Using Cardboard Tubes for Pests Most toilet paper and paper towels come wrapped around a cardboard tube. When you have finished a roll, you still have that tube to dispose of. You will do better tossing that cardboard tube in the recycling bin than the garbage can, but now there is another cool alternative: cardboard tube pest control in the garden. It’s not difficult to start protecting plants with toilet paper rolls and it can be effective in a variety of ways....

Pungent Cilantro Plants To my taste buds, cilantro tastes like a combination of fresh, mild, green-tasting parsley with a citrus zest. To my mother’s taste buds, cilantro plants are pungent, nasty tasting herbs that she refers to as “yucky soapy tasting cilantro.” While this difference in preferences only requires the omission of cilantro from any of the meals I serve to my Mom (grumble, grumble), it really does make me wonder why cilantro tastes like soap to her but not to me....

What Does Ragweed Look Like? Ragweed identification is easy due to the distinct leaves and flowers on the plant. Ragweed is an upright growing plant that has leaves that look almost fern-like, feathery and green. You will also notice that ragweed leaves look hairy. The flowers on the plant are also useful for ragweed identification. The flowers on ragweed are yellow and long, like streamers. There will normally be several clustered flowers at the top of the plant, which look like a fountain, and also several flowers closer to the bottom....

Sure, you can recycle your Christmas tree by placing the tree outside to provide winter shelter for songbirds or chipping it into mulch for your flower beds. Unfortunately, there is one thing you definitely cannot do – you can’t replant a cut Christmas tree. Replanting Cut Trees Isn’t Possible By the time you purchase a tree, it has already been cut for weeks, or maybe even months. However, even a freshly cut tree has been separated from its roots and replanting a Christmas tree without roots simply isn’t possible....

When and How to Harvest Pear Seeds Pear seeds, like many other fruit tree seeds, rarely produce the same pear as the original fruit. This is because pears reproduce sexually and, just like humans, they have a lot of genetic diversity. For example, if you plant a seed from a Bosc pear, grow the tree and harvest its fruit ten to twenty years later, you will not get Bosc pears. The pears may even be tasteless or inedible....

Shade Plants in Zone 9 Growing evergreen shade plants is easy enough, but choosing which ones are most suitable for your landscape is the difficult part. It helps to consider the various types of shade and then going from there. Light Shade Light shade defines an area in which plants receive two to three hours of morning sunlight, or even filtered sunlight such as a spot under an open canopy tree....

About Ornamental Shade Trees If you live in a city, you may have a typically small urban lot that gets shade from nearby structures. These are perfect sites for ornamental trees that grow in shade. Even rural areas have shady spots where small ornamental shade trees might work perfectly. Before you start selecting among ornamental trees that grow in shade, figure out which hardiness zone you live in. The Department of Agriculture has developed a zone system for the nation based on the lowest minimum winter temperatures, running from very cold zone 1 to very hot zone 13....

Growing Society Garlic Society garlic care is minimal in USDA gardening zones 7-10, where it is hardy. Growing society garlic produces sweet-smelling flowers with stems that smell faintly of garlic when crushed. Society garlic flowers bloom in a tubular shape with 8 to 20 flowers on each cluster. Flowers widen to an inch (2.5 cm.) on this long-lived perennial, which spreads slowly and is not invasive. Of the Amaryllis family, society garlic flowers may be lavender, variegated or pink in color....

Proper Eggplant Spacing Eggplant has a growth habit similar to that of a tomato; however, eggplants are planted closer together than tomato plants and some varieties don’t need to be staked. There are even smaller eggplant varietals and ornamentals that can be grown in containers. Either way, the proper spacing between eggplants can be crucial in the amount of fruit they set. How Far Apart to Space Eggplant? Whenever you plant a garden, some consideration and planning should occur in deciding where to set certain plants and drafting how far apart they need to be to maximize the use of the plot....

What is Lawn Thatch You must know your enemy to win the battle, so what is lawn thatch? Spongy lawns are the result of excess buildup of old and dead grass material. Some types of grass don’t produce thatch but others with thick stolens will trap their own leaves and stems. Overly thick thatch not only makes the lawn spongy but can interfere with the plant’s ability to gather air, water, and fertilizer....

Polka Dot Plant Propagation Tips Starting polka dot plants isn’t difficult. In fact, these plants can be easily propagated by seed or cuttings. Both methods can be performed in spring or summer. Whether started by seed or through polka dot plant cuttings, however, you’ll want to keep your new plants evenly moist in well-draining potting soil and provide them with medium light (indirect sunlight) conditions. These plants also prefer temperatures between 65 and 80 degrees F....

Strawberry Begonia Houseplant Little room is necessary for growing strawberry begonias. This tough, little plant sends out runners similar to a strawberry plant, hence the common name. Strawberry begonia plants may have solid green foliage or variegated leaves edged with cream colors. The leaves have a heart shape. You may have heard of the strawberry begonia houseplant and wonder, are strawberry begonia and strawberry geranium the same? Info about the strawberry begonia plant indicates they are....

What is a Long Stem Rose? When we refer to long stemmed roses, we are typically speaking of Hybrid Tea roses. The Hybrid Tea rose came about in the 1800’s by crossing the Hybrid Perpetual roses and the Tea roses– the best features of both came through in the Hybrid Tea rose. The modern Hybrid Tea roses have a much more mixed genealogy but still have their roots of existence founded in the original crossbreeding....

The bad news is that you probably won’t be able to completely eradicate the disease. The good news is that septoria leaf spot control is possible if you catch it early enough. Causes of Septoria Leaf Spot of Blueberries The fungus that causes septoria leaf spot in blueberries lives on weeds and plant debris, especially infected leaves that drop from the plant. It thrives in damp conditions, and the spores are splashed on stems and leaves by wind and water....

Grass growing in flower beds looks messy but there are a few tried and tested strategies for preventing and eliminating grassy weeds. Preventing Grass in Flower Beds You can try to kill grass in flower beds, but if you can keep grass out of unwanted areas in the first place, your job becomes much easier. If you’ve ever tried pulling grass out by the roots and getting every last bit out, then you know it’s not just difficult but nearly impossible....

Mullein as Herbal Treatments Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is an herbaceous plant that produces large, woolly, grayish-green leaves and bright yellow flowers in summer, followed by egg-shaped, pale brown fruits in fall. Although mullein is native to Asia and Europe, the plant has naturalized across the United States since it was introduced in the 1700s. You may know this common plant as big taper, velvet dock, flannel-leaf, lungwort, or velvet plant. The plant has been utilized throughout history for its herbal properties....

Lady’s Bedstraw Plant Info Lady’s bedstraw plant (Galium verum) is a perennial herb hardy in zones 3-8. Lady’s bedstraw is one of over 400 varieties of Galium. Perhaps the most popular variety is Galium odoratum, commonly known as sweet woodruff, and the most annoying variety goes by goosegrass, sticky willy, or cleavers (Galium aparine). Lady’s bedstraw has a creeping habit and whorls of 6-12 hairy, almost needle-like, long leaves. Unlike its cousin sticky willy, these hairy leaves do not catch and stick to you if you walk through them, but like sticky willy, lady’s bedstraw has clusters of small yellow flowers that bloom from June – September....

What Does Lime Do for Soil? The two types of lime that gardeners should become familiar with are agricultural lime and dolomite lime. Both types of lime contain calcium, and dolomite lime also contains magnesium. Lime adds these two essential elements to the soil, but it is more commonly used to correct the soil pH. Most plants prefer a pH between 5.5 and 6.5. If the pH is too high (alkaline) or too low (acidic), plants can’t absorb the nutrients that are available in the soil....

My Cherry Tree No Longer Weeps Weeping cherry trees are mutations with beautiful weeping branches, but an ugly, twisted trunk. Standard cherry trees have strong, straight trunks but their canopy isn’t as attractive as a weeping canopy. To solve this problem, horticulturalists graft a weeping canopy onto a non-weeping trunk, giving the grafted tree the advantages of both types of trees. Some weeping cherries are the result of three trees. A straight trunk is grafted onto sturdy roots, and the weeping canopy is grafted on top of the trunk....

What is a Catalpa Tree? Catalpa trees are 40 to 70 feet (12 to 21.5 m.) tall trees with arching canopies and an average lifespan of 60 years. The deciduous plants are hardy to USDA planting zones 4 to 8 and can tolerate moist soils but are more suited to dry areas. The tree’s leaves are arrow-shaped and glossy bright green. In fall they turn a bright yellow-green before dropping as cold temperatures and chilly winds arrive....