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.

Don’t let a tight budget stop you from starting seeds indoors. Get creative and involve the whole family in the process.

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.

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

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.

Piles of plastic pots fill the sheds and garages of gardeners across the country. Don’t throw these in the trash. Rather look for ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle plant pots.

Burn off a few calories and get ready for spring with a trip to the garden shed or garage.

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.

UGH! Oh gross! Both commonly heard right after an earwig is spotted.

Start this year’s garden pest control with a stroll through the landscape.

Add more planting space to your landscape by converting a portion of your lawn to a flower or vegetable garden.

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.

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

Enjoy the beauty and fragrance of roses without all the work. Many of us have switched to hardier more pest resistant shrub roses for just this reason. But now, thanks to the Earth-Kind rose designation, growing roses will be easier for all.

You can have a beautiful landscape and be kind to the environment by adopting an Earth-Kind landscape philosophy.

The hot dry air in our homes during winter is tough on us and our houseplants, but it’s great for insects. You may need to lend a hand this winter to keep your plants looking good.

Check plants regularly for signs of insects. You may want to break out the hand lens or recruit a younger gardener with better eyesight.

Leafless crabapple trees are a common sight in summers following a cool wet spring. Start now to eliminate the problem next season.

Keep your peonies looking good and healthy with a bit of grooming.

Spring is the time to prevent crabgrass problems in the lawn. .

The best defense against this and other lawn weeds is proper care. Grow your grass tall. Keeping it 3 to 3 ½ inches tall encourages deep roots that are more drought-tolerant and better able to fend off pests and outcompete the weeds.

Proper watering and fertilization will further reduce weed problems. Even one fertilization a year, can greatly improve your lawn’s health and reduce weed problems.

UGH! Oh gross! Commonly heard right after an earwig is spotted.

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.

A healthy lawn is your best defense against weeds. So if you want to reduce the problem - long term- you need to learn a bit more about the weeds.

If your indoor plants have cottony masses on the leaves and stems, it is time to break out the rubbing alcohol and cotton swabs.

Don’t let mosquitoes prevent you from enjoying your garden this summer. A fan and a bit of outdoor housekeeping will help you manage these pests.

So it seems your perennial garden is filled with more weeds than flowers. Now is a great time to reclaim your garden by getting the weeds under control.

Don’t panic when you find your zinnias, lilac, bee balm or phlox leaves are covered with a white powdery substance. This fungal disease, known as powdery mildew, is often a yearly problem on a variety of plants.

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

Yellowing, speckled leaves and small spider webs are sure signs spider mites have taken up residence in your plants.

Does this sound familiar? You brush your hand over your plants and a cloud of white fly-like insects disperse in the air. It is not a good thing.

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

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.

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.

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

Creating a beautiful flower garden can be overwhelming, but understanding a few key concepts can make it much easier.

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.

You can’t miss them. These voracious garden pests eat and mate in broad daylight and feed on the leaves and flowers of over 300 different types of plants and the roots of turf grass.

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

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

Invite the birds into your landscape for added color, motion, and interest while creating a focal point in one of your gardens. Plant a green roof birdfeeder.

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.

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.

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.

Give your garbage disposal and wallet a rest. Convert kitchen scraps into a nutritious soil additive for your garden while raising bait for your next fishing trip. All you need is a container with drainage holes, shredded paper, red worms and of course kitchen scraps.

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.

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 cold soil and late spring frost delay the start to your garden season.

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

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.

Take some time now to reduce insect and disease problems in next year’s garden.

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.

Tame those unruly perennials with a little early season pruning.

Rake your way to a healthy lawn. As the snow recedes from the lawn break out the leaf rake and fluff up the grass. This helps reduce the risk of pink and gray snow mold developing and damaging your lawn. These fungal diseases are most common when heavy snow falls or ice covers non-frozen turf or after late winter snow storms. The damage is usually seen where snow lingers late in the season. Symptoms appear as circular areas of matted brown grass. You may even see a gray or pink cobweb-like growth over these areas. A light raking dries the grass, making it less susceptible to these diseases.

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.

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

Whether you’ve gone organic or use traditional fertilizers and pest management products you need to store them properly for safety’s sake and their longevity.

Save money and be kind to your garden and the environment by capturing rainwater and putting it to work in your landscape.

Your geraniums are at their peak bloom and you heard somewhere you could store them overwinter – but how?

You’ve enjoyed their blooms all summer and now you would like to preserve your hibiscus, mandevilla, bougainvillea, or other tropical plant for next season.

Save money and be kind to your garden and the environment by capturing rainwater and putting it to work in your landscape.

All your hard work is paying off with an abundant harvest. Then, one day you notice your squash plants are wilted and near death.

Break out the broom and sweep your way to cleaner drinking water.

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

You’ve got the car packed, the pets at the kennel and your kids are ready to go. But what are you going to do about all those beautiful containers?

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

Use water wisely in your landscape to save you time, improve plant health and reduce your water bill.

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

No matter the time of the season, weeds seem to grow and thrive. Keeping them under control will give you a healthier, more productive and attractive 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.

Save yourself time, money and frustration by properly storing your mower for winter.