French Drains: Everything You Need to Know
French drains are a type of drainage system that are commonly used to manage water around your home or property. They are designed to direct water away from your foundation, basement, or other…
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Garden Pinks for American Gardens
Spring is always full of beauty, and as it draws to a close, and summer approaches, we see the blooming of one of the most beautiful groups of plants – garden pinks. These…
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Planting Guides
How To Plant Rhododendrons, Azaleas and Camellias
A whole group of plants have developed to live in acid soil conditions where other plants will not do so well. Top of the list for gardeners are Rhododendrons and Azaleas, closely followed…
Planting Guides
How to Plant Deciduous Hedges
Hedges are one of the major features of many gardens. Besides providing privacy and protection for your garden, they make the perfect backdrop for ornamental and flowering shrubs and plants. The plants you…
Planting Guides
How to Plant Deciduous Trees
Deciduous trees lose their foliage during winter, bursting to life with new growth once spring arrives. Many types of deciduous trees bring color to an otherwise dull landscape in fall with their brilliant…
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Ernst Pagels – Dedicated to Perennials
It is a lucky person who finds there calling in life, and is able to spend a fulfilling and satisfying life doing what they love. Although his name is not widely-known, Ernst Pagels…
Salvia – a Wise Garden Choice
Sage: /seɪdʒ/ noun: an aromatic plant of the genus Salvia, whose greyish-green leaves are used as a culinary herb, native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean. Used in names of aromatic plants of…
Karl Foerster and The Roots of Perennial Gardening
It’s hard to image a garden without perennial flowers, but once that was how gardens were. With some exceptions, mostly in England in the decades before World War I, gardens were shrubs and…
4 New Year Resolutions for Your Garden
The end of the year is a traditional time to review where you are in your life, and make resolutions for doing better in the coming year. Yes, I know, that diet and…
Creeping Phlox are Back in Style
If you are an older gardener, you will probably remember the days before 1980, when the range of plants for gardens was incredibly restricted, and especially in colder zones it seemed that every…
Choose the Right Lavender for Your Garden
The beautiful blue-purple flower spikes of lavender are one of the highlights of summer, and this plant is one of the most loved, and one that has a nostalgic charm. Perhaps it’s the…
Tardiana Hosta and Friends
When confronted with the roughly 10,000 different hosta varieties available, the best way to understand them better, and so be able to choose and use them in your garden better, is to put…
Florence Shaw and Hosta Secrets
The world of gardening is always portrayed as wonderfully calm and ‘natural’, away from the rush, bustle and competition of life. For those who simply grow their garden, that may largely be true,…
Get the Most Out of Hosta – and have outstanding shade gardens
Every gardener will recognize a Hosta plant, be it blue, green, yellow or green and white. It is certainly the most popular of all shade plants, and given that almost every garden has…
Keeping Shrubs & Trees in Planters Alive Through the Winter
Many gardeners think no further than annual flowers when they think about planting containers. Others see it as a great way to grow shrubs and trees, especially if you have a courtyard garden,…
