Fine Gardening – Issue 203
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Potential Sources of Trouble for Your Japanese Maple
Although Japanese maples are generally easy-care plants, it is worth the effort to site them properly, monitor them regularly, and provide the best possible soil conditions. These precautions can help…
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Tips for Building Plant Communities
Understanding plants and their relationships to each other makes for a more formidable approach to gardening. Traditional gardening has often viewed plants as components of a composition without acknowledging compatibility…
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Protect Your Veggies With Mini Hoop Tunnels
Whether you are trying to prevent rabbits from nibbling lettuce, protect newly transplanted tomatoes from frost, or shelter cool-season vegetables into late autumn or even winter, a mini hoop tunnel…
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How to Build and Use a Mini Hoop Tunnel
Building a mini hoop tunnel is a quick process with three easy steps. 1. Insert the hoops In my raised beds, I insert the ends of my wire, metal, or…
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What You Need to Know About Beech Leaf Disease
Gardeners best know two kinds of nematodes: those that are destructive root pests, and those that are beneficial and may be purchased to help control soil grubs, fungus gnats, thrips,…
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Native Plants That Make Great Supporting Players
Ecological generalists—plants with broad tolerances to where they root—power the planet. Many of these species lurk in the shadows of traditional gardens or sulk in obscurity on the garden floor.…
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A Milder-Mannered Wisteria With Stunning, Fragrant White Blooms
Wisteria is a vine that has always intrigued me, with its distinctive growth and flowering characteristics and its capacity to thrive almost anywhere. It’s a familiar, fragrant landscape component in…
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Grass Widow Is a Charming Late-Winter Native Plant
One of our favorite Washington State native wildflowers, grass widow is a doughty, deer-resistant spring ephemeral that shares the same dauntless spirit of its namesake, David Douglas, the intrepid Scottish…
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Plants That Peak in Winter for Your Region
Richie Steffen, executive director of the Elisabeth C. Miller Garden in Seattle and a leading expert on plants, discusses the often-undervalued appeal of winter gardens: "What many see as a…
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An Easy Approach to Pruning Japanese Maples
The first trees appeared on earth about 400 million years ago, and they did just fine for many millennia before humans arrived on the scene. So before we get all…
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This Hoe Is an Upgraded Classic
You’ve got to be impressed when a classic tool is reinvented. This collinear hoe designed by Eliot Coleman has become my go-to tool for the vegetable garden. I use mine…
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A Tough Tool Belt That Will Last Forever
I have several tools that I keep with me while gardening. For the longest time, I was putting them down in one place and then looking afterward for where I…
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A Gadget That Takes the Guesswork Out of Watering
While it may seem like a simple tool, I’ve recommended this Mosser Lee Soil Master moisture, light, and pH meter more than any other garden tool. The soil in my…
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Gardening on the Local Level | Letter from the Editor
My grandfather was an unofficial regional garden reporter. He was always calling to tell me how his tomatoes were doing or directing me to which neighbors had the best hydrangea…
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Plants That Provide Structure in the Garden
In An Architectural Approach to Gardening, author, architect, and gardener Fred Bland explains how he moved from planning buildings to planning a garden: "Although I am an architect, this was…
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How to Grow Sweet Peas
Fragrant, old-fashioned sweet peas were very popular cut flowers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but then they fell out of favor for nearly a hundred years. With…
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Plants That Peak in Winter in the Mid-Atlantic
Richie Steffen, executive director of the Elisabeth C. Miller Garden in Seattle and a leading expert on plants, discusses the often-undervalued appeal of winter gardens: “What many see as a…
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Plants That Peak in Winter in the Midwest
Richie Steffen, executive director of the Elisabeth C. Miller Garden in Seattle and a leading expert on plants, discusses the often-undervalued appeal of winter gardens: “What many see as a…
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Plants That Peak in Winter in the Northeast
Richie Steffen, executive director of the Elisabeth C. Miller Garden in Seattle and a leading expert on plants, discusses the often-undervalued appeal of winter gardens: “What many see as a…
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Plants That Peak in Winter in the Northwest
Richie Steffen, executive director of the Elisabeth C. Miller Garden in Seattle and a leading expert on plants, discusses the often-undervalued appeal of winter gardens: “What many see as a…
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Plants That Peak in Winter in the Southeast
Richie Steffen, executive director of the Elisabeth C. Miller Garden in Seattle and a leading expert on plants, discusses the often-undervalued appeal of winter gardens: “What many see as a…
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Plants That Peak in Winter in the Southern Plains
Richie Steffen, executive director of the Elisabeth C. Miller Garden in Seattle and a leading expert on plants, discusses the often-undervalued appeal of winter gardens: “What many see as a…
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Plants That Peak in Winter in the Southwest
Richie Steffen, executive director of the Elisabeth C. Miller Garden in Seattle and a leading expert on plants, discusses the often-undervalued appeal of winter gardens: “What many see as a…
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Making the Most of Microclimates in the Winter Garden
Every garden has microclimates—small spaces that stay a little warmer or don’t catch the cold north winds, allowing you to grow a more delicate plant or provide extra care for…
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How to Grow Monsteras, Great Cultivars, and Pests to Watch Out For
It seems like monsteras (Monstera spp. and cvs., Zones 10–12) are everywhere these days. Swiss cheese plant (M. deliciosa), with its large leaves full of fenestrations, or holes, is the…
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Vibrant, Unexpected Color From a Classic Annual
While you’re perusing seed catalogs or the annual section at your local garden center this year, don’t overlook this jaw-dropping plant if you see it. ‘Fire King’ pincushion flower is…
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How to Create an Ecologically Vibrant Garden
Naturalistic garden design catches all the headlines, but until recently it seemed removed from the reality of most home gardeners. Yet no matter how your garden grows today, it can…
Featured Articles
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An Architectural Approach to Gardening
An architect in the garden. The idea might conjure images of an abstract landscape with a severely limited plant palette, replete with hardscape. Although I am an architect, this was…
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Make a DIY Christmas Wreath: 6 Design Ideas for a Welcoming Winter Stoop
Long-time Garden Photo of the Day contributor Cherry Ong may be the poster gardener for the spirit of the season. It has become a tradition for Cherry to make DIY…
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Winter Interest From the Ground Up
As the last autumn leaves reluctantly drop and as bare seed heads stand tall in the field, we can no longer deny that winter is upon us. Our lush summer…
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Tour an Architect’s Spring Garden in Coastal Connecticut
The garden of architect Fred Bland sits on just over an acre in coastal Stony Creek, Connecticut. Fred’s approach to designing his garden relied heavily on his experience with designing…
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Gardening Tips for Winter
Winning Tip: Starting seeds with little ones We love starting seeds indoors, but with young children helping, we would end up with a muddy, overwatered mess. To prevent that from…
Articles
Fine Gardening Magazine
