Fine Gardening – Issue 199
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We All Make Design Mistakes | Letter from the Editor
The worst birthday present I ever got was several tons of gravel dumped into my garden. It was from an accidental landslide caused by a design mistake—and it was entirely…
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Expert Design Advice: Think Long-Term When Planning Your Garden
When it comes to big-ticket items, like a patio that will define a key outdoor room, irrigation that must be installed before anything else, or slow-growing evergreens that will be…
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Expert Design Advice: Let Your Senses Guide Your Garden’s Design
When you first start to think about changing part of your landscape, slow down, look, and listen. Pay attention to how the existing conditions make you feel. Is the space…
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Expert Design Advice: Color Can Make or Break Your Garden
Most people don’t want a garden that looks like a crayon box exploded, with every color under the sun scattered about and no rhyme or reason to the design. Yet…
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A Deer-Proof Garden Design for Dry Shade
There aren’t many properties left that still have massive, native evergreen trees. Sometimes, however, you find a home built among the giants. These homes capture the essence of the forest…
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Dealing with Dry, Compacted Garden Soil
In extreme conditions like dry shade, it’s important to improve the soil as best you can. Here’s what Susan Calhoun did in her garden to enhance the environment where the…
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A Deer-Proof Garden Design for Dry Shade – Plant IDs
I live in a modern house perched on a coastal bluff and surrounded by Douglas firs and western red cedars (Thuja plicata, Zones 5–7) that are over one hundred years…
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Anatomy of a Dry-Shade Planting
A. Understory trees and shrubs provide screening without blocking light The lovely, light green Japanese maples underneath a towering Douglas fir provide filtered screening to the house without obscuring it…
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3 Cool New Annuals Worth Checking Out
Get great color and texture for partial shade Name: Royale Pineapple Brandy™ coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides cv.) Size: 30 inches tall and 16 inches wide Conditions: Full sun to partial shade;…
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5 New Fruit and Veggie Varieties to Grow This Year
A tomato built for heat (Editor's Pick) Name: ‘Jolene’ tomato Days to maturity: 73 Those living in the Deep South and the Southeast tend to have trouble growing tomatoes. The…
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13 Amazing New Perennials for Your Garden
Yellowish blooms make it unique Name: ‘French Vanilla’ hibiscus (Hibiscus ‘French Vanilla’) Zones: 4–9 Size: 3 to 4 feet tall and wide Conditions: Full sun; moist, well-drained soil Native range:…
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A Fragrant Perennial That Behaves
Mention the name Galega within earshot of the weed control board of nearly any state in the Union, and stand back as Department of Agriculture SWAT teams are deployed brandishing…
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This Shady Ground Cover Is Everything You Could Want
Think of all the things you might want in a shady ground cover: low maintenance, deer resistance, spreading habit (but not thuggish), attractive flowers for pollinators. Oh, and if it’s…
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A Tough Small Tree with Late-Summer Color
In 1985, internationally renowned plantsman JC Raulston brought back seeds of Korean sweetheart tree to the North Carolina State University Arboretum (now the JC Raulston Arboretum) for evaluation. JC had…
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Plant Health: This Insect Isn’t One to Panic About
Small spots appearing on shoots of fresh mint and other spring herbs would draw the attention of most observant gardeners. But spots that seem to cover whole leaves overnight and…
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4 Must-Have Plants for the Southwest
As garden centers start to open their doors for the season (and we get ready to run into them with open arms), we decided to ask some regional experts what…
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Great Garden Tools for the Season
Gro Mor MWS-1 Mini Wand Seeder If you’ve ever struggled with sowing the nearly invisibly small seeds of poppy (Papaver spp. and cvs., Zones 2–10), impatiens (Impatiens spp. and cvs.,…
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Proper Pruning for Young Trees
The act of planting a deciduous tree, particularly one you know will get quite large, comes with thoughts of the size and grandeur it will achieve over time. Knowing what…
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The Best Dogwoods for Your Garden
The fastest way to start a horticultural food fight is to lock eight plant geeks in a room and ask a simple question: “What’s the best dogwood out there?” Even…
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9 New Trees and Shrubs for Your Garden
The tiniest panicle hydrangea yet Name: Fire Light Tidbit® panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata ‘SMNHPK’) Zones: 3–8 Size: 2 to 3 feet tall and wide Conditions: Full sun to partial shade;…
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Best New Plants for 2021
With so many annual events such as concerts and awards shows postponed this year, it was especially nice to see that the new-plant rollout for 2021 would still happen. And…
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4 Must-Have Plants for the Northwest
As garden centers start to open their doors for the season (and we get ready to run into them with open arms), we decided to ask some regional experts what…
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Must-Have Plants for Your Region
Everyone has plants they just can't get enough of. Sometimes it's a new player to the game, stealing your attention the second you got your first glimpse in a garden,…
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10 Expert Tips for Designing Your Garden
In an ideal world, everyone would be able to hire a designer to help with big garden decisions. But in reality, most of us end up doing our own design…
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4 Must-Have Plants for the Northern Plains
As garden centers start to open their doors for the season (and we get ready to run into them with open arms), we decided to ask some regional experts what…
Featured Articles
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Dealing with Dogwood Diseases
Like many woody plants, dogwoods can be afflicted by disease. Fortunately, when correctly identified, most diseases can be treated with little fuss. See The Best Dogwoods for Your Garden. Powdery…
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Add Herbs to Your Container Designs
Containers offer a simple solution for anyone who likes to have delicious, fresh herbs close at hand. You could pot up parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme in a single container…
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Don’t Ignore Your Indoor Plants in Summer
You’re used to readying your garden for the arrival of warmer months, but what about your indoor plants? As days grow longer and temperatures rise, even indoor plants need a…
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5 Tips for the Early Summer Garden
Winning Tip: Kneeler shoes My granddaughter bought me a garden kneeler for Christmas. I didn’t think I needed one, but it has made planting and weeding easier on my knees…
Articles
Fine Gardening Magazine
