Using Search on FineGardening.com
Finding the right article or plant profile among the thousands available on our Web site can seem as daunting as a flower bed overrun by weeds. But with the right tools and techniques, the job is easy and yields great results. Here are some tips ... [... more]
Fine Gardening |
Weave a Garden of Self-Sown Splendor
Believe it or not, though I've earned my living as a gardener and horticulturist for most of my adult life, it wasn't until a few years ago that I began to plan the first garden I could call my own. My gardens had always been shared with my ... [... more]
Fine Gardening |
Dividing Perennials: Tools, Techniques, and Timing
I'm a frugal gardener. Maybe that explains why I'm drawn to plants I can divide. But propagation by root division is more than a cost-efficient way to increase my collection of perennials; it also promotes vigor by stimulating new growth both ... [... more]
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Making More Shrubs
One of the easiest ways to multiply a favorite shrub or tree is through layering: the propagation of woody plants by putting a stem in contact with the soil where the cool, moist, dark environment induces root formation. The technique is simple ... [... more]
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Propagate Your Shrubs from Softwood Cuttings
I have propagated thousands of new shrubs from softwood cuttings. That may sound like a lot, but since I'm a propagator at a nursery, it's all in a day's work. To successfully propagate such a large number of shrubs requires specially designed ... [... more]
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Jump Start Your Seeds
Columbines brighten both sides of my shady, front-yard path. The little congregation on one side came as plants from a catalog, while those on the other were nurtured, by me, from a palmful of shiny, black seeds to a drift of long-spurred ... [... more]
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Grow more plants with root cuttings
One of my earliest gardening memories is of an elderly neighbor taking a bundle of English dogwood sticks and placing them underground for about a month before digging them up and planting them. I watched in amazement as these twigs became new ... [... more]
Fine Gardening |
Save Money and Grow More Plants with Tip Cuttings
I take cuttings three times a year: in late spring or early summer, to increase my stock of plants; in late summer, to create plants to overwinter indoors; and in early spring, to grow new plants that will be ready for the garden when ... [... more]
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For more seed-starting tips
Few gardening pursuits are as rewarding as growing and nurturing your own plants from seed. As the nursery manager at the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants at Monticello, I have started thousands of ornamental and vegetable plants from ... [... more]
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Garden Vagabonds
The vagabond plants that roam around my garden range from tiny to head-high in stature, from drought-tolerant sun-lovers to woodlanders that thrive in shade. By observing where each vagabond appears and thrives I've discovered which garden role ... [... more]
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Starting Wildflowers from Seed
Raising your own plants from seed is like brewing your own beer or knitting your own sweaters. It is a commitment to immerse yourself completely in an activity you feel passionately about. When you collect and clean seeds, sow them, and nurture ... [... more]
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Grow Your Own Conifers from Hardwood Cuttings
The propagation areas of commercial conifer growers are often awe-inspiring sights. Long greenhouses are covered from ridge to eave with opaque white glazing. Shadowless, diffused light illuminates benches filled with thousands of cuttings. Every ... [... more]
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