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Many soil microbes live in a mutually beneficial relationship with the roots of your plants, providing the plant with certain mineral nutrients in exchange for small amounts of carbohydrates. The health and productivity of your soil is undoubtedly linked to the biological activity found in it. In this horticulturist’s opinion, it’s time to rely on fertilizers that assist with this amazing process rather than harm it. While they do provide mineral nutrition to your plants, popular salt-based synthetic fertilizers can harm soil organisms, which, over time, can lead to multiple issues....

Growing gourds: There are two main types – hard-shell (Lagenaria siceraria) and ornamental (Cucurbita pepo). The vines of hard-shell gourds have pretty, white flowers that open at night and produce green or mottled fruits in an assortment of shapes and sizes. The gourds can be dried after harvest, turning a soft tan colour, and kept indefinitely. The cured fruits of hard-shell gourds have been used for centuries in crafts, as musical instruments (for example, maraca’s), and put to more practical uses as bottles, dippers, bowls, bushels, birdhouses, and baskets....

All about paper wasps: Members of the paper wasp family (Vespidae) are notorious for their seemingly aggressive behavior in the autumn. These social insects are often mistaken for bees, which they are decidedly not. Though the ground-dwelling species of yellow jackets are commonly called “ground bees”, they are actually wasps. Nests of all species of yellow jackets and hornets are large and paper-like. Ground-nesting yellow jacket species build their papery home underground in an old animal burrow, while hornets build their nests on tree branches or buildings....

How to include alliums in your landscape Like other members of the onion family, which includes chives, shallots, garlic, leeks, and others, alliums are ornamental onions that have a distinctive smell, which is why the critters and insect pests tend to leave them alone. Most of the allium varieties listed below are fully winter hardy even in cold growing zones where temperatures go down to -30 degrees F, making them a great fit for most gardens....

Usually, we associate summer containers with annuals, but you can get creative with shade perennials, as well. In this article, I’m going to share some shade container gardening ideas I’ve gathered, as well as some important growing advice to put together pots that will jazz up porches, decks, and other living spaces. Shade container gardening tips Shade container gardening is not that different from putting together arrangements for sun. However there are a few pieces of advice that will hopefully set you up for success....

This is a great project to tackle in the spring, once the ground has dried out. Just be mindful of any plants that haven’t yet poked through the soil. You don’t want to accidentally build something overtop! If you have old bricks, stone, or wood laying around, you don’t even have to leave your garden to get materials. Why add landscape edging to a garden? Aesthetically, they keep the garden neat and tidy....

Assemble the materials for your winter container garden First things first, you want to gather your supplies. Sometimes this takes me a few days to pull together. I like to shop around and see what’s happening at different local nurseries, but I usually have some sort of theme or colour idea in mind. At Savvy Gardening, we also love to source from our gardens. If you’re cutting your own branches and boughs, you need to make sure that you’re making considerate cuts and not doing a hatchet job to some poor, unsuspecting tree....

Beekeeper™️ Caryopteris Beekeeper™️ Caryopteris may just be the perfect plant. Introduced in 2021, this late season stunner has an extended flowering period that starts in summer and stretches well into autumn! It’s also known as golden bluebeard, and is a compact plant with eye-catching golden foliage that is a perfect accent to the cornflower blue flowers. As its name implies, Beekeeper™️ attracts bees, but also butterflies, hummingbirds, and other pollinators to the garden....

Providing nectar for pollinating insects as diverse as native bees and butterflies, tachinid flies and beetles, these pollinator friendly plants really know how to keep the garden buzzing with life well into the autumn. Plant them in your garden and you too can help support your local pollinators. 5 favorite late-blooming pollinator-friendly plants: Boltonia (B. asteroides) is a North American native that bears profuse, inch-wide, daisy-like flowers late in the season....

What is a container water garden? A container water garden is basically a mini water garden. It’s a small pond that’s contained in a decorative vessel. Container gardeners know how growing in pots simplifies the gardening process and reduces the maintenance required of the gardener (no weeds!). It’s the same with water gardens in pots. They’re low maintenance and easy to set up. Within a couple of weeks, your mini water garden will become an established habitat for water-loving creatures, and you’ll come to look forward to spending evenings sipping wine with the sound of moving water from your mini-pond in the background....

What are low tunnel hoops? A low tunnel hoop is a handy garden structure made from two components; hoops and a cover. These can be used in spring, summer, fall, and winter to protect crops from weather. I also use them to reduce damage from large and small pests like deer, cabbage worms, and flea beetles. I’ve been using them for the past two decades and they’ve been a game changer in my garden....

4 Tips to Harvesting Vegetables: Bigger isn’t always better Many vegetables reach peak quality and tenderness when still immature; salad greens, zucchini, cucumbers, beans, peas, potatoes, radishes, and turnips for example. Even cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower are harvested before they mature and their flower buds open. Others, like tomatoes, muskmelons, watermelons, and sweet potatoes are best picked when they are fully ripe and their flavors have been given ample time to develop....

Growing salad greens – 3 to try: Mizuna: Combine excellent cold tolerance with quick growth and you get mizuna, one of my favourite spring salad superstars. Plants form large clumps of fine, feathery foliage held on slender stems, which add a mild, cabbage-like flavour to salads, noodle dishes, stir-fries or wraps. Mizuna is an excellent cut-and-come-again-crop, which means that you can harvest the entire plant by cutting it about an inch or two above the crown....

I grow several different varieties of sedum plants in my gardens. I love that the plants are low-maintenance and drought tolerant, and attract pollinators. They’re also hardy and don’t mind being moved around. I’ve found some of my creeping sedums have popped up in unexpected places, like between the cracks of my concrete walkway. I’ll often gently yank them out and simply put them in the garden, covering the roots in soil....

At that point in the season, the tulips and daffodils were still out back home in Southern Ontario, but at Moss Mountain Farm, the gardens were what I’d consider to be resplendent summer gardens—bursting with blooms and produce that I hadn’t even planted yet. Allen’s passion for gardening and sustainable practices is evident throughout the property and in each section, he regaled us with stories about how his ideas were brought to life....

5 favorite mini melons for small gardens and containers: ‘Golden Jenny’ is a yellow-fleshed, short-statured variant of the classic, green-fleshed heirloom variety ‘Jenny Lind’. Both selections are unique for the knob, or turban, at the blossom end of each fruit. ‘Golden Jenny’s’ golden flesh is super sweet and her netted green skin turns yellow when the fruits are ripe. They also slip easily from the vine. An early, productive variety that matures in about 75 days, ‘Golden Jenny’s short, bushy vines don’t take up much room but produce quite prolifically....

Whether you are planning to dig in a new garden bed, or you’ve just moved in and you are assessing what to plant in an existing bed, you want to make sure you get to know the area. A few tips for planning a garden bed First of all, if you’re dealing with a blank slate and you want to dig, be sure to call your gas company to make sure there aren’t any hidden lines you need to worry about....

Buying early spring flowering shrubs Before you rush off to the nursery, consider the growing conditions in your garden and ask yourself these questions: How much space do I have? Some early spring flowering shrubs are very compact and grow just a foot or two tall and wide. Others, can reach heights up to fifteen feet or more. Consider the mature size of the shrub, not the size it is when you buy it....

Some plants are genetically blessed with great flowers AND leaves. I’m thinking of heucheras and tiarellas, while others have names that might fool you into thinking they have super-awesome flowers (i.e. Rex begonias), but they’re really all about the leaves. When you’re thinking of spaces to fill in the garden, figure out which role your leafy plant can play and set the scene. Foliage plants can act as a backdrop, highlighting the attributes of other plants; they can provide a variety of interesting textures and shapes; they add multi-season colour; and leaf hues can complement and contrast with both annuals and perennials....

Before you place a garlic order, or toss a bag of bulbs in your cart at the nursery, it’s important to understand the difference between hardneck and softneck garlic. If you’re hoping for that bonus harvest of garlic scapes, choose hardneck varieties, which also are better adapted to colder climates. Softneck garlic grows better in warmer climates, but keeps longer in storage. This is generally the type of garlic you’ll find at the grocery store....