Ok, with a show of hands, who loves creating container gardens? We do, too, and we thought we’d take this opportunity to show you a few of our favourite container combos. Jessica’s are shady superstars, Niki’s includes touchable textures, and Tara’s container features an unusual edible. Can you guess what it is? We also want to hear about your favourite container garden plants and combinations – leave a comment, or tag us on Facebook and Twitter.
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Drying oregano: Step-by-step instructions
Today is oregano drying day at the Walliser house. Every May I head out to the garden to harvest fresh oregano sprigs. The timing is crucial because if I cut them too early, the flavor isn’t quite up to snuff, but if I cut them too late, four-lined plant bug damage has marred the beautiful foliage and the flower buds have already developed. Early to mid-May seems to be the perfect time for drying oregano.
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Four lined plant bugs: Tips for identification and organic controls
Many gardeners across the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. and southern Canada will start to notice damage from four lined plant bugs (Poecilocapsus lineatus) in mid to late spring. Appearing as tiny, round, sunken pockmarks on the foliage of such plants as forsythia, viburniums, Shasta daisies, lavender, oregano, geraniums, sage, mums, basil, peonies, mint, and many others, the damage is as distinctive as the insect itself.
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Early blooming perennials: 10 favorites
Come summertime, there’s no shortage of perennials to pump up the color in your garden. But what about the early spring? You may be surprised to discover that there are plenty of early blooming perennials to fill your garden with color.
Repotting seedlings 101
In late spring, I am a repotting queen! I use plug flats and cell packs to start my vegetable, flower, and herb seeds – they’re extremely efficient in terms of space – but, they don’t offer a lot of root room. After 6 to 8 weeks under the grow lights, many of the seedlings need to be repotted into larger containers to ensure continued healthy growth until it’s time to move them into the garden.
Grow potatoes in small spaces with 7 easy steps
If your garden is more “postage stamp” than “grand estate,” you may think you don’t have room to grow a hearty crop of spuds. But when you want to grow potatoes in small spaces, know that it isn’t as difficult as you may think. Yes, if left to sprawl, potato plants do take up a lot of real estate, but if you grow potatoes in bins instead of in the ground, it’s easy to get a full-size harvest in minimal space.
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