Slugs and snails can be a problem predator for your plants. Lots of time has gone into testing methods of preventing slugs from getting to plants, including eggshells, citrus, oatmeal, beer, gravel, sharp rocks, ashes, sand, and even bits of glass. Of all of those methods, ashes and sand seem to be the only ones [...]
In temperate areas of the world (where winters can be cold and long), it is a good thing for your plants when it snows. Snow is actually an excellent insulator. Surface ground temperatures underneath a thick blanket of snow will stay fairly constant around 32 degrees even if the outside air above the snow is [...]
It’s amazing how plants can adapt and survive even in some of the most severe of climates. In the case of freezing cold, many plants have developed a unique adaptation that allows for their survival in this weather extreme. The adaptation is made possible by an anti-freeze protein. Plants such as evergreens that grow year-round, [...]
Sometimes getting seeds to grow can take many days and even weeks depending on the species you’re trying to grow. One quick and easy way to accelerate seed germination without using chemicals is simply to dampen the soil with warm water. Since plants’ metabolic rates are temperature-influenced (see ‘Cold-Blooded Plants‘), watering with warm water (not [...]
Ideally, the sharper your mower blade is the better. Blades that are really dull tend to hack at the grass leaving frayed ends that can turn brown, or worse, invite disease because of the large wound site created at the end of each blade of grass. A sharp blade produces a much cleaner cut. If [...]
When you plant seeds or seedlings in pots, be sure to leave at least an inch (2.5 cm) of space from the soil surface level to the rim of the pot. The reason for this is to leave room for watering so you’re less likely to splash over the edge of your pot and make [...]
Maple trees produce “helicopter seeds” (more correctly known as a samara) en masse. I can still remember seeing thousands of seeds flying through the air when a good autumn breeze picked up, making it look as though it were raining maple seeds. But seeds from maple trees are fickle. Sometimes a lot of the seeds [...]
You may wonder why there are some plants that bloom and grow in very early spring. Sometimes these plants will even grow right through snow that’s still on the ground. Crocuses are an example of this (hence the well-known name of Snow Drops, pictured to the right.). But why would some plants have adapted to [...]
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