What Is A Bypass Pruner

(Typically, it's my family that's a little off the mark here.) Anyway, generally you DON'T prune this until after it's bloomed, such as other spring-flowering shrubs like forsythia or lilac.

One last tip: Try not to gloat when you tell hubby you are right. Old manure and composted leaves make a great planting medium and many places will be grateful for you to haul it away.

Many perennials and shrubs will take a couple of years to get their root system established before they do much growing above ground. We save what water we can from the roof when it rains and collect the condensate from the air conditioner, which is water...

Our writers and admins will handpick a few of your questions and answer them in an upcoming Ask-a-Gardener, one of our Saturday morning features. A big part of what attracts people to Dave's Garden has always been our forums, where gardeners ask and answer...

Answers: Most crape myrtle foliage turns reddish or maroon in the autumn. Color develops when the tree quits producing chlorophyll, so any changes during the season might jump start the process.

The pictures they've posted show, to my eye, white flowers with only the faintest pink tinge, though the closed buds are pink. Bees visit flowers to gather pollen and sip nectar; butterflies visit flowers to drink nectar.

If you are contemplating something new that is marginal in your area, planting it on the south side of your home gives winter protection. When the worst of the winter is over, remove the bucket and pull the mulch back so your plants can wake up.

Some of the plants are new so they're still small, others have just been harvested for the last time, or they're annuals killed by the last cold snap.For more information on how to set up an herb garden with rocks, please read my article "Herbs Like Rocks:...

Gardening is both art and science, with some luck and skill thrown in for good measure. Make sure you are treating your jade properly - lots of light, not too much water, as one reader commented "give it conditions just like Southern California." Is there...

Good luck!Remember, if you have a gardening question that you would like to suggest for this feature, post it. You can always tell if white flies are around when you see their classic spiral white fuzzy patterns on the undersides of leaves, or in more...

Are grow lights the same thing as any other lights? A big part of what attracts people to Dave's Garden has always been our forums, where gardeners ask and answer questions for one another.

If you see little silvery trails on the topsoil, that is a sure sign you have slugs. If that isn't the issue, I'd look to the soil. Sorry, unkapete, it sounds like they're not annuals, but read theadds: Depending on the species of banana, some seeds can...

I've lost seedlings more times that I care to think about myself. Gardening is both art and science, with some luck and skill thrown in for good measure. Daffodils, and other bulbs, store energy in that bulb.

Buddleja blooms on new wood so you're not harming next year's blossoms when you prune like this. If you've pulled up any shrubbery or removed a tree stump, the earth has been disturbed.Another common disturbed earth spot is where a hole has been back-filled.

Go Gardening lists nurseries , botanical gardens, farmers markets, U-pick farms, pumpkin patches, CSA's, display gardens and Christmas Tree farms.We encourage gardeners to review their favorites and if you don't find it listed, let us know and we'll be...

Luckily, I was able to design a plan for an “instant garden” that everyone at the reception raved about. Using colored pencils (you could use markers or crayons too), decide on your color scheme throughout the instant garden.

You many want to try a handy tool that I found at the Better Homes and Gardens website called the “Plan-a-Garden” (check it out at bhg.com under “gardens”). If you have four feet of flower bed space against the garden shed, you probably only have...

Determine the whereabouts of any underground utility lines and the nearest water source.Before you plant a flower bed, you should make a sketch. Don't forget to add an attractive border to define the edges.approach.

Theis one of the best resources for your garden design. Twists and turns in the garden can add excitement and a sense of mystery by enticing others to peek around corners just to see what's there.

This way you can fill the holes with soil and expand your growing space.To make the bed even stronger, push a length of rebar down through the holes on each corner. This will make the bed much sturdier and less likely to fall.freestar.queue.push(function()...

Specific mint varieties must be started from cuttings, but "generic" spearmint and peppermint seeds are available.adds: I had about the same exact thoughts on the herb/windowsill thing.

For more information you can also read my article "answers: Blooming at Christmas is not natural for an amaryllis (Hippeastrum hybrid) in the northern hemisphere. But this is a pretty hardy and hard to kill plant, so if its not doing well, look for a...

I've grown White Christmas many years and there is also some variation in leaf color throughout the season as well. Plant daffodils about six inches deep, and space the bulbs five inches or more apart from each other.

The image at the left is one of my coneflowers emerging in mid February.answers: All fertilizer packages have a code on them that tells you the percentages of the nutrients. Here in west KY, Valentine's Day is the traditional 'pea planting' day.

A big part of what attracts people to Dave's Garden has always been our forums, where gardeners ask and answer questions for one another. Other questions may be moved to one of our other forums so our fellow members can help you.

You can help the appearance and health of the plant by periodically removing a row (or three) of the outermost leaves, leaving at least 3 or 4 rows, or circles of leaves, counting out from the center of the plant.

If you don't have a garage, just leave them outthere andpray they won't die. No wonder you want to plant them!contributors suggest that these will sprout readily in your climate, particularly if you help the outer coating to soften by soaking your seeds...