Hedges Are Bad, But if you Must…

Ask any classically trained horticulturist, and they’ll tell you – hedges are bad. Why? This approach to plant care runs afoul of all of the proven plant health techniques that are used in gardening.

Rules 3 and 4 of Garden Catalog Shopping

The first two rules of shopping for landscape plants with garden catalogs are centered around needs, much like shopping for groceries. The next two focus on the landscape itself in terms of cold tolerance and disease susceptibility of certain plants.

Cleaning up Your Diseased Garden

Let’s face it, by the end of the growing season, many plants aren’t looking too good. The heat, drought, bugs and diseases have turned them from assets into liabilities. If the spots and rots have been active with your shrubs, perennials and other garden plants, it’s time to act.

Rose Diseases

Unfortunately, roses are not care-free plants, at least not in the Midwest.  They are susceptible hosts to several diseases, namely powdery mildew, rust, black spot and rose rosette.   Powdery mildew:  The name is apt for this disease, as the foliage of affected stems turns to a whitish cast as if dusted with flour.  Powdery…

Lawn To Do Late September

What’s there to do in late September in the lawn?  Plenty.  First, keep mowing.  There’s a natural human tendency to slack off or give up being a tender of the landscape in mid fall; fight it.  Continuing to mow will encourage expansion of turf grass plants, fill in voids and chew up falling tree leaves. …