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

Even our highly-experienced Editor in Chief Melanie Griffiths committed a common gardening mistake. For her, it was ignoring the pH and sunlight needs of her azalea.

“When we first bought our own home many years ago, we planted an azalea in alkaline soil in a full sun spot. My husband had always loved them, and it had been so exciting to add our first plant to the new garden.

“Needless to say, it didn't last long. I suppose I should have realized and moved it before it died, but I kept hoping for the best.” Most plants can tolerate neutral soil or soil that skews a little basic or a little acidic. But for acid-loving plants like azaleas, you have to give them the pH they need, otherwise they’ll never thrive.

You can make your soil more acidic with a soil amendment, like this one from Espoma, to help azaleas flourish.

4. Not Deadheading

For Susan Albert, a master gardener with decades of gardening experience, a simple garden cleanup mistake led to her most embarrassing error. “My biggest regret is not deadheading the rambunctious sweet autumn clematis vine when it went to seed.” This is a must for a potentially invasive vine like sweet autumn clematis.

“I overlooked the chore a couple of years in a row and, boy, was I sorry. Suddenly I had clematis vines coming up in the lawn, climbing up every shrub and tree, and with such speed, the shrubs were covered before I realized what was happening.

“And it was no picnic digging them out. They didn't just pull out easily, I had to dig them out. I had a similar experience with trumpet vine. Those are two vines I will never plant again.”

5. Ignoring Pests

It’s just as easy to make indoor gardening mistakes as it is outside in the garden. Indoor plant expert Tyler Schuster said, “One of the worst things is when you see an indoor garden fall apart because of pests.”

Even plants that spend their lives inside your home can still develop pest problems, so it’s crucial to be vigilant and do routine pest checks. Schuster said, “The moment I skip a weekly pest check, it seems they start to get to work! The only real natural predator they have is YOU, and they will get out of hand fast. Spider mites and scale always seem to hit hard if I miss them.”

Wipe off plant leaves with insecticidal soap or give them a spritz of neem oil, both of which you can get on Amazon, to keep pests under control.

6. Growing in Low Light

Content Editor Janey Goulding has tried many times to grow her favorite herb indoors with no success. Despite her years of gardening experience and strong desire to grow fresh thyme in her urban apartment, she just can’t make it work.

“My not-so-secret shame involves thyme, one of my favorite plants. I’m a bit obsessed with it, and always have several varieties on the go. However, I used to have a tiny attic flat in London with no garden.

“My obsession with thyme prompted me to try growing it indoors – as a houseplant. And I don’t just mean once! So determined was I that I tried growing it in several rooms of the flat. Unfortunately, wherever I tried to grow it indoors, I had the same problems: severe humidity and poor light.

“No amount of lovingly brushing my hands against those fragrant domes indoors could make up for what they really needed. Time and thyme again, I had the same sorry outcome, as the leaves shriveled, the fragrance eked away, and the plants turned up their toes.

“I knew in my bones that they didn’t want to hang out with ‘aloe vera and the gang’ inside, but it took me several tries to accept my flat’s limitations.” Finally, she realized that growing thyme outside is the way to go. “Now I stick to the great outdoors for my many aromatic thyme exploits.”

A microclimate forms when landscape features – like walls, slopes, or trees – alter temperature, moisture, and light on a small scale. While a USDA planting zone gives you a broad average for your region, your specific yard contains "mini-zones" that can be significantly warmer or cooler than the street corner.

Some key drivers of microclimates are:

• Thermal Mass: Dark surfaces like brick walls or stone paths absorb heat all day and radiate it at night, minimizing temperature swings.
• Elevation: Cold air behaves just like water – it sinks into low spots and stays there, creating frost pockets while higher ground stays milder.
• Wind & Shelter: Dense hedges or fences work as windbreaks, while open lawns expose plants to the elements, letting the wind whip away warmth.
• Aspect: South-facing areas catch the most sun, while north-facing spots stay cool, moist, and shaded.

How Microclimates Affect Your Plants

Cold air pools in "bowls" or low-lying dips on calm nights, increasing the risk of frost. Conversely, south-facing exposures gain extra sun hours, which can advance bloom times and extend your harvest into late autumn.

Wind strips heat from leaves and dries out soil rapidly. Sheltered pockets retain moisture longer, making them perfect for thirsty plants like ferns. Conversely, enclosed spots with high humidity can increase the risk of fungal diseases, so airflow is still essential.

Common Microclimate Spots

How to Map Your Own Garden

Don't rely on guesswork – use a few simple tools to create a "climate profile" of your property.

1. Use Thermometers: Place min-max thermometers like this one from Amazon in different corners of your yard for a few weeks. You might be surprised to find a 5-degree difference between your front and back porch.
2. The "Dawn Walk": After a cold, calm night, walk your yard at sunrise. Look for where frost has settled and where the grass is still clear.
3. Watch the Wind: Observe how wind moves by watching flags or smoke. Note which areas are buffeted and which stay calm.
4. Measure the Soil: Check the temperature of your soil at root depth once a week. This 4-1 moisture meter from Amazon is perfect for the job.
5. Track the Sun: Sun paths change with the seasons. A spot that's full sun in July might be total shade by October.

Putting Your Knowledge to Work

Once you’ve mapped your yard, you can plant strategically to maximize your success:

1. Push the Limits: Plant tender perennials against warm house foundations for extra winter protection.
2. Advance the Spring: Use raised beds in your sunniest microclimates – they warm up much faster than in-ground soil and can be planted in much earlier.
3. Create Windbreaks: If a spot is too exposed, add a fence or a hedge to create a new, sheltered microclimate behind it. You can also buy a ready-to-go windbreak on Amazon.
4. Use Reflective Mulch: In shady corners, light-colored stones or reflective mulches can bounce extra light up into the plant canopy.

“It don’t take a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” according to poet and songwriter Bob Dylan. And it’s true – all you have to do is to look at the nearest tree.

In fact, there are lots of plants that predict the weather. And we don’t mean rare or exotic plants – even weeds like dandelions or common chickweed are among the group. If you know how to read the signs, you too can get weather information from looking at sensitive plants.

Let's explore the science and folklore behind these botanical weather predictors.

The Science Behind Botanical Weather Prediction

If this sounds a little bit like voodoo, don’t worry. There’s science behind it, not magic. Over the millennia, plants have learned to adapt to the weather, reacting to changes in humidity, temperature, and air pressure in order to survive.

Just think how vulnerable a flowering plant would be to damage from a storm. Wind and rain might destroy its blossoms and – with them – the seeds needed to propagate the species in subsequent years. Scientific research has established that plants sensitize themselves to changes in environmental conditions that suggest that a storm is coming, including humidity, temperature and air pressure. This gives it time to close up the petals and secure the seeds.

Plants That Can Predict Rain

Here are some of the most common plants in your yard that are good predictors of rain.

1. Dandelions

Do dandelions close when it rains? Yes, they do. This humble weed can discern the approach of a storm. Well before the first raindrop falls, the yellow flowers are closed up tight.

While some gardeners take pains to get rid of dandelions, there are many uses for dandelions in addition to being weather predictors. Dandelions are edible and also provide early nutrition for bees and other beneficial insects in the spring.

2. Tulips

Tulips are another flowering plant that senses the rise in the humidity of the air before rain arrives. The flowers contract or expand as the humidity changes, and often are tucked up tight before a storm.

Divide and plant tulip bulbs in the fall to have rain predictors come next spring. You can force tulip bulbs indoors in winter, too, though they won't be predicting rain from your dining room table!

3. Pinecones

Tulips are not the only plants with the botanical urge to protect their seeds. In fact, reproducing the species is a primary "goal” of many plants, including pine trees.

Do pinecones close when it rains? Yes, they do. The seeds of a pine tree are borne in the fruit, the woody cone. The seeds develop on the cone under tightly closed scales. When the seeds are mature, the pinecones loosen the scales to release the seeds. But when rain is expected, the scales close up tightly to protect the seeds.

4. Common Chickweed

Common chickweed (Stellaria media) forms dense mats of edible leaves, with small white summer flowers. The flowers can close up when the sky is overcast, but it is not as reliable an indicator of humidity as some other plants.

Many gardeners want to get rid of chickweed, but like dandelions, you can eat chickweed and use it for other herbal remedies.

5. Scarlet Pimpernel

Scarlet pimpernel (Lysimachia arvensis) is another flowering plant that closes up when clouds come in and the sky is overcast.

Their reaction to humidity is so reliable that the plant is also known as the poor man's barometer, or shepherd's weather glass. The small, orange-scarlet flowers only open wide on sunny days.

Weather Predictors in Folklore

Here we leave the realm of science and venture into the land of folklore. Less research, more tradition.

1. Persimmon Seeds

Have a persimmon tree in your yard? Try this folky If you remove a persimmon seed, slice it open, and remove the cotyledon inside, it is said to inform you of how severe the winter will be. The shape can either be a spoon shape, which means an abundance of snow, a knife shape, indicating a harsh winter ahead, or a fork shape, indicating that the winter won’t be bad at all. Do not bet the farm on this one!

2. Corn Husks

It is said in France that when the corn grows with a thick, tight husk, the corn is wrapping itself up to protect it from a cold, icy winter ahead. The jury is still out on this one too!

3. Deciduous Trees

Here’s another piece of folklore using plants to predict rain: when humidity rises, the leaves on maples, birches and poplars flip over, exposing their paler undersides. This may be true, since the moisture in the air softens the leaves, making them easier to be turned over by wind.

4. Weeping Willow

If your weeping willow's branches are drooping more than usual, it is a sign that rain is coming. This may have some truth to it, since the leaves will be heavier as moisture attaches to them.

These botanical weather predictors aren't foolproof, but noticing the changes in the plants around us can clue us in to subtle changes in the atmosphere and climate. What other plants do you look to to predict the weather?

More Help Predicting the Weather

Our editors have rounded up some more weather predicting devices to pair with your botanical predictors.

The “leave the leaves” movement seems to gain more attention every fall – and it’s easy to see why. It’s good for the environment and it makes fall cleanup so much simpler for gardeners. But you can’t simply leave every single leaf that falls in your yard and garden and expect no issues.

If you’re interested in trying this sustainable gardening technique this fall, there are a few guidelines to follow first about where you should (and should not) leave the leaves in your landscape. These will help you get the biggest benefits from fallen leaves and keep you safe in your yard and garden.

Let’s take a look at the two places you should never leave the leaves and the three spots in your yard where you should let them pile up instead.

Where You Should Never Leave the Leaves

There are a couple places in your garden where leaving the leaves can cause more harm than good. These are the two spots where you should never let them pile up.

1. On Walkways

Leaving leaves on walkways can spell trouble. Wet leaves – or even worse, frozen leaves – can make you slip and fall. Outdoor stairs are especially dangerous when coated in a layer of slick leaves.

Not only is leaving the leaves on paved walkways and stairs a hazard, but it doesn’t benefit your garden or wildlife. As leaves break down, they turn into a rich leaf mold that improves soil and help plants thrive. But if they’re left to decompose on paved areas, this nutrient-dense organic matter is wasted and creates a mucky mess for you to clean up later.

2. On the Lawn

Ok, this one comes with a caveat. You can leave the leaves on your lawn – but within reason. Don’t let fallen leaves totally bury your yard. You should only let leaves cover about 20% of your lawn or else you’re asking for trouble.

Too many leaves left on the lawn can smother your turf over winter and potentially kill grass come spring. It can also increase your chances of developing snow mold fungus over winter and invite animal pests, like voles and mice, in spring.

If you do leave the leaves on your lawn, don’t let them blanket your turf. Chop them up with a lawn mower before they get overwhelming. This helps leaves break down faster and adds nutrients back into the soil. But as with any lawn fertilizer (even organic ones), you can have too much of a good thing. Limit the amount of leaves on your lawn to 10-20% total coverage for the best results.

Where to Put Leaves Instead

There are a few alternative spots in your landscape that benefit from lots of fallen leaves. So if you have too many leaves on your walkways or lawn, blow or rake them into one of these three locations instead.

1. In Garden Borders

Garden borders are one of the best places to put fallen leaves. They act as a free magic mulch material that not only protects plants over winter, but also adds nutrients back into the soil as they break down.

Rake or blow leaves into beds bordering your landscape and simply let them lie all winter. They’ll slowly decompose around plants, adding organically-rich leaf mold into the soil with minimal effort. An electric leaf blower, like this one from Ryobi on Amazon, makes the job even easier and more eco-friendly.

A 3 to 5 inch (8-13 cm) layer of leaves is ideal. You don’t want to smother plants, but you also want enough leaves to help stop weeds in fall all the way through early spring.

2. Under Trees

Underneath trees is the perfect place to leave fallen leaves. It’s the main place they naturally fall anyways, so you don’t have to do anything to move them there. However, if you have a tree with a large canopy in your yard, then it may drop leaves all over your whole yard.

If that’s the case for you, simply rake or blow leaves back underneath the tree they came from. This rake and cleanup bag combo from Amazon makes moving leaves to a different part of the yard so easy to do.

I’ve left the leaves that fall underneath the trees in my own front yard for years. I live on a hill, so the soil under the trees is eroding. Every fall, I let the leaves pile up to add organic matter back to the eroded areas. This improves the soil underneath the trees and also makes it easier to grow shallow-rooted plants in this low soil area that help minimize erosion.

3. In the Compost Pile

If you have too many fallen leaves and aren’t sure what to do with them, then a compost pile is a great solution. You can either start a compost pile from scratch with all your freshly fallen leaves or you can add them to an existing pile or bin.

A compost tumbler, like this one from Amazon, speeds up the composting process and prevents a big pile of leaves from blowing back into your yard. By next spring, you’ll have a ton of black gold from all your fallen leaves. You can add this to your vegetable garden, ornamental beds, or give your favorite shrubs a boost.

The first winter after having our new outdoor faucet installed, the frost damaged it, and in the spring, we had to call the plumber back to have it replaced. Before you ask, yes, we turned off the shut-off valve and drained the excess water, but the spigot still succumbed to the frost. Maybe we didn’t drain it properly, or maybe the seals or valve failed – either way, it was a surprise as we thought we had done everything right.

The next winter, we didn’t want to risk the same situation – or worse, a burst pipe. So, after doing some research, I decided to use a faucet sock. It’s the perfect set-and-forget November winterizing job, and I bought one exactly like this Hometopia 2-pack of outdoor faucet covers from Amazon, which cost less than $10.

Since we started using our faucet cover, we’ve gone through two winters problem-free. It’s such an easy, affordable solution that more people should know about.

What is a Faucet Cover?

A faucet cover – or "sock" – is as simple as it gets. It looks like an oversized mitten and is made from durable, waterproof fabric with a thick inner layer of insulation, a bit like a padded winter coat.

You just slip the sock over the entire spigot, then pull the drawstring cord or strap tight, with the open end flush against the wall, to keep it securely in place.

The cover works by trapping residual heat radiating from your home through the pipe and wall. This creates a small pocket of insulated air, keeping the spigot (and any stray water) from freezing, expanding, and bursting.

Do You Still Have to Shut Off the Valve?

Yes. A faucet cover is a last line of defence, not a complete winterizing solution. Before installing your cover, you must follow these steps:

1. Shut Off the Water: Find the interior shut-off valve for the spigot (usually this is located in the basement, crawlspace, or under a sink) and turn it to the "off" position.
2. Disconnect Your Hose: Drain your hose and store it for the winter. Many people forget this step and end up having to replace the hose in spring.
3. Drain the Spigot: Go back outside and turn the spigot to the "on" position. This will drain all the water left in the pipe – don't worry if it sputters.
4. Leave it Open: This is the most important part. Leave the spigot in the "on" position. This allows any water that does leak past a faulty valve to safely drip out instead of building up pressure.
5. Add the Cover: Finally, slip your faucet sock over the open spigot and pull the strap or drawstring tight. Now you can rest easy until it's time to start watering plants in spring!

What if I Don't Have a Shut-off Valve?

If you don't have an interior shut-off, you may have a modern "frost-free" spigot, which is designed to self-drain. You just need to disconnect your hose, though adding a cover is still great extra insurance.

If your faucet looks older, then you may have a "live" pipe. This is a non-frost-free spigot with no shut-off, making it high risk of freezing. Protect it with electric heat tape, like this one from Amazon, and then place a faucet cover over the tape for insulation.

Given our past experience, we’ll never go through another winter without a faucet cover. It’s such an easy, affordable, and effective solution that really, every homeowner should be using one.

Spigot Winterizing Essentials

Not all garden soil is dark and deep. A garden or backyard may have sections of shallow soil. These are areas where something impermeable lies close below the thin soil layer, restricting the plant roots from pushing their way down. This can be bedrock, tree roots, or cement, for example.

But does the shallow soil mean you can’t grow a garden there? Sometimes. But often you can if you find the right shallow-rooted plants. I've compiled a list of some of the best plants with shallow roots to help you solve is frustrating garden problem.

Like finding plants that thrive in poor soil, trying to pick out plants for shallow soil can be hard. But I'll share some expert tips about how to successfully grow a garden in shallow soil and some of my favorite varieties for areas with almost no soil.

What Is Shallow Soil?

Shallow garden soil is exactly what it sounds like. When you try to press a shovel into the earth, it doesn't go in very far before something hard under the soil stops it. There is no official depth that classifies soil as “shallow,” but if the layer of soil is less than 1.5 feet (0.5 m) deep, it will certainly cause problems.

So what’s under the shallow soil in your garden? It could be a variety of things, like rocks, cement, bedrock, or even old pavement. If you can’t get a shovel in deep, you know that plant roots will not be able to penetrate either – and that’s the real issue. If root growth is impeded, your plants cannot take up the water and nutrients they need to survive and thrive.

So unless you want to truck in a huge load of topsoil or spend tons of time building a sustainable garden soil from almost nothing, your best bet is to find plants that can grow in shallow soil.

Why Plant Choice Matters

Shallow root plants are plants with naturally short roots that can grow in areas with little to no soil. Though these plants would have short roots even if planted in deep soil, they are the ideal solution for areas with minimal soil. They are the only plants that will be happy in a part of the yard with low soil levels.

Shallow-rooted plants have adapted to survive in a thin layer of soil. They have developed longer, more abundant root hairs that efficiently absorb nutrients and water from the topsoil layer.

Many of these plants are also great for arid areas, where only the top of the soil will get adequate water. And finally, given the roots proximity to the surface, these plants usually grow more quickly than seeds planted deeper.

True shallow-rooted plants have evolved to obtain the nutrients and water they need from the topsoil. Yes, that makes them perfect for shallow root areas, but that also means they are great additions in a garden with regular soil. You can place them near deep-rooted plants and they will grow well without competition. This creates a diverse garden that's low-maintenance and beautiful.

Best Shallow-Rooted Plants

You can find many different types of beautiful and easy to grow plants for shallow soil. Here are some of the best options for a variety of garden needs.

• Ground Covers: Succulents, like creeping sedums, make great shallow rooted ground cover plants. Or you can plant creeping phlox for stunning spring blooms.
• Herbs: Shallow-rooted herbs include oregano, thyme, and lavender. Add an aromatic element that's also edible with one of these plants for shallow soil.
• Perennials: If you're looking to fill an area that lack soil with perennial plants, try coneflowers or hardy geraniums. They can tolerate difficult growing conditions like low soil and provide years of blooms.
• Vegetables: Leafy greens like lettuce and spinach grow quickly and have shallow roots. Or you can also opt for chives and radishes. Believe it or not, big, gorgeous butternut squash is also a great options for a shallow soil site.
• Ornamental Grasses: If you want to grow ornamental grasses in an area with shallow soil, go for Japanese forest grass. It’s the best for this purpose. A couple other grasses with shallow roots include blue fescue and fountain grass.
• Shrubs: Evergreen shrubs with shallow roots include boxwoods, azaleas, yew, and holly bushes. Also, try hardy hydrangeas. Their beautiful flowers can make any garden shine.

Tips for Success in Shallow Soil

When a part of the garden has shallow soil, plants growing in these areas may deplete the available water quickly. To combat this, water more frequently. A drip irrigation system, like this one from Home Depot, is a great way to keep plants thoroughly hydrated. Otherwise check daily to see how dry the area is.

Also, regularly add organic material to the site to provide additional nutrients and build up the soil that is there. Organic compost, which you can get from Espoma on Amazon, or make yourself at home works well for this. It’s better to layer it on top of the soil than to dig it in.

After adding compost, top the soil with mulch. This can be organic mulch, which you can also get on Amazon, or it could also be wood chips or chopped leaves from other parts of your garden. Mulching locks in moisture and protects the shallow roots. Keep your eye out for weeds and remove them as soon as possible. They compete with shallow-rooted plants for water and nutrients.

If your soil is extremely shallow and none of these plants or techniques are working out for you, then it might be time to add some raised beds. Senior Editor Liz Baessler swears by her Vego Garden beds, which come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and colors to suit any garden.

Fall is beautiful as the leaves change color, but this time of year can also bring up a number of gardening questions. A common question many homeowners and gardeners have is, "What can I do about my neighbor’s tree leaves in my yard?"

Fall lawn care tasks typically include managing leaves. But what if you’re faced with the issue of managing the leaves from someone else’s tree? This can be a frustrating situation, especially if your neighbor’s tree dumps a significant amount of leaves in your yard. Disputes over trees and boundaries have been known to get heated or even go to court.

Before it gets this far, ask yourself a few questions: What can I do with leaves from neighbor’s tree in my yard? Can I manage them on my own easily? Are there more than I can deal with? Will my neighbor be reasonable about solutions? Our team of gardening experts has found the answers to those questions for you. Here's how to handle a neighbor's leaves falling on your lawn.

Who's Responsible for Fallen Leaves?

The first important issue to address is who is responsible for the leaves from a tree in one yard that have fallen into another yard. It’s not uncommon for leaves from trees that are not on your property to end up in your yard.

Some of the branches from the tree might overhang your yard. Another possibility is that the wind blows leaves into your yard. Finally, and hopefully this is a rare occurrence, a homeowner might blow their leaves into your yard. That's one of the biggest leaf-blowing etiquette mistakes someone can make.

Before you do anything about a neighbor’s leaves, it’s important to understand your local laws. Most issues dealing with property are managed by municipalities. But the rules and policies can vary by city or county, so look into your local ordinances.

However, almost everywhere, one rule is the same: leaves are natural products, which means getting rid of the leaves is your responsibility if they fall in your yard. It doesn’t matter that they came from a tree on someone else’s property. Once they’re in your lawn, those leaves are yours.

If someone intentionally blows or dumps leaves on your lawn, that can be a legally gray area. This is, at best, poor etiquette and, at worst, illegal. But again, specific laws and regulations on this topic depend on your local area.

How to Deal With Leaves From a Neighbor's Tree

Before tackling the situation, consider what you do with leaves in your yard that come from your own trees. The easiest solution to a neighbor’s leaves is simply rake the leaves or blow them with a leaf blower. Basically, treat them the same as you would your own.

If you normally rake and bag, add these leaves to the chore. If you use leaves as mulch, add the neighboring leaves to your mulch. If it’s not a large amount of leaves compared to your own, this shouldn’t be a big issue.

Start By Talking to Your Neighbor

In some cases, the amount of leaves coming from a neighbor’s yard is significant. Maybe you don’t have many trees and most of the leaves on your lawn come from somewhere else. Or you might have physical limitations that make it difficult to manage the amount of leaves.

If the leaves from a neighbor’s tree are more than you want to or are able to deal with, you can take some simple steps to try to resolve the issue. Start by talking to your neighbor.

This can be a difficult conversation to have, like talking to your neighbor about their weeds taking over your yard, but being amicable and kind will go a long way. Talk to your neighbor in a friendly way and with a helpful and positive attitude. Express that you are hopeful you can come up with a solution that works for both of you.

Make sure they understand your concerns and issues and start a conversation about the options. For instance, maybe you could spend a day together raking. Offer to make it a fun opportunity to get to know each other better. This rake and cleanup bag combo from Amazon makes leaf cleanup easy.

Other options include asking them to strategically prune the tree in question, especially branches hanging over your yard, which would reduce the number of leaves falling on your lawn. In most areas, you are legally allowed to trim branches that overhang your property.

If you choose to trim them yourself, make sure you know where your property line is and that you don’t cross it to trim. You are also not allowed to damage the tree. Any trimming should be done solely on your property and should not cause the tree lasting harm. Use a sharp manual saw or pruner with a long handle, like this one from Fiskars, or opt for an electric pole saw, like this one from Greenworks, to make quick work of any trimming job.

Keep in mind that your neighbor is not legally obligated to help you manage leaves on your lawn, so don’t get mad if they aren’t willing to help.

What to Do With Fallen Leaves

In most situations, you’ll simply have to figure out what to do with fall leaves on your own, as it is your responsibility. So, what are the best ways to deal with a neighbor's leaves that fall on your property? Here are some ideas that will actually help your garden.

• Make Leaf Mulch. Spreading leaf mulch in beds in fall can help your garden in several ways. It reduces erosion of soil in beds, protects your more tender plants, and prevents plant roots from heaving in the frost. Pile your extra leaves into beds and reap the benefits.
• Make Compost. Leaves are just one of many components of rich homemade compost. Add them if you need more brown, carbon-rich material. If you don’t have a compost pile, you can compost leaves by simply piling them up in one area of the yard and letting them decompose over time.
• Leave Leaves in Place. Gardeners and homeowners are increasingly aware of how "leaving the leaves" is positive for wildlife. Many beneficial insects as well as small mammals and frogs spend time under the leaf litter. It serves as a safe place to lay eggs and acts as a warm shelter from freezing winter temperatures.
• Trim Branches. You might also want to consider trimming back the branches from your neighbor’s tree that overhang your property. But follow a few simple etiquette rules when trimming your neighbor's overgrown hedges and trees. Remember to stay on your property and to avoid damaging the tree if you do this. It’s also neighborly to talk to them before you do it to make sure they're on board.

What NOT to Do

Property disputes can be emotional. Whatever you do, don’t let anger and other emotions override common sense. You have to live next to your neighbor, so it’s best to settle the issue in a fair and amicable way.

Don’t leave your neighbor out of the conversation. If you’re not happy with the situation, and don’t feel you can manage the leaves easily on your own, talk to them about it. You might be surprised at how willing people are to work together for a solution.

Don’t go onto your neighbor’s property without permission. This is considered trespassing, and they could take legal actions against you. Don’t do anything to intentionally damage or even kill the tree. This is also illegal.

Finally, don’t get too stressed about the issue. Leaves are a part of nature and a part of the garden. Manage the leaves on your own, or calmly work with your neighbor toward a solution.

Fall Cleanup Essentials

Perennials come back every year in your garden, which makes them relatively low maintenance. However, they do need dividing every once in a while. It’s important to understand which perennials to divide in fall before temperatures drop too low.

Perennial plants need dividing to ensure their roots have enough room to grow and take up nutrients. Dividing also helps manage the size and spread of plants and gives you more plants for additional garden areas. Here’s everything you need to know about plants to move before winter.

Why Divide and Transplant in Fall?

While many gardeners choose to divide perennials in the spring, fall is also a great time for this chore. The temperatures are cooler and dropping, which puts less stress on the roots that are being disturbed and cut.

If you don’t wait too long in fall, the soil will still be warm, which the roots also need to get established. Fall is often rainy, which will provide your new transplants with plenty of water to grow and get comfortable before winter. With the right timing, transplanted divisions will have enough time and good weather conditions to establish a good foundation for the following year.

The Best Plants to Divide and Move Before Winter

Perennials perform best when divided regularly, and fall can be a great time to do it, but now you need to know what to divide this time of year. For instance, can you divide hostas in the fall? How about dividing daylilies in fall? Or mums or peonies? Here’s a cheat sheet for perennials that can safely be divided just before winter:

• Astilbe
• Black-eyed Susans
• Coneflowers
• Coreopsis
• Daylilies
• Grasses
• Hostas
• Irises
• Oriental poppy
• Phlox
• Salvia

And a quick note about what not to divide now: fall-flowering plants. For example, it’s best to leave mums and asters alone until spring. Plants in flower are putting energy into blooms. They should be divided when they can put that energy into root and leaf growth.

Also avoid dividing woody plants. Only divide peonies if you really need to. They can be divided in the fall but generally don’t take well to being uprooted and moved.

How to Divide Perennials

Dividing plants is relatively easy, but it might require a little muscle if your plants are big or have extensive roots. Start by planning this chore for a cloudy day with cool temperatures. Moving plants on a hot day that is too dry will cause them unnecessary stress.

1. If there's no rain in the forecast, water your plants the day before dividing them. If it's been raining and the soil is moist, skip this step.
2. Use a garden fork or, ideally, a sharp transplanting shovel, like this Vnimti transplanting spade on Amazon, to dig up the parent plant. Work carefully and slowly to avoid causing the roots any unnecessary damage.
3. Gently remove dirt from the roots. They don’t need to be clean, but you should be able to see the roots to divide them.
4. Separate the plant into smaller divisions by gently pulling apart roots or cutting them with a sharp garden tool like Perwin's highly rated hori hori knife, available on Amazon.
5. Make sure each division has three to five healthy shoots and a good clump of vigorous roots.
6. Keep each division in the shade and moist until you’re ready to replant them in another location. Replant them as soon as possible.

If you’re not planning to keep your divisions, you can compost them. Or, share them with friends and neighbors.

Timing Tip – Don't Wait Too Long

Timing is critical with fall divisions. The best time to do this chore is four to six weeks before your area’s first hard frost. Check the average first frost date to get an idea of when this might occur. Depending on where you live and garden, the fall transplanting window is between late August and early October.

Be aware that the leaves may begin to wilt this time of year, but you can still divide and transplant. What’s most important is that the roots are healthy and vigorous.

Aftercare for Successful Transplants

Care for your divisions after transplanting is vital to their successful growth next year. Water them well right after replanting and continue to water regularly if it isn’t raining. Keep watering until you start getting regular frosts.

You can add a light layer of mulch to protect the roots from cold temperatures, but don’t fertilize plants now. This will only stimulate growth that can be damaged in winter. Wait until spring to feed them.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Dividing plants is easy once you get the hang of it. Avoid some common mistakes for the best results:

• Don’t divide when the weather is very hot and dry or very cold. This will only stress the transplants.
• Avoid damaging your plants' roots unnecessarily with dull tools. If you’ll be cutting roots, use a sharp tool.
• Don’t replant at depths that are too deep or too shallow. Plant transplants to the same depth the were before you divided them from the parent plants.
• Avoid stressing or even killing your transplants with too little water. They’ll need plenty of water leading into winter.

You can divide most perennials in spring, but fall is a good time to do this chore, too. Save yourself some time in spring and get a head start now with fall divisions and transplants.

Gardeners are far from lazy. It takes a lot of effort to create and maintain a beautiful outdoor space, but there’s no reason to work harder than necessary.

Fall is traditionally a time to clean up the garden, raking and disposing of leaves, cutting back and getting rid of dead perennials or annuals, mulching beds, and more.

But what if you took a lazier approach to fall garden cleanup this year? It turns out, there are good reasons to skip or scale back on some of these chores. Here’s what you need to know.

Why Doing Less Can Be More in the Fall Garden

One reason not to go overboard with fall garden cleanup is that it simply isn’t necessary. There are some basic fall dos and don'ts to explore. Firstly, you don’t need to create a pristine space for a healthy or productive garden. In fact, doing so can, in some ways, harm your garden. For instance, totally raking out and tilling beds so they’re barren in preparation for spring can actually damage soil structure, encourage compaction, promote erosion, and unbalance microorganism ecosystems. Cover crops can help recharge your soil over winter and reduce erosion.

Perhaps the most important reason to be a little lazier in the fall and use the no fall cleanup approach is to support wildlife. A messy garden is more natural, which means it better supports native species. For example, leaf litter is literally a breeding ground for pollinators, including butterfly and moth caterpillars.

Leaving Leaves in Place

The biggest fall chore for many gardeners and homeowners is raking and disposing of leaves. The standard way to manage fallen leaves is to get them all into bags and have them picked up for disposal. The other extreme is to leave them all in place where they fall. Neither option is ideal.

Leaving a thick layer of leaves on the lawn can kill the grass underneath. On the other hand, leaf litter plays host to eggs for many beneficial insects and is a habitat for other small animals. You can find a happy medium by only raking up some leaves where they fall most thickly. Also, instead of disposing of all the leaves, use some of them to mulch garden beds. Leaf mold is one of the best eco-friendly mulches. Or, you can add leaves to your compost pile as needed. Looking to up your composting game? This large outdoor composting bin from Amazon has enough space to fit your leaves, grass clippings, and food waste and turn it all into black gold.

Leave Flower Heads in Place

Another traditional fall chore is to cut back and remove all perennials. This makes beds look tidy and can help you jump-start spring bed preparation, but there are some plants you should never prune in the fall. Additionally, as with fallen leaves, leaving this plant matter can support wildlife.

You might want to remove a lot of the leaves of spent perennials to avoid rot and the spread of disease. But, try to leave flower stalks and seedheads in place. These will feed birds throughout the winter. When snow covers your lawn and beds, any tall seedheads left in place act as a lifeline to hungry animals. Hollow flower stalks and stems act as bee hotels that help pollinators overwinter.

You can also leave sturdy, healthy foliage in place to provide some shelter for small animals. Many gorgeous fall ornamental grasses, for example, can be left all winter. Not only do they support wildlife, but they also add visual interest to the winter garden.

Avoid Pruning in Fall

Most plants should not be pruned in the fall, so you can mostly cross this chore off your list. Pruning in the fall for most plants is a bad idea because doing so stimulates new growth that will be damaged in the colder weather to come. There are some exceptions, so know your plants and their ideal pruning times. Another exception is for disease. Remove any diseased plant matter you find. Do not compost it.

Don’t Overdo Bed Preparation

Many gardeners use fall chore time to clean up beds and prepare them for the following spring. This is great, but don’t overdo it. While pulling up any remaining weeds can be useful, tilling the soil in beds can can be one of the worst weeding mistakes because it spreads weed seeds. Pulling out all plants and leaving bare soil exposes your beds to erosion and compaction and disrupts microorganisms.

Instead of going overboard on this chore, get a little lazy. Leave healthy, sturdy perennials in place, including seed heads. Pull some weeds, but don’t work the soil. Add some mulch or raked leaves, but not too much. Too much mulching is hard work and is also bad for plants that can get suffocated by dense layers of mulch and leaves.

Don’t Remove All Lawn and Garden Debris

Again, messy is natural, so don’t go for perfection when cleaning up debris like sticks, stumps, and dead trees, also known as snags. These items in the landscape are important habitats. They provide shelter and food for all kinds of insects, small mammals, and snakes that are native to your ecosystem.

So don’t make a big fall project out of removing snags, big, downed branches, or stumps. Leave them in place. Of course, the location of a fallen branch or tree might be inconvenient, so another option is to move it to a corner of the yard. You can even create a debris pile to host native wildlife and turn your yard into a wildlife habitat. Keep an eye on animals in your wildlife-friendly garden with a backyard wildlife camera from Birdfy.

More Tips for Lazy Gardeners

Even with a lazier approach to fall cleanup, chores must be tackled to some degree. Here are some tips to make it easier and to work more efficiently.

• Do chores a little bit at a time. If you only have 15 minutes, use that time to pull a few weeds or spread a little mulch. Bit by bit, you’ll get it done.
• Tidy one area of the garden at a time. Getting one area right is satisfying and will inspire you to move on to the next.
• Focus on the areas you can see. Prioritize limited time by tackling areas of the garden visible from the house. The rest can wait.
• Take plenty of breaks if you’re working all day. Working for hours at a time can be counterproductive and leave you exhausted, sore, or even injured. Investing in a sturdy, foldable garden kneeler like this one from Amazon can help you stay comfortable and safe as you work.

Hopefully, these fall cleanup tips will help you to slow down a little and take a load off this fall. There is plenty of time to work next spring.

If you're a gardener, I’m sure you've dealt with the unending frustration of weed removal. It seems that no matter what method you choose, those tenacious weeds find a way to come back. Many gardening sources suggest laying landscape fabric down before planting, but if you've ever tried it, you know that's not the ideal solution.

Landscape fabric sounds like a good idea at first, but soon it causes more problems than you started with. The best alternative to landscape fabric is mulch. Learn which ones best fit with sustainable gardening below.

What's Wrong with Landscape Fabric?

Landscape fabric, which is a permeable “fabric” made out of plastic or polyester, is laid down as a weed barrier over the soil to prevent weeds from coming up. Ideally, water and air can pass through the fabric weave. Holes are cut in the fabric to insert plants. Most people then cover the landscape fabric with mulch of some kind to make it more attractive. The system works as it's intended for a year or two... then reality sets in.

Over time, the mulch breaks down enough to sustain new weed seeds that blow into the garden. Weeds also sprout where the holes are cut for plants. They even creep in at the edge of the fabric. So now the weed problem is back. Not only that, but the soil below the fabric is deteriorating.

Dirt and decaying mulch clog the permeable fabric so air exchange is no longer happening with the soil. The beneficial soil organisms can’t do their jobs without the transfer of carbon dioxide and oxygen between the soil and the air. Even the earthworms suffer because they can’t move about freely and help break down the mulch. Water isn't passing through very well because of the clogged pores, so the plants begin to decline. Eventually, most people end up pulling up landscape fabric only to discover a compacted, lifeless soil beneath.

Alternatives to Landscape Fabric

The best alternative to landscape fabric is no surprise – a thick layer of organic mulch. Besides blocking light to the weeds, mulch helps keep the soil moist, moderates temperature, and adds nutrients to the soil as it decomposes. It also looks nice!

Keep 3 to 4 inches (7.6 to 10 cm) of mulch on your gardens to deter the weeds. When the mulch decomposes down to 2 inches (5 cm), add more mulch. If a weed breaks through, immediately dig it out.

If you want more suppression under the mulch, similar to landscape fabric, try laying down several wet sheets of newspaper under the mulch. Cardboard can be used as well, but steer clear of coated cardboard. Be sure the cardboard isn’t so thick that water won’t penetrate. And remove any tape or other attachments.

Here are the types of eco-friendly mulch that are easy to find.

• Wood chip mulch, such as cedar or pine. The wood chips break down slowly and enrich the soil. Look for a medium sized mulch. Large chips don’t give good coverage and weeds can get through. Desirable for ornamental gardens. You can find wood chip mulch on Amazon in lots of different volumes.
• Tree bark mulch is generally finer in texture than wood chips and breaks down more rapidly.
• Pine needle mulch comes from plantations that produce paper and wood products. Although they're inexpensive, pine needles decompose quickly and will need replacement often. You can find it at Home Depot.
• Pine bark mulch is a long-lasting byproduct of the forest industry. You can get it on Amazon here.
• Dyed mulch is “iffy,” not because of the dye, but because the recycled wood that is used could contain undesirable chemicals such as from pretreated wood. Home Depot carries dyed mulch in several colors.

These mulches are sustainable and basically free!

• Fallen leaves and grass clippings will nourish the soil as they break down. They will need to be replaced often. Make sure the leaves are small enough so they don't pack down. Leaves can be mowed over to reduce their size.
• Utility mulch is not recommended for flower or vegetable gardens because it may contain weed seeds or pesticides. It can, however, be used for paths or driveways.

Our planet is struggling right now and most of us would like to take positive action to help Earth get back on track. Opting to install a native plant garden is a rewarding way to support Mother Nature while making life easier for ourselves too.

So don’t let “first-time” jitters keep you from your first native plant garden. Once you understand the basic principles of native gardening, you’ll find it takes less effort and brings more satisfaction than you could have imagined. We’re here to help with tips for getting started, including a short list of elements to include – not all of them botanical!

Why Native Plant Gardening?

Native plants are plants that grow naturally in a region in which they evolved. They're the ecological building blocks on which local insect and bird life depends.

Sadly, as urbanization has spread, healthy plant ecosystems have been replaced by highly manicured lawns and ornamental plants. Sterile carpets of grass and exotic plants are not functioning natural areas that can support wildlife. Critical insect populations are dying out as their host plants are removed, causing an important reduction in bird species too.

The landscaping choices you make today can impact this imbalance. Plant your garden with the planet in mind, selecting native plants that support native birds and the insects they need to survive.

But even if you decide to plant a native garden to benefit bugs and birds and nature in general, you will reap benefits yourself. Native plants are easier to care for and require less care and chemicals than exotic species from other regions. You’ll be doing less work and getting more of a thrill as your plants thrive, and birds and beneficial bugs flock to your backyard.

Tips for Native Plant Gardening

Many of the classic gardening principles apply to native plant gardening as well. Here are our top five:

1. Become familiar with your site – map out your garden, then note and mark the sun exposure of each area. Making a sun map isn't just about sun or shade – figure out how many hours of sun each area gets and whether it’s direct, indirect, or dappled. Keep this information at hand as you select plants for the different sections of the landscape.
2. Consider the plants growing in the area currently. Remove all vegetation that isn’t native and healthy. Take out weeds down to the roots.
3. Work the soil thoroughly. Remove any rocks, cement, bricks, or similar items.
4. Take a soil test. Using the results, figure out if something needs to change. Amend the soil only if necessary. Native plants thrive in native soil, so lots of fertilizer isn't likely to be required.
5. Figure out the space you have available to fill with plants. Observe and note power lines, existing trees and buildings, and any other factors that might impact the height or width of the shrubs you install.

Elements for your Native Garden

You might think that plants will be the main element of your native plant garden – and you would be right! But they shouldn’t be the only one. Include all four of these elements to create a thriving ecosystem in your backyard.

1. Native Plants

Cities have a way of swallowing up the native ecosystem, so you may not even know what plants evolved in your region. Visit the local nursery or botanical garden to get information and do your own native plant research online. Don’t limit yourself to the “prettiest” native plants or the showiest flowers. Figure out what plants attract the insects that local birds eat, and add those to the mix as well.

To up the visual appeal of the garden, pick native plants in a variety of colors, textures and sizes. Learn the mature size of trees, shrubs, and perennials before purchasing so that you can give them plenty of room to grow.

Don’t go for the big specimens in 5 gallon pots. Pick plants in much smaller containers. They'll outgrow those big-container plants in a few years. And with natives, don’t rough up the plant roots when removing them from the container. Take a hands-off approach.

2. Native Trees

Every garden is more exciting and beautiful if it has different sizes of plants. If possible, include a tree – or at least a shrub that will mature to be taller than you are – in your native garden. In addition to aesthetics, trees provide safe landing spots for birds and even – with a little luck – nesting areas. (Take it from me: there's nothing more delightful than watching your birds learn to fly!)

3. Water

According to the California Department of Water Resources, a drought-tolerant native garden can use 85 percent less water every year than a traditional landscape with turf and high-water use plants. Still you might want to include a water feature in your garden.

Insects, birds, and small mammals need water to survive, so be sure to provide it in your native garden. While wildlife can use rainwater, our summers are increasingly hot and dry, so a water feature will be a big draw.

For starters, set out a few plant pot saucers with water. Make one insect-friendly by filling it with small rocks before adding water. Here in San Francisco, I’ve found butterflies and native bees perching on the rocks to sip the water.

The Bee Cups shop on Amazon boasts some really beautiful bee watering stations.

Select a deeper saucer as a bird bath, allowing neighborhood birds to cool off, as well as to rinse out dirt and parasites. If you’ve got more land and a bigger budget, consider building a small pond or a fountain.

4. Bug Lodging

With the possible exceptions of lady bugs and butterflies, most insects don’t have the same appeal to us as birds do. But native insects are critical, since they both pollinate native plants and provide core food for native birds.

How to attract beneficial insects? Including flowering plants in your garden will be a big draw to bees and other pollinators, but making a bug hotel helps too. Bug hotels – or insect hotels – bring beneficial insects into the area by offering them shelter and nesting sites. Build a bug hotel from a mix of materials like wood chunks with holes drilled into them, pinecones, and pieces of bamboo. There are no architectural requirements for these structures – make them as simple or fancy as you like.

Bug hotels provide safe habitat for solitary bees, ladybugs, lacewings, beetles, and other insects, building a larger and more balanced ecosystem in your native garden. Some of the insects will be predators that help eliminate insect pests, while others will be food for birds or serve as plant pollinators.

Amazon sells a huge array of bug hotels, including this one.

If slugs and snails are plaguing your plants, the secret to saving your garden may already be in your kitchen. There's a common food waste item that not only repels unwanted pests, but if used properly, can also improve soil and give compost a boost: used coffee grounds.

The spent coffee grounds you probably dump into the trash every morning have unique properties that can help your plants. And in fact, there are many ways to use coffee grounds in the garden, including to manage pests, enrich or amend the soil, and fertilize plants.

If you’re a daily java drinker, here’s how you can put those spent grounds to work to stop slugs, snails, and so much more. Plus, I'll share some must-know tips to help you avoid potential problems from using coffee grounds the wrong way.

Can Coffee Grounds Repel Slugs & Snails?

One of the most effective uses for coffee grounds in the garden is as a deterrent for soft-bodied pests, specifically slugs and snails. As mollusks rather than insects, these slimy pests behave differently and need to be managed differently from other unwanted insects.

Slugs and snails are omnivores. They eat a lot of material in the soil, including decaying plants and fungi. The species that cause issues for gardeners also include healthy, living plants in their diets.

Slugs eat plants at night, so you probably won’t catch them in the act. But you can identify slug and snail damage by the long, irregular holes left in leaves and flowers. These mollusks also leave mucus trails near plants, which are a dead giveaway.

How To Use Coffee To Get Rid of Slugs & Snails

If you’re seeing the suspicious signs of slug and snail damage in your garden, coffee grounds can help you create an effective deterrent. While you might have heard that coffee is toxic and will kill pests, this isn’t exactly true. Though you can use coffee grounds to repel wasps and mosquitoes.

Don’t rely on coffee grounds or coffee to kill slugs and snails. There are substances, like caffeine, in the grounds that are toxic to pests, but the concentration isn’t high enough.

In order to kill slugs and snails with coffee, you have to get the concentration right. Studies show that a 1% to 2% solution made from coffee grounds will kill some common garden pests. A 2% solution of just caffeine alone will also kill slugs and snails.

To use coffee grounds to kill slugs and snails, soak used coffee grounds in water to create a caffeine-packed solution. Then drench the soil in your garden with this diluted coffee solution for plants.

There is another way to use coffee grounds to repel garden pests as well. Though caffeine can kill unwanted mollusks, you can use coffee grounds as a physical barrier to repel slugs and snails.

With their soft bodies, slugs and snails don’t like moving over gritty surfaces. Create a ring of coffee grounds around vulnerable plants to discourage slithering pests from bothering them. When a slug touches the coffee grounds, it will feel discomfort and turn around. This is a simple as well as safe and natural way to control snails and slugs in the garden.

Though this strategy is effective, it’s not necessarily practical to ring all the plants in a large garden with coffee grounds. Use this method as one deterrent in a larger arsenal of pest management. Protect select plants that are already exhibiting damage to make the most of your coffee grounds.

More Ways To Use Coffee Grounds

When placed strategically, coffee grounds will keep slugs and snails from eating plants. But this isn’t the only use for grounds in the garden. Here are two other great ways you can use spent grounds to help you grow a better garden.

1. Improve Soil With Spent Grounds

Coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen. They also contain other important nutrients, like potassium, phosphorus, calcium, copper, and magnesium in smaller amounts. There are many garden plants that like coffee grounds and will benefit from a jolt of Joe.

Coffee grounds, along with other organic matter, can enrich your soil and provide plants with some additional nutrients. Even more so, grounds improve the soil by feeding microbes. A healthy microbial ecosystem creates a better soil structure and improves drainage.

If you're not a coffee drinker, then worm castings, which you can get on Amazon, are a fantastic way to improve soil structure and give plants a boost.

To use coffee grounds as a fertilizer, spread a thin layer on the top of the soil around plants and water thoroughly. To amend the soil, mix the grounds into the soil. Create a layer of grounds about a half inch (1.3 cm) deep and mix it into the soil down to a depth of about 4 inches (10 cm).

2. Toss Coffee Into Your Compost Pile

Another way to make use of the nutrients in spent coffee grounds is to add them to your compost at home.

In composting terms, coffee grounds are in the "green" category. This means they are rich in nitrogen. Keep that in mind to ensure you maintain a good balance between green and brown compost ingredients, which should be about a ratio of 1:2 or 1:3.

You can also add the coffee filters right to the compost bin, but make sure the grounds have cooled down. If they’re too hot, they can kill some of the beneficial microbes in your compost.

Make composting easy and mess-free with a compact tumbler from Amazon.

Precautions When Using Coffee Grounds

While coffee grounds can be useful in the garden, they can also cause problems if you don’t use them the right way. The most common mistake coffee-drinking gardeners make is being overzealous with the application of used grounds.

Like any type of kitchen waste that hasn’t yet decomposed, you need to use restraint when adding coffee grounds to the soil. Too much fertilizer can actually ruin garden beds. The addition of excessive coffee grounds can change the soil too much and even kill plants.

Likewise, for the best compost, coffee grounds shouldn’t make up more than 20% of the total volume.

Another mistake you can make is to assume that coffee grounds will turn your soil acidic. Many gardeners tout used coffee grounds as the secret to bright blue hydrangeas, but there's not much evidence to back up that claim.

Used coffee grounds are only slightly acidic. They can give your soil a temporary boost of acidity, but don’t rely on grounds for a big pH change or as a long-term solution.

Many of us produce a lot of coffee grounds with our daily cup of java, so we're looking for new ways to reuse them instead of tossing them in the trash. You might not be able to use all of your spent grounds in the garden, but strategic, careful use can bring important benefits to your plants and help you reduce food waste in your garden.

The end of August, and the end of summer, can be a bittersweet time for gardeners. Your hard work has paid off, and you can enjoy the fruits of your labor, from actual fruits and veggies to be harvested, to late summer and fall flowers. However, you’re aware that things are about to quieten down in your yard. That said, there is a lot you can do now to set up the next phase of activity in the garden.

Now is the time to carry out some essential August gardening jobs before fall really begins. You probably make time for deadheading and cutting back key plants, but there are plenty of other things you can do, from dividing perennials to weeding. What you do now helps maintain your garden for as long as possible into fall, as well as setting things up for next year’s spring checklist. Make sure you tick off these essential end-of-summer gardening tasks for August to get in gear for another year.

1. Harvest Vegetables

This is one of the yummiest gardening jobs for August. This month is the best time for harvesting garden veggies, so devote plenty of time to this task now. Make sure you’re harvesting everything that is at its peak in your vegetable garden. If you let some of your crop languish in the vegetable bed, two things are likely to happen: veggies will become overripe, or they will be eaten by wildlife.

Allowing for varietal variations, you can expect tomatoes, eggplants and peppers to be ready to harvest during August. You can also harvest sweetcorn, cucumbers, beans, bok choy, collards and carrots, amongst others. Make sure you have plenty of good storage options for everything that is ready to harvest now. If you’re running out of storage, be a good neighbor and share some of your harvests with others!

If you’re looking for a versatile tool for lifting, Fiskars Ergo Cultivator from Amazon can help with soil aeration and weeding as well as digging. Also, if you get a glut of fruit harvests and need a neat, practical and space-saving way of storing them, the Habau Wooden Stackable Storage Bins from Amazon are stackable, sturdy, and great for maintaining airflow.

2. Collect Seeds from Annuals

There is a limited window of time to harvest seeds from plants you want to grow again next year. Many summer annuals are now reaching maturity. If you’ve avoided deadheading some of the flowers so you can get seeds, this is the time to check on them to see if they’re ready. Some excellent annuals with seeds you can harvest in August include larkspur, cornflowers, nasturtiums, nigella, calendula and poppies.

Mature seeds ready for harvest are dry and easily removed. You should be able to shake the seed heads over a bowl or paper bag and get plenty. If they’re not coming off easily, check again a little later. Afternoon, when the dew has dried, is the best time to collect seeds. Spread them out on paper towels to dry thoroughly for storage. You can buy resealable Canipha Custom Envelopes from Amazon to help with storing flower seeds for future planting, with plenty of room to mark up seed details.

3. Sow Seeds for a Fall Crop

The end of summer is the last chance for many gardeners to get in one more harvest for the year. What you start from seed now will depend on your growing zone, but for many, this is a good time to sow seeds for fast-growing, cool-weather crops.

Get additional harvests of radishes, beets, turnips, carrots, lettuce, arugula, and kale by sowing those seeds directly into the soil. Try Beetroot ‘Chioggia’ from Burpee, with its distinctive pink and white swirls. Everwilde Radish ‘White Icicle’ from Walmart develops impressively quickly and tolerates August plantings.

If the current weather is still hot, cool the soil first by watering it well and covering it to create some shade. Protect the germinating seeds and growing seedlings as you await the cooler weather of fall.

4. Weed, Weed, and Weed Again

Weeding is an ongoing chore, but whatever you do, don’t let those weeds take hold now. One of the worst weeding mistakes you can make now is to do nothing at all. Clearing your beds of weeds at the end of summer will improve the health of your fall garden and make spring bed prepping much, much easier. So don’t skip a few critical weed controls on a weekly basis, even if it’s just to pull weeds by hand.

Weeds do more than just make beds look messy. They also compete with your plants for nutrients, water, and even sunlight if they get tall enough. Late summer is a good time to clear out weeds before they can put out one last round of seeds that will take root next spring. The Wooden Handled Stainless Steel Weeder and Pink Hori-Hori knife, both from Burpee, are excellent options for making light work of weeding.

5. Divide Spring and Summer Perennials

Most perennial flowers and plants need to be thinned out and divided every few years. This helps reduce crowding and competition and keeps plants healthy and thriving. Late summer-early fall is the best time to divide the perennials that are done blooming for the season, such as crocosmia, daylilies, irises, phlox and hostas.

Dividing these perennials now will allow you more time in spring to divide the fall-blooming perennials. Be sure to divide your spring and summer flowers several weeks before you expect the ground to freeze. This gives them time to establish roots. Certain perennials will need storing in a safe, dry place in a shed or garage or similar. You can get Multifunctional Iron Storage Boxes from Walmart to help with storing lifted perennial bulbs that need keeping safe for next year.

6. Plant New Perennials

Don’t wait too long to put in new perennials. August is a good time to get new plants in the ground, so they have time to get established before the first frost. You can do this either by planting flower seeds or planting live plants. Take the time to dig holes that are deep enough for the new perennials. Add compost and loosen the soil.

Surround the base of the plant with mulch to keep moisture in and protect its young roots from winter temperatures. Try cerinthe, masterwort, and sweet Joe Pye weed, as well as red hot pokers and coppertips. You can buy Astrantia ‘Rose Symphony’ from Amazon and Cerinthe ‘Blue Shrimp’ seeds from Amazon.

7. Attend to Your Lawn

Now is the time to make sure your lawn is as healthy as possible heading into winter. As with so many end-of-summer gardening chores, lawn care sets you up for a better spring. The soil has likely become depleted of nutrients throughout the summer, so add a slow-release and balanced lawn fertilizer, such as Scotts’ Green Max Lawn Food from Amazon.

This is also a good time to manage weeds in the lawn. Consider using a weed and feed product that fertilizes the grass but also kills weeds. While you can reseed bare spots at any time, the end of summer is the right time to start overseeding the entire lawn. This will help thicken the turf. Doing it now gives the seed plenty of time to establish before winter.

You can try Scotts’ Turf Builder Thick'R Lawn Sun and Shade from Amazon to give an overall boost to your lawn thickness as well as health. Or, if you just want to target specific areas of your lawn, use Scotts’ EZ Seed Patch & Repair from Amazon.

8. Manage Pests and Diseases

Start your fall cleanup now to limit the spread of disease and to manage pests in the garden. Clean up dead plant debris as it forms. Letting it lie in the fall as temperatures cool and it gets rainy only increases the risk that diseases will spread to other plants. Dispose of any diseased plant material with your waste (and not in your compost pile).

You should also keep an eye on pests on plants – this should be something you do every day. Take measures to manage any pest numbers before they have a chance to hunker down for winter. Aphids can still be a problem in late August, so it’s important not to be complacent.

Use specific methods to target the pests you see in the best way. Many will respond well to eco-friendly insect sprays or homemade recipes using dish soap. Diluted neem oil sprays and organic pesticide washes are another excellent way of keeping pest numbers in check. Try Bonide’s Captain Jack’s Neem Max Ready To Use Spray from Walmart. Alternatively, use Nature’s Will Pure Organic Concentrated oil from Amazon, which is effective with insecticidal soap – just make sure it is diluted.

9. Repot Pot-Bound Houseplants

Don’t restrict your end-of-summer chores to the garden. This is also a good time to take a look at your houseplants and see what they need heading into winter. It’s a great time to repot any houseplants that need a little more room. Get it done while the weather outside allows you to work and keep the mess outdoors. It’s particularly important to do this if you notice that any plants require a lot of water that seems to disappear almost immediately, or if there are roots circling the bases of the pots.

You can easily turn this essential houseplant care into a stylish project. You can get Natural Rattan Hanging Planter Baskets from Walmart to help with repotting trailing plants such as pothos and philodendron. For a charming freestanding option, the Classic Home & Garden Store Honeysuckle Tequila Sunrise Planter from Amazon is large, durable and stylish.

Need more ideas for timely gardening jobs and seasonal expert advice delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for the free Gardening Know How Newsletter!

Late summer pruning makes for a lighter job than cutting back plants in late winter and early spring. Most trees and shrubs don’t require pruning at this time of year. That’s because trimming late in the season can stimulate new growth that will be vulnerable to cold fall and winter temperatures.

On the other hand, doing some light pruning in August, including trimming out dead or diseased branches and refreshing perennials, is a good idea. Depending on your growing zone and the particular plants in your garden, it might be time for a heavier trim right now.

Here’s what you need to know about when to prune plants in August and which varieties to tackle—plus, which plants you should never prune in summer.

1. Wisteria

This vigorous climbing vine benefits from two prunes per year: once while still dormant in late winter or early spring and then again in late summer after flowering. Double pruning wisteria helps keep your vine healthy and a manageable size.

For summer pruning, focus on removing or cutting back suckers and new growth. Remove all suckers from around the roots. Then, find new growth and cut these vines back until they are only about six inches (15 cm) in length. You can also remove any shoots you feel are necessary to maintain the size and shape wisteria vine you want.

2. Bougainvillea

If you’re lucky enough to garden in a zone warm enough for this abundant flowering vine, consider lightly trimming bougainvillea in early or mid-August. You should do the heaviest pruning in late winter or early spring after flowering. Heavy summer pruning can negatively impact winter flowering.

On the other hand, a light summer trim can encourage more flowers. Start by deadheading any spent flowers. Remove any broken or dead branches. Look for branches that aren’t flowering and trim these back by about half to encourage more blooms. Remember, keep summer bougainvillea pruning light.

3. Oakleaf & Bigleaf Hydrangeas

Different types of hydrangeas have different pruning needs. Oakleaf and bigleaf varieties, like mophead hydrangeas, bloom on old wood, which means the best time to prune hydrangeas is right after flowering. This will vary depending on your growing zone, but if your shrubs are done blooming in August, then they’ll be ready for a trim. If you live further north, pruning oakleaf hydrangeas might not be necessary until fall.

Cut spent flowering shoots from your oakleaf hydrangea or bigleaf variety back to the next bud and do any shaping or removal of dead or damaged branches now. For an older shrub that isn’t blooming as well as it used to, you can trim more heavily. Cut off about a third of the stems all the way down to the base. Remember, timing is important here. Don’t wait very long after flowering to prune or you risk having fewer flowers next year.

4. Rambling Rose

Unlike shrub and climbing roses, rambling roses will not repeat flower after blooming in summer. Once they’re done flowering, which for many gardeners is in August, then it’s time to prune your roses in summer as the season comes to an end.

Remove about one-third of the oldest stems. If the plant has become overgrown, prune out the stems that have already flowered and tie new growth in their places. Protect your hands while pruning thorny roses with garden gloves, like these best sellers from Amazon. While you’re there, pick up a pair of pruners from Amazon for all your trimming needs, too.

5. Shrub & Climbing Roses

Like many other plants, you shouldn’t heavily prune roses that are shrub or climbing varieties in late summer unless you live in a warm climate. In warmer zones, August is a good time to prune these types of roses that may rebloom. A trim now will help stimulate another flush of flowers before the end of the year. Trim back any dead canes and deadhead spent blooms.

If you grow shrub roses or climbing roses in a colder climate with fall frosts, do not prune this late in the year. Making cuts now will stimulate growth that will be damaged by frosts and freezes.

6. Bushes & Hedges

August is not the time for heavy trimming of most shrubs, but you can do a light trim to keep them healthy and shapely. Now’s the time for a quick haircut with a hedge trimmer, like one of these affordable options under $100 from Home Depot. This is also a good time to look for and trim out any damaged, diseased, or dead branches. You can also remove suckers when pruning shrubs in late summer.

If you have overgrown shrubs and want to trim them to reduce their size or density, do so carefully. Remove a few branches in dense areas of the shrub. Cut all the way back to the connection with another branch. Shorter cuts will stimulate new growth that can become damaged in cold fall temperatures.

7. Perennials

August is a good time to prune perennial plants as well. Cut back any perennials that are spent for the year all the way to the ground. That includes plants like hardy geranium, lady’s mantle, bearded iris, and bee balm.

There are other perennials you should cut back in August for a late flush of flowers. For example, trim coreopsis back by about a third or a half to encourage new growth and blooms. For more flowers on your salvia or garden phlox, trim spent flower stems back to a point where you see a bud. Other perennials you can trim back by a half or third for more flowers include yarrow, bellflower, asters, and lavender.

Many of us turn to gardening to get away from modern technology. It’s a chance to put our phones down, get our hands in the dirt, and listen to the sounds of nature. Ao although it might seem like an odd combination, pairing gardening with technology actually has many benefits.

There are apps for everything, including plenty of gardening apps and even online gardening games, like the wildly popular Roblox Grow a Garden game that our staff tested. The right apps can help you leverage tons of expert gardening knowledge, from design to plant identification to sowing times. But with all the options out there, it can be hard to determine which ones are worth your time and money.

Our gardening experts dug through the app stores on our phones to find the best gardening apps. Here’s our list of the top apps to improve your gardening game IRL.

How to Choose a Gardening App

Keep these important factors in mind when choosing a gardening app:

• Look at reviews to be sure you’re using an app others find helpful.
• Determine who is behind the app. Are they gardening experts? One of the big dangers of AI for gardening is misinformation. AI chatbots don’t actually know anything, they just regurgitate information that may or may not be true. Only use apps and websites with real gardening experts behind them and be careful if you ever try to use ChatGPT for gardening.
• A useful app should be a good value. Some are worth paying for, but there are many useful free apps, too.
• Choose apps based on your needs. Some are best at identifying plants, while others are good for landscaping design.
• Make sure the app you choose works on your mobile operating system.

Best Gardening Apps

Don’t be afraid to use more than one app to meet your needs, especially if they’re free. Here are some of the best gardening apps we found to help get you started.

1. Purdue Plant Doctor

There are several separate Plant Doctor apps from Purdue University, all of which are useful for troubleshooting in the garden. The source of information behind these apps is reputable and run by experts.

They are low-cost or free and harness scientific information to help you identify common tree pests and diseases, what pests are affecting your perennials, and what cultural practices could save your plants. These apps include high-quality images to help you make easy identifications.

The only drawback is that these apps are only available on iOS phones and tablets. But if you’re an Android user, you can still access tons of helpful information on the Purdue Plant Doctor website.

Get the Purdue Tomato Doctor app in the Apple App Store

Get the Purdue Turf Doctor app in the Apple App Store

2. Seed to Spoon

Seed to Spoon is an app for planning a companion vegetable garden. Choosing the right plants to place together can boost the health of your garden, but how do you know which plant goes where?

Use this app to input a plant and get instant information on what to grow with it, what to avoid, and why. It also provides other information, like planting times. Seed to Spoon is free but you can upgrade for access to more features, like an AI landscape design chatbot.

Get the Seed to Spoon app in the Google Play Store

Get the Seed to Spoon app in the Apple App Store

3. Planter

Whether you’re growing vegetables for the first time or you’ve been growing your own food for years, any gardener can benefit from this useful app. Planter can help you design a vegetable garden or figure out the perfect raised bed layout using a fun, drag-and-drop interface.

The graphics help you create a design, but the app also provides information on companion planting, seed varieties, planting schedules, and more. You might find the free version limiting, so consider upgrading for a better experience.

Get the Planter app in the Google Play Store

Get the Planter app in the Apple App Store

4. LeafSnap

Plant identification apps can be very useful in the garden. Is that a weed, a volunteer, or something else? What is that pretty flower in the park and can I grow it in my garden? Snap a picture of a plant and get answers to questions like these in seconds using LeafSnap.

You quickly get an identification, information about the plant, and a list of similar plants. Use it for free or upgrade to premium for added features.

Get the LeafSnap app in the Google Play Store

Get the LeafSnap app in the Apple App Store

5. Planta

Planta is the app for proud houseplant parents. It’s specifically designed to help you better care for your indoor plants. The app database includes more than 20,000 plants with detailed information on how to take care of them. It also includes a watering reminder and a plant identification tool.

Enjoy the free app or pay to upgrade to the premium level for more features that will help you learn how to care for houseplants.

Get the Planta app in the Google Play Store

Get the Planta app in the Apple App Store

6. iScape

If you’re looking for a pro-level gardening design app, this is the one for you. iScape lets you use pictures of your garden and home to envision and plan individual beds or a whole new garden. The augmented reality feature is particularly cool. You can share designs to collaborate and create materials lists.

Pay for the premium subscription to get the most out of this app or to connect with a professional landscape designer who can give you more specialized advice and planning. It’s not the cheapest app on the list, but it can save you money and time if you have a big job to do. It can also help you avoid some common garden makeover mistakes.

Get the iScape app in the Google Play Store

Get the iScape app in the Apple App Store

7. Gardenize

This is a fun app if you like to keep a garden journal or diary. It allows you to store images of your plants and record ideas and notes. Because it’s a digital diary, it keeps time and date stamps for all your entries that help you make changes to the garden over time.

Record everything you do in the garden and use the information later to grow and develop the space. There is a subscription fee, but you can sample Gardenize with a free trial to see if you like it first.

Get the Gardenize app in the Google Play Store

Get the Gardenize app in the Apple App Store

8. Smart Gardener

Smart Gardener is an inexpensive app that is useful for starting a vegetable garden. It uses information like how many people are in your home, your hardiness zone, your frost dates, and more to create a plan. It will tell you what to plant and where and when. You’ll then get a weekly list of tasks for sowing, transplanting, and even how much money you've saved growing your own veggies.

Get the Smart Gardener app in the Google Play Store

Get the Smart Gardener app in the Apple App Store

From free gardening apps to paid apps and premium upgrades, there’s something here for every budget and every gardening need. Have fun playing around with these and other gardening apps, and keep only the ones you really love.

Almost everything “new” is touted for the benefits it provides, and later, sometimes much later, we begin to understand the downsides. But sometimes you can see the danger coming and avoid some of the risks and pitfalls.Yes, we are looking at you, AI, the whiz kid on the block. It’s going to make our whole lives easier – right? But the dangers of artificial intelligence are real, and they are more complex and subtle than computers taking over the world.

We aren’t necessarily tech gurus, but we do know a lot about gardening matters, and AI gardening “tips and tricks” present their own subset of AI dangers. It is possible to utilize the new technology in helpful ways like using AI landscape design to create your dream garden. With a little care, you can avoid many of the downsides, while still enjoying the upsides of gardening AI, if you choose to do so.

The Dangers Of AI For Gardening

I’ve been a gardener and a garden writer for several decades, long enough to be aware that you can’t believe everything you hear or everything you read. Checking references for me means looking at two, three, or even a dozen different sources to determine the “real” answer to hardiness zones or the right time to trim a fruit tree. I weigh the source – universities, extensions, and master gardeners get higher marks than home blogs – as well as documentation and professionalism.

You may think that artificial intelligence would do the same, but it doesn’t. One of the dangers of AI is that it amalgamates information to find an answer, often a definitive, yes or no answer. As every gardener knows, this type of black/white response doesn’t work well when it comes to dynamic matters like gardening. There are ways to use technology and gadgets in your landscape design, but nothing can replace good, accurate information.

Getting accurate gardening advice requires details – where do you live? What type of soil do you have? What type of sun exposure? What else have you grown in the location? Are there size limitations? When is your first frost? What is your hardiness zone? AI has problems offering answers that take details into account.

And while there may be some web providers that try hard to ensure that AI provides helpful content, not everyone fits into this category. Many websites sell products, and if a sale is the desired outcome, they may not be so careful about accuracy. I’ve seen photos online of plants with such vivid and unusual coloration that they seem to belong in a children’s book rather than an online plant store.

It's tough to know what’s real online. Trial and error can cost you a lot of money, as you may pay exorbitant amounts for seeds for these gloriously hued plants only to find – weeks or months later – that the plants grown are ordinary shades. It’s easy to do “creative” things to raise the impact of a plant photo, making it taller, brighter, and more exceptional in shape or color than it actually is. There are plenty of unique and unusual plants that look like they are created by AI, but are totally real! Don't get sucked in to fake photos and misinformation when there are neat specimens you can actually plant.

So, how do you tell what’s real? It’s hard. If you are buying a plant, be sure the advertisement contains the full botanical name: genus, species, and cultivar. If not, avoid a purchase. Better yet, go to your local plant store and find something similar. If it’s available in the plant store, you know it’s real.

How To Safely Use AI For Gardening

Keep in mind that generative AI rakes up advice from across the internet, without distinguishing or evaluating how reliable the source might be, or how biased. So if you want to use AI, be sure to check the sources they use. Ignore advice that is taken from companies or individuals trying to sell something. For example, if AI claims that a particular fertilizer is great for roses, review its sources to see if any or many are companies selling that fertilizer.

Gardening with ChatGPT or other AI chatbots can be helpful for getting design ideas and inspiration, but it is best to use legitimate gardening sources to get specific information on plants. Double-check all AI advice against your favorite, tried and true gardening experts or science-based sources.

Like everything, AI is likely to improve over time, but you are better safe than sorry when it comes to your plants.

More Gardening Advice

• Not sure what that plant is? There's an app for that! Explore our recommended 5 best apps for plant identification. They are a great place to begin your research before confirming with other authoritative sources.
• There are lots of other ways to garden with smart technology. This kind of tech can make your life a little easier when it comes to automating tasks and solving problems.
• Need some truly expert advice? Look no further than your local extension service! Extension service offices are partnerships of federal, local, and state governments and often work within local universities. They are a wealth of knowledge right in your backyard.
• Interested in more gardening information and inspiration delivered straight into you inbox? Sign up for the free Gardening Know How Newsletter.

You will often hear of growers using plugs for plants – they are often mentioned as an alternative to growing from seed. Purchasing plugs for plants is a good option if you’re hoping to establish a garden bed quickly. A healthy garden starts at planting time – and although the seeds of many species can be sown directly into prepared beds, the seedlings of some plants often require more specialized care. This is especially true for various types of perennials and shrubs.

Knowing when to start seeds indoors and outdoors is an invaluable skill – but taking a chance on plugs could very well boost your growing power. Here are the key reasons for planting plugs, and why you can benefit from using them in your garden.

Choosing to Use Plugs for Plants

What is a plant plug, exactly? Basically, plant plugs are small plants started in large numbers in cell trays, either as seedlings or plant cuttings. Seedling plugs allow growers to ‘skip’ the germination stage, which can often be time-consuming and sometimes uncertain. The process of plug planting involves transplanting young plant starts to their new home once they have reached an adequate size.

Growing plants from plugs is often useful in the production of bedding annuals and the establishment of larger perennial gardens. But what are the main benefits of using plugs as opposed to, say, starting plants from seed? Here are three key reasons to opt for plugs when growing.

1. Great for Space Saving

If you’re short on seed starting space, you may find it helpful to purchase plugs in the spring. Plug trays tend to take up less space than multiple rows of containers used for starting plants from seeds. Using cell trays allows young plants to develop strong, robust root systems in close quarters. You will often be able to see at a glance how well developed those root systems are, as well as a plant’s overall lushness and vitality.

Healthy plant plugs should pop out of plant trays easily without damage. After removing them from their cells, small plug plants should be easily transplanted into growing beds with minimal effort. For anyone keen to cultivate multiple plants in a modest or minimal growing space, plugs offer a logical way to start things off.

2. Help to Save You Time

Even with the best intentions at the start of the growing season, we can all get caught short and lose track of time. This is certainly true if we have a broad group of ornamental and edible projects to oversee. Certain popular plants require a very long growing time, and depending on a variety of factors (such as weather and availability of seeds), we may find that we are already running a little behind by the time we reach for the seed packets. The likes of brassicas, leeks, eggplants and peppers, for example, all benefit from a long growing and harvesting season.

For people looking for faster results as summer hits the ornamental garden, many bedding and container annuals can also develop faster for being started as plugs. However, while growing from plugs can save time at the beginning of the growing process, just bear in mind that many types of seedlings benefit from hardening off before being moved into the garden. Keep them moist and follow the cultural suggestions provided with the plants’ trays.

3. Allow for Wider Variety

Purchasing plant plugs can give you access to a wider range and variety of plants. Certainly, there are some new and emerging cultivars and hybrids that might be tricky to find as seeds in your regional garden centers and suppliers. In certain areas, native plant plugs provide more options for growers keen to select specific breeds for pollinators or non-invasive plants. Vegetable and bedding plugs are most popular, as well as ornamental species and specialty trays. Drought-tolerant and shade-tolerant wildflower mixes are also gaining in popularity.

Plant plugs are a viable option for those who wish to invest in more expensive plant species, or to grow varieties that are exceptionally difficult to germinate or establish (like cauliflower or lavender, for example). Plugs also allow you to mix up your planting options, taking the pressure off having to grow all your favorite plants from scratch, and enabling a broader scope for containers and ground-based planting.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Planting and Growing Inspiration

• Worried about planting young crops and ornamentals outdoors? Avoid these key planting mistakes that will spoil seedlings and tenders so your plants have the best chance of flourishing.
• Do you know when to transplant, and when it’s best to wait? Our guide on the best transplanting times helps you identify the best times for perennials, trees and shrubs.
• Keen to perfect your kitchen garden this year? We explain when to plant a vegetable garden according to your USDA zone, with tips for growing indoors & out!

If you’ve ever hiked through the woods and seen a fallen decaying tree or the stump of a downed tree through or around which new trees are growing, you are viewing a nurse log or stump. Nurse logs are a fascinating and integral part of forest regeneration. Without them, the forest as we know it would likely cease to exist. Nurse logs are also vital to wildlife conservation and forest management.

What is a Nurse Log?

Most often found in temperate coastal rainforests, a nurse log or stump is a dead, decaying part of a once-living tree, be it a snag tree, log, or limb. It may also be a larger, faster-growing tree that shelters a smaller, less mature tree or plant. Saplings, ferns, and other plants that grow on a nurse log take nutrients from the dead tree, feeding on it as it breaks down but long before it turns to soil.

Nurse logs also protect young trees from soil fungi that can kill seedlings.

Dead tree stumps and limbs may look like forest junk to some but a closer look reveals how a nurse log nurtures and nourishes other trees as well as wildlife. Many animals rely on dead wood at some stage of their life cycle.

Benefits of Nurse Logs and Stumps

Nurse logs provide a multitude of benefits to the forest. Their damp, rotting wood supplies moisture to rooted seedlings. Seedlings also have the benefit of height when grown on a nurse log or stump which raises the young trees up above the forest floor, giving them better access to sunlight.

While nurse logs protect young trees from soil fungi, they also foster a relationship with mycorrhizae, a fungus that grows with the roots of seedlings in a symbiotic manner. In addition, the wood of a nurse log repels many pathogens harmful to young trees.

Interestingly, saplings growing on nurse logs or stumps are often less likely to become a food source for browsing ruminants like deer or elk.

In managed forests, such deadwood is often removed to reduce the risk of fire but by doing so another risk is exposed. The removal of these vital nurse logs results in a less dense forest and it is also less diverse.

Nurse Logs in the Home Garden

If you cut down a tree in your yard, consider leaving the stump or a portion of the tree in your yard. Letting nature do its job is part of sustainable gardening. Leaving a piece of the old tree to decompose in your yard can help regenerate your soil and also may lead to a new sapling taking its place. The old stump will protect the young plant and provide nutrients, giving it a better chance to thrive. You could even create a Victorian stumpery garden with old tree limbs. This adds visual interest while also supplying insects and animals shelter as the limbs decompose.

Nurse Logs’ Role in Forest Regeneration

Even when a nurse log is no longer evident, the layout of a generation of trees hints at its previous existence. A row of trees growing in a line may be indicative of a long rotted log or a barely discernible nurse stump may be covered by prop roots, lengthy roots that stretch down into the soil, surrounding the nurse stump.

Often the generation of trees on view are hundreds of years old and there is evidence all around of their growth atop trees that were equally as old or older when they fell. And so the forest continues to regenerate itself with the aid of nurse logs.

To grow healthy, attractive houseplants, it’s important to consider their particular light needs. Some plants, like cactuses, like bright, direct light exposure. But many houseplants are originally tropical understory species. They naturally grow under other plants and do best with filtered, indirect, or low light. But what does indirect light mean exactly?

What is Indirect Light for Plants?

When light hits a plant’s foliage without any redirection or filtering, this is called direct light. Indirect light is light that strikes a plant after being filtered, diffused, or deflected by another material or object. Indirect light is also often described as filtered or dappled light. Both terms mean the same thing for a plant’s light needs.

What is Bright Indirect Light?

A plant might be described as needing light that’s bright but indirect. Brightness is not a measurement but rather how we perceive light. Nevertheless, it is related to intensity. The more intense it is, the brighter the light.

You can measure indoor light intensity with a light meter, but generally, and in the context of plants, you can consider light as bright if it casts a distinct shadow. Bright indirect light, then, is bright but does not directly strike the plant. A bright indirect light example is placing a plant several feet away from an uncovered, south-facing window.

What is Low Light?

Low light is different from indirect or filtered light. It means light of a lower intensity or brightness. Light that does not cast much of a shadow is low. You can achieve low light by filtering otherwise direct or bright light or by placing a plant well away from a window.

Tips for Creating Indirect Light

Most houseplants grow under conditions of indirect or filtered light or with only a couple hours of direct light. One way to achieve the right type of light for a typical houseplant is by choosing a window based on direction:

• South-facing windows provide the brightest, most direct light year-round.
• Northern windows offer the most indirect light for nearly the entire year.
• East-facing windows provide indirect light for most of the day and year. From late spring through early fall, it will offer more direct light throughout the day.
• A west-facing window provides indirect light in the morning and potentially into the early afternoon. Later in the day, the light will be direct and fairly intense. It is also a warmer setting than an east-facing window.

Direction is just one element in creating the ideal light conditions for a particular plant. You can change the conditions by where you set the plant relative to the window, for instance. The closer to the window, the more direct light it will receive. A simple way to reduce the intensity and make the light more indirect is to situate the plant a little further from the window.

You can also use objects to create filtered light from a bright window. Sheer curtains on a south-facing window, for instance, create bright, indirect light. A larger plant can provide dappled, indirect light for a smaller plant at a bright window.

Outdoor plants or trees might naturally filter some of the light coming through your windows as well. If you have a houseplant that needs indirect light, choose a window with a tree or a large shrub that partially blocks it.

The Consequences of Not Providing Filtered Light for Plants

A plant that grows best in indirect light simply won’t thrive or be as healthy as it could if you place it in light that is too direct or bright. Some symptoms of too much light include:

• Dull, pale leaves
• Variegated leaves that turn solid green
• Spindly growth and few leaves
• Leaf spots
• Scorched edges on leaves
• Few or no flowers

Getting the light just right requires some thought and planning, but it isn’t difficult to create filtered light for plants. Check the preferred conditions for each type of plant to ensure that they’ll thrive.

Discover More Houseplant Lighting Topics

• Learn what houseplants you can use in a windowless room in your home.
• Incorporate a windowsill garden into your kitchen for happy plants and easy cooking.
• Explore LED grow lights to see if they fit your houseplant needs.

We know light is essential to plant health but what is indirect light? Learning how much or how little light a plant needs to grow its best is important. Optimal light is important for the regulation of each plant’s vital processes, such as the production of chlorophyll and the conversion of carbon dioxide. Sun is good for plants, but maintaining appropriate levels of light helps increase vigor and can even promote bloom.

Though many plants do require full-sun conditions, it’s good to understand what indirect sunlight means for plants who need it.

What is Indirect Light For a Plant?

Indirect light is often listed as a requirement for plants, but what does indirect light mean? The term “indirect sunlight” is most commonly used to describe low light conditions or those that have been filtered in some way. Filtering can occur naturally outdoors when there are nearby trees or structures. When houseplants are situated near bright windows, filtering can occur based on the direction the windows face, curtains, other plants, or other elements that can shadow or filter the direct sunlight.

How To Tell If You Have Indirect Light

Many plants adapt well to indirect lighting. It’s a good idea to measure the amount of light they receive since it’s important to their long-term growth and overall health. Understanding direct light vs. indirect light can be tricky, but most gardeners can determine how much plants receive through observation, making a sun map, and/or using a light meter to measure indoor light.

Indoors, indirect light is most abundant near east-facing windows. This type of lighting can also be plentiful throughout rooms that point to the west or south. Duration and proximity both play a role in the quality of light received by plants, with those closer to the source receiving the stronger light.

Which Houseplants Thrive With Indirect Light

Most houseplants prefer indirect light. This is especially true of those that grow best in partially shaded habitats within their native range. Though some species do require higher levels of light than others, indirect exposure is essential for many plants to avoid damage. Indoor shade plants that receive too much light or are exposed to direct sun are much more likely to develop complications from overexposure, such as leaf scald or sun scorch.

Boosting Light Sources for Other Plants

Low levels of light within the average home can make it extremely challenging to keep houseplants healthy and happy. This is especially true when plants are positioned near north-facing windows or interior rooms. Houseplant growers find success with supplemental lighting in the form of grow lights. Newer setups, composed of LED lights, are most common and can efficiently meet the needs of most plants.

Frequently Asked Questions

It’s that time of year to make and get started on resolutions. If you’re a gardener, consider making some resolutions to raise your game this year. Learning or mastering gardening skills and techniques is a great way to start the year, get excited about the upcoming growing season, and become a better gardener.

There are many ways to learn the new skill, or skills, of your choice – whether you're a beginner looking to learn how to start gardening, or a seasoned pro wanting to take it to the next level.

Contact your local extension office to find classes taught by master gardeners. Look for gardening clubs in your area or link up with a neighbor who is more knowledgeable than you. Of course, you can also teach yourself through online resources, books, and videos. Whatever you choose to do, learning new skills will definitely raise your 2025 gardening game.

Here are some ideas to get you started making your gardening New Year resolutions.

1. Companion Planting

Did you know there is a science to placing plants next to or away from each other? This is called companion planting, and getting it right involves both modern research and ancient traditions.

The technique is mostly used with vegetable gardens, and the benefits include attracting beneficial insects, deterring pests (or attracting them by using "trap crops"), enhancing flavor, improving soil health, and controlling weeds. Some plants even provide shade or support to other plants.

One of the most well-known beneficial plant groupings is the Three Sisters, a traditional Native American companion planting method where beans, corn, and squash are planted together. Corn provides a natural trellis for the beans to climb, beans fix nitrogen in the soil to feed the corn and squash, and squash's broad leaves shade the ground, reducing weeds and retaining soil moisture.

Read up on which plants make good companions and apply this useful strategy to your garden this year. But bear in mind there are also bad neighbors – avoid companion planting mistakes such as tomatoes with potatoes, or fennel with pretty much any crop.

2. Grafting

If you're looking to learn a new technique to take your garden to the next level and experiment by creating bespoke varieties, then try grafting your own plants.

Grafting trees and shrubs is the practice of joining different varieties together to grow as one. It involves joining a scion (the upper part of the plant) with an understock (the roots). Grafting can be just two plants, but it can also become a complicated practice of combining multiple plants, for instance, to create a single apple tree with multiple varieties.

Grafting is an advanced gardening skill used for many reasons. It can be used to create dwarf versions of favorite plants, to add a new variety to an old tree, to improve disease resistance, or to combine roots adapted to a particular climate or soil with another type of tree.

3. Germinating and Starting Seeds

You can save a lot of money starting plants from seed instead of buying transplants. Starting seeds isn’t exactly an advanced gardening skill, but you can develop your knowledge to become better and more efficient at it, and grow exotic and expensive plants that are difficult to propagate from seed.

One of the trickier parts is ensuring seeds germinate. Some seeds need a cold period – stratification – some benefit from being scratched or nicked – scarification – and others from being soaked.

There are many other skills to master when starting seeds: choosing the right growing medium, getting conditions right, thinning seedlings, hardening them off, transplanting, and of course, timing seed starts correctly for your region and each specific plant.

4. Plant Propagation

Take starting plants from seed one step further by mastering all the ways you can propagate plants you already have. Learn the best ways to propagate specific plants.

Techniques include collecting seeds, taking cuttings, divisions, and layering. Being able to propagate any plant means you can make more of what you have or share with other gardeners.

5. How to Compost Properly

There are so many benefits to learning how to compost at home. If you haven’t done it yet, this is an excellent skill to master for several reasons. First, it allows you to live more sustainably, reusing kitchen scraps and other types of waste. Second, compost is good for your garden. It adds nutrients to the soil, lightens the soil, and improves drainage.

Composting isn’t difficult, but it does require time, patience, and a bit of knowledge. You need to know what can be composted, how to create the right mix of compost greens and browns, when to turn compost, how to maintain the correct compost temperature, how to know when compost is finished, and generally ensure the beneficial compost bacteria are nurtured to achieve the correct balance.

Whether you have a large outdoor space to start a compost bin or need an indoor composting solution, perhaps using an electric composter, you have options. And, if you want to take composting to the next level, learn about specialist techniques such as vermicomposting, and bokashi composting.

6. Soil Amending

Amending garden soil is a careful science. Learn and apply this science to enjoy better water retention or drainage, improved aeration, a careful balance of nutrients, and the appropriate pH level for your plants.

To amend garden soil, start by assessing its texture and fertility. If your soil is heavy clay, mix in organic matter like compost or well-rotted manure to improve drainage and structure. Sandy soil benefits from the same amendments as they help retain moisture and nutrients. If your soil is compacted, first aerate it with a garden fork before adding amendments.

Perform a soil test to check its pH levels. If your soil is too acidic for the plants you want to grow, add lime. if it's too alkaline, sulfur can help.

Spread a balanced organic fertilizer or specific nutrients, depending on your test results, and lightly work them into the top few inches.

Covering the soil with a layer of mulch – such as straw, wood chips, or shredded leaves – will also help to retain moisture, suppress weeds, and slowly contribute organic material as it breaks down.

Amending soil is a skill worth learning to improve plant growth. Over time you'll reap the rewards with healthy, strong plants with more flowers.

7. Landscape Design

Consider learning more about landscape design if you love the creativity of gardening. This is an especially useful skill to hone if you have a blank slate available for building a garden.

Even if you’re not starting from scratch, understanding design can help you revamp spaces in the garden, including beds or outdoor living spaces. There are plenty of great books on landscape design for winter reading.

A good landscape designer considers the garden holistically, considering hardscaping elements such as paving, structures, and walls, at the same time as softscaping – i.e. the plants.

Think about creating a four-season garden that offers interest in every month, and consider not only how to combine plants that complement each other in the same season but how plants can die back in one season and be replaced by others in the next season.

Instead of buying lots of different plants, use the landscaping rule of three, which involves repeating plants in odd numbers for a more natural yet coherent look in the garden.

There are so many landscape design tricks you can learn that will elevate your garden to the next level – and could even lead to a new career.

8. Training Plants

If you’ve ever wished your shrubs, trees, or vines could look nicer or tidier, well, they can. Learn the skill of training plants to get specific shapes and sizes and also to keep plants healthier. Training is the art of manipulating how a plant grows to achieve a specific shape or structure.

You can train shrubs, trees, and vines. For example, you can train a shrub to grow on one main stem, as a standard plant, so it looks like a small tree. You can train a tree to grow flat against a wall, a technique called espaliering. Train vines to stay contained in one area and to grow and spread in a pleasing way.

9. Natural Pest Control

Pests in the garden are inevitable and a constant battle for most gardeners. The easy way to deal with pests is to use chemical control, but there are downsides to this strategy, including harming beneficial insects.

Use this time over the winter to read up on natural pest control. This means learning about individual pests, what deters them, and natural remedies to manage them if they are already in your environment. It’s a useful skill and science for keeping our plants healthy and attractive naturally.

More Gardening Inspiration

• Make 2025 your year in the garden with New Year resolution ideas to enhance your gardening.
• Discover the 8 best flower seeds to start in January​ to grow the most glorious garden this year.
• Grow your own delicious organic crops with these 7 vegetables perfect for starting in January.

Most of us enjoy two special places. The first place is where you live and the second place is where you work. While not everyone is lucky enough to have a residence and a job, most of us are – and sometimes a third place is available too.

A “third place” refers to some additional social setting that is not one of the first two places, a spot that we frequent and feel comfortable. For some people, cafes and pubs fit this role – and this is especially true in Europe. Here in the States, Starbucks was developed with that role in mind. But a garden can be a “third” place too.

What Is A Third Place?

The third place theory was a concept developed by sociologist Ray Oldenburg, who described the phrase in his book The Great Good Place. The idea appealed to many and the concept resonated around the world.

A third place - or third space - is where people meet old friends and make new ones. These are locations that build neighborliness, generating feelings of involvement with society, expanding acceptance of diversity, and fostering civility and feelings of trust. They provide a cozy and inviting atmosphere outside of home and work where people can socialize and build communities.

Benefits Of Third Places

Third places are good for the mental health of individuals. They also benefit the community by fostering a sense of inclusion among the residents. Indeed, under the third space theory, third places are critical elements of society, essential for building strong communities.

Today, many city planners agree, even including the concept in their urban designs with public parks, public parklets, and small, green gathering areas sprinkled around the city. Third places that are public help connect new residents to a neighborhood and alleviate some of the social isolation that comes from increased urbanization and population mobility.

One of the attractions of a third place does not apply to home or work. In a third place, everyone is equal and free of obligations. Old friends are recognized but newcomers are welcomed, with the focus being light and lively socializing. Third spaces are ideally located close enough to a person’s home that they can walk there, which means you are meeting neighbors who can turn into friends. Connections one makes through shared interests, activities, or hobbies, can lead to real friendships being developed.

What makes a good third space? Third places can be cafes, pubs, religious places, public gyms or parks. The latter option has a lot of particular advantages.

Why Gardens Are Ideal Third Places

Can a garden be a third place? It can, and some people think it may be the perfect third place. Gardens, with their mix of trees, shrubs, and flowers, encourage connections between flora and fauna, including pollinators. But they also offer peace, tranquility, and the chance to connect to the humans who enjoy them.

Haven’t you ever run to a botanical garden or public park to escape from the chaos of everyday life? And the odds are, you won’t be alone there and will soon get to chatting with others. The serenity of the natural setting encourages social interaction and interpersonal bonding.

This is especially true in a public or community garden staffed by volunteers, where fellow gardeners meet to engage in garden work, interact with nature, and enjoy the fellowship of the moment. Gardens that are maintained by community groups really bring volunteers together, offering natural beauty, person-to-person interaction, and community engagement. Taken together, establishing a community garden as a third place builds community resilience.

Playing music for plants is crazy, right? Listening to music while gardening or working on houseplants might not be that crazy after all. Although far from conclusive, there is some evidence that plants respond to music by growing more.

Using music to help plants grow is not definitive, but why not try it? And have you tried it yet? What kind of music do your plants like? Here’s everything you need to know about the best music for plants.

Do Plants Grow Better with Music?

Some scientific studies have shown that plants grow better with music playing. The first study came from Indian researchers in 1962, who found plants grew 20% more when exposed to classical music.

A few other studies followed, but critics say the research wasn’t rigorous enough to be conclusive. The studies did not control for other factors that affect plant growth. This area of research isn’t pseudoscience, but it also isn’t well enough studied to draw firm conclusions.

How Does Music Affect Plants?

Humans hear music in a unique way. Our ears pick up the vibrations and send signals to the brain, which interprets them to create what we call music. Plants don’t exactly hear music, but they sense vibrations.

The effects of music on plants are probably due to cytoplasmic streaming. The vibrations trigger the movement of nutrients, proteins, and other substances in the fluid inside cells, stimulating growth.

Critics of the idea that plants respond to music point out that anyone playing music to their plants is also likely to take very good care of their plants. It may be the latter that stimulates growth, but it doesn’t hurt to play some tunes for your favorite plants.

What Music Do Plants Like?

A study from the 1970s used different types of music for plants to grow and firmly concluded that they don’t like rock and roll. Or, rather, they don’t respond to those vibrations. The researchers saw positive results with classical, jazz, and single notes.

Another study tried comparing music to non-rhythmic sounds, like traffic noise. Plants actually grew away from the latter. So, music is best, and classical music for plants consistently produces results. Have fun with it. Here are some ideas:

1. Antonio Vivaldi String Concertos

Classical music for plants is a common theme in this type of work and is likely the best option based on the available evidence. Some research suggests plants prefer string instruments, so try Vivaldi’s famous concertos for string instruments. There are several to choose from, so you can create a long playlist.

2. Johannes Brahms String Quartets

Also famous for pieces written for string instruments, Brahms wrote many string quartets. Add these to your classical playlist to keep your plants happy. Some examples include ‘String Quartet in C minor, op. 51 No. 1’ and ‘String Quartet in B Flat major, op. 67.’

3. ‘Clair de Lune’ by Claude Debussy

Debussy is famous for his classical pieces for piano. Piano music, especially the light sounds of ‘Clair de Lune,’ is relaxing and sounds a little like birds singing outside. Plants may respond well to the similarity. Try any piano pieces by Debussy.

4. ‘Eine Kleine Nachtmusik’ by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Like Debussy’s piano pieces, Mozart’s music is light and fast and similar to birdsong. ‘Eine Kleine Nachtmusik’ is one of his most famous works. It’s fast and fun to listen to and might just get your plants vibrating. The name in English is ‘A Little Night Music.’

5. A Morning Raga/An Evening Raga by Ravi Shankar

Here’s an entire album to try playing for your plants. The first study of plants growing in response to music took place in India and included both Western and Indian classical music. They played songs called ragas, which produced similarly good results, so add this Indian classic to your playlist.

6. Journey Through “The Secret Life of Plants” by Stevie Wonder

If classical music isn’t your thing, how about Stevie Wonder? This 1973 album may just have some of the best songs for plants because it was inspired by them. Wonder wrote the album as a soundtrack to a film based on the book The Secret Life of Plants, which described some of the early music-plant research.

Get Your Groove On For Plant Growth

There is no evidence to show the best way to deliver music to your plants. A stereo or speakers nearby but not tight up against plants may be best. Don’t play it too softly, or your plants might not pick up the vibrations. Blasting music could be too much. Find a happy medium. And, don’t forget to provide the basics of plant care.

Don’t let the name fool you. Although “botanical” gardens serve to protect and propagate endangered plant species, they are also among the most beautiful public collections of plant life you can visit- and every state has some. Many are free, and most are affordable, so everyone – local or tourist – can enjoy a visit to one of the best botanical gardens in America.

The Best Botanical Gardens

Every botanical garden is different. So, while this list reflects some of the best botanical gardens, every single one in the country merits a visit.

1. Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, Ariz.

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is a many-splendored thing. It fuses a botanical garden with a history museum plus a free-range zoo and includes an aquarium, earth science center, and a desert loop trail. It’s an all-day adventure and a wonderful way to explore the flora (and fauna) of this magnificent desert. It is not free, but given its many facets, many find it well worth the admission price.

The Sonoran Desert region is the lushest desert on the planet and home to over 2,000 species of plants. It gets both the gentle winter rains of the Pacific Northwest and the wet, tropical summer monsoons of the Gulf. The botanical is known for its incredible Saguaro cacti exhibits, but there are over 56,000 plant specimens within its ecosystem.

2. San Francisco Botanical Garden, San Francisco, CA

Yes, there is a lot to see in San Francisco, one of the top travel destinations in the world – from the Golden Gate Bridge to little cable cars. But if you’re in the area, plan to spend time in the 55 acres of the San Francisco Botanical Garden. San Francisco has a Mediterranean climate – with mild, rainy winters and hotter, drier summers, a climate it shares with not just southern Europe, but also areas from South Africa to New Zealand to Chile.

Plants that grow in one Mediterranean climate location will also thrive in other locations. The San Francisco Botanical showcases gardens of plants from many of these, from temperate Asia to the Mesoamerican cloud forest. It contains the largest collection of endangered magnolia species outside of China, so if you pass through early in the year you can catch an unforgettable display of over 200 magnolias in bloom—many of them rare varieties

3. Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, Vail, CO

The Betty Ford Alpine Gardens is the world's highest alpine garden and one of the most popular public gardens in the country. It is found in the Colorado Rockies over 8,000 feet above sea level and is the only botanical garden on the continent dedicated to the conservation of alpine plant habitat. The garden’s mission is to offer education about the alpine environment through guided tours, kid’s programs, and educational exhibits along with a place for scientific research.

Over 100,000 visitors come to the garden every year. Admission to this fascinating garden is free to all.

4. Filoli Gardens, Woodside, CA

Filoli Gardens, a National Trust of Historic Preservation site, is a former country estate with an extensive landscape including 16 acres of formal gardens, 250 fruit trees, and over 75,000 bulb plants. The extensive collection of plants is exciting and representative of the ecosystem, organized into terraces, formal gardens, orchards, and wilder areas with views of the Santa Cruz mountains. Visit in springtime to appreciate the thousands of blooming daffodils.

Although generally, you have to buy admission tickets, there are no-cost and low-cost tickets available for military families and those on public assistance.

5. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO

With almost 80 acres, the Missouri Botanical Garden includes over 4,800 trees and 23 demonstration gardens like the popular Japanese Garden and the English Woodland Garden. This extraordinary botanical garden has been open to the public for over 150 years and is registered as a National Historic Landmark. The garden includes a tree conservatory including a futuristic geodesic dome structure extending over a half-acre.

This is another botanical garden that doubles as a true entertainment center – a perfect spot to entertain children. You’ll find a cave they can explore, a long slide to hurtle down, a climb-up treehouse, and a good-sized steamboat. Anyone other than the very young must pay admission.

6. San Antonio Botanical Garden, San Antonio, TX

The San Antonio Botanical Garden is a great place to learn about and view wild birds – but their Bird Watch structure is only one of the fun features of the 30-acre garden. A key custodian for endangered plants as a Center for Plant Conservation (CPC), this botanical garden holds a critical role in making sure local native plants do not face extinction. Walk the Texas Native Trail for water conservation tips amid drought-tolerant plants. Don’t miss the relatively new futuristic glass conservatory standing among structures dating back to the 1800s.

7. Brooklyn Botanical Garden Brooklyn, NY

The Brooklyn Botanical Garden covers some 52 acres of land in central Brooklyn. It is home to some 14,000 taxa of plants and welcomes over 800,000 visitors annually. The specialty gardens are extremely popular, and the gardens offer educational programs giving people the opportunity to learn more about the plant collections.

The Water Garden is special. It has a winding stream that is used to trap excess rain. It flows into a little pond with native insects and animals, including dragonflies, frogs, and ducks. The lake is lined by sedges and hibiscus. It’s so close to the urban center yet a world away.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has come on in leaps and bounds over the last few years, sparking debates and plenty of controversy. ChatGPT is one AI tool anyone can access. ChatGPT is generative AI, meaning it generates content, images, and conversations based on human input. It works by analyzing language patterns and the resources of the internet.

It is proving to be a useful tool for many applications, but is there a use for ChatGPT in the garden? Knowing how to use ChatGPT effectively in the garden can potentially help you become a better gardener. It builds ideas based on the details you provide and acts like an expert and collaborator.

Using ChatGPT for Troubleshooting

Think of AI landscaping tools as a source of information first and foremost. Chat GPT can scour the internet for you and come up with useful information to solve a problem. In the garden, this can take many forms:

• Identifying unknown plants
• Identifying the cause of problems with plants
• Determining which types of plants you can grow in your hardiness zone
• Determining plants you can grow in certain areas of your garden
• Helping you figure out how to create a hardscaping element
• Determining the best time to add new plants or sow seeds

If you have a problem or question in the garden, ChatGPT can most likely answer it or provide possible solutions.

Using ChatGPT for Gardening Recommendations

Answering questions like what plants you can grow in your USDA zone is pretty easy for ChatGPT. Challenge it further by asking for more detailed and complex recommendations.

Ask for plant suggestions for specific areas of your garden or soil types. You can even give it a picture of an area you’re struggling with to get ideas.

Keep feeding it leading questions and additional details to get even better answers. For example, you might show it a picture of beds you’re working on and ask for plant suggestions.

Tell ChatGPT the direction the beds face and their dimensions, and ask it to include ideas for plants that would work well together.

If it gives you a list of perennials, ask for companion plants or annuals. Ask it to consider other ideas if you were to install an arbor or other hardscaping element.

You can give ChatGPT a theme, the colors you like, whether you want scented plants, and much more, to get inspiring suggestions. You don’t have to use its suggestions exactly. Let the ideas evolve as you converse with the tool and as it stimulates your own creativity.

Using ChatGPT for Garden Design

ChatGPT garden design allows you to take this tool to another level. If you have a new space or a blank slate, it can guide you as you design the garden. Use it as a visual tool to create a customized landscape design. Using your ideas and images along with its expert suggestions, ChatGPT can create a picture of a garden.

Input images and measurements as well as details about your location and the kind of garden you want, and it will give you a picture of your dream garden. This is helpful for visualizing the possibilities, and you can tweak it to get it just right.

Limitations of Gardening with ChatGPT

ChatGPT is far from perfect as a gardening tool. You might find, for example, that the landscape design picture it creates for you is more fantasy than reality. Another issue is the quality of the information. You cannot depend 100% on its expertise or accuracy.

It’s important to remember that using ChatGPT effectively in the garden is all about starting a conversation and feeding it the details it needs to stimulate ideas and creativity. Don’t expect a perfect answer based on one question you ask. The more you engage with it, the better gardening information it will give you.

Some gardeners may also be troubled by the question, is using ChatGPT cheating in the garden? A purist might say yes, but really there are no rules for how you build and maintain your own space.

Frequently Asked Questions

As artificial intelligence gets smarter and better, images of fake-looking plants that seem too perfect are becoming the norm. But nature is even better than AI. It can create such perfection that real plants seem generated.

No matter how wildly hued or dramatically formed, these plants that look fake are actually the real deal. Combine nature with some innovative botanists and there are some living surprises in our world.

Real Plants That Look Fake

1. Hungarian Blue Poppy

Truly blue plants are a rarity in nature. The Hungarian blue poppy is close, with bluish-purple petals held in a loose tulip-type form. The petals have a gentle crepe paper appearance and subtle ruffling at the tips. They are like something from dreamland and have maximum visual impact when planted in a mass.

If you're a baker you'll also enjoy the edible seeds that come from chubby little pods that form after the vibrant petals have fallen. From seed to flower is only 84 days. The Hungarian blue poppy is hardy in United States Department of Agriculture zones 5-9.

2. Allium Karataviense

Ornamental onions have taken the garden world by storm. Allium karataviense is a large allium with big, fluffy clusters of delicate pink flowers. The rounded head is composed of numerous starry little blooms and looks like a cloud at a gentle sunrise. The flower clusters are golf ball-sized on slender stems above blue-green, broad, strappy leaves. This allium is deer, rabbit, and rodent resistant and suitable for USDA zones 4-8.

3. Schizachyrium Scoparium Twilight Zone

This is a variety of Little Bluestem grass which is native to North America. The plant is a bunchgrass with attractive blue-tinged blades. These blades take on a twilight hue in mid-summer, turning silvery purple. Twilight Zone has an upright form and late-season appeal when its purple flower spikes turn golden in autumn. Birds use the plant for nesting material and its seed but deer leave it alone. Once established, Schizachyrium scoparium is drought tolerant.

4. Shrimp Plant

This plant will make you want surf and turf just by looking at it. The utterly surreal flowers really look like prawn bodies. Even the color is reminiscent of freshly cooked shrimp. It is a native of South America where it grows in tropical forests. Mature shrimp plants can measure 3 feet (1 meter) in height and the leaves are evergreen. The shrimp plant is hardy to USDA zones 8-11 and can even survive a brief frost. There are also yellow and lime green varieties.

5. Cephalanthus Occidentalis Fiber Optics

A thrilling species, Cephalanthus occidentalis is the common buttonbush. It is native to North America and hardy in USDA zones 4-10. Fiber Optics is a compact form of the plant with zany-looking blooms. They are rounded balls composed of 5-petaled, tiny white flowers with long pistils sticking from the center. The effect is much like a pincushion.

Buttonbush prefers moist locations and is often found near water. It can even tolerate soggy soil. The flowers are attractive to pollinators and birds enjoy the seed from the rounded nut capsule.

6. Black Tomatoes

Yes, you are reading that right, and no, they are not rotten. Even Dr. Seuss’ imagination couldn’t have come up with these. Truthfully, black tomatoes aren't technically black but more brown, deeply purple, or darkly maroon. There are cherry, slicing, heirloom, and hybrid varieties, all delicious in their own way. Some of our more common red varieties come in black tones like Black Brandywine. Other varieties to try might be Black Beauty, Queen of the Night, and Black Cherry.

7. Double Cascade Mix Hybrid Double Petunia

The flowers on these plants look like the ruffles on a 1970s tuxedo shirt but in prettier colors. Jewel tones of every hue are represented in this hybrid mix. The packet contains rich deep blue, soft pink, pink, lavender, orchid mist, and burgundy.

Attractive to butterflies and other pollinators, petunia flowers can withstand cool or hot weather. Each cluster is up to 15 inches (38 cm) tall with a similar spread and adorned with tons of 3 inch (7.6 cm) wide blooms. These are annuals but easy to grow and provide months of enjoyment.

8. Blue Himalayan Poppy

Not to be outdone, we finish with these plants that look fake but are real. The blue Himalayan poppy boasts periwinkle blue, 4-petaled flowers with a crepey texture. They look delicate but are surprisingly quite stoic. They like moderate moisture, full to partial sun, and are easy to start from seed.

While the appearance of the blooms is similar to classic poppies, they are not actually poppy flowers. They are perennials and can achieve up to 5 feet (1.5 m) in height. Excellent in perennial or woodland gardens.