Bigger isn’t always better. It might be a cliche, but it’s one that certainly applies to trees. Though mature oaks and maples are gorgeous, sometimes there isn’t room for a sixty-foot tall hardwood in the garden. If you’re looking for a few small trees for your landscape, here are three great choices.
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Viburnum pruning: Early summer is time to prune spring-blooming shrubs
As soon as their flowers fade, it’s time for azalea, rhododendron, chokecherry, lilac, weigela, forsythia, and viburnum pruning. These spring-blooming shrubs produce their flowers on the previous year’s growth. Pruning them too late in the season could mean accidentally removing next year’s developing flower buds. If you are unsure of when to prune a particular flowering shrub, a good rule of thumb is always to prune immediately after flowering.
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A container garden cheat sheet
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.
