So for years I just bought shrubs at the garden center whenever I wanted more plants. Boxwoods for $40 each, hydrangeas for $30, camellias that cost way more than I want to admit. Then one September a few years back, my neighbor showed me her propagation setup and I had this moment of “wait, you…
So here’s the thing about pruning coneflowers. Every gardening article you read basically says the same stuff – “deadhead regularly for more blooms” and “cut back in fall or spring.” But nobody really explains why or gets into the actual plant biology that makes this work. I’ve been growing purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) for probably…
Okay so I’ve been slightly obsessed with the gardens at Highclere Castle ever since I binge-watched Downton Abbey for the third time. And honestly? Those gardens aren’t just TV set dressing – they’re the real deal, based on actual Edwardian era garden design principles that you can steal for your own yard. The thing is,…
Okay so here’s the deal with Celtic tree astrology. You’ve probably seen those charts online matching your birthday to a specific tree, right? Maybe someone told you that ancient Celtic druids used this system thousands of years ago. Well… not exactly. Turns out the whole “Celtic tree zodiac” thing was invented in 1948 by a…
So here’s the thing about deadheading in September – most gardening advice you’ll find treats it like some blanket rule that applies to everything in your garden. And honestly? That’s where people mess up. I used to go out there every September with my pruners and just deadhead everything that looked spent. Then I’d wonder…
Look, I’m just gonna come right out with it – most pruners you grab at the garden center are pretty mediocre. And honestly? For most weekend gardening, mediocre probably works fine. But here’s something that really got me when I started digging into the research: the quality of your pruning cut directly affects how well…
Look, I’ve spent way too much time researching this whole “natural wasp repellent” thing, and here’s what I found: some of it actually works, but most of the stuff you read online is either oversimplified or just flat-out wrong. The good news? There’s actual peer-reviewed research on this. A 2013 study published in Pest Management…
I’ve been seeing this hack everywhere – TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, everywhere. People rubbing banana peels on their plant leaves claiming it makes them shiny AND feeds the plant at the same time. Sounds perfect, right? Natural, free if you eat bananas anyway, and supposedly gives you those glossy leaves everyone wants. But when you actually…
Look, I get it. Every fall gardening article tells you to plant a bunch of stuff that supposedly “thrives on neglect” and then you end up babysitting these high-maintenance divas all season. Been there, done that, got the sad-looking mums to prove it. But here’s the thing – some fall plants genuinely do better when…
So here’s something I learned after years of trying different plants – if you’re only gonna add one native shrub to your garden this fall, red chokeberry should be it. And honestly, I had never even heard of it until a few years ago when I was looking for alternatives to burning bush (which turns…