Garden Chores

Deadheading flowers means removing the old bloom from the plant as they begin to fade. But in a cut flower garden, is this chore even on the list when you’re harvesting stems for bouquets and arrangements? Can it make a difference in your cut flower garden? Cut flowers benefit from being deadheaded, even with regular…

It’s time to start preparing for the upcoming spring season! One of the best ways to get your flower bed ready is by giving it a good once over this fall. Use the fall season as the time to tidy up your garden from the summer and prepare it for next season. Removing old plants,…

As a gardener, you’re probably already aware of the importance of crop rotation and may be curious if it also applies to flowers. Since you already have to replant your annuals every year, should you make a point to plant them somewhere new each time? Flowers don’t need to be rotated from season to season,…

Much like baking a cake, improving garden soil is about getting the right ingredients in the right proportion. The “recipe” for a healthy garden includes soil amendments and mulch. But what’s the difference between the two? Soil amendments are used to improve the fertility and condition of the soil, while mulch is a material spread…

Although traditional gardening advises tilling away old roots and dead plant debris to prepare for the following year’s crops, there might be a better way to end the season. See, a few years ago, I dove into the concept of no-till gardening, and it turns out there are some compelling reasons to try a season…

It’s discouraging to see your dreams of a pretty and productive garden turn into an overgrown mess. Maybe you didn’t have time to tend to it early in the season, or your plants just got away from you in a surge of warm weather. Whatever the reason, it’s not too late to get your garden…

If you’re like me, you love to have a smattering of potted plants and garden space around your patio and yard, but you don’t love the weeds that come with them. Using pots and containers will help to keep the weed control chore to a minimum, but you still need to take some extra steps…

Despite your best efforts and big dreams of having a robust and fruitful garden, life happens, and the garden gets moved to the back burner. By the time you get back to it, months have passed, and your beautiful garden has now become a landscape of weeds. Or maybe you’ve moved into a new house…

I’ll often hear people say that they clear their garden beds in the fall to tidy things up for winter. But in truth, there are many good reasons to leave garden debris in place over the winter months. Leaving dead plants in the garden over winter provides many benefits, such as creating winter shelter for…

There was a time in my life when I would dump bags of grass clippings in the garbage each week, not knowing that I was depriving my whole garden of free, abundant, organic garden mulch. Grass clippings make excellent garden mulch. Dry the clippings first and limit the layer of mulch to less than two…

Composting with old flowers is a great way to keep your garden healthy and your plants well-nourished, while also reducing waste and conserving resources. Every time I can add something to my compost bin, it means that I’m reducing my organic waste going to the landfill, whether it’s deadhead from the garden or the vase…

Once the hustle and bustle of spring are over, a new routine sets in for taking care of a flower garden during summer. Instead of sitting back and letting the garden have its way, a set of regular chores can help keep your garden tidy, healthy, and productive all season long. With these seven summer…