Garden Gate

Spring’s almost here! Once that calendar turned over to 2022, did your excitement about gardening start building? Mine did. Big garden projects always seem so doable in late winter with the entire growing season stretched out in front of you. And hav

Which materials should you use? How big should it be? What’s the best soil mix? Answers to all of these questions and more in our guide. GardenGateMagazine.com/articles/ design-ideas/ Kristin finds out Tera Boaeuf’s best design tips, staking advi

The fragrant flowers of lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis) make a lovely addition to a planter in a shady spot. Claire dug up a clump just as it was about to bloom and combined it with a six-pack of pink impatiens (Impatiens walleriana) that sh

Hostas have no problem holding their own in the shade garden. But there are lots of other shade-tolerant plants that make excellent companions. By adding their own contrasting colors, shapes, heights and textures, these plants accentuate the simple e

• 16-in. LED grow light strips (4) • Wire shelf (22 in. long x 12 in. wide) • 7/8-in. cup hooks (4) • 12-in. #200 chain (4 lengths) • 1-in. 17-gauge S-hooks (4) • Wire cutter and pliers • Drill and /8-in. drill bit Think you don’t have a space

Why have just a butterfly garden when you can have a pollinator garden? A pollinator garden has so much more than a few nectar flowers for adult butterflies. It invites these butterflies to lay eggs on specific host plants for its caterpillars to eat

Dame’s rocket was introduced from Europe as an ornamental plant and has spread through much of North America (except for a handful of states in the Deep South), where it can now be found in meadows, woodland edges, thickets, vacant lots, edges of yar

For all its delicate beauty, columbine is one tough customer. It’s cold-tolerant, drought-tolerant, deer-tolerant and reseeds easily so you can have a big grouping like those you see in photo 1 without a lot of effort or expense. Columbine’s out-of-t

The larvae of columbine sawfly shows up in late spring and chews along the edges of leaves toward the center, eating all but the midveins. Their green color blends in well with the foliage, so you may not notice them until they’ve done a lot of damag

Matching the tool to the size branch that you need to prune will make the job a lot easier — and safer! The right tool makes a cleaner cut that doesn’t crack the branch or tear bark and it’s easier on your hands, too. Branches 1 ½ to 10 inches in dia

Shrubs that bloom in spring on old wood are best pruned after they flower to ensure they have time to set buds for a big burst of color the following year. Deadhead by using your fingers to snap off the spent flowers. Rhododendrons don’t need much pr

When a shrub flowers on new wood in summer you can do your pruning work in late winter or early spring without harming the season’s flower show. The illustration shows you how to head back plants by no more than half as leaves start to show in early

Planting peas is the traditional first task in the spring vegetable garden. Before long, the bright green shoots emerge and within weeks the vines are climbing for the sky. There are many reasons to plant peas, but for me it’s all about flavor. While

You’ll find dozens of pea varieties in seed catalogs, but here are some standouts from my garden. Pea plants can be bush or vining. Bush varieties grow 18 to 30 inches tall, while vining plants can reach heights up to 6 feet. Select varieties based o

Spring bulbs are among the most anticipated flowers—their appearance signals a fresh garden season and the return of color to the bleak winter landscape. They can be displayed in many ways—a formal garden lined with sculptural shrubs and filled with

It doesn’t take much planning to expand a tulip display from just a week or so into a multiweek succession of colorful blooms. For this mix, we combined two blends from Colorblends® (Red Cubed® and Big Ups® ). EARLY SPRING By the end of April, the f

Shortly after moving into their Washington home 42 years ago, Joanne White and her husband, George, dug three ponds to give the artesian spring that flows there a place to pool. These ponds range in depth from 3 to 15 feet and besides being a beautif

What if you could start seeds without messing around with a thousand tiny little pots that clutter up your shed? Or maybe you want to garden using less plastic. Either way, try growing in soil blocks. In this technique, a special tool called a soil b

Light colors and white show better than dark or bright ones in low light. If you love to relax outdoors in the evening, try an all-white garden. This design includes white-flowering plants that peak in spring and summer, when you spend the most time

Not only is this garden beautiful, but it is so easy to care for. Here’s the seasonal to-do list: In early spring, rake up the fallen leaves from under the shrubs and then just wait for them to leaf out. If you notice any stems that don’t show signs

What soil should I use in raised beds for blueberries? Heather Triplett, MN A no-fail way to grow acid-loving blueberries (Vaccinium spp. and hybrids) in almost any soil is to incorporate peat moss into the planting medium. For raised beds, mix equ

What it looks like Black medic is an annual weed common throughout the United States and Canada. You might almost consider it a beneficial weed because, like other members of the clover family, it has the ability to draw nitrogen from the air and put

Who says spring flowers have to be soft lavender pastels, cheerful yellows and eye-popping hot pinks? I found an iris that is beautifully subtle and muted, so not-what-I-expected in its coloring that I was drawn in for a closer look. ‘Drink Your Tea’

This border peaks in spring with warm-colored flowers; tidy foliage is low maintenance the rest of the summer. Cut back the Siberian iris at the crown and shear off chamomile to an inch or two tall in fall for a fresh start when warm weather comes ag

PRIDE OF PLACE There’s a certain sense of satisfaction in completing a project yourself. And even if you are not the sort of gardener to roll up your sleeves and build your own gazebo, you probably appreciate what it takes to successfully execute a b

Everywhere you look around the garden, you find the results of the couple’s do-it-yourself lifestyle: rustic trellises and birdhouses decorate the garden, and driftwood chimes twirl in the wind from the eaves of the barn. Here’s how they do it: 1 Dr