Starting a fall garden involves calculating your first frost date, clearing out old summer crops, and preparing the soil with fresh compost. Plant fast-growing or cold-hardy seeds (like kale, spinach, and radishes) by mid-to-late summer so they mature before the shorter, colder days arrive.
The 70/30 rule in gardening is a flexible guideline used to establish a visually pleasing, resilient, and ecologically balanced yard. Depending on your primary focus, it generally breaks down into three common interpretations:
Read on to learn some of the most common mistakes made by beginner gardeners—and how to avoid them.
The "3-hour gardening rule" is a safety guideline advising gardeners to avoid working outdoors between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. during the summer months. This window is when the sun’s UV rays are at their strongest and temperatures peak, posing risks for both you and your plants.
October is the perfect time to plant trees, shrubs, conifers, and hardy perennials—or spring bulbs like tulips and daffodils—and if you're looking to sow cover crops or install lawns, now is the time for that as well.
The Amish water their crops by prioritizing natural soil moisture retention over mechanical irrigation. For fields that require supplemental watering, they rely on gravity-fed systems or manual labor using buckets, totes, and traditional watering cans filled from nearby creeks, ponds, or cisterns.
Yes, many vegetables should not be planted together. Poor pairings can lead to stunted growth, shared diseases, or intense competition for nutrients.
Here are four common mistakes gardeners make when trying to grow something new:
October is the premier month for planting hardy, cool-season crops and establishing overwintering plants. Depending on your specific growing zone, ideal vegetables to plant include:
The most space-efficient garden layout is Square-Foot Gardening (SFG) utilizing a grid system in 4x4 or 4x8 raised beds. This method eliminates wasted walking space and focuses on intensive planting, boosting yields up to five times compared to traditional row gardening.
Here are some of the most common landscaping mistakes and how to avoid them, along with how to create a beautiful garden in your own yard.
Arugula is a fast-growing leafy green that can be ready to harvest in just 20-25 days. It thrives in cooler temperatures and prefers partial shade. Sow the arugula seeds directly in pots or garden beds, and keep the soil evenly moist. Harvest the leaves when they are young and tender for the best flavour.
To help guide your fall gardening to-do list, here are 10 common perennials you should avoid planting in autumn if you want them to thrive.
Sow fava beans, celery, chard, chives, garlic, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce (especially romaine types and small-heading Bibb and buttercrunch types, which overwinter well with minimal damage from light frosts), green and long-day bulb onions (which will mature during the lengthening days of next spring and early ...
The title "King of Vegetables" is highly contested and varies depending on culinary, cultural, and nutritional perspectives. Several prominent vegetables hold this title in different contexts, with Eggplant (Brinjal) and Potato being the most widely recognized claimants.
Celery: Celery can be a bad companion plant for carrots because it can attract the same pests and diseases, including carrot rust fly. Planting them together can increase the risk of pest infestations, which can damage both crops. Fennel: Fennel is known to inhibit the growth of many plants, including carrots.
Ornamental grasses are a great way to spruce up your autumn and winter container garden. They provide plenty of texture and movement, plus many of them have gorgeous foliage that can really add some wow factor to your outdoor space. We'd recommend adding Festuca glauca, Carex buchananii, or Panicum virgatum.
The classic plant that universally says "I love you" is the Red Rose. However, if you are looking for long-lasting houseplants or specific symbolic meanings in the Victorian language of flowers, there are several wonderful alternatives to express your deepest affections.
Planting things too far apart or too close together
There's definitely a sweet spot with spacing between plants in the garden. If you plant things too close together they end up competing for space, nutrients and water and aren't able to grow to their mature size.
Using a mix of brown sugar and baking soda is not recommended as a fertilizer because plants don't use sugar as food, and baking soda raises soil pH, which most plants don't tolerate well.
The best vegetable garden layout maximizes sunlight, simplifies maintenance, and boosts yield. Use raised beds or the square-foot method to save space, and orient your rows or beds north-to-south. Always position tall plants on the north side so they do not shade shorter crops.
The "Three Sisters" is the most famous and efficient 3-plant combination. Rooted in Indigenous agriculture, this symbiotic trio maximizes garden space by working together to support, feed, and protect each other:
To keep your tomatoes healthy and high-yielding, avoid planting them near these specific crops: