathtub to hand, so I use a large flexible plastic tub. Despite being less aesthetically pleasing, it works like a dream.

2. Twist Plant Ties to Cushion Stems

'The Wrong Method of tying' vs 'The Right Method of Tying'.
The Alphabet of Gardening by T.W. Saunders, published 1926 by W.H.&L. Collingridge

Since I spotted this tip, I always use this clever way of tying when I support plants such as tomatoes or runner beans with a stake. For a start, the twist means the tie stays put rather than sliding around, and this method holds the stem slightly more firmly for better support. But the really clever bit is that the twist acts as a little cushion, protecting the stem from rubbing against the support.

3. Shade Your Tomatoes

‘Strange though it may seem, heat is the great enemy of tomatoes under glass, especially those in a small greenhouse which may become like an oven on a July midday. For this, a little shade is a great help.’
The Vegetable Garden by E.R. Janes, published 1954 Penguin Books

Last summer in my greenhouse, I scorched my poor baby tomato plants to a crisp, so this tip is something I wish I’d read sooner. Burnt brown leaves, shrivelled flowers – it was a sad, sad scene of devastation. Learn from my mistakes and shade your greenhouse if you're growing tomatoes in a hot zone: treat your greenhouse with shading compound spray or fit a temporary fabric shade to protect your little toms from the sun.

4. Ripen Onions Faster

'The ripening of onions is hastened by bending over the tops with the handle of hoe or rake.'
How to Grow and Produce Your Own Food by Charles Boff, published 1946 Odhams Press Ltd

If you're growing onions, you'll know the frustration of waiting for them to ripen, and their tops to naturally fall over and brown before harvesting your crop. This tip is so simple to do, but so effective. It's particularly handy if you’re trying to harvest your crop quickly in order to clear space for another.

5. Encourage Dense Cabbage Hearts

‘A loose cabbage can be encouraged to heart-up by making a vertical cut in the stem and wedging this open with a piece of stick.’
How to Grow and Produce Your Own Food by Charles Boff, published 1946 Odhams Press Ltd

I have to admit that I haven't tried this trick yet, but I will be putting into practice soon in the community veg patch I help out at. We're growing cabbages at the community veg patch I'm involved with, and some are looking decidedly lack-lustre and floppy. This method looks pretty extreme, but it might just be their saving.

6. Banish Carrot Fly

‘When carrots are thinned out, soil should be pressed back around the remaining plants by treading or with the back of the rake. This is to discourage the destructive carrot fly which seeks to lay eggs in loose soil.’
How to Grow and Produce Your Own Food by Charles Boff, published 1946 Odhams Press Ltd

I've been growing carrots for years, and before I read this little gem of gardening expertise, I had no idea that carrot flies laid their eggs in loose soil. It’s a pest I’ve struggled with in the past, so lesson learned.

7. Remove Diseased Leaves Fast

'Whether tomatoes occupy the greenhouse alone or if they have to share it with many other plants, the greatest cleanliness should be practised. Diseased plants should go to the furnace – quickly. Dead leaves should be removed from the house’
The Vegetable Garden by E.R. Janes, published 1954 Penguin Books

Every now and again I give my greenhouse a good clean out, sweeping up the stray potting soil from the paving slabs and turning a jumble of flowerpots into an orderly stack. But the hygiene aspect of immediately removing none-too-healthy leaves from my tomato plants? I didn't once think about the fact that quietly ignoring them was encouraging pests and disease to multiply. And at the end of the season, I was guilty of throwing dead or diseased plants onto the compost heap.

Now I know that a little greenhouse clutter is forgivable, but I need to prioritise keeping my plants tidy.

8. Add Borage to Drinks

‘(Lemon) Balm is used by both our cook and butler. The cook mixes it with other herbs in various ways, and the butler puts it along with borage in summer drinks.’
Garden Herbs by George E. Whitehead, published 1942 by Adam & Charles Black

Sadly I do not have a butler or a cook, but I consider this tip highly relevant to gardening as I do like to make a refreshing drink after a session in the veggie patch on a hot summer's afternoon. I can now vouch that adding lemon balm leaves to a mojito cocktail is a genius idea, as is scattering a few borage flowers on a G&T for a pretty finishing touch.

Using the best pruners feels simple and intuitive. You squeeze the handles, and the blades cut the plant stem – it’s just like using scissors.

Pretty much anyone can prune – but you can take several easy steps to elevate your pruning approach beyond that of the average gardener. The right technique and process will maximize the benefits of pruning for your plants' health and appearance. In contrast, a haphazard approach could lead to pruning mistakes that harm plants' health or damage your pruner.

In this guide, I’ll explain the pruning basics with a five-step process that won't hurt your plants and trees. Two professional gardeners will provide expert advice along the way.

How to Use Pruning Shears

1. Check the timing
2. Prep the pruners
3. Make the cut
4. Clear up waste
5. Clean the pruners

1. Check the Timing

Before pruning, check whether now is the best time to prune your plants or trees.

“Many plants are best pruned during their dormant season (usually late winter to early spring) before new growth starts,” says Henchman’s Steve Swanborough.

“However, some flowering plants should be pruned right after they bloom, as they set the next year’s buds immediately after flowering.

“Look for signs like overgrown or leggy branches, crossing branches that rub against each other, or dead or diseased wood. These are indicators that pruning is needed. Additionally, thinning out dense areas to improve air circulation can help prevent diseases,” he adds.

If in doubt, seek specific guidance on when to prune a particular plant species. You might find it helpful to create a pruning calendar that will remind you when it’s time to prune each type of plant or tree in your yard.

2. Prep the Pruners

Your next step is to choose the right type of pruner for the job.

Bypass pruners and snips are the best-suited tools for pruning delicate plants, while anvil pruners and loppers are better for pruning tree branches and thick plant stems. Pick the pruner that’s best suited to prune each plant.

Before you start pruning, check to ensure the blades of your pruner are sharp enough to cut cleanly. You’ll need to sharpen or replace them if they're dull or damaged.

Finally, configure any settings or controls on the pruner. For instance, some pruners have variable cutting width settings to suit branches of varying thickness.

3. Make the Cut

Now that your pruner is ready to prune select the exact place you’ll cut.

“Where to cut a branch or stem depends very much on the plant, so always research and know what plant you are pruning,” says Morris Hankinson of Hopes Grove Nurseries.

“If in doubt, prune lightly. But generally, you will most likely need to prune above a node or set of leaves, and not when a plant is in flower or fruiting.”

Before you go ahead and cut, make sure you’re holding the pruner correctly.

“Always hold your secateurs firmly with your dominant hand, ensuring your thumb and fingers encircle the handles completely,” says Steve.

“Your grip should be strong yet relaxed to prevent hand fatigue. The cutting blade should face the plant, with the stationary hook on the opposite side. This positioning gives you a cleaner cut and minimizes damage to the plant.”

Your pruner should usually cut through the stem or branch cleanly and with relatively little effort. If cutting is difficult, do not try to force the blades through, as this can damage the tool and strain your hand.

“Instead, switch to a more suitable tool like loppers or a pruning saw for thicker branches,” says Steve.

“For branches just beyond your secateurs’ capability, try cutting at an angle, applying steady pressure rather than a quick snap.”

In general, it’s advisable to cut branches or stems at an angle of about 45°.

Shop Pruners

4. Clear Up Waste

It’s sometimes okay to leave cut plant matter on the soil in your garden beds, where it can release nutrients and act as a mulch.

However, you might prefer to gather pruning waste and dispose of it responsibly or add it to a compost bin or pile. This approach tends to make the garden look neater and is essential when you’re pruning plants that can be toxic or harmful to humans or pets, such as foxgloves or holly.

5. Clean the Pruners

“Always clean your pruner after each use,” says Steve.

“Sap and plant residue can dull the blades and lead to rust. Wipe them down with a damp cloth and store them in a clean, dry place after use to maximize longevity.”

Dry the shears carefully after cleaning to reduce the risk of rusting. Oxidation can occur even if a pruner has blades made of stainless steel (and is more likely to occur in tools with carbon steel blades).

If you want to dry your pruner thoroughly, blast dry the gap between the blades using a can of compressed air like this one ($9.99, Amazon).

You can give your pruner some added protection during storage by keeping it in a sheath. Sheaths are available for many different types and sizes of pruning shears at Amazon.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final thoughts

If you’re thinking carefully about how to use a pruner, that’s a great indication of your commitment to the health and appearance of your plants.

Pruning has immense potential benefits, including better flower displays, bigger fruit harvests, and a reduction of overgrowth and disease. By following a careful, considered approach to pruning, you’ll ensure your plants and trees experience these upsides more often rather than falling victim to incorrect pruning practices.

Almost all of us gardeners set boundaries when it comes to what plants they are willing to plant in their garden. Some are incredibly picky, accepting only drought-tolerant wildflowers that like a hot sun location while others have criteria specific to their location, like plants in their hardiness zone, plants that will tolerate sandy soil, or even plants that won’t become invasive.

Few of us, when considering a plant, ask whether or not it is legal to grow. I must admit I have never used this as a threshold question. But it’s actually important to know that there are banned plants, plants that are illegal to grow, whether in your landscape or as a houseplant.

Consider this article your warning: there are some plants and categories of plants that are illegal to grow and may result in criminal or civil prosecution. Become familiar with the different illegal in your area and make sure not to include them in your landscape. If you discover some in your garden, the best course is to dig them up and dispose of them. Here’s our shortlist.

Plants You Shouldn't Be Growing

Yes, Virginia, some plants are illegal to grow in your garden, illegal even in a container on your patio. If law enforcement catches someone cultivating these plants, they can sweep in and enforce the law, imposing penalties against the gardener. This is the case whether or not they are aware that their plants are banned.

Here are six of the biggies:

1. Giant Hogweed

Some plants are so invasive that the government determines it should not be planted. Giant hogweed is one of them. In the United Kingdom, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes it illegal to grow it or allow it to spread into the wild. In the United States, federal law makes it illegal to transport it across state lines, and many states prohibit growing it. The reason for the ban: giant hogweed is incredibly invasive and its sap can be toxic to humans who touch it.

Personally, I am already put off by the name giant hogweed, but it’s not a bad-looking plant, sort of like a huge Queen Anne's lace or a cow parsnip plant, reaching heights of 15 feet (5m). In the year of propagation, giant hogweed forms a rosette of jagged, enormous lobed leaves (up to 9 feet/3 meters long) and small white flowers in umbels in summer.

2. Water Hyacinth

Water hyacinth is one of those plants that grow in the water. It offers gorgeous flowers and its flowers and leaves can cover water surfaces quickly. What’s not to like? Well, sadly, this beautiful aquatic plant grows so fast that it can block waterways and disrupt aquatic ecosystems. It’s not illegal in every state, but several states have imposed bans.

Water hyacinth is considered a toxic weed in Florida and Texas, and possessing, transporting or selling it is illegal. It’s also restricted in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Idaho, Mississippi, and South Carolina and Texas.

3. Peyote Cactus

Peyote is a small cactus that contains mescaline, a potent hallucinogen. It is generally illegal to grow. However, peyote is used in Native American spiritual practices and there are specific legal allowances in place for indigenous rituals.

Under federal law in the United States, peyote is a Schedule I controlled substance. That makes it illegal to possess, grow, or distribute peyote outside without special permission.

What about state law? Many states make illegal peyote cultivation as a crime, a felony in fact, with heavy penalties. A few states make exceptions for research purposes.

4. Magic Mushrooms

Magic mushrooms are largely in the Psilocybe genus. They are a type of hallucinogenic mushroom that contains psilocybin, which, if eaten, turns into a psychedelic. Federal law makes it illegal to grow magic mushrooms in the United States. They are classified as a Schedule I controlled substance.

Curiously, you can legally purchase spores that will grow magic mushrooms. That’s because Psilocybin mushroom spores don’t have any psilocybin in them. However, if you succeed in growing some, you will possess psilocybin which is illegal in many places.

5. Purple Loosestrife

When purple loosestrife was imported from Europe, it was a popular ornamental with attractive foliage and tall, impressive spikes of purple flowers. In addition, those flowers are beloved by pollinators and are rich in nectar. The plant matures to 6 feet (2m) tall and is visually appealing. Over time, the plant established itself in every state in damp grasslands and river banks - other than Florida.

However, loosestrife is a threat to wetlands. It forms dense stands of tall plants that block out native plants for space, light, and pollinators. It’s not a good habitat for native wetland birds and it changes the wetland structure, clogs waterways and irrigation systems, and limits pastureland for livestock grazing. It is illegal to grow in 33 states and discouraged in others.

6. Any Clone of a Patented Plant Variety

Companies that develop unique plant cultivars spend time and money doing so and these plants are protected by patent rights. Many plants can be cloned through cuttings, making it difficult for those plant developers to protect their products.

One choice is to patent new cultivars. You are not allowed to propagate patented plants without the permission of the patent holder. Violating plant patents is against the law and a form of stealing. A plant you buy from the garden store will tell you if it has been patented.

The phrase “right plant, right place” gets repeated so often in gardening circles that it can almost start to lose its meaning. But there's real wisdom buried in this old gardening adage. Plant selection shouldn't start with what looks good at the nursery, it should start with what your landscape can actually support. Following this simple but important rule can prevent most of the avoidable problems gardeners run into.

The “right plant, right place” principle is one of the golden rules of gardening. It’s the kind of broad-strokes guidance that applies whether you are putting in your first ever garden bed or reworking a landscape you’ve had for years. A plant that has been correctly matched to its site requires very little once it's settled. One placed in the wrong spot demands constant attention and still underperforms.

I’ll break down what this commonly-used phrase means, why it is the most important piece of gardening advice you should follow, and how you can apply it in your garden for better and more beautiful results.

What Does 'Right Plant, Right Place' Mean?

At its core, the “right plant, right place” idea is about matching a plant's growing requirements – light, moisture, soil type, temperature tolerance – to the conditions that naturally exist in a given spot of the garden.

It’s not about planting to the conditions a gardener wishes existed or the ones that could exist with enough effort, but rather the conditions that already exist. For example, a hydrangea may be beautiful, but if the only available spot bakes it in direct afternoon sun, that plant is going to struggle regardless of how much you water it.

Credit for the phrase often goes back to William Robinson, a nineteenth-century horticulturalist who pushed back against the stiff, labor-intensive bedding designs popular in his day. His argument was that plants perform better when placed somewhere resembling their natural conditions.

It’s a point that's held up well since he first made it over a century ago. A plant settled into a site that fits its needs tends to flourish. It shows stronger root development, better disease resistance, and less fussing required from whomever maintains it.

Why It's So Important

Mismatched plants aren't just disappointing, they're also expensive. A shrub that keeps losing leaves in a spot that's too shady, a perennial that rots out every winter because the drainage was never right, a tree that eventually has to come out because it was planted too close to a foundation – none of these outcomes are bad luck. They were destined at planting. Eventually, the cost of replacing plants that you should have planted elsewhere adds up fast, especially when the site conditions haven't changed.

There's also the issue of maintenance, which is often overlooked. Plants that are grown in the right place tend to take care of themselves. Irrigation needs diminish when a plant is well-suited to the moisture level of a site.

Pest and disease pressure tends to be lower when a plant isn't stressed by conditions it wasn't built for. Stress opens the door to a lot of other problems. A plant that’s struggling to survive in unsuitable soil or light conditions is more vulnerable and more likely to die.

How to Use the 'Right Plant, Right Place' Rule

Putting the principle into practice comes down to a few concrete habits, most of which you need to do first before planting. But even if you’ve already planted certain species in the wrong spots, you can also move established plants to a better location. Here’s how to put the “right plant, right place” principle to work in your garden.

1. Understand the Site First

Start with the site, not the plant. Watch how the sun moves across the different areas of your landscape at various points in the day. Morning sunlight and afternoon sun aren't the same, and a lot of plants care about that distinction.

See where water sits after a hard rain. Poke around in the soil a little. Clay soil and sandy soil behave very differently when roots are trying to move through them. Take notes about the different parts of your garden and what growing conditions they provide in terms or light, drainage, nutrients, and heat.

For beds where you’ve had repeated failures, a soil test kit from Amazon may be able to help clarify the problem. It will show you the pH and nutrient levels in your garden, which are way more useful than buying more plants and hoping.

2. Know Your Growing Zone

Your growing zone is the other vital piece of information to confirm before selecting plants. The USDA Hardiness Zone Map gives a minimum winter temperature range, but heat zones and average rainfall matter, too. They’re especially important to know for perennials and woody plants that are expected to last for years.

A plant labeled “zones 5-9” may really behave more like a zone 4 when planted in a zone 5 garden in a low-lying frost pocket. It’s worth knowing your zone and the specifics of the microclimates within your own yard before committing to plants.

3. Amend With Intention

When soil amendments are actually needed, a balanced slow-release fertilizer from Amazon can help correct a site's shortcomings. Though amending heavily to force a plant into an unsuitable location is a short-term fix at best.

The goal is to close the gap between what's there and what the plant needs. You shouldn’t have to rebuild the site from scratch around one particular plant. If that’s the case, then that plant was never a good fit for your landscape.

4. Don't Trust the Tag Alone

Plant tags are a starting point, not the definitive answer. A plant described as “part shade” may mean something different to a grower in the Pacific Northwest than to one in central Texas.

Look at local extension service recommendations, regional gardening forums, and observe what’s already thriving in your neighborhood to fill in the gaps that basic plant labels leave open. The goal isn't to find perfect conditions. The point is to find conditions close enough to what the plant needs so the plant can do most of the work itself.

Following the “right plant, right place” rule will save you so much frustration, hard work, and money. And ultimately, you will be rewarded with happy plants and a thriving garden that looks beautiful and practically takes care of itself.

On March 13, the Prince and Princess of Wales’s Instagram account shared something that on the surface was very moving, but when you look closer, it was even more touching.

Several bouquets of narcissi (or daffodils, as you may call them) sourced from the Isles of Scilly had been sent to the patients and staff at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, a specialist cancer center. It was particularly poignant given the fact that the Princess of Wales herself had received treatment there. Along with the flowers was a handwritten note from her that read: "To the Patients and Staff at The Royal Marsden, as spring arrives, these narcissi from the Isles of Scilly are to say I am thinking of you all. Catherine."

If you like the idea of a handwritten note, just as Catherine did, you can get these beautiful blank note cards with flowers on them from Amazon.

The kind gesture was warmly received with The Royal Marsden responding on Instagram with pictures of their staff and patients standing next to the flowers, and writing in the caption: "A huge thank you to HRH The Princess of Wales, Joint Patron of The Royal Marsden with HRH The Prince of Wales, for the kind donation of beautiful narcissi to display in our hospitals so our patients and staff may enjoy them. An incredibly thoughtful gesture."

The choice of flower also carried a specific meaning. Daffodils are the national flower of Wales, so it made it a super personal choice from the woman who holds the title of Princess of Wales. And, did you know the significance of giving patients flowers in a hospital setting runs much deeper than just symbolism? They actually have a very measurable impact on the people who receive them.

The daffodils the Princess of Wales sent have an orange center, and appear to look like the Scarlett O' Hara Large Cupped variety. You can buy the bulbs at American Meadows.

What the Research Shows

The tradition of bringing someone flowers in the hospital feels like a no-brainer for our culture, so it’s easy to assume it’s purely sentimental. However, the science suggests there is actually much more to it.

Roger Ulrich published a major study in 1984 that found that patients recovering from surgery who saw nature through their window (as opposed to a brick wall) required fewer pain meds, had shorter hospital stays, and got fewer negative comments in their nursing notes.

That one study sparked decades of further research into the phenomenon, and it became known as biophilic design, or the idea that human beings have an innate need for connection to the natural world and that this connection has real physiological effects.

Direct Studies on Flowers Specifically

More research was done specifically on flowers, including in a randomized clinical trial published in 2009. In this study, of the 90 patients who were recovering from surgery, half were placed in rooms that had live plants and flowers. The patients who had flowers showed significantly better physiological responses, including lower systolic blood pressure and lower ratings of pain, anxiety, and fatigue than patients in the control room. They also reported higher overall satisfaction with their rooms (perhaps they should have asked them about the hospital food?)

If you also have a loved one in the hospital, or if you do in the future, you can bring them some daffodils in this white vase that fits a massive bouquet (available on Amazon).

Why This Gesture Means More Coming from Kate

In January 2025, the Princess of Wales made a surprise visit to The Royal Marsden, where she not only announced that she was in remission from cancer following chemotherapy, but that she had been a patient there.

At the same time, she became a Joint Patron of the Trust alongside her husband, Prince William. In her statement, she said: "It is a relief to now be in remission, and I remain focused on recovery. As anyone who has experienced a cancer diagnosis will know, it takes time to adjust to a new normal."

The narcissi arriving just before spring was particularly poignant; it’s a season that carries a sense of renewal for anyone, but especially those navigating an illness. Flowers have always been how we say the things that are hardest to put into words.

Drought one week, flooding the next—gardens are dealing with conditions they weren’t designed for. These five strategies work with climate extremes rather than against them, and each one comes with plants that actually prove it.

Gardening used to involve negotiating with predictable weather. That’s gotten harder. Heat spikes, dry months where there used to be rain, heavy downpours where there used to be steady drizzle. Plants chosen for how they look in a cooperative climate don’t always know what to do with these dramatic changes. The ones that hold up are usually built differently—root systems, leaf structure, water storage. Not just hardier, but actually different.

A lot of what falls under sustainable gardening points in the same direction: work with what the site actually does rather than fight it. The five ideas below each go after a specific problem—drought, heat, flooding, runoff—and each one has plant examples that have already been doing the job.

5 Ideas for a Climate-Resilient Garden

These can be layered into an existing space one area at a time. None require a full redesign to start, though a rough season or two tends to make the case for implementing more of them in quicker succession.

1. Deep-Root Anchors

Most ornamental plants root in roughly the top 12 inches (30cm) of soil. That’s the layer that dries out first and takes the longest to recover. Native perennials with taproots work from a different level entirely—pulling moisture from well below the zone that surface-rooted plants depend on. During a dry stretch that stresses everything else, they tend to look like it isn’t happening. Some deep-rooted prairie favorites include:

• Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis) is a reasonable place to start. It reportedly develops deep taproot systems over time, puts up blue-violet flower spikes in spring, and gets more drought tolerant the longer it’s left to its own devices. Blue False Indigo can be purchased from Fast Growing Trees.
• Prairie Dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) goes even deeper by most accounts—some sources cite established root systems at 15 feet (4.5m) or more, though the number varies. The taller cousin of rosinweed, prairie dock can grow to 9 feet (3 m). What gets said consistently is that it stays green through conditions that finish most other things in the same bed. Prairie dock seeds from Everwilde Farms can be found on Amazon.
• Compass Plant (Silphium laciniatum) is in the same family as prairie dock. Deeply lobed basal leaves that are easy to identify, and a drought resilience that tends to build quietly over years rather than announce itself in the first season. Compass plant seeds from Everwilde Farms can be found on Amazon.

Native perennial wildflower seed mixes from Eden Brothers Nursery on Amazon let you try a few varieties before committing to full transplants—usually cheaper than buying plants that may not suit the spot. Planting things that are native to your area is a really good way to create a resilient garden.

2. Thermal Buffering with Green Armor

Bare soil in full sun gets genuinely hot. Surface temperatures on exposed ground can reportedly push toward 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60C) or higher in summer, which is enough to affect the soil life that keeps everything running. Living groundcovers shade and cool the surface through transpiration. How much cooler depends on conditions, but the gap is real.

• Sedum covers a lot of ground—USDA growing zones 3–11, sun to partial shade, poor soil, minimal water once it’s settled in. Burpee has a wonderful selection of colorful sedum varieties.
• Creeping thyme handles foot traffic and releases fragrance when brushed, which is more than traditional mulch can say. Find quarts of creeping thyme from Nature Hills Nursery.
• Wooly thyme takes drought and heat a step further with dense silver foliage that reflects rather than absorbs. All three spread on their own over time, so the maintenance load tends to drop the longer they’re in. Quart containers of wooly thyme are available from Nature Hills Nursery.

3. Flood-Ready Gardens

A rain garden is a shallow depression—roughly 6–12 inches (15–30cm) deep—placed where runoff collects naturally. The plant selection is the tricky part—whatever goes in has to handle standing water after a heavy rain and then dry out between events without giving up. That’s a narrower window than it sounds, but there are plants that seem built for it. A rough starting point: size the garden to catch roughly the first inch (2.5cm) of rainfall off whatever hard surface drains into it.

• Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) tends to handle that wet-to-dry range well—tolerates saturated soil, manages drier stretches, and pulls in monarchs from midsummer through fall. That last part alone is reason enough to include it. Swamp milkweed can be purchased from Nature Hills Nursery or find them at a local native plant sale.
• Blue Flag Iris (Iris versicolor) handles standing water better than most ornamentals and throws blue-violet blooms in late spring. 1-gallon pots of blue flag iris can be purchased from Garden Goods Direct.
• River Birch (Betula nigra) is a reasonable choice when the garden is large enough for a tree at the edge—generally tolerant of flooding, reasonably drought tolerant once settled, and the peeling bark holds up visually through winter. Purchase a potted river birch from the Arbor Day Foundation to help support their mission.

4. Waterwise Picks

Silver and gray foliage isn’t just an aesthetic choice—pale coloring tends to reflect rather than absorb intense light, which is the functional side of what looks like a design preference. The waxy or fuzzy surfaces that create the silvery look may also help slow water loss, though how much varies by species. It is definitely worth trying where water-hungry ornamentals have been struggling.

• Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) is probably the most adaptable of the three—lavender-blue flower spikes from midsummer through fall, handles drought and heat without complaint, does fine in poor soil, broadly zones 4–11. It looks good when it’s not doing anything and better when it’s in flower. Find Russian sage from Fast Growing Trees.
• Lamb’s Ear (Stachys byzantina) spreads low and stays decent-looking through dry spells when other plants start going downhill—a quality that earns its spot without much additional argument. Lamb's ear can be purchased from Garden Goods Direct.
• Agave is the structural pick: drought-proof, cold-hardy selections reportedly into zone 5, and a silhouette that holds in a border or pot any time of year. Find a striking Blue American agave plant from Fast Growing Trees.

5. Bioswale Landscaping

A bioswale is a channel—gravel, plants, or both—that slows stormwater down rather than letting it run off fast and take soil with it. It covers a longer stretch than a rain garden would—a driveway edge, the base of a slope, a strip between lawn and street. Gravel slows the velocity and does some filtering along the way; plants hold the edges and keep absorbing between storms. Pea gravel from Amazon is the standard fill—permeable, easy to work with, not expensive when bought in bulk.

• Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis) holds the edges well for the same taproot reasons covered in the first entry. Blue False Indigo can be purchased from Fast Growing Trees.
• Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) suits this kind of spot well—native, deep-rooted, handles wet-to-dry swings, and looks like it was placed there rather than just surviving. Pretty 'Heavy Metal' blue switch grass from Fast Growing Trees is deer-resistant, too!
• Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum) takes care of the back half of the season with late color and draws pollinators in good numbers—and once it’s established, it pretty much runs itself. 'Gateway Joe' joe -pye weed can be purchased from Nature Hills Nursery and is a wonderful pollinator magnet.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever been tempted to take a plant cutting from a state park or city garden. I see lots of hands, including my own, but don’t worry! Being tempted is not illegal. But moving to the act … that’s a more complicated question.

Most gardeners have learned the various types of propagation you can use for plants, including taking snippets from existing plants to root at home. Many of these plant cuttings root easily and, before you know it, you are the proud owner of a new, stand-alone plant.

While taking cuttings from public land is tempting, is it legal? Sometimes yes, often no, and when it’s no, it can land you in jail for theft or vandalism. The rules are complicated.

Taking Cuttings

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve rooted a plant cutting, I could build myself a greenhouse. Most of us budget-conscious gardeners learn early that if you have one hydrangea shrub, you can have many more by snipping off a stem with a bud on it and letting it root in a glass of water. I am always rooting snippets from the hanging plants in my house, like pothos and philodendron. A cute propagation station like these from Magnolia and IKEA are as pretty as they are functional.

I keep some of my new plants, but often gift them to neighbors, friends, or people on the local neighborhood website who are seeking houseplants. I mean with the three dozen houseplants that share my San Francisco apartment, there really is not room for more. As a friend told me once, seeing the crowded plant shelves: if one plant sneezed, they would all fall off.

Plants on Public Lands

Of course, it is different to deliberately take a cutting from my own plant or a friend’s plant (with permission of course), but most of us would not take a cutting in a plant store or snip off a branch from a stranger’s rose bush. Sometimes, walking the streets of San Francisco, I see a fabulous plant and ask the owner whether I might get in line for a cutting if they ever trim it back. Usually the response is generous, sometimes it’s not. But I wouldn’t dream of stealing a plant cutting and I’m sure that’s the case for most of us.

Plants on public lands are a bit more tempting, since each of us is part of the public. We might tell ourselves that nobody will miss the six inches of elderberry I snip to root for my own garden. And when it comes to common species with abundant populations, like elderberries, probably nobody would mind. But many plants are endangered in the United States and many more around the world, so there are both ethical and legal reasons to keep your hands off plants in public spaces.

Taking Cuttings from Private Private Property Is Illegal

Let me just put the general rule out there: it is illegal to take any plant or part of a plant on property that does not belong to you without permission from the owner. The penalties vary depending on location, but they can include criminal charge of theft and/or trespassing.

Many states and some cities have more specific laws defining this type of behavior as criminal. To be safe, and be a good citizen/neighbor, always ask. Gardeners tend to be a friendly bunch as you are as likely to get a yes as a no. Alternatively, wait until a neighbor does a trimming and discards a box of plant detritus. That’s how I got most of the succulents in my back yard - from succulent trimmings left outside for garbage pickup.

Taking Cuttings from Public Land - It Depends

Some plants are endangered. In this country, over 800 plants make the federal list of threatened or endangered species. Specific laws protect these species and you cannot cut or harm them without violating the law. This can lead to criminal charges and fines up to $50,000, as well as civil penalties of some $25,000 per violation. It’s also an ethical obligation as a citizen of the planet since supporting these plants is necessary to maintain biodiversity in their habitats.

What about other plants? The rules are different for different types of property, so if you aren’t sure, just don’t take anything.

• Under Federal Regulations, possessing, taking, injuring or disturbing plants in a National Park Service site is illegal.
• In the state of California, taking plants from state parks is illegal. It is specifically prohibited to pick, dig up, cut, mutilate, destroy, injure, disturb, move, molest, burn, or carry away any tree or plant in any state parks without permission.
• Digging up wild plants in New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Oregon, and Colorado, can also be charged criminally as a misdemeanor and result in financial penalties.
• For lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, it is permissible to take a small amount of plants, seeds, flowers and berries for personal use if the plant is common and not an endangered species. It is still a good idea to speak with a ranger or volunteer before taking anything.

In short, think about taking cuttings all you like, but don’t do it without permission. Asking permission costs nothing and it can keep you out of legal trouble.

Shop Propagation Essentials

If you live in an area that doesn’t offer curbside pickup, trying to get rid of yard waste can be harder – and more expensive – than you think. Debris builds up fast in the spring and fall as many of us begin cleaning up our yards and gardens.

So what are you supposed to do with all this organic waste, if you can’t put it on the curb and wait for it to disappear? There are sustainable ways to dispose of yard waste, but they may take a little more effort than just dragging your trash to the curb.

However, many of these free yard waste removal methods can benefit your landscape as well. I’ll share the best ways to get rid of green waste, if your city doesn’t do curbside pickup and you don’t want to pay potentially hundreds of dollars for a yard waste removal service.

1. Start a Compost Pile

Starting a compost pile or bin is the best way to turn yard waste into garden gold. You can create a compost pile for free by simply heaping up your debris in a quiet corner of your yard. Layer green and brown compost materials and turn the pile every few weeks during the growing season to help decomposition.

If you’re willing to spend a few dollars, you can invest in a compost tumbler, like this one from Amazon, to speed up the process and contain any unwanted sights or smells in your landscape.

Never put weeds or diseased plant waste into your compost pile as this can spread these problems into other parts of your yard when you use the finished compost.

2. Take It to a Drop-Off Site

Even if your city doesn’t offer curbside yard waste disposal, they may have a drop-off location where you can take your trash instead. Many municipalities offer free drop-off at their recycling center or local dump.

Some of these sites even turn the green waste into free mulch or free compost that they offer to the local community in return. This often takes place in spring. Check out your local municipalities to see if they provide these drop-off services and what kind of waste they accept. Then make hauling your debris easier with some yard waste bags like these from Amazon.

3. Leave Grass Clippings in Place

You don’t even have to move some of your yard waste, like grass clippings. Lawn trimmings actually make a wonderful, natural fertilizer for your grass. When you mow your lawn, simply let grass clippings fall where they may and mulch back down into the soil.

Unless your grass is very long, there’s no problem leaving lawn trimmings to compost back down into your yard. They’ll give your grass a nice boost of nitrogen as they decompose.

4. Fill Raised Beds & Planters

If you have raised beds or large planters, you can use yard waste as a clever way to save money on potting soil. From logs and branches to wood chips and perennial prunings, you can use yard debris to fill the bottom half of beds and large planters.

Follow hugelkultur principles and start with large woody materials at the bottom, then layer on smaller yard waste as you work your way up, then top your debris with compost or potting soil, and plant.

Of course, don’t put any weeds or diseased and pest-infested garden waste into your beds or planters. But any other organic material is just fine and will naturally compost under your plants, giving them a slow feed of nutrients.

5. Create a Wildlife Habitat

If you have a spacious landscape, then using yard waste to create a wildlife habitat is a great option to benefit both your local flora and fauna.

You can quickly build a dead hedge with branches and sticks from your most recent pruning job to give wildlife a safe place to nest. A simple hedge like this can also double as a unique, natural fence to add privacy to your backyard.

Another option is to use yard waste to support beneficial insects by building wildlife houses that encourage these helpful bugs into your garden. Inviting the right insects, like pollinators, into your yard can cut down on problem pests and help you grow a healthier, more productive garden.

Garden Cleanup Essentials

Small-space gardening has always been about compromise – figuring out what to cut, what to squeeze in, what to accept won’t fit. The botanical bento approach pushes back on that. Instead of scaling down a full garden, it treats the container or raised bed as its own complete system, organized with the deliberate compartmentalization. Each section has a role in keeping them separate. Two square feet (0.6 sq m) can hold a perfectly productive and visually cohesive planting when it’s laid out this way.

It’s a natural extension of what people have been doing with gardens in small spaces for years – but with more intention going into how things are arranged. Call it a main and a few sides if that helps. Patio container, raised bed corner, windowsill box – the scale changes but the organizing idea stays the same.

The Bento Logic Applied to a Garden Bed

What makes a bento box work isn’t just the variety – it’s that nothing touches anything it shouldn’t. The rice stays put. Same principle applies here. Rather than planting everything loosely and hoping aggressive spreaders behave, physical dividers do the work: cedar strips, lengths of bamboo, or plain wooden slats pushed into the soil. Mint stays out of the basil. The tomato doesn’t shade out the lettuce before it’s had a chance. Each section gets what it needs without negotiating with whatever is growing next to it.

The divisions also make maintenance easier to think about. Each compartment gets watered and fed according to what’s growing in it rather than averaging across the whole bed. A thirsty herb section doesn’t have to share a watering schedule with a drought-tolerant succulent edge planting. That level of precision is hard to manage in an open bed but straightforward when the sections are physically marked out. It also makes it easier to spot problems early – one section struggling stands out rather than getting lost in the overall picture.

Building the Main and the Sides

The bento structure maps cleanly onto edible gardening: one high-yield anchor plant takes the largest compartment, and the remaining sections fill in with companions that earn their space in different ways. A single determinate tomato in the center, basil in the strip beside it, marigolds tucked into a corner, chives running the front edge – that’s a fully functional kitchen garden in four square feet (0.4sq m) or so. The basil does flavor work, the marigolds push back on pests, the chives fill the edge without shading anything out.

Flowers tend to get cut from small kitchen gardens when space gets tight. In a bento layout they stay, because they’re assigned a compartment and expected to pull their weight – pest pressure, pollinator traffic, and making the whole thing look less utilitarian. Compact nasturtiums, dwarf zinnias, violas – all fit without crowding the food plants. A set of raised bed dividers from Amazon takes the guesswork out of laying clean section lines without breaking out the saw.

Variety Selection is Half the Work

Standard vegetable varieties don’t cooperate with bento-scale growing. A sprawling indeterminate tomato or a full-sized zucchini takes over immediately and the compartment idea collapses within a few weeks. Patio and miniature varieties exist specifically for this kind of situation – dwarf tomatoes that cap out at around 18 inches (45cm), dwarf pepper plants, compact cucumber varieties that stay vertical with a small stake rather than running. Seed catalogs and nursery tags increasingly call these out directly, making selection less of a research project.

Herbs are mostly fine at this scale. Mint isn’t. It runs underground and doesn’t care about your dividers – sink it in its own pot inside the bed if you want it at all. Basil, thyme, flat-leaf parsley, chives – all of them stay tidy in a small section and don’t need babysitting. A self-watering planter insert from Amazon dropped into one compartment helps keep moisture steadier for whatever herb you put in it.

Keeping It Productive Through the Season

Compartments make succession planting much less of a production. When spring lettuces finish, that section gets cleared and turned over for something warm-season, and nothing around it gets touched. In an open bed, pulling spent plants means navigating roots and disturbing neighbors; here the sections are independent enough that swapping one out mid-season is just a straightforward job. Done right, the same small bed can run two or even three rounds of crops across the season.

Vertical space is worth claiming, especially when the footprint isn’t getting any bigger. A small trellis at the back corner – positioned so it doesn’t throw shade over the rest of the bed – lets compact peas or a single cucumber plant go up instead of out. It also does something for the visual: height at the back, mid-height through the center, low edge plantings across the front. The whole thing reads as layered rather than just packed. That structure also makes it easy to photograph well – handy if the goal is to document what worked and repeat it next season.

For me, one of the things I like best about gardening is the open-ended creativity I enjoy. If I want to plant only blue flowers in my garden in San Francisco, it’s blue, blue, blue. But be careful, fellow gardeners. This is not necessarily the case if you buy into a community governed by a Homeowners Association (HOA).

HOA communities are almost always governed by specific landscaping rules. These are set out in the HOA's governing documents each owner has to sign. The idea is to set out yard care etiquette that most owners consider attractive and appropriate. It's important to understand that these rules may limit the kind of projects you can undertake. If it is important to you to have a wild, wonderful, or eccentric garden, you might not want to buy into a HOA community.

If you don’t follow the rules, you can get hit with considerable fines. Even worse, the HOA can mandate that you remove the new plants or hardscaping changes in your landscaping.

Can an HOA Tell Me How to Garden?

If you buy into a homeowners’ association community, you get a mix of private property ownership and community rules. The documents you signed include something called CC&Rs, setting out the Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions that restrict each and every owner. There may be other documents as well that control the property.

These rules are intended to keep property values high. One objective is to be sure that the entire community maintains a cohesive aesthetic. This necessarily includes landscaping rules that can limit the choices you make in your garden.

Generally, HOAs require yards and gardens to look neat and tidy. Don't have a full set of lawn care equipment? A combination electric lawn mower, string trimmer, and leaf blower package like this one from Greenworks on Amazon is a good place to start. Battery-powered equipment also tends to be quieter and they have zero emissions. Both of which are likely to keep your HOA happy.

What Are Common HOA Planting Restrictions?

HOA communities have different rules; they are not uniform across the country, across a state, or even throughout a city. That makes it critical to read and understand your HOA landscaping restrictions before you dive into gardening, ideally, before you sign the ownership contract.

The first thing to check for is whether person gardens are permitted. Some HOA communities prohibit personal gardens entirely. Others give residents an “approved list” of plants to use in personal gardens. Some require residents to get approval before planting anything.

To determine how strictly the HOA regulations are enforced, it’s a good idea to ask for a tour of the community. Visit the private gardens of your neighbors. If you love or delight in any of the private gardens, you are likely to be able to duplicate the projects in your yard.

What Other Gardening Issues Can HOAs Regulate?

There are not many limits on what types of landscaping activities a HOA can regulate. That’s because anyone buying into the community signs a contract agreeing to the conditions.

HOA regulations can - and often do - restrict other landscaping issues like lawn maintenance (down to the height of the grass!).

• What type of power equipment can be used and when it can be used
• If and how trees can be trimmed
• All issues around hardscaping
• Before you put in a fence, a patio, a trellis, a greenhouse, or a fountain, you will likely need HOA approval.

How Do I Navigate HOA Restrictions on Landscaping?

Unless you believe an HOA restriction is a violation of some constitutional protection (e.g. different garden rules for different races), your best bet is to get informed of the landscaping restrictions before you buy, then do your best to honor them.

Not reading the documents carefully before signing is generally no excuse. Failure to adhere to the rules will not only ruin any sense of community you might enjoy in your new neighborhood, it may also result in fines and orders to undo projects you have completed.

Instead, work within the rules. Do not start to get creative until you familiarize yourself with the HOA landscaping restrictions. While you may not be able to plant an all-blue garden, there are likely many lovely plants you can include in your private garden. Turn your creativity toward making the best garden you can within the rules.

And don’t hesitate to ask HOA permission when you have a plan you think would meld into community values. A well thought-out and detailed application will go a long way toward approval. Ask your neighbors for advice then get them to support your request with the Association. If you lose your application, there is always an appeal process set out in the guidelines. This often involved submitting a written application for a hearing.

Go into a healthy stretch of woods and dig just below the leaves. What's underneath – dark, loose, threaded through with pale fungal strands – is some of the most biologically dense material on the planet. A teaspoon holds more living organisms than there are people on Earth. That's forest duff, and it's been quietly building and sustaining soil for as long as those trees have been standing. Gardeners are starting to realize what it actually is – and what their own beds are missing.

Good garden soil has a biological layer doing most of the real work – processing nutrients, building aggregates, connecting roots to water and minerals they couldn't reach on their own. New beds, especially the ones put together with bagged compost and topsoil, are largely biologically sparse compared to established soil by comparison. The structure is there, the nutrients are there, but that layer isn't.

Adding forest duff seeds that community into the bed. You're introducing organisms that evolved in your region and adapted to your local conditions, something you can't say about anything that came out of a packet.

What's Actually in Forest Duff?

The main event is mycorrhizal fungi – thread-like networks that bond with plant roots and extend their reach considerably in exchange for carbon. A root system tapped into a healthy mycorrhizal network can pull water and phosphorus from a much larger volume of soil than it could explore alone. The fungi in a scoop of local forest duff are alive and already dialed in to your specific region – the temperature, the moisture levels, the pH. Commercial inoculants exist, but they tend to be narrow in species and shelf-aged. This isn’t.

The fungi are just the headline. Forest duff also carries nitrogen-fixing bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, mites – the full cast of what ecologists call the soil food web. Each organism feeds the next. Together they build organic matter, keep certain pathogens in check, and improve soil structure without any outside help.

Beds built from bagged materials have the raw ingredients. What they don’t have is anything running the show. Forest duff is the closest thing to a shortcut for building that engine from scratch.

How to Collect and Use It

You want mature woodland – not scrubby edge growth, but established trees with a thick decomposed layer underneath. Mixed hardwood forest is ideal; oak and maple duff in particular carries a diverse fungal community that transfers well to garden conditions. Skip anything near a road, agricultural runoff, or ground that may have seen herbicide treatment.

Scrape back the surface leaves and collect what’s just below – dark, partially broken down, smelling clean and earthy. If it smells off or stale, move further in. Early spring, before the soil warms fully, and fall are the best collection windows – fungal activity is still low and the organisms survive the transition better in cooler conditions. A few handfuls per square meter or square yard is plenty. More isn’t better here. This is inoculation, not amendment.

Work it into the top few inches rather than scattering it on the surface. The organisms in duff live in direct contact with soil particles and roots – that’s where they function. Getting it into the root zone gives them the best shot at establishing before conditions change.

Do this at planting time so the first plants going in can begin forming connections immediately. Water the bed in gently after incorporating – the moisture activates the fungal community and helps it spread into the surrounding soil. A quality hand cultivator like this one from Amazon makes working the duff into the top layer of a new bed quick and even without disrupting the soil structure too aggressively.

Collect sparingly and only where permitted – never from protected lands or in large quantities.

What to Expect and What Not to Expect

This isn’t a quick fix and it doesn’t produce results you’ll see in a single season. What it does is set a trajectory. Beds inoculated with forest duff tend to improve faster over time than those relying only on added compost and fertilizer, because the biological community is doing work that store-bought stuff alone can’t replicate.

A light organic mulch over the bed after planting helps maintain the soil moisture and temperature that the newly introduced organisms need to establish – keep it an inch or two, not a thick blanket that cuts off air.

Plants in beds that have a functioning soil community tend to handle dry stretches better, grow more steadily, and recover faster – not because they were fed more, but because their roots can access more of what’s already there. Keep synthetic fungicides and high-nitrogen synthetic fertilizers out of the same bed in the first season – both knock back fungal networks before they have a chance to take hold.

Organic compost added alongside the duff feeds the microbial community rather than working against it. A good quality bagged compost like this from Amazon applied at the same time gives the introduced organisms an immediate food source to work with. The forest did this job slowly over decades. In a garden bed, you’re giving it a head start – but the same patience still applies.

Gardening can become an expensive hobby quickly, especially in spring when you’re starting all over again. But there are tons of clever ways to cut costs on necessary spring gardening items, many of which you can find in unlikely places – like the dollar store.

I’m a sucker for a good deal, especially when it comes to gardening supplies. I know tools will get dirty, hardscaping features will become weather-worn, and plants may only last a season or two. So I hate to spend too much on anything. That’s why the dollar store is a great place to look for thrifty ways to grow a garden for almost nothing.

In my years as a gardener and garden editor, I’ve come across lots of savvy money-saving tips and tricks to help you grow more frugally. But these dollar store gardening tricks are the ones I’d take to the bank.

1. The Viral Dollar Tree Mini Greenhouse

There’s a reason the Internet has been going gaga over this mini greenhouse from Dollar Tree. It costs $1.25 and it’s perfect for both beginner gardeners and green thumbs alike. This simple seed starting tray comes with a clear plastic cover that holds in moisture and keeps seeds moist until they germinate.

It’s compact enough to fit on any windowsill or sunny kitchen counter. And the open tray style, as opposed to individual cells, means you can start more seeds in the same amount of space. You will have to prick out seedlings a bit sooner and transplant them into larger containers once they develop their first couple sets of true leaves. But it’s totally worth it for a tray that costs less than $2.

Don’t have a Dollar Tree nearby or don’t have time to make a special trip? Amazon offers a very similar seed starting tray with a cover that’s a good dupe for this viral mini greenhouse.

You can also use a plastic tote as a greenhouse, if you’ve already started seeds in other containers, but need to protect them from cold overnight temperatures. Pick up a plastic tote at the dollar store or use an old one you have lying around the house.

2. Cheap Garden Cloche Colanders

This is an idea my sister actually came up with when groundhogs were going after her vegetable garden – and it’s really quite clever. Turn a cheap colander from the dollar store into a garden cloche to protect tender, young plants from hungry wildlife.

The colanders she bought for her garden from the dollar store only cost $1.25. This is a perfect solution if you have a lot of plants you need to protect. Ok, maybe they’re not as pretty as say, these wire cloches from Amazon. But at less than $2 per cloche, they’re certainly worth it.

If you’d prefer something with a more similar look to a traditional wire cloche, you can also try wire mesh waste baskets, like these ones from Amazon. They’re ideal for protecting taller seedlings and plants. You can find small wire trash cans at almost any dollar store. Or Amazon also has wire cloches that look almost exactly the same.

3. Savvy Seed Organizer

Take a stroll down the craft aisle next time you’re in the dollar store. You may just come across one of the best seed organizers you’ll ever find. A craft bead organizer, like this one from Amazon, is the perfect way to sort and store seeds for your garden and it only costs a few bucks.

Figuring out how to store seeds after planting is always one of my biggest struggles each spring. I hate to invest much money into a storage container, but then I always end up losing leftover seed packets because I leave them hither and yon around the house.

This spring I’m finally upgrading my old plastic pencil box that’s bursting open because it’s so overstuffed with seed packets for a craft bead organizer that keeps my seeds neat and tidy. Then I’ll have plenty of room to buy and harvest more seeds!

4. Adorable & Affordable Hummingbird Swing

Last summer, I made an adorable DIY hummingbird swing from items I bought at the dollar store down the road. It was a fun and easy project that helped support hummingbirds during their great migration south at the end of the season.

All it took was some pipe cleaners, red beads, wire, jute twine, and a stick from my backyard. You can get all those items for just a few bucks on Amazon or the craft store as well. The red beads attract hummingbirds – it’s their favorite color – and the stick provides a cozy perch for birds to take a much-needed rest on their long journey.

This is a perfect project for young gardeners or bird lovers of any age. And spring is a great time to do it because hummingbirds will be returning to gardens again soon for the summer. Spend a few dollars and create a mini paradise for these beautiful pollinators.

If you’re planning to prune your plants this month, timing might matter more than you think. So much so, in fact, that some gardeners insist that there are just three days on which it's worth picking up your pruners. And yes, they're completely serious.

Gardening has always been full of traditions, whether they're rooted in the scientific (think checking your USDA planting zone before buying a new shrub), to the seasonal rhythms that guide when we sow, plant and prune.

Recently, though, many gardeners have been rediscovering older, more folkloric ways of working with nature. From gardening by the moon to the rise of so-called “witchy gardening”, there’s a growing interest in tuning into the natural cycles that shape our gardens.

Even lighter trends (like, say, discovering your birth month bird) speak to the same instinct: reconnecting with the patterns of the natural world. And sometimes, those traditions come with surprisingly practical advice.

The Best Days to Prune in March

One of the best-known examples of this traditional approach is the lunar gardening calendar published by the Old Farmer’s Almanac. According to its guidance, there are a handful of days each month that are considered especially favorable for certain tasks... including pruning.

And in March 2026, three dates stand out:

• March 27
• March 28
• March 29

Why? Well, it's less to do with pruning basics and more to do with the fact that these dates fall during a lunar phase traditionally associated with strong above-ground plant growth.

As such, gardeners who follow the lunar cycle believe pruning during this time can encourage plants to put their energy into producing new shoots, leaves and flowers. Extremely helpful stuff if you’re planning a spring garden tidy-up.

Pruning Essentials:

It might feel difficult to sit and wait until the end of the month to start pruning, particularly as March is one of the most important months for cutting back plants.

As temperatures begin to rise and plants come out of winter dormancy, a light prune can encourage healthy new growth for the season ahead. Removing damaged, dead or overcrowded stems (aka the Three Ds) also improves airflow and allows more light to reach the center of the plant.

If you’re unsure whether a plant should be pruned now, gardeners often follow Monty Don's simple rule: if it flowers in spring, prune after flowering. If summer’s when the flowers appear, prune in winter (or early in the year).

Generally, this tends to include:

• Roses
• Buddleja
• Hydrangea paniculata and hydrangea arborescens
• Fruit trees such as apples and pears
• Late-flowering clematis

Of course, not every plant benefits from spring pruning, no matter which day you choose in March.

As per Monty's rule again, spring-flowering shrubs such as forsythia, lilac, and flowering quince should generally be pruned after they flower, otherwise you risk cutting off the buds that will produce this year’s display.

Whatever happens, don’t worry if you miss these three dates in March. Honestly, the most important thing is simply to prune at the right time for the plant itself, using clean, sharp tools and removing dead or damaged growth.

But if you like the idea of working with the rhythms of the garden (and the moon, in all her shimmering glory), then the last few days of March could be a good moment to head outside with your pruners.

Happy snipping!

There’s nothing difficult about pruning, but there sure is a lot that can go wrong while you’re learning how to do it. Honestly, I used to have pruning anxiety every single spring, worrying whether I was unwittingly snipping off this summer’s flowers or – far worse – inadvertently murdering my precious plants. Yes, I'd acquainted myself with the only pruning rule I needed to know (those legendary three Ds), but what about all the pruning mistakes I was supposed to not do? It scared me silly.

So here’s the help that I wish existed when I began gardening decades ago. It’ll speed you straight up the learning curve so you can get your spring pruning done confidently, and know you’re helping rather than hindering your plants. And then, I promise you, pruning is such fun, slicing out diseased stems like a heart surgeon and shaping just-right silhouettes like a hairdresser. It’s so satisfying seeing a plant you’ve pruned bursting back into life and growing more blooms than ever before, too.

Please don’t worry a jot if you discover you’re guilty of any of these errors, because you’re certainly not alone. I’d wager that each and every gardener – myself included, obviously – have committed all these crimes against cut stems in their past. Rest assured, plants are amazing things, and pretty hard to kill no matter how poorly you prune them. But get all the basics right by avoiding these common slip-ups, and your plants will be healthier and happier, with strong growth and beautiful blooms. And you'll feel better, too. Here are the biggest mistakes not to make…

1. Making Straight Cuts

There’s a very good reason why every pruning article advises making angled cuts when you’re pruning. Snip straight across a stem and, when it rains or there’s a heavy dew, water may pool on the fresh cut, slowing healing and potentially leading to rot or disease. Make an angled cut, however, and moisture will quickly run off the stem end. You don’t need to be too exacting but aim for around a 45° angle.

It’s also a smart move to angle the cut away from the bud below, so as not to risk damaging it. This means that the highest tip of the cut stem should be on the same side as the bud below it. An easy way to remember this is to angle your cuts in the same direction as the bud below is pointing.

2. Cutting Off This Summer’s Flowers

You won’t kill a plant by doing this but boy, is it disappointing. By and large, it’s summer-flowering shrubs that you need to prune in late winter or early spring; for plants that flower in spring, wait until after they’ve finished blooming to prune. Monty Don’s rhyme makes it easy to remember, though it needs a little translation over the many zones in the USA: “if it flowers before June, do not prune.”

Of course, there are exceptions, notably around hydrangeas. Here you need to know whether your hydrangea is one that flowers on new wood (in which case you should prune it now for fresh stems that will grow lots of flowers) or one that flowers on old wood (which has already grown its flower buds, so you need to leave it till after it’s bloomed). It’s super-easy to work out which is which with this simple check, then you can cut with confidence.

3. Not Watering Afterwards

Pruning stresses a plant, so it’s important to ensure it’s properly hydrated to cope. Always give your plant a thorough, deep watering after you’ve pruned to help it recover, unless the ground is already full of moisture from recent rainfall.

4. Using Hand Pruners for Everything

We all love our faithful hand pruners but, if you’ve sharpened the blades and you’re still struggling to cut through a stem, you’re using the wrong tool. Why is that important? Because if you can’t cut easily through a stem, you’ll likely crush it and cause it to rip around the edges, which slows healing and increases the risk of disease.

Bypass hand pruners are a great choice for stems as thick as your index finger. If a stem is wider, or is tough and woody, then a pair of long-handled loppers will give you far more leverage. And, on stems any bigger than 1½”, you should be using a pruning saw.

If you have small hands, arthritis, or simply don’t want to exhaust your wrists, get a pair of hand pruners with added power, even for small stems. Ratchet Pruning Shears like these from Amazon use leverage to as much as triple your hand power by letting you cut through a stem in stages. Or upgrade to powered pruning shears with rechargeable batteries such as these from Amazon.

5. Simply Snipping Off All the Ends

Not all stems are equal when you’re pruning. As well as encouraging new growth, spring pruning is an opportunity to direct energy into the plant’s strongest stems to create a robust skeleton that can support all the flowers and foliage to come. So be selective: snip off the weak stems entirely, and shorten the stronger stems.

6. Not Being Brave With Hard-Prune Plants

Some fast-growing plants that flower on new wood, like butterfly bush and hardy fuchsia, need a hard prune in early spring to get the best results. This can mean cutting the stems to stubs a few inches from the ground. Not many plants need this treatment, but those that do really benefit from a harsh cut, so it’s worth learning if you have any in your garden, and then being brutal!

7. Cutting Too Close to the Bud

The reason we snip just above a bud is so the plant can direct its energy into healthy new growth from that bud. Cut too close, and you risk damaging the all-important bud. But cut too far and you’ll leave a stub of stem that will quickly die, inviting disease. The optimum spot is ¼ inch above the bud for most stems. For thicker stems, a handy rule uses the stem diameter to work out the best distance to cut above a bud: the cut should be a quarter of the stem width above the bud.

8. Using Blunt Tools

Hand pruners and loppers that aren’t sharp crush stems rather than slice through them, as I learned when I tested out whether or not the tin foil trick to sharpen secateurs works. Before you prune – but particularly in spring when you’re likely to be cutting tough, woody stems – always, always sharpen your tools. It only takes two minutes, and clean cuts heal faster for healthier plants. If you’re not sure if your pruners need sharpening, then they absolutely do!

A multipurpose tool sharpener like this from Amazon will keep all garden blades sharp, while a pocket-sized sharpener like this, also from Amazon, is handy for on-the-go resharpens mid-pruning session.

9. Pruning to an Inward-Facing Bud

Imagine that a plant has a finite amount of energy in its stems. If you chop off the end of a stem, that energy will go into the highest bud, and the plant will grow a new stem in whatever direction that bud is facing. This means you can easily direct the growth of your shrub. Cut just above inward-facing buds and your plant will grow lots of new stems towards its centre, increasing congestion and the potential for rubbing stems to damage each other, and reducing airflow so heightening disease risk. Cut just above outward-facing buds, however, and you’ll create an open and airy, healthy shrub.

You can also use this know-how to improve the shape of your shrub, or fix problems. Perhaps you’ve had to cut out a dead stem that didn’t survive the winter chill, and its absence has created an ugly gap? Simply choose a bud that’s facing in the right direction and snip just above it to encourage a replacement stem to grow and fill the space.

10. Damaging the Branch Collar

A branch collar is the slightly plump, raised or wrinkled section where a branch joins the trunk or its mother branch. Chop into this swollen area and you’ll damage protective tissue that aids healing and the shrub will struggle to close the wound, leaving a potential entrance for disease. So, when you’re advised to ‘cut flush with the trunk’, for example if you’re removing a weak or damaged stem, be careful not to cut into this area.

11. Chopping Too Much Off an Old Plant

When you’re pruning a mature, neglected tree, shrub or vine, it’s so tempting to chop all the unruly stems off and start again. But if you do that, you may shock the plant, and recovery will be tough. It’s far better to reshape an old plant over three years. As a general rule of thumb, unless it’s a species that can take hard pruning, you should only reduce the overall growth by a third. This could mean that you reduce the plant’s height by a third or, if it’s a multi-stemmed shrub like an American beautyberry, hard-prune a third of its stems to around a foot off the ground.

12. Sealing Stem Ends

There are plenty of pruning wound sealants and dressings on the market but it’s best to let cuts heal naturally. There are a few specialist circumstances where wound sealants are helpful, but that’s best left to the professionals. To help ends heal, all you need do is prune on a dry day, when healing happens faster and it's harder for fungal spores and bacteria to spread. It's also a good idea to disinfect your cutting blades – definitely between plants but, if you're cutting out any diseased sections, after every cut. The best way is to dip them in isopropyl alcohol, available from Amazon (any percentage from 70% upwards is fine).

We are often young when we buy our first homes and have little thought about gardening for seniors. But planning for the future is important especially if you want to age in place. A wildly complicated, heavily maintained yard might not be a good choice for your golden years.

Instead, consider how you can ease your chores and make gardening accessible for all stages of life. Creating gardens for senior citizens is more important and accessible than ever. This may start with purchasing gardening tools for elderly use or creating stable walking spaces.

Considering your future needs now can help your enjoyment and management years down the road.

The Aging Gardener

Gardening has been shown to be very beneficial as we age. The aging gardener should be able to safely access all parts of the landscape. They will require resting sites, special tools, accommodate different abilities, and create a landscape that is enjoyable but not laden with difficult chores. In the United States, the numbers of elderly will represent 20 percent of the overall population by 2030. The numbers are similar in the UK.

This means there are more and more retirees enjoying their homes and living longer than previous generations. The day to day gardening chores may require help. Simple tasks like taking out the garbage can be simplified with well built pathways. Consider switching from a lawn to a lawn alternative to avoid having to do all the mowing and other maintenance a traditional turf creates.

Cast your eye forward and start planning now for a manageable landscape when you are ready to retire.

Changes To Make

• Replacing your turfgrass with a lower-maintenance lawn alternative is just one suggestion to enhance easy gardening for seniors. There are many things you can do in your garden to help transition to an older version of you. Select groundcovers that are low maintenance and suitable for the site and get rid of that sod that must be tended to often.
• Make sure you have ease of access with benches to sit on or handrails for extra stability. These areas should have solar or wired garden lighting to help you safely navigate the areas. These top-rated solar pathway lights from Amazon will help illuminate the night. Our editors love a garden kneeler to help save their knees.
• Creating raised beds is another idea. Higher workspaces to weed or tend your veggies are easier to reach than beds on the ground. You can build your own raised beds or purchase ready-made ones. Our editors love the Vego raised bed system because it is versatile and extremely durable. Vego makes an extra tall raised bed, available on Amazon, to make it even easier to garden.
• Consider investing in adaptive tools that are made for easier use like ergonomic garden tools. Gardening tools for elderly folks can help reduce strain on the back, hands, and other muscles. A garden cart, like this one from Amazon, can help reduce the strain of lugging bags of mulch and one side easily tips up to dump out its contents.
• As you develop your landscape, plan for a simple set up that doesn’t need heavy work to maintain.
• Make sure you have accessible sites to store tools, lawn furniture, and other items. The goal is not only a tidy garden but to reduce debris and items that can cause incidents.

Low-Maintenance Planting

What you put in the garden can be as helpful down the road as purchased items to ease your duties. Install only trees that are low litter. Crape myrtle, Japanese maple, and dogwood are examples of low litter trees that don’t produce a lot of debris. Avoid plants like oak, cranberry, or chestnut.

Install shrubs and hedges that don’t need pruning. Instead of a laurel hedge, use Arborvitae or boxwood. Use flowering plants that don’t require much work like lavender or begonia.

Rely upon living mulches like groundcovers to keep soil cool, prevent weeds, and protect plant roots from cold weather. Creeping thyme and sweet woodruff are easy to manage and useful as beautiful groundcovers.

Hiring Help

As we age our expenses change. Begin budgeting now for the assistance that may be required in the future. For instance, if you opt to keep your lawn, install a timed lawn irrigation system to make watering easier. (There are even lawn mowing robots available these days!) Research lawn care companies and be prepared to need to hire such a business. If the garden already has high litter or maintenance plants, bring in the professionals now to remove these and install better options.

If you lack the skills to build raised beds, either make a simple domed and un-bordered bed or bring in a contractor or gardening professional who has the skills to build a bordered bed.

Using professionals now can help with maintenance later. And when the time comes, use reputable Better Business Bureau-rated companies to help with any chores you can no longer perform.

Other Considerations

Gardening is a physical task and as such it has the potential to cause injury. To reduce harm, always wear sunscreen, sensible shoes, long sleeves and pants, and have good gardening gloves. A sunhat and sunglasses will help with visibility and reduce the chance of sunburn.

As the older gardener works in the yard they should take breaks frequently and make sure they are hydrating adequately. Before going out into the yard it is a good idea to perform some stretching exercises to limber the muscles and help with bending.

Instead of working on one chore for a long time, you can reduce strain by moving to another task after a short period of time. This will minimize the strain on certain muscles and prevent pain afterwards.

Benefits Of Gardening

Gardening offers numerous benefits to people at all stages of life. When we are young it is an opportunity to learn and connect with nature. As we age, the benefits are less curricular and more physical and mental.

Gardening reduces stress which can dim the effects of cortisol and help decrease inflammation. It provides exercise and fresh air. Being outdoors provides exposure to Vitamin D and benefits the immune system and science says that dirt makes us happy. Studies have shown the practice also can lower your blood sugar, decrease the risk of dementia, increase heart health, help with weight loss, and boost cognitive processes. When you garden to grow your own food, there are further benefits.

Access to fresh and nutritional food can help make eating a balanced diet more appealing. Seniors often have issues feeling hungry, but harvesting a bounty of goodies from your own plot can help increase appetite.

Shop Future-Proofing Essentials

Senior gardeners can reap the benefits of working in the yard with some pre-planning, occasional help, and the right tools.

Gardening is one of those pastimes that have a fairly low barrier to entry, but can be incredibly complex. People who have been lucky enough to have gardening mentors guide them through the intricacies of planting, tending, harvesting, pruning, revitalizing, and more pick up so many little tips and tricks that otherwise might not ever be learned.

Our little site prides itself on having everything you need to know to get growing, both indoors and out, whether you are a beginner to gardening or a seasoned green-thumb. But even our garden experts learn new things every day!

We try to pass on as many of these tips and tricks as possible, but here are some that you might have never heard of and we think you’ll enjoy.

1. Growing With Vinegar

One of the easiest ways to get new plants for free is by taking cuttings from existing plants and rooting them with root stimulating hormone. There are commercial rooting hormones available through places likes Amazon or your local garden center, but you can also make your own at home. Willow tea is a popular homemade version, but did you know that you can use vinegar to help root cuttings and germinate seeds? Dip the end of your cutting into a mixture of apple cider vinegar and water to aid root growth. Soaking seeds in vinegar will weaken the tough seed coat and help your seeds to germinate more quickly.

2. Straw Bale Garden

Don’t have a lot of space for a raised vegetable garden? You can actually use a straw bale to grow vegetables in a limited space while also saving money on purchasing tons of soil and mulch! Each straw bale will hold a few tomato plants, squash plants, and peppers. Just keep it well-watered (I like an irrigation system like this one from Amazon to help keep watering consistent) and add a little compost on top so your plants are healthy and happy. Simple and genius!

3. Bird Bath Penny Trick

A bird bath is a great way to welcome wildlife to your yard. Birdies will love cleaning and preening on the edge, and even monarch butterflies will stop for a sip. But there is nothing grosser than a slimy, algae-covered bird bath that you now have to scrub by hand. Lucky for you, a few copper pennies can keep the bird bath clean! We may have said farewell to the humble penny, but if you have any pre-1982 pennies in an old coin jar you can use them to keep algae at bay. They are 95% copper which will disrupt the environment algae needs to grow in the bird bath. (Don’t have any pre-1982 pennies? You can find a 99% copper bird bath disk from Amazon that will do the trick).

4. Easy Seed Viability Check

Spring is the season of seed starting and planting, but are those expired seeds from a few years ago still viable or do you have to go buy a whole new batch? Some seeds last a lot longer than others and you might be surprised at what will grow. There are some easy seed viability tests you can try, but one particularly unique one uses a piece of technology we all have in our pocket. You can check seed viability with the flashlight on your phone. Shine the light through your seeds. If the seed is dark inside, it is most likely viable. If you can see the light passing through the seed, it’s not viable and you can save yourself the time and hassle of trying to grow it.

5. Fake Snake

This last gardening tip sounds goofy, but it actually works. Keep squirrels out of your garden with a fake “predator.” A simple rubber snake placed in your garden and moved to a new location each week will make squirrels think twice about raiding your veggies. You need to make sure your fake predator snake is realistic, though. This lifelike rubber snake from Amazon has worked in our writer Tyler’s yard for years to much success!

So there you have it, five of our favorite gardening tricks that we are happily passing on to you. Give them a try and watch your garden flourish. And then be sure to pay it forward!

Plant spacing guidelines exist to prevent disease and competition, but they're designed for in-ground row gardens with paths between—raised beds, containers, and intensive planting methods let you space plants way closer together without problems, though you'll need to water and feed more often.

Seed packets and plant tags list specific spacing. Tomatoes want 24-36 inches (60-90cm) apart. Lettuce asks for 8-12 inches (20-30cm). Follow those and the garden looks half-empty for weeks, bare soil everywhere while seedlings grow. Those numbers aren't wrong, but they're not the only way. They're based on traditional row gardening with space for walking and working. Raised beds or containers change everything—plants share the space better without paths eating real estate.

Vegetable spacing and flower spacing guidelines assume more room than many setups need. A healthy garden doesn't have to follow rules blindly. Tight spacing works fine in many cases, especially when soil stays rich and moisture steady. Bare soil dries fast, and weeds move in. Closer planting shades ground, holds water longer, and blocks weeds naturally.

Why Spacing Guidelines Exist

Proper spacing cuts disease risk. Plants too close together trap moisture, block air flow, or invite fungal trouble like powdery mildew or blight. Leaves touching in humid weather spreads problems fast. Roots compete for nutrients and water too—stunted growth, and lower yields follow.

Spacing shapes plant size as well. A tomato plant spaced with 36 inches (90cm) grows bigger, and produces more than one squeezed into 18 inches (45cm). Bigger isn't always better though. Smaller plants mature quicker sometimes, or more plants mean steady harvest instead of giant fruits all at once.

When Vegetables Actually Need Space

Big plants like tomatoes, squash, or melons need room—their roots spread wide, leaves shade large areas. Cram them and they fight for resources. These plants follow traditional spacing pretty closely for the best results.

Small fast crops handle tight spacing better. Lettuce, radishes, carrots, beets, herbs—they don't mind close neighbors. Plant dense and harvest young. Guidelines assume full size, but most pick lettuce and herbs continuously anyway. Closer means more food from the same bed.

Problems Traditional Spacing Creates

Wide spacing leaves soil exposed. Bare ground dries quicker, needs more mulch to stay moist, and gives weeds open invitation. Constant watering and weeding take over instead of harvesting.

Traditional spacing wastes space too. A 4x8 raised bed with tomatoes fits maybe four plants. Drop the spacing to 24 inches (60cm) between plants and six or seven grow. That's a real difference in limited areas. You can get tags like these reusable garden markers from Home Depot to help track dense plantings without confusion.

Intensive Planting Methods

Intensive planting spaces crops so that mature leaves just barely touch. This creates living mulch that shades the soil, holds moisture, and blocks weeds. Plants are arranged in offset, intercropping patterns instead of rows, which maximizes every inch. Companion planting within a square foot garden is a good example of this method.

The catch is higher demands on soil. More plants pull more nutrients and water. Amend the soil heavily with compost and feed regularly to offset this. This drip irrigation kit from Amazon delivers water right to roots in crowded beds without waste.

Spacing for Flowers

Ornamental annual flowers forgive tight spacing more. Plant close for an instant full look, or wider if patient. Annuals like marigolds and zinnias fill gardens quickly.

Perennials flowers differ. Space perennials to their mature size or you will have to divide them constantly. A hosta at 12 inches (30cm) crowds its neighbors in two years. The same happens for daylilies and coneflowers. Follow guidelines for perennials unless dividing yearly appeals to you.

Climate Affects Spacing

Humid climates need wider spacing. Moisture-loving fungi thrive when plants sit close in humidity. Add 25-50% more room than suggested, and it improves airflow and cuts disease.

Dry climates handle tighter spacing since fungal risk stays low. Hot areas benefit from close planting too—plants shade each other and soil, staying cooler and retaining moisture. Irrigation must keep up with extra demand though.

Container Growing

Container gardening forces close spacing. A 12-inch (30cm) pot won't fit three tomatoes at 24 inches (60cm). Container spacing depends on pot size and care willingness. Grow one big tomato in a 5-gallon bucket, or three smaller with heavy feeding and watering.

The rule for containers is simple: follow guideline numbers for plants, not physical distance. 12 inches (30cm) apart means one per square foot soil surface.

Seed packet spacing isn't law. It's a starting point. Adjust for your specific situation, climate, and goals. Do what works best for you.

The bag of rock salt in the garage is empty and the front walk is a sheet of ice – again. The stores are either sold out or charging ridiculous prices because everyone waited until the last minute. That’s where homemade ice melts come in handy. You probably already own a few household items that melt ice well without the downsides of rock salt.

Rock salt works, sure. But it kills grass and plants along walkways, corrodes concrete and asphalt, burns pet paws, and leaves a crusty white residue everywhere. De-icing salt is killing your plants whether you notice it immediately or not. The damage shows up in spring when shrubs along the driveway look half-dead.

Homemade ice melt alternatives prevent most of these problems, though they come with their own limitations. I’ll walk you through how to make some simple DIY de-icers from items you already have at home.

Stock Up on Winter Essentials

Benefits of Homemade Ice Melt

Rock salt stops working around 15°F (-9°C). Below that temperature, it's basically expensive gravel. It also needs direct contact with pavement to work. If you throw it on top of snow, it will just sit there. The chloride in rock salt is what actually melts ice, but it's also what kills plants, corrodes metal, and damages concrete over time.

Homemade ice melt options cause less environmental damage. Most don't contain chlorides that leach into soil and poison plants either. They're safer for pets, too, and many work at lower temperatures than rock salt.

The tradeoff, however, is that they're usually less effective per application and cost more in terms of materials. But combining them with other ice-removing tools like these ice scrapers from Amazon makes cleanup easier after applying homemade solutions.

Best Homemade Ice Melt Methods

Let's take a look at some of the most effective homemade ice melts you can probably find in your house already.

1. Rubbing Alcohol & Dish Soap

Mix one tablespoon of dish soap, one tablespoon of rubbing alcohol (70% isopropyl), and a half-gallon of hot water. Pour it on icy areas. The alcohol lowers the freezing point of water while the soap helps everything spread and stick to ice. This works down to about 5°F (-15°C), which is colder than rock salt.

The catch is you need a lot of this homemade ice melt for driveways. This recipe works great for small areas – front steps, a narrow walkway, the bit of sidewalk right in front of your house. But for a whole driveway, you'd burn through bottles of rubbing alcohol fast, which can get expensive.

This solution doesn't provide traction like sand or salt does either, so surfaces will stay slippery even as ice melts. Reapply after each new freeze to keep ice at bay.

2. Beet Juice

Some road crews actually use beet juice mixed with salt brine to prevent icy streets. Pure beet juice works as a de-icer on its own, too, though not as well. You can buy beet juice or an eco-friendly sugar beet liquid ice melt from Amazon. Or you can make beet juice using sugar beets from your own garden, if you're feeling ambitious. This natural de-icer works by lowering water's freezing point and the sugar content gives surfaces some traction.

Beet juice is expensive for DIY use unless you happen to have a bunch of beets and a juicer lying around. It also stains concrete reddish-brown, which looks terrible on light-colored pavement. Beet juice works in temperatures down to 20°F (-7°C), so it's not as cold-hardy as the alcohol solution. But the big advantage is that it's completely plant-safe and pet-safe.

3. Pickle Brine or Leftover Salt Water

Don't dump that jar of pickle juice down the sink – it melts ice. So does the brine from canned vegetables or your leftover pasta water (if you salted it heavily). The salt content in these common household liquids lowers the freezing point of water and the acidity in pickle juice helps break down ice.

However, this effect is weak compared to rock salt because the salt concentration is lower. This DIY solution works okay on light ice or as a preventive measure before ice forms. But don't expect it to clear a thick ice sheet. The smell is pretty strong, too. Because this solution contains salt, it still damages plants, just less than pure rock salt. Use it only when you've got nothing else.

4. Wood Ash

Ashes from your fireplace or wood stove provide a dark color that absorbs heat and melts ice, and they also provide some traction. Spread it on ice like you would sand. It doesn't chemically melt ice the way salt does, it just speeds up natural melting through heat absorption and gives you grip.

This method works best in sunny locations where the dark color can absorb solar heat. Unfortunately, it's messy and leaves tracks in the house easily that can stain light-colored carpets. It's alkaline, too, which isn't great for acid-loving plants nearby. But that's still way better than salt. This method is also free if you have a wood-burning fireplace, fire pit, or stove. But it's useless if temperatures stay below freezing all day since it relies on solar power for melting.

5. Sand or Kitty Litter

Neither sand nor kitty litter melt ice. But they both provide traction on slippery walkways so you won't fall. Cheap clay-based kitty litter works better than sand because it's grittier and absorbs moisture. This clay-based kitty litter from Amazon, which works well for creating traction on ice, can be spread thick over icy areas to create a non-slip surface.

The limitation is obvious, though. The ice stays there. You're just making it safer to walk on. And come spring, you've got sand and litter everywhere that you need to clean up. Sand, which you can get on Amazon as well, and litter track into the house worse than anything else on this list. But it's safe for plants and pets, works at any temperature, and costs next to nothing.

6. Hot Water

Pour boiling or very hot water on ice to melt it instantly. This is the fastest method for clearing small areas like doorsteps or a frozen car door. The ice melts completely instead of turning slushy.

But the problem with this method is refreezing. If air temperatures are below freezing, that water you just poured will freeze again in minutes creating an even worse ice sheet.

Only use this method when you can immediately apply sand or litter for traction afterwards or when temperatures are above freezing but ice hasn't melted yet. Never use it on concrete in extreme cold. The rapid temperature change can crack pavement.

Which Method Is Best?

In most situations, rubbing alcohol handles moderate ice on walkways and steps best. But keep sand or kitty litter on hand for traction in areas you can't melt. Beet juice works if you're near gardens and don't want to harm plants.

Ultimately, though, the reality is that homemade options don't match rock salt for pure effectiveness. They require more material, more frequent application, and work in narrower temperature ranges.

But if you're out of salt, dealing with pets or plants, or just want to stop destroying your driveway, these are all decent alternatives. Just manage your expectations – you're trading convenience for less environmental damage.

Winter is a quiet time in the garden, but there are still some outdoor chores that need tackling. One of these is ensuring your driveway and walkways are clear of ice and snow and safe to use. Many homeowners scatter salt to melt snow and ice.

This strategy is easy and quick, but de-icing salt is dangerous to plants. Think twice before using salt on your driveway and paths. Your plants are dormant now, but as the world thaws and salty water makes its way into the soil and to the roots, they’ll suffer.

Could used coffee grounds be a safe, natural alternative?

Why is Salt So Bad for Plants?

Most de-icing products are made with rock salt (sodium chloride). Sodium chloride helps melt ice by lowering the freezing point of water. It works down to a temperature of about 15 degrees Fahrenheit (-9 degrees Celsius). At colder temperatures, salty water still freezes.

The salt you apply to paths or your driveway can eventually make its way into the soil and plant roots as winter turns into spring and cause salt injury. This is when the snow melts, and plants begin taking up water again. Too much salt in the water and soil can cause dehydration and nutrient imbalances in plants. Salt water on foliage can also cause damage.

Do Coffee Grounds Melt Ice?

This sustainable, eco-friendly tip is, unfortunately, a myth. It’s made the online rounds as a more natural way to melt driveway ice, but it doesn’t really work. If there is some heat left in your grounds, you might get a little bit of melting, but the grounds themselves don’t actually melt ice or snow.

Using Coffee Grounds for Traction

Busting this persistent myth doesn’t mean coffee grounds can’t be a suitable substitute for salt. Creating traction on slick spots can be as effective as melting ice is at making a pathway or driveway safe and passable.

Clear the snow first, especially if you have more than an inch (2.5 cm) or so. Shoveling might be enough to clear your pathways, but if you have icy spots, sprinkle coffee grounds over them. The grittiness of the grounds creates a rougher surface to prevent slips and falls.

Other Plant-Safe Alternatives

It’s possible to use salt sparingly in winter without damaging your plants, but this is a risky strategy. Know where water runs from paths and driveways before you use salt on them. If melting snow and ice drain into your lawn or beds, too much salt will cause damage.

Using coffee grounds for traction is just one safer alternative. The grounds are natural and won’t damage plants when they get into the soil. Other materials that you might have in your shed can also provide traction: sand, grit, pebbles, sawdust, and unscented cat litter. All of these can safely be swept away in spring or allowed to drain into soil and beds. Quikrete sand from Amazon adds traction easily and can help improve drainage in your potting soil, too!

If you prefer to melt ice rather than rely on traction, which might not create perfectly safe conditions, some household products will help. Both vinegar and rubbing alcohol, like salt, lower the freezing point of water. Vinegar is safer for plants, but alcohol can be used sparingly. You can find vinegar and isopropyl alcohol on Amazon.

Mix two parts vinegar with one part warm water, or one quarter cup of rubbing alcohol with a half gallon of warm water. Put the solution in a spray bottle and apply it to the ice. Because this can be time-consuming to apply, it’s best used on smaller areas, like porch steps or patchy areas of ice on paths or driveways. A pump sprayer, available from Amazon, will make the work easier and more efficient. The solutions will turn the ice into a slush, which you can shovel off for a cleaner surface.

Improving traction on icy winter surfaces is a great way to use spent coffee grounds. Just don’t rely on it to actually melt the ice. Coffee grounds and other alternatives to salt will help you make your outside space safer and usable throughout winter without harming plants.

Icy sidewalks and driveways pose safety risks. People can slip and fall, and cars may be unable to get traction. Many homeowners apply driveway salt to these slippery surfaces to remove the ice. It’s very effective as long as it’s done at the right time and in the right way.

So go ahead and salt the ice on your own property if it works for you. But look out – not everyone thinks that this is the right way to deal with slippery winter paths and it has some downsides. That’s why you shouldn’t “surprise” your neighbor by applying driveway salt to their icy sidewalks.

It’s always good yard care etiquette to ask for a neighbor’s permission before doing anything whatsoever on their property.

Why Salt a Driveway?

Driveway salt is also called ice melt salt – because it both keeps ice from forming and also melts ice already built up on driveways and sidewalks. How does it do this? It stops ice crystals from forming by reducing the freezing point of water. Less ice means that shoveling the snow is easier.

When ice bonds to the concrete of the driveway, it’s hard to get rid of it. Anyone walking on ice risks slipping and falling, and a car parked on an icy, snowy driveway can have a hard time getting out safely. Salting your driveway makes it less likely for the tires to slip, just like salting your sidewalk makes it less likely that you will slip.

Downsides to Salting Drives and Walkways

Most things in life have both advantages and disadvantages. Driveway salt is no exception. While there are many kinds of driveway salt, rock salt is the cheapest and most common – and the type of salt used by cities to de-ice their roads. It’s also one of the most effective types of salt to use, since it makes short shrift of ice and snow.

But…there are downsides. Rock salt is corrosive – that’s why it works so well on ice. But it is sufficiently corrosive to damage concrete driveways and sidewalks. They are highly vulnerable to damage from rock salt. It can enter into the concrete pores and retain more water rather than getting rid of it. That can result in cracking and pitting.

If you’re not particularly concerned with your driveway, how do you feel about your car? Yes, rock salt can also cause the metal sections of a vehicle – like the body parts, exhaust system and undercarriage – to rust and corrode. And using de-icing salt can kill your plants. Landscape plants near your driveway or walkways can suffer injury. The salt seeps into the ground with the rain, and, when the plants uptake nutrients in spring, they will absorb the salt as well. It can stunt or kill them.

Finally, think of your kids and dogs. Rock salt contains sodium chloride. This is a toxic substance. If it touches skin, it causes irritation and if it’s eaten, it causes stomach issues. Dogs are especially vulnerable to the toxin.

(There are some pet-safe options for adding grit and traction to your own icy paths. This Quikrete All-Purpose Sand from Amazon is ideal, though you can use finer sand if you mix it with a natural, gritty product like Eco-Traction volcanic granules.)

Permission to Salt

Because there are downsides to salting a driveway or sidewalk, you should never salt your neighbor’s property without their permission. It’s never a good idea to do something on a neighbor’s property without talking to them about it first, and that applies in spades to salting their yard. Make the offer, but don’t proceed without asking or you may make your neighbor angry and even open yourself up to legal liability.

For example, if the neighbor’s plants, dogs, kids or new cars are injured from the salt, they might take you to court seeking money damages. It just takes a moment to ask and it can save you a world of hurt.

Learning from your mistakes is the fastest way to grow, both as a gardener and as a person. When it comes to gardening, there’s so much to learn – and so many ways you can go wrong. You have to know about each individual plants’ needs, soil health, growing zones, and so much more. It’s no wonder we all make silly errors, especially during our first few seasons.

Some botanical blunders, however, are a bit more blush-worthy. These types of gardening mistakes often happen when we know better, but think we don’t need to follow the rules. Whether it’s planting a variety that’s not hardy to your growing zone or not giving that tropical houseplant the humidity it needs, there are as many ways to mess up as there are plant varieties in the world.

Learning from our own mistakes is valuable, but it also helps to hear how other gardeners have fallen short and how we can prevent similar problems. So I asked our team of gardening experts here at Gardening Know How about the most embarrassing gardening mistakes they’ve ever made, with the hope of helping amateur gardeners learn how to avoid the same issues. Here’s what they had to say.

1. Wrong Plant, Wrong Place

It was easy for Amy Draiss, Digital Community Manager and former garden center manager, to remember an embarrassing moment in her garden. When I queried her about her biggest blunder, she said, “Immediately, I thought back to last year’s wrong plant, wrong place fiasco.

“For someone who worked at a garden center for over 20 years, I knew better. I really did. But I wanted that brand new hibiscus so badly, with its bright magenta flowers and dark purple, almost black foliage, that I planted it near the front of my house where the soil is dry as can be. With a plant named swamp mallow, I knew better. And of course, it performed very poorly.

“The following year, I moved it and replanted it along the edge of a swale in my backyard. I have never seen a plant bounce back so happily in my life. It absolutely loves the constant flow of water now.”

When we make mistakes in our gardens – we all do it! – it’s best to take that knowledge and use it to grow a better garden in the future. That’s exactly what Draiss has done. “I have definitely learned from my mistake.”

2. Planting Aggressive Growers

Content Editor Kayleigh Dray recounted an embarrassing moment when she planted a species she knew would take over her landscape. “I foolishly decided the lemon verbena was too big for its pot and planted it in the border. I forgot, ok? I forgot that most herbs are thuggish brutes.

“It quickly took over, smothering all of our pretty bedding plants, and my husband would probably have never let me forget it…if he hadn't done the exact same thing with some hops. They clambered right over the fence and into our neighbor's garden.

She said the only saving grace was that her neighbors didn't mind the garden invasion. “We are EXTREMELY lucky we live next door to family, is all I can say.”

Her words of wisdom for other gardeners, “Hops and herbs, people. Don't trust them for a minute.”

3. Ignoring Soil pH