Early watering of trees and shrubs can be crucial to things you planted last year, or the year before, especially if the season was dry. If your plants have been out of snow cover for a while, and especially if they are on the south side of your house or a fence, they...
Fertilizing ranks as one of the most important of early season chores for all growing things. For lawns, more water and fertilizer will penetrate through to the roots if you can rake and aerate it in the spring, and it will be thicker, greener and more lush. Use a...
Many perennials look their best only when regularly divided. Most divisions establish themselves quickly and bloom that same season, or the following one. Division of perennials should be done while they are dormant, meaning in the late fall or early spring. It can...
Start by clearing away any dead plant debris, if it wasn’t done in the fall. Haul it off or burn it- don't till it in, because there are insects in there that won’t be killed by tilling. They love being tilled in. Spade or till the ground once over to a...
A pre-emergent weed killer doesn't kill weeds that are already growing, it prevents them from ever coming up. A pre-emergent will give you weed free flower beds all season. And, volunteer plants, seeded from last year's garden, won't be coming up where you don't want...
Fruit trees need a lot of care if you want them to produce a bumper crop of insect free fruit. Fruit trees need to be pruned to really produce, and fertilizing is also a great idea if you want a high quality fruit. A low nitrogen fertilizer such as 16-16-16 is...
Pruning your fruit tree increases the yield of fruit and only takes a few minutes a year. When setting out a new fruit tree, do no pruning the first season. The next season, prune the length of the branches back by about a third to encourage new growth. The third...
Beautiful shade trees are valuable, long term assets in any yard and should be vigorously protected against insects that can damage and kill them. The very best defense against an insect attack is a healthy tree. If water is scarce, it is much easier to replace a lawn...
Spring is a good time to prune many types of shrubs, especially the deciduous ones, or the ones that lose their leaves every fall. Just before growth begins is the very best time to prune. Without all those leaves on the shrub, it's easy to observe the structure of...
The seeds of most annuals and vegetables are very easy to germinate. For the most part, all they require is a moist potting soil that maintains a temperature of seventy degrees. A regular potting soil is better to start seeds in than soil from your yard or garden,...