The grass is up and growing and the roar of lawn mowers can be heard throughout the neighborhood. Minimize the negative impact of your gas mower on the environment with a few easy tricks.

Mint, beebalm, and purple coneflower are garden favorites that often get out of hand. Tame these and other garden bullies with a few planting and maintenance strategies.

The best of our landscapes are often hidden behind our homes for only our family and friends to enjoy. But consider sharing a bit of your green thumb talents with passersby.

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

Keep your flowers blooming longer and your garden tidier with a bit of deadheading.

Overcrowded, poor flowering and floppy perennials can be invigorated with a shovel and a bit of your time and energy.

Overcrowded, poor flowering and floppy perennials can be invigorated with a shovel and a bit of your time and energy.

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

Flopping perennials can ruin the beauty and enjoyment of your garden. Take note and prevent future problems with a bit of proactive care.

Early planting and unseasonably cool wet springs can cause bean and corn seeds to fail to sprout or fully develop. These seeds either rotted or were damaged by corn seed maggot.

Let ‘em stand for winter - perennials that is - for a healthier more floriferous garden next year.

As you pack it in for the winter, don’t forget about your garden tools.

Add a little extra color and beauty to your fall landscape.

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.

Like many of you I try to squeeze way too much into one day. In order to accomplish many of my goals I try to look for ways to double, even triple the benefits of everything I do. This is why I combine my gardening activities and fitness program.

Get rid of the fence dividing you and your neighbors’ yard. Instead create a beautiful garden you both can enjoy.

Parsley is not just a garnish for your meals. This Vitamin rich herb is a great addition to your garden and recipes.

Reduce your grocery bill this summer by growing a few of your favorite vegetables. And the good news, you don’t need much space to produce enough fresh vegetables for you and your family to enjoy.

Apples are the perfect fat free fruit for your diet and garden. Plant just a couple trees or a small orchard so you can harvest an apple-a-day right from your own backyard.

Picture this - Your guest reaches over and plucks a sprig of mint from a planter to add to their iced tea or Mojito. Nothing beats the fresh-from-the-garden flavor or fun of ingredients right from your own garden.

Many of us are looking for ways to rid our body of toxins, while improving our eating habits. Asparagus is nature’s own detoxifier and one of the most nutritionally balanced vegetables.

Add a bit of fiber to your garden and diet. Consider growing edible soybeans in this year’s garden.

Make homegrown onions part of your diet. Their flavor is guaranteed to add zest to your meals and their health benefits include lowering the risk of many cancers.

I have a quiz for you - What is white, red or yellow, can be eaten fresh, fried or even raw and is one of the most important staples of the human diet. If you guessed potato, you are right.

Grow a few healthy snacks for you and your family to enjoy. Carrots have the crunch of chips and crackers without the fat and calories.

It’s time to start reaping the benefits of your spring plantings. So break out the garden fork and get busy harvesting.

Break out the garden fork and get ready to start harvesting onions and potatoes.

All your hard work and effort is paying off with a bountiful harvest.

Don’t let going gluten-free get you down. Include some fresh-from-the-garden vegetables to add flavor to your gluten-free meals.

Hostas are great for shade and low maintenance gardens. But with hundreds of choices it can be a bit overwhelming. So the American Hosta Growers Association has stepped in to help.

Heat up your meals and improve your health by adding a few hot peppers to your garden and meal plan.

It’s not too early to start planting - indoors that is. Start cannas, dahlias or other non-hardy bulbs indoors for bigger transplants and earlier bloom in the garden.

Be a weather watcher and grow a better garden. Weather events like spring floods, summer droughts, temperature extremes and unseasonable weather episodes can have long term impact on our plants.

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

Get the most flavor and nutritional value from your garden-fresh vegetables with proper harvesting, storage and preparation.

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

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

Tired of fighting moss in your lawn and garden? It may be time to embrace it and grow a moss garden.

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.

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.

The soil has finally warmed and it is time to get pumpkins, melons, squash and cucumbers in the ground.

Prepare your lawn mower now for the grass cutting season ahead. You will minimize breakdowns, frustration, and improve the health and beauty of your lawn.

Are you like me and always squeeze in that extra tomato plant, another row of beans or that one left over pepper plant? It seemed like a good idea at the time. But now you have more produce than you need.

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 unruly perennials with a little early season pruning.

Removing faded flowers can promote repeat bloom and more compact, healthier growth.

Be a part of history and save money when planting next year’s garden. Collect and save the seeds from your favorite heirloom tomatoes this fall.

Be a part of history and save money when planting next year’s garden. Collect and save the seeds from your favorite heirloom tomatoes this fall.

Stop and take a moment to sit, relax, and enjoy your garden. And while you do so, look for new areas to create more such spaces.

Don’t panic if your garden plans are bigger than the available planting space. I have some space saving techniques that can help you get the most out of your landscape.

Save money and your plants from disease by growing in pathogen-free potting mix.

Add a bit of nutrition and beauty to your patio, deck, or balcony with a pot of strawberries. It’s a great way to keep a nutritional snack close at hand.

Fall has many of us scrambling to protect plants from frost, move tropicals indoors or finish harvesting our vegetables. Be sure you collect a few green tomatoes to ripen indoors.