Gardening Tips

You may see references to plant hardiness zones everywhere as a gardener. Planting zones are mentioned on blogs like this one, written on seed packages and plant tags from nurseries, and even on weather stations.

We all think we know what it means. Simply find your area of the country on the key and coordinate with where the tag says to plant, right?

Well, that’s not wrong, but it’s not the full picture of what planting zones are meant to convey. It also doesn’t take into account weather patterns that can be very different within the same plant hardiness zones.

Springtime can be the most amazing, and the most frustrating time for home gardeners. All the trees are lush, the grass is growing, the perennials are starting to bloom, and the tender shoots of all your vegetables are starting to sprout and grow.

However, then come the garden pests. Worst of all of them are deer. They can leap most fences and have ravenous after a winter of eating twigs. The males are rapidly growing antlers and the females are gestating or nursing new babies – they are ravenous. And they go for the lush, fertilized, and fast-growing plants around. They head for the plants in your garden.

Evergreen shrubs have traditionally been a homeowner’s staple landscape plant. If you are considering planting shrubs or removing them, there are pros and cons to having this standard outdoor decoration.

Some homeowners consider evergreen shrubs an eyesore. They become overgrown, cover the fronts of houses, block out windows, and can be very hard to shape or remove.

However, taking them out can also have the effect of making your house or property look bare, or leaving you with an ugly stump to stare at or work around.

If you are wondering whether to take out your shrubs or try to make the best of them, here are a few good things to know about evergreen shrubs.

Growing terrific tomatoes does not happen overnight. There are many theories about the proper way to grow tomatoes from using the correct soil preparation to proper planting techniques followed by regular maintenance of the tender plants.

It may get overwhelming. However, when you bite into that delicious, sweet tomato, you know that all your hard work was well worth it.

What are invasive perennials?

It always starts out innocent enough. You think you have found the perfect plant for that spot in your garden that always looks bare or is hard to plant.

You find a perennial that boasts its hardiness and promises to be low-maintenance or no maintenance. The plant takes to the spot readily and all your cares are over!

What you may have just done, however, is plant a highly invasive plant that will end up taking over your garden and eating all your other plants.

Many Detroit (and non-Detroit) natives may be familiar with Charlie LeDuff’s 2014 Detroit: An American Autopsy. Written in the wake of Detroit’s declaration of bankruptcy, which, if you have lived here for any length of time you know was only the final nail in the coffin.