March is a great month for trimming and tidying. Get it done now because a month from now you’ll be busy cleaning dirt from under your fingernails. March is one of the most important months of the year for fertilizing because it is the start of the growing season. Feed (16-16-16) fruit and ornamental trees, groundcovers, shrubs, perennials and annuals that have been in the ground at least six weeks. Feed your...

Sometimes a gardener runs into this special problem: some plants do poorly regardless of care, or the whole garden grows too slowly, looks stunted, and has a high mortality rate. If this happens to you, examine the seven special soil problems and solutions listed below. If none of them provide an answer to your situation, read our article on drainage. ALKALINE SOIL Alkaline soil, common in light-rainfall areas of the...

The best landscape plan in the world will turn into an empty dream if the plants grow poorly. So before you turn the first spadeful of earth, ponder this question: How has the weather been? If the dirt is gummy wet,   wait until it dries out enough to crumble when you try to squeeze it into a handful. If it’s brick hard, water deeply and then wait until it dries to the moist but crumbly stage. If your spade slides...