In my last post I discussed a hands-off style of flower gardening that works some in established gardens. In those cases the soil is usually in pretty good shape after having had plants growing in the same spot for many years. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have such a garden space. Sometimes the soil in … Continue Reading →

A friend of mine once told me his method of flower gardening was to see what comes up then just pull out the weeds. That actually is a viable way to approach it, especially if you have a personality type that doesn’t mind a bit of disorder. For a while my friend was moving into … Continue Reading →

The best time of year to divide perennial flowers is just as their new shoots begin to peek up through the soil. That time is right now. Gardeners have different reasons why they might want to divide their perennials. Maybe the plant is getting too old or too big for the space they’ve been growing … Continue Reading →

If you enjoy regularly using your fireplace or wood stove, you know that a fair amount of wood ashes can be accumulated over a heating season. Under the right circumstances, those ashes can be an excellent fertilizer for your garden. Wood ashes contain about 10 percent potassium, one of the three major elements needed by plants … Continue Reading →

It’s tempting to prune fruit trees in early March especially on warm, sunny days when were out in the yard looking for some thing to do. Usually it’s fine to do so, but I like to wait to prune until after the chance of freezing rain has past. A heavy accumulation of ice during an … Continue Reading →

We still have plenty of winter left to go until spring arrives. In the meantime you can bring a little bit of spring early into your home by forcing shrub and tree branches into budding out of season. The shrub everyone thinks of first is pussy willows with their irresistible silver, fuzzy buds. There are … Continue Reading →

After taking inventory of our seeds last week, we had to decide which seeds we were going to keep and which we needed to throw out. Each year we write the date on the seed containers, that gives us a starting point. Some seed packs slipped through our system though and had no date on … Continue Reading →

Seed catalogs have been showing up in our mailbox since before the beginning of the new year. Most of the catalogs that we regularly order from have arrived. We’re still getting a few duplicates and reminders from impatient seed sellers and some catalogs from new outfits. I’d rather go to mailbox and see what catalog … Continue Reading →

Growing up in a rural area of southern Michigan, I had a chance to absorb a lot of our local farm culture. Back then, there were plenty of old-timers who, in their younger days, had farmed their acreage with teams of horses. Those gray-haired farmers had plenty of advice and time-worn proverbs to pass along. One … Continue Reading →

During many winters we have a January thaw. We had a very welcomed warm spell last week and it looks like there will be another warm-up this week too, even though it may not be quite as warm this time around. I always like to take advantage of those warm mid-winter days to freshen up … Continue Reading →