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Welcome to our library of articles, where you can search and browse over 2,000 articles written by our own team of garden writers. Interested in becoming a Dave's Garden writer? Submit an article to apply.
Hops are primarily grown and harvested for use in making beer although historically they have been used as a medicinal herb, a spring vegetable and in many crafts. They are a very attractive vine in the home garden and an easy plant for the novice gardener.
Let me introduce you to Larry, the peacock. He's a young guy still looking for the “right” peahen. But as you can see, he already has the makings to be a beautiful piece of living lawn art. He belongs to one our local Dgers and has been a continuing source of amazement and enjoyment to all of us reading the thread for some time. And he is the inspiration for this article.
Do you ever get the feeling that a particular plant is out to get you? Seems everyone can grow it easily except you. Do you spend hours wondering what you should be doing differently, moving it from location to location, trying different fertilizers? Relax and stop worrying. You’re right; the plant hates you. Here are two roses, recent additions to the same neighborhood. And this is their tale:
In my imaginings about Aroidia the idea of technological advancement had not occurred to me. After all, Aroidia was a place of all plants, and even though two intelligent races were present, neither of them displayed any indication of technological or scientific development. Or had I just missed what was so obvious that it was totally hidden until now?
You've purchased the garden design software that's right for you and worked through the tutorials and practiced with some simple designs. You should be ready to design that new bed for spring. I'm going to show you one that I did last year. It's an herb garden that sits at the center of a 70' long cottage garden. The herb garden has some interesting elements, so I'll just concentrate on that here. This is the final article in this series. Please join me.
My garden is a living collection of some of the most hazardous plants one can grow, from both a toxic and physical danger point of view. Yet I and my pets, and friends all manage to survive the experience of repeatedly wandering through it. OSHA would never sanction this plant collection due to the potential legal ramifcations of injury. But after one gets over the usual paranoia about eyes being poked out and pets and children being killed by all the toxic greenery, reality sets in and one starts to put things into perspective. In this article, that is what I will attempt to do.
In Zones 1 through 7, March is probably a little early to be digging in the dirt, but this is the perfect month to do some long range planning. Need to move shrubs or transplant perennials? How's your soil? Does it need amendment? Tired of looking at bare branches all winter? This series of articles will address these issues, so cozy up to the fire with your dreams and a notebook and think about exactly what you'll do when spring finally arrives.
On Saturdays, the Writer's Group would like to say thanks by presenting a "You Supply The Caption" photo. A gardening related photo will be presented, and you the Readers will provide humorous captions. The wit available on Dave's is some of the best around, so please join in the fun! This feature is not a "for compensation" article - just our way of saying Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy...now let's hear some funny stuff!
Poor soil? Rocky hard pan slow drainage. No organic materials, nothing will grow? Bad back or other disability? A raised bed may be the answer to your problems; I’ll explain how to build them and where they should be placed.
No, he never promised me. But now we can finally afford it and I can have any kind of rose garden I want for my birthday. Come along as I design, plan, build and plant my dream rose garden.
So, I have been there, looking at stunning gardens cared for by someone much my senior. They are perfect, full, lush, and just stunning… I stand in awe knowing my own little piece of heaven costs me so much blood, sweat, and tears. I wonder how do they do it. So I asked our iris team to tell me – what is their greatest pearl of wisdom for growing iris?
“Other holidays repose in the past; Arbor Day proposes for the future” These words were spoken by J. Sterling Morton 136 years ago and still hold true today to reflect the necessity of planting trees. Mr. Morton was responsible for the founding of Arbor Day in Nebraska, other states followed his lead and soon all of the United States was celebrating this holiday.
Of all the plants I've imagined, this particular one has the most beautiful inflorescence. It represents the most advanced version of the "three becoming one" growth habit shown most often by plants in the Aroidian genus Triklados. . .
Palms are a mostly tropical species. However, thankfully, many palms can grow in subtropical and temperate climates, providing a wonderful 'touch of the tropics' to less than tropical climates throughout the world. This article is not about what these palms are (that article was already published a few weeks ago), but more about cold hardiness itself and how it relates to palm growing. As one will see there are many related complexities that pertain to marginal palm growing one might not guess at just thumbing through a list of cold hardy palms.
"In the night the cabbages catch at the moon, the leaves drip silver, the rows of cabbages are a series of little silver waterfalls in the moon." - Carl Sandburg
Early spring is the time of year to grow cool season crops of the brassica family, such as cabbage and cauliflower. Soon after doing so, you will almost hear the ringing of the dinner bell at the party of the imported cabbageworm, aka Pieris rapae.
With warm weather just around the corner, but temperatures still in the cool range, it's a great time to start some lettuce seeds in your garden. Lettuce is easy to grow, matures quickly, doesn’t take up much space, and offers a "cut-and-come-again" growth habit that can give you several salads from the same plant.
The old football adage “The best offense is a good defense” so aptly applies in avoiding diseases in your rose garden. Regular observations and spray programs are the only effective way to prevent diseases before they get started and spread to other plants.
It is virtually impossible to access any travel website focusing on The Netherlands without encountering colorful photographs of the Bulb Fields in Springtime…… but bulbs, tulips and otherwise, are BIG business for Holland, not just for the tourist industry.
I have been there – I babied this plant, fixed its soil, fed it, watered it, cared for it… then right before it starts to bloom….poof like magic it is a goner…but why?
On Aroidia, nearly every available niche is populated with some type of plant. Here I investigate those plants that float on the ocean and those that grow as hemiepiphytes on other, larger species.
Are you enthrawled by orchids but too intimidated to try and grow them? Well, many orchids grow easily as houseplants simply on the windowsill. This article will explain the basics of growing orchids as houseplants. A few easy rules and even you too can be successful in growing the ULTIMATE houseplant!
Most cycads are excellent landscape and potted plants choices and most tend to be sought after by thousands of collectors who love these plants (sometimes a bit too much). But all the cycad genera Encephalartos are easily the most popular and sought after (hence, the most expensive, too). All Encephalartos sepces are considered endangered (though some are actually not currently threatened) making the struggle of collecting them that much more costly and difficult. Few collectors are obsessed wtih common, 'everyday' species of plants, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that this is one of the most over-collected and prized of all the succulent plants. The following article is an introduction to most of the species one might encounter in their pursuit of learning and collecting these rare and beautiful plants.
Victory gardens---an idea that was lost to me. I had never heard of victory gardens before I came across this old photo of my great-grandfather with my grandfather and his brother. The story I am told is that this photo was taken on the day they planted their first WWII victory garden.
It's time to choose your garden design software now. There are some things you need to consider before you make your decision. When I was first contemplating such a purchase, I was in the process of having a new home built and had a completely unlandscaped 3/4 acre lot that was purely mud and rocks; a blank canvas, if you will. You may be in a similar situation, or you may have 25 acres, or possibly a tiny city lot that's already planted and you just want to rearrange. Your software should be tailored to your needs.
When the kids - and you, too - have been stuck inside for days, shake it up a little... have a picnic - inside! The very idea of a picnic indoors will confuse their little brains enough to give you a minute to think.
Though few give much thought to pruning palms, it is a large source of income for some... and a constant source of aggravation for me. Palms are much simpler trees than most other trees one might need to trim, having no branches (rare exceptions)- just leaves on a pole. However it is amazing to me how often palms are either pruned improperly, unecessarily or even fatally. This article will cover some of the basics of pruning palms with some guidelines about when to prune, when not to, and what palms should or shouldn't be pruned from a health as well as artisitic point of view.
Early spring is a great time to start beets. They are a cool season crop and will withstand a surprise freeze or two, but should generally be planted when you know temperatures will remain in the 50-60 degree range. (The soil temperature should be at least 40 in order for seeds to sprout.)
On Saturdays, the Writer's Group would like to say thanks by presenting a "You Supply The Caption" photo. A gardening related photo will be presented, and you the Readers will provide humorous captions. The wit available on Dave's is some of the best around, so please join in the fun! This feature is not a "for compensation" article - just our way of saying Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy...now let's hear some funny stuff!
They look fearsome and quite intimidating. Surely this creature is aggressive and dangerous. The Great Golden Digger Wasp sends its share of terrified gardeners running for a weapon. Little do they know that it is a peaceful insect and a beneficial predator of garden pests. They have an amazing life, and should be welcomed to your flowers.
Root crops are not the most exciting or sexy thing to write about. But they are wonderful for crop rotation, incredibly versatile in their use and great to eat! And not difficult to grow.
Dave’s Garden began as a seed trading site. Sharing and swapping seeds between our gardens is still at the heart of DG. On the seed trading forum and elsewhere, you may see offers of seeds for postage, or seeds for SASBE. What does that mean, exactly? What is expected, and how should you respond?
We all have the same issue – space in the garden is a premium. The room we have to add new plants grows smaller and smaller each passing year. So why should you give up some of that space to iris?
With the majority of our membership suffering through compost deprivation and weeding withdrawals due to Winter’s bitter bite, I thought that perhaps a glimpse of the marvelous underwater gardens of the blue Pacific would warm you just a tad. Please let me explain:
This was written to help clarify and help some of the newer members on what you need to do make your seed trading experience a positive one. And hopefully to take some of the mystery out of the process.
The All-America Rose Selection (AARS) announced their 2008 winners: a Floribunda and Grandiflora won the honors for the upcoming year. Those of you who like pastel roses will be very happy with the choices.
When my daughter asked for help to decide what to put in the skinny strip between the garage and the sidewalk to her front door, I was at a loss. Never before had I planned a garden that would be less than 12 inches deep, but close to 20 feet wide. Garden Gate Magazine's new book, GREAT GARDENS, SOLUTIONS FOR SMALL SPACES was exactly the help I needed, and if you have a small yard or a corner or need help with curb appeal, it may help you, too. A review follows:
Frustrated gardeners have long forced bulbs into flowering early, tricking bulbs into thinking it was spring after a period of cold dormancy, or winter. Now that we have refrigerated trucks and interstate shipping and all the other conveniences of modern society, we also have forced bulbs available in supermarkets and chain stores all over the country. In particular, we often find tête-à-tête narcissus, in bud or blooming already, their cheery yellow flowers tempting us, quickening our heartbeats and lightening our steps.
Every so often, usually on a cold and snowy, or dreary rainy day, I take a little time and "play plants". It is a great way to pass time on an otherwise unpleasant day and your house plants will love you for it.
