Independent gardening advice for real gardens, balconies and windowsills.
Practical advice on growing food and flowers, improving soil, and making the most of small spaces. Start anywhere — the garden will meet you.
One of the most instructive things a water-wise gardener can do is to rent or borrow a hand-operated fence post auger and bore a 3-foot-deep hole. It can be even more educational to buy a short sectio...
Location April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct Seattle, WA 2.1 2.7 3.4 3.9 3.4 2.6 1.6 Baker, OR 2.5 3.4 4.4 6.9 7.3 4.9 2.9 Sacramento, CA 3.6 5.0 7.1 8.9 8.6 7.1 4.8
But the thing of first importance to consider in picking out the spot that is to yield you happiness and delicious vegetables all summer, or even for many years, is the exposure. Pick out the "earlies...
The curious traditions of imaginary plants found amongst most nations have partly a purely mythological origin. Frequently, too, they may be attributed to the exaggerated accounts given by old travell...
_Hotbeds_. A little early for making them until after the 15th, but get all your material ready--manure, selected and stacked; lumber ready for any new ones; sash all in good repair. _Starting Seeds_....
In our heavily leached region almost no soil is naturally rich, while fertilizers, manures, and potent composts mainly improve the topsoil. But the water-wise gardener must get nutrition down deep, wh...
This treatment will reduce to a minimum the labor of finally preparing the seed- or plant-bed with the iron rake (or, on large gardens, with the Meeker harrow). After the finishing touches, the soil s...
As recently as the 1930s, most American country folk still did not have running water. With water being hand-pumped and carried in buckets, and precious, their vegetable gardens had to be grown with a...
The devices and implements used for fighting plant enemies are of two sorts:--(1) those used to afford mechanical protection to the plants; (2) those used to apply insecticides and fungicides. Of the...
One of the most popular flowers of the day is the Gladiolus. All things considered, it is our best summer bloomer. Nothing in the floral world exceeds it in variety and range of color. This color is i...
The most satisfactory garden of flowering plants for small places, all things considered, is one composed of hardy herbaceous perennials and biennials. This for several reasons: 1st.--Once thoroughly...
The public are so often duped by a set of travelling frauds, who make it their business to represent themselves as being the sole proprietor or agent of some "wonderful" kinds of plants, bulbs, or see...