Mix things up and add a bit of sparkle to your landscape this season.

Give a tree a hug and celebrate Arbor Day on the last Friday in April.

It's finally here! Your first red tomato. You reach in, twist it off the vine and have a look. And there it is - a big black spot on the bottom of the tomato.

So what do you do when those bare root perennials, shrubs, roses, or fruit plants you ordered arrive before you and your garden are ready or the weather is suitable for planting? Don’t despair you can preserve your investment with minimal effort.

Celebrate Arbor Day by planting new trees or caring for your established ones in your landscape and community.

Reduce maintenance and improve your plants’ health by creating large planting beds around trees and shrubs.

Carrots, lettuce, begonia and other small seeds can be difficult to plant at the proper spacing. Reduce wasting seeds and time spent thinning seedlings.

Avoid dulling your mower blades and more importantly damaging your trees by creatively dealing with the surface roots.

It’s foamy, slimy and rather disgusting to look at. And nothing describes it better than its common name – dog vomit mold fungus.

Cooler air and the crackle of burning wood mean fall for many. But don’t destroy the forest by moving firewood. Instead use wood from local sources.

Stop – don’t top that tree. Instead, make sure it is properly pruned for years of health, beauty, and enjoyment in your landscape.

If each year you find yourself trying to squeeze more plants into less space, it may just be time to expand one or more of your planting beds.

Falling leaves make a great mulch in the woods, but can spell death for groundcovers and the lawn. Make clean up easy for you and good for the environment.

The brilliant fall color in our landscapes is a magical transformation that happens each year. And the science behind it all is just as intriguing.

A forsythia bloom in fall? It’s not as unusual as you think.

Improve your garden’s beauty, increase your enjoyment, and reduce stress five minutes at a time.

Make this the year you finally start and keep a gardening journal. Keeping records of your successes, failures, pest problems and weather will help you grow a healthy, beautiful and productive garden in a more eco-friendly manner.

Don’t end up with a driveway full of excess topsoil and mulch waiting for friends and family to haul away the surplus for their gardens. Do a bit of math in advance and order just the amount needed.

A tangle of carrots, ill-formed beets, and non-existent radish roots mean it’s time to add thinning to your gardening list.

Being kind to the environment does not have to be difficult. In fact, it can save you time and money.

Help small children handle the anticipation and adults deal with the stress of the holidays while creating a few homegrown gifts.

Give garden transplants a helping hand as they move from the warm humid greenhouse or inside your home to the harsh outdoors.

You can have a good-looking landscape and lower your water bill this summer!

Whether it is a self-imposed or community wide watering ban, many gardeners are looking for ways to reduce their use of municipal water.

Have a bit of fun and stretch your gardening muscles with kitchen scrap gardening.

Mums are the traditional fall flower – but don’t stop there. You can find plenty of plants to add to your landscape’s fall display.

Make the most of this extra day during leap year and do something you enjoy. And for many of us that involves a garden.

So you decided to brighten the winter landscape with a few lights.

Don’t sacrifice beauty for function when you can have both. Select long blooming shrubs that can screen bad views, create barriers and serve as the framework or a focal point in your landscape.

Take advantage of weekends, holidays and school vacations to get the children in your life involved with vegetable gardening.

A break in the cold winter temperatures can be a welcome reprieve for gardeners, but not such a good thing for our spring flowering bulbs.

Heavy snow and ice can wreak havoc on our landscapes. Proper handling of storm damaged plants can help minimize long-term damage.

Memorial Day is a traditional planting weekend for many of us. Whether you are just getting started, changing out your seasonal displays or finishing up, consider adding sunflowers to your landscape.

Improve the health and longevity of your trees and shrubs with a bit of preventative care.

Summers are filled with barbeques, vacations, and caring for our landscapes. Mulching is one way to save time and effort over a season or two, giving you more time for fun.

Save time and energy and keep your landscape looking its best with mulch.

Don’t let a lack of space keep you from growing trees in your landscape. Consider planting columnar trees in containers and narrow spaces.

The holidays are filled with lots of delicious foods and sweets. But now is the time to resolve to grow your own vegetables and eat healthier in the New Year.

Trees, shrubs and perennials are great for container gardens. But as winter approaches we need to provide a bit of care to help them through the winter.

Whether you are sharing a piece of a favorite plant, a bit of family history, or a shared memory, pass-along plants have long been a part of the gardening tradition.

One of the biggest plant investments you make for your landscape is your trees. Help insure their longevity by planting them right.

Start with a call to 811 at least three days before digging in. This free service will mark the location of all underground wires. This one call can save you money and even your life.

Double your harvest without increasing your garden space. Try planting short season vegetables like lettuce, radishes and beets between long season vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, okra, cabbage, and broccoli. When the short season veggies are ready to harvest, the longer season larger vegetables will need the space.

Don’t let cold soil and late spring frost delay the start to your garden season.

Tulips, daffodils and hyacinths are sure signs of spring. Get busy now planting a bit of beauty and color for next spring’s garden.

Use shrubs in the landscape for extra color, a bit of privacy and year round beauty.

Procrastination is a good thing when it comes to cleaning up your landscape in fall.

Try a bit of preventative care in this year’s garden. You’ll increase your landscape’s beauty and productivity with less work on your part.

Keep your plants looking good and be kind to the environment despite the risk of disease problems.

Tame those floppy potentilla and spirea and bring other overgrown summer flowering shrubs down to size in late winter through early spring.

Late spring is the time to bring overgrown lilacs, forsythia and other spring blooming shrubs down to size.

Late winter after the coldest weather has passed through early spring before growth begins is a great time to prune trees. Make proper cuts to insure the health and longevity of your plants.

Winter is often the time we break out the pruners and start shaping trees and shrubs. Before making that first cut, be sure you are pruning with a purpose in mind.

Add a bit of season long color to your landscape with purple leafed shrubs.

Don’t drag that Christmas tree to the curb. Give it a second life in your landscape.

Cut trees make great windbreaks in the landscape. Strategically place discarded Christmas trees on the windward side of rhododendron, boxwood and other broadleaf evergreens to reduce problems with winter burn.

Beautiful reddish purple buds line the branches and trunks of the picturesque redbud tree. As the temperatures warm the buds burst into rosy pink or magenta blooms. And this is just the beginning of this tree’s beauty.

Whether you are trying to start plants from seeds, get your African violets to bloom, or keeping your indoor plants alive, a bit of extra light can help.

Add structure and a year round framework to your shady landscape with shrubs.

Birds can add color and motion to your landscape year round. Planting shrubs that provide food and shelter is an easy and affordable way to bring birds into your backyard.

Your mailbox and dining room table are overflowing with catalogs filled with pictures of beautiful flowers and scrumptious vegetables. With so many choices it can be a bit overwhelming – I can help.

Do you have trouble properly spacing the small seeds of carrots, radishes or lettuce? It's easy to end up with half the package in one short row. This is a waste of seed and time spent thinning.

You can start your summer garden months before the traditional planting date. Start cannas, dahlias or other non-hardy bulbs indoors for bigger transplants and earlier bloom in the garden.

Don’t let gardening become a painful experience. Warm up your muscles before you dig into gardening.

Mulch your garden beds with shredded leaves, evergreen needles, or other organic matter. It conserves moisture while suppressing weeds and improving the soil.

Moving trees and shrubs can be tricky and heavy work. Make the move in spring before growth begins or in fall as the plants go dormant for greatest success.

Walk off some of those holiday calories and gather ideas for your garden. Look for trees and shrubs that provide interesting form, bark and texture in the winter.

Tired of constant pruning or need a change from those green gumdrops, hockey pucks and meatballs? With a bit of time and patience you can convert these back to their natural beauty.

Save energy, care for new trees, and conserve water in one easy step.

Save time, energy, and conserve water while caring for your new trees.

Make this the fall you protect your evergreens before winter winds and snowloads cause your arborvitae to split and rhododendrons to wither.

Help your roses through the winter and be rewarded with beautiful blooms next season.