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.

You decided to save money or perhaps try something new and ordered bare root plants from a catalog or through the internet. Now you are wondering what to do with them once they arrive.

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

Every garden season is filled with beautiful or tasty surprises and a few challenges. You can prevent or reduce challenges and damage caused by insect pests and still be kind to the environment.

Don’t let the first fall frost end your garden season. Give your plants a bit of protection and gain several weeks of beauty and pounds of harvest for your efforts.

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

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

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

Add a bit of nutrition to your diet and landscape. Grow a container full of nutritious vegetables for your patio, deck or balcony.

Keep a fresh supply of bone-building calcium growing in your garden all season long.

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.

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.

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.

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

Harvest Tomatoes for the Best Flavor Nothing beats the flavor of fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes. And, proper harvesting will insure the best flavor.

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

Growing your own grapes for jam, jelly, and of course wine can be fun. Get the most flavor and productivity with proper harvesting and a bit of bird protection.

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.

Have you noticed those beautiful white butterflies flitting across your garden? Lovely to look at, but what they leave behind is a problem for gardeners.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

They’re cute, they’re furry and they love to eat – the plants in your landscape. At any time of year you may find yourself doing battle with the rabbits, deer, or other wildlife.

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.

Grow the main ingredient for a classic, delicious, and family favorite – rhubarb pie.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Be the first in your neighborhood to harvest a red ripe tomato from your garden this summer.

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.

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.

Space challenged gardeners can grow tomatoes in containers. A 3 to 5 gallon pot is perfect for a single tomato plant skirted by a few flowers or herbs. Or try mixing a few tomatoes in with your shrubs and flowers.

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.

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

Get your garden off to a winning start by including a few All-America Selections winners in this year’s garden.

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.