There's nothing like having
good quality tools in the garden. Professional quality tools make your gardening tasks
easier, more efficient, and will outlast cheap alternatives. Once you experience
having well-made tools, you'll love working in the garden even more!
These interchangeable heads easily snaps onto this lightweight Aluminum Handle (sold separately). The high-efficiency Rake Head is a unique basket-like design pulls and contains leaves rather than let...
Digging with a trowel while standing up is an idea that takes getting used to. Once you try it, you'll find that it's very easy, and your back will thank you. The corrosion-free steel Trowel Head snap...
These interchangeable heads easily snaps onto this lightweight Aluminum Handle (sold separately). The high-efficiency Rake Head is a unique basket-like design pulls and contains leaves rather than letting...
Digging with a trowel while standing up is an idea that takes getting used to. Once you try it, you'll find that it's very easy, and your back will thank you. The corrosion-free steel Trowel Head snaps...
This fast-acting solution kills tough weeds, such as chickweed, ragweed, crabgrass - even dandelions - in as little as six hours. Yet it's completely safe for kids, pets and the environment when used a...
Green moss on stones and antique planters may look romantic, but there's nothing romantic about it growing on your deck, roof or lawn. Moss creates slippery conditions underfoot and it can cause falls...
Here are the perfect tools for grabbing stubborn weeds out of nooks and crannies. Great for the sidewalk, driveway or patio. Lightweight with a comfortable grip. 8" long each. Lightweight with a...
Many organic farmers use the flame weeder as an alternative to herbicides. It's effective in the garden, along walkways, and around the lawn to wither weeds on contact. Push-button start, comfortable...
Keep your yard and garden looking their best with this rechargeable electric trimmer. The 24v motor is more powerful than similar models and has an extra long running time of 45 minutes per charge. Use...
Don't drag bag after bag of leaves to the curb, then pay to have them hauled away. The Deluxe Shredder converts eleven bags of leaves into one tidy bag of nutritious mulch. Most shredders can only...
Good mulch does so much for your garden - it reduces weeds, helps retain moisture, adds nutrients to the soil, and makes your beds look tidy. With this quiet electric chipper, you can transform raw material...
This item is a great companion to the Felco Pruners. Accessible clip on the back of the holster makes it incredibly easy to keep your pruners handy! Holster is designed to fit all Felco Pruners...
Rose bushes, broken glass, even barbed wire are easy to handle with these puncture-resistant work gloves. Garden Armor Gloves are made of a revolutionary fabric that provides 14 times the cut resistance...
Stainless steel blades and non-slip, ergonomic handles make these well-crafted tools a pleasure to use. Set includes trowel, transplanter, cultivator, soil scoop and floral snips in a convenient plastic...
Rugged and generously-sized, these all purpose shears cut flowers, twine, fabric, cardboard, rubber mulch and even thin wire, using the built-in wire cutter. Comfortable, non-slip grip and 3" long...
These all-purpose pruners are an heirloom-quality tool that will last for years. The carbon steel bypass blades make a smooth, clean cut and are easy to maneuver. The double-riveted rosewood handles...
There are a lot of look-alike garden carts out there. Some even sell for a little less than our time-tested cart. But don't be fooled! No other yard and garden cart has the quality, durability and...
There are a lot of look-alike garden carts out there. Some even sell for a little less than our time-tested cart. But don't be fooled! No other yard and garden cart has the quality, durability and ease...
Unlike headphone models, our Hearing Protector is lightweight and comfortable to wear, even with a hat and glasses, and it's laboratory tested for a Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) of 20. .
Creeping phlox, saved from the compost pile, makes the perfect ground cover behind this new wall.
Creeping phlox, saved from the compost pile, makes the perfect ground cover behind this new wall.
This spring, I hired a local mason to make a stucco wall to enclose a new patio at the back of my house. I had imagined letting the meadow grass grow right up to the wall, but once the wall was
Over the years, I have become a firm believer in the importance of fertilizing plants.
One of my favorite pots this season (see plant list below) with two of the three fertilizers that I'm applying and one of my trusty watering cans.
Over the years, I have become a firm believer in the importance of fertilizing plants. Now, when there's a pest problem in my garden, I run for a fertilizer
Learn when and how to prune for abundant blooms and watch a how-to video.
This spring was the best I can remember for this wisteria, which has been in the ground for about five years. The cultivar, Wisteria floribunda 'Lawrence', was discovered in Canada, and it gets hardiness ratings of 4 or 5.
When it blooms, the vigorous wisteria vine is spectacular. But it doesn't always perform on cue.
It's never too late to prop up a flopped perennial. Just move in with a little support.
This aster (Aster oblongifolius 'October Skies') is a strong grower, but it tends to flop toward the end of the season. The grids provide good support.
Even if you're one of those super-organized gardeners who get all the flower supports in stalled before they're needed, chances are good
If you grow tomatoes in a cold or windy location, try this simple technique of wrapping your tomato cages with garden fabric.
Inside this cocoon of Garden Quilt fabric, are two very cozy 'Sun Gold' tomatoes.
Tomatoes are tropical vines that evolved in a climate about as different from Vermont as you can get. So here in the north, we need to do whatever we can to
Under the cover of night, gardeners in L.A. and London are taking to the streets, turning traffic medians and empty lots into lush gardens.
This is me (a couple years ago) making a surprise delivery of plants to a local business.
Several years ago we ran a program here in Burlington, Vt., which we dubbed “Random Acts of Gardening”. Our staff planted up about 30 self-watering planters with a
Clematis use the stems of their leaves to climb. In order to get a good grip, they need something quite thin to grab onto.
This lattice forms the backdrop for the double border in our Vermont display gardens. There are several clematis plants at the base of the lattice, which is too thick for the leaf stems. We've added Nearly Invisible Netting to give the vines what they need to climb. By
A letter to the editor warns dog owners to cover their compost piles so their pets can't eat what's inside.
These are the four paws that "protect" my garden.
I'm in the office today, but I'll bet my dog is in the vegetable garden right now. And I doubt she's staying on the paths.
Unlike the family dogs that have patrolled my garden in the past, this one doesn't like paths. She'd also rather
My favorite spring task involves a very sharp pair of red-handled pruning shears
Lilacs set their flower buds the year before they bloom.
When the first really fine spring days arrive, I'm eager to get out into the yard and start cleaning up the twigs and leaves strewn about the lawn, the fallen stems of last year's perennials, and frost-heaved annuals. My favorite job isn't at the end of a
Many people wonder if they can get Amaryllis bulbs to rebloom. The answer is yes and it's actually easier than you might think.
Amaryllis plants spending the summer outdoors.
“The flowers faded months ago, but I can't bear to throw it out. I'd like to save it and see if I can get it to bloom again. What should I do?”
Blooming Amaryllis bulbs make spectacular holiday gifts and the recipients
Flat-leaf parsley
I used to do much more canning and freezing than I do now. With our household down to just two, we're cooking smaller meals and don't need to have as much food around.
But there are still quite a few garden crops that I squirrel away in my freezer or pantry, and one of those is parsley. I can chop and freeze a huge basket of fresh-picked parsley in about 15 minutes. With a
Eggplants need plenty of sun to grow well.
With a growing interest in healthier diets and reducing meat consumption, the lowly eggplant is becoming quite a star. This is great news for gardeners, because it's stimulating lots of new breeding efforts on the part of seed producers. We're seeing interesting new varieties with better cold tolerance, improved disease- and pest-resistance and higher
After reading all the comments, it's clear that many gardeners are looking for a tall support. At 53 inches, the Tomato Tower is our tallest.
Our poll has ended and the results are in! Over 3,000 votes were cast, and the Tomato Cage is the preferred tomato support with 59% of the vote. Tomato Ladders came in second (17%), and a lot of people use supports of their own invention.
Sent by Frank H. of Newton, Mass.: “The cherry tomato I grew in my Self-Watering Planter got so big so fast that I had to cobble together this frame support really fast. You can hardly see the framework, which is just as well cause it's pretty ugly. I'll be better prepared this year!”
Earlier this year, we asked gardeners to vote for their favorite tomato support. Cages, ladders, spirals,
Floating waterlily leaves cover the water surface to provide shade for fish and reduce algae growth.
Lively, sparkling fountain or calm, glassy pool, water completes a garden and brings life to patios and decks. Water gardening has grown in popularity as people discover the tranquil beauty of water plants, colorful fish, and soothing sounds of falling water.
For more than four
Common garden sorrel (Rumex acetosa) Common garden sorrel (Rumex acetosa) is an attractive, long-lived perennial herb that's unfussy about soil conditions, untroubled by pests or disease and doesn't spread. It's always the first edible plant to appear in my garden each spring, and for the first week or two I eat its spinach-like leaves as quickly as they appear.
Throughout the month of May and
Green Star gladiolus
The first time I saw a gladiolus was back in the '60s at the Minnesota State Fair. At that time, every farm family worth its salt grew them. The fair is at the very end of August when glads are at their prime, so along with dahlias, they were always (and probably still are) the most popular entry in the floral competitions.
My next encounter
Strawberry flowers bloom in spring; the fruit begins ripening in early summer.
As far back as I can remember, strawberries have been part of my family's traditions. My grandparents grew a large patch of strawberries to help supplement their income. Grampa peddled the brimming wooden baskets of fruit door-to-door. Other customers stopped by the house and left their payment in the cigar box
Stephanie Cohen touts her book, The Perennial Gardener's Design Primer.
“Good things come in small packages” is an apt description of perennial plant expert Stephanie Cohen. She calls herself “vertically challenged” and named her own perennial place Shortwood Gardens in a tongue-in-cheek nod to nearby Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pa.
Often called “Dr. Root” in reference to Dr. Ruth
After spreading cocoa mulch, I like to water the area so the tiny hulls will knit together and are less likely to blow around.
I used to disdain people who spread mulch on their flower beds and shrub borders. I thought, "Are they too lazy to weed?" My own flowerbeds were always mulch-free. I did have to spend a lot of time weeding though, especially during May and June.
However, after many
Nancy Noble, surrounded by her gardens in southern Utah.
As a professional biologist, Nancy Noble knows more than the average bear about plants. Though she has fond memories of gardening with her grandmother in Missouri and her parents in Wisconsin, her own passion for gardening didn't blossom until she was in post-graduate school. Now she says, “I'm just a gardening nut.”
Nancy's fervor for
You can see my patio take shape in a Flickr slide show.
Every year, I try to take on one big garden project. A few years ago, the project was a round patio, designed to accommodate a dining table we'd purchased. Our backyard was already set up as a series of outdoor rooms, but adding this new "floor" was transformative. The beautiful stone surface added a sense of permanence to the changing
Products with spinosad offer one more control option for lily leaf beetles.
Flower gardeners are a peaceful lot-at least until someone comes between them and their favorite blooms. Then, they get mean. At least some of us do.
It was about three years ago that I first heard whisperings in the halls at Gardener's Supply of a new pest: "Something is destroying my Oriental lilies! What can I
A tunnel of laburnum outside the Palace at Kew Gardens in London.
There are all sorts of good reasons to consider adding an arbor, pergola, tuteur or another type of freestanding trellis to your garden this spring. Here are just a few:
1. Create instant impact. Trees and shrubs serve an important role in a garden or
Beebalm (monarda) spreads to form large colonies that need frequent dividing to keep them within bounds and blooming vigorously. Customer photo from Cheryl S. of Copley, Ohio. See the full-size photo in the Dutch Gardens Photo Center.
Community plant sales and swaps are a highlight of the gardening season at this time of year. These events are ideal places for new gardeners to hook up with
