Don’t let your air conditioner break the family budget or be an eye sore in your backyard. Try one of these affordable solutions to improve the view and keep your air conditioner running smoothly.

Turn your attention indoors and give those tender annuals overwintering a bit of TLC.

A fence is just one way to create a sense of intimacy in a large landscape or privacy in any size yard. Perhaps your budget, landscape design or available space won’t allow this solution. Don’t worry you have other options.

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.

Don’t worry if you notice small fruit fly-like insects flitting across the room. It is not a sign of bad housekeeping nor are they harmful to your plants.

Replace your plant stakes with pruners to keep some of your floppy flowers full of blooms and standing tall.

Don’t let hot dry summers damage or even kill your Pagoda dogwood. Proper care and a bit of pruning can keep them healthy.

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.

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.

Add a bit of the tropics indoors or out with a banana plant.

Don’t throw those peach pits, avocado and grapefruits seeds into the compost pile. Have a little family fun and try growing these into a memory.

Sweeten those fall days with a handful of fresh raspberries. And maximize the flavor and bounty with proper harvesting and care.

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.

Put away the saw and enjoy the beauty of your mature evergreen.

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

You purchase a beautiful pear, set it on the counter to ripen and a few days later take a bite. Seems it is either too hard or over ripe. In fact, 84% of people surveyed did not know how to tell when a pear was ripe.

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.

You don’t need to sacrifice beauty to grow a few edibles in your landscape. Many ornamental plants grown for their beauty also produce edible fruit.

Round out your meals with some fresh from the garden fruit. It is easier than you think to grow your own apples, plums, and berries.

Start new plants from your favorite heirloom grape, rose, trumpet creeper or other vine.

Your plants look great, loaded with healthy leaves and flowers, but there is still no fruit. This is a common complaint I hear from gardeners growing squash, cucumbers, and other vine crops.

Keep your clematis down to size, looking good and flowering with proper pruning.

Many gardeners are growing their own fruits and vegetables, including some traditional favorites like currants and gooseberries. Proper pruning will keep these plants looking good and productive.

You can tame overgrown evergreens blocking your views or creeping over walks with a bit of pruning. And get the best results for your effort with proper timing and the right pruning strategies.

Increase your harvest with proper pruning.

Tame overgrown grape plants down to a manageable and more productive size.

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

Prune raspberries in winter to increase your harvest and reduce pest problems.

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.

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.

Anyone can grow fresh strawberries for their cereal in the morning or to enjoy with a glass of wine at night.

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.

A bit of summer pruning goes a long way to keeping your raspberries healthy and productive. So get out the mosquito netting, long sleeves and pruners and get busy.

You waited all season for that first red ripe tomato only to discover less-than-perfect fruit. But don’t worry, you can still have a great harvest and improve things for next season.

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.