All Things Gardening

If your tulips and daffodils didn't bloom, try some bulb forensics to find out why

Sometimes when flowering bulbs like daffodils and tulips don't bloom, the answer is underground. By digging up the bulbs and noting their characteristics, you can solve the problem for next year.

Ornamental grasses add movement, height and color to your gardens

From blue-green blades low to the ground and mounding like spiky hairdos to eight-foot-tall, feathery quills swaying in the breeze, find ornamental grasses to add to your gardens.

Ornamental grasses add movement, height and color to your gardens

From blue-green blades low to the ground and mounding like spiky hairdos to eight-foot-tall, feathery quills swaying in the breeze, find ornamental grasses to add to your gardens.

Create a rain garden and rain barrel to capture and re-use water

Capture and conserve storm water from heavy rains in gardens planted with water-loving flowers or catch it in a rain barrel.

Make your yard the most popular in town for birds with fruit trees, water & hiding places

Dead trees, water features and tasty berries can make your address the one to stop at for local birds seeking food and shelter.

Waxing poetic about the loved/hated Brussels sprout

Brussels sprouts grow well in our region as they like cool weather and full sun. Best practice is to start them from seed under grow lights indoors now, as they take all season long to grow. Then replant them in early to mid-May in your garden.

Waxing poetic about the loved/hated Brussels sprout

Brussels sprouts grow well in our region as they like cool weather and full sun. Best practice is to start them from seed under grow lights indoors now, as they take all season long to grow. Then replant them in early to mid-May in your garden.

Lily lovers can look for new hybrids to bring fragrance, color and height to gardens

Looking to add height, color and fragrance to your flower gardens? Lily varieties pack a visual and fragrant punch. Though these flowers grow well in Vermont, they will need your help to keep the red lily leaf beetle at bay.

Love 'mosscore?' Grow some cushiony greenery in your yard

In the right conditions, you can grow some green moss to bring an idyllic look to your landscape. You can purchase all kinds of mosses to grow or encourage more growth with a "moss milkshake!"

Up your app game with bite-sized snacking peppers for summertime hors d'oeuvres

Padrón or Herbón peppers hail from the Padrón region in northwestern Spain. These snack-sized peppers, along with Shishito peppers from Japan, can range from mild to spicy and are great when charred or grilled and eaten as an appetizer.

If your garden space is small, try growing vertically

Many beloved veggies are inclined to climb vertically already - like beans, squashes, cukes and zukes. Those plants tend to grow very large and can take over garden spaces. If you have a small garden, try growing certain plant varieties in containers or grow vertically instead.

Hardier blue hydrangea varieties bring color and contrast to your gardens

Try planting new and sturdier flowering shrubs that grow better in our region, like Blue Enchantress, this spring.

Getting ready for spring: A start-up guide for growing tomatoes indoors

Gather up all the things you'll need - germinating soil, small containers, seeds and a grow light. Then, come late March or early April, get your tomato starts planted indoors.

The care and feeding of creepy, carnivorous house plants

Some plants eat meat! These carnivorous plants tend to grow in wet areas and bogs but certain types will grow well indoors, with proper watering and feeding techniques.

A tale of two Charlies and how these gardeners agree and differ on no-dig techniques

Local gardening expert Charlie Nardozzi has been talking about no-dig gardening techniques for awhile. He compares his practices to those of another gardening "Charlie," Charles Dowding from England, who has been no-dig gardening for decades.

Beyond cut flowers; Valentine's Day plant ideas to give your fave gardener.

Two fun Valentine's gift ideas will last well beyond the holiday and make gardeners swoon: The sweetheart hoya has heart-shaped leaves and the moth orchid is a beautiful houseplant.

Save those store-bought veggie pieces and learn to root and grow new ones.

Though it is fun to try to regrow plants from avocado pits and citrus seeds, chances are good they will never flower or fruit. Instead, take lettuces, ginger and lemongrass to regrow new plants.

Use the handful of weeks before spring to start growing leeks and onions indoors.

Leeks and onions need about eight to 10 weeks to germinate before you can plant them in your raised beds and gardens outdoors. That means now is a great time to plant some indoors.

If your home-grown tomatoes are destined to become sauce, plant a variety with sweet flavor and dense pulp.

If you grow lots of tomatoes with canning plans in mind, this year, try Captain Lucky or Blue Beech.

'Dark Side of the Moon,' and 'Bit of Honey;' among new, colorful perennial varieties to plant this spring

When you're perusing gardening catalogs and websites for perennials to plant in spring, look for these that have unusual colors.

Keeping up with cool new variations of your fave house plants

Philodendron and snake plants make great choices to grow indoors all year. And these steadfast classics come in fun varieties. Look for these and other houseplant variations to add to your indoor greenery.

Embracing a few gardening resolutions now can start off your spring on the right path

While you're making other New Year's resolutions, resolve to make certain changes in your gardening game.

Let worms do the work in turning food scraps into rich compost

Vermicomposting is a great way to break down food scraps this winter and create rich compost for gardens and raised beds this spring.

Buck traditional and choose from these five alternative holiday trees

Many factors play in to your holiday tree choices, like the cost of a traditional tree and how much space you have to display it. This year, try these different kinds of festive trees to decorate your home.

Make fast feathered friends with peanut butter and pinecones

Using natural elements like pinecones and tree branches, you can make home-made bird feeders. Just add suet or peanut butter, then sprinkle on the bird seed and hang the feeder outdoors.

Go for easy-care amaryllis bulbs to bring in bright blooms this winter

Amaryllis bulbs are native to southern hemispheres but you can pot them to grow this winter with very little care. Also, try a more recent variety of waxed amaryllis bulb that will grow and flower with no soil or water!

Want natural, one-of-a-kind holiday decorations? Gather boughs, branches and berries to make your own.

Gather up natural materials from your lawn and garden to create one-of-a-kind holiday decorations.

Get a jump on next spring's gardening. Repair fencing, restore tools and replace items.

Your garden may be put to bed for winter but you can tackle a few tasks and get a jumpstart on next year.

How to protect your garden after this fall's unusually warm weather.

Temperatures have been on the warm side right into November in our region. Learn how to protect plants, bulbs and trees that may have begun to sprout in the warm weather.

Ladybugs moved in? Use a vacuum to gather them and relocate them to a better hibernation location.

A vacuum can safely remove ladybugs from inside your house. Ladybugs can crawl through tiny spaces and use your home as their winter hibernation location.

Instead of raking, change your perspective. Five ways to use leaves to help your lawn and garden.

You may need to fight off every urge to rake right now. Instead, try taking a deep breath and embracing numerous ways those fallen leaves can benefit your lawn, flowers, compost pile and more.

Turn pumpkins into planters for fall decorations

Want a blooming surprise party next spring? Try layering flowering bulbs now.

In order to enjoy spring blooms like crocus, daffodils and hyacinth, you should plant those bulbs now. And if your lawn, border or gardens are short on space, try a layering technique that'll bring whimsy and surprise to your garden!

Plant trees now. The roots will have time to get comfy before the ground freezes.

By planting now, your new trees and shrubs will have about six to eight weeks to get comfortable in the soil before overwintering.

A knobbly tuber whose blooms look like a sunflower: Meet the sunchoke

You can slice and enjoy uncooked like water chestnut or bake, mash or boil it and enjoy like a potato. The Jerusalem artichoke is neither an artichoke nor from the Middle East but grows prolifically in our region and produces lovely yellow flowers.

Find fall floral color in out-of-the-way places, then bring it into your garden next year

In early fall, you might see bright spots of colorful lobelia or boltonia in wetter areas on stream banks and near ponds. You can grow cultivated versions of these fall wildflowers in your garden, too.

Local morning newscast for Sunday, Sept. 25

Late-season container gardening provides fresh salad greens till frost (or longer!)

Not ready to let go of growing fresh salad greens even though the summer season is waning? Fret not and grab the nearest garden container or cozy up to a cold frame.

With some mulching this fall and pinching next spring, your hardy mums will provide perennial color.

Technically, those hardy mums you use as fall decorations are perennials. They can be a bit finicky, but find the right place to plant it in your lawn or garden and be treated to fall color every year.

Fall is the the time to repair spots on your grass lawn and to consider other ground covers

Traditional lawns are greenswards - places to play and gather. And they help avoid erosion. If you plan to keep your green grass lawn, now is the time to repair it or consider some other green lawn covers.

Keeping big fall perennials in bounds

Black-eyed Susans and clematis are late summer stars in the garden, with their showy blooms and hardy foliage. They can also get really out of hand and grow too large! We'll learn new varieties to try and how to keep them in bounds.

Want free seedlings next spring? Let spinach and lettuce self-sow this fall.

If you grow lettuce, radishes, fennel and even some flowers like calendula, you can let them bolt and self-sow. Then, next spring, after they germinate and sprout, thin out and leave the strongest seedlings. You'll grow a new, free crop with very little effort.

The clue to keeping hydrangea happy is in the flower's name

This year in Vermont, many hydrangea bushes are flowering abundantly, possibly due to many days of high humidity. Find out how and when to prune and care for different hydrangea types so they'll successfully overwinter and bloom again next year.

With roots that can run 10 feet deep and a zombie-like afterlife, knotweed is a difficult invasive to control.

In Japan, knotweed is eaten as a leafy green when it has first sprouted. In Vermont, there are no natural controls for the plant and it grows rapidly and indiscriminately, crowding out native plants.

Safely remove wild parsnip to increase biodiversity and avoid a nasty burn from its sap.

Wild parsnip or poison parsnip can spread quickly and it can take over a meadow or field. This reduces the biodiversity in that field of the plants and the insect and other wildlife. The sap can also give you a really nasty burn or rash, especially if you get it on your skin on a sunny day.

Flower containers looking bedraggled? Become a hanging-basket barber.

The glorious hanging-basket full of colorful flower and plant varieties you purchased or planted around Memorial Day might be looking bedraggled by mid-July. That's because plants grow! And they may have outgrown their container. Learn how to successfully trim them or separate them into new containers and baskets.

Squish these insect eggs before they hatch and damage your squash plants

They emerge from the soil to devour grapes, roses and basil; how to win the beetle battle.

The adult beetle that emerges from the soil has the common name Japanese beetle, named for its country of origin. The beetle arrived on cargo ships in the early 1900s and is prevalent east of the Mississippi.

If you're low on space but want to plant blueberry bushes, try 'North Sky' and 'Jelly Bean'

Tamp down your tomato blight anxiety by learning to mulch, pinch and prune.

Even if they are green and healthy, you can prune the leaves from your tomato plants. Knowing how and when to prune and pinch the suckers will help the plant divert all its energy and nutrients into growing stronger. You'll be rewarded with more tomatoes, too.