Amelia Allonsy

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Garden Guides uses a knowledgeable team of editors, writers, and experts to create all our content. We dive deep into the ever-evolving conversations surrounding gardening and landscaping, striving to deliver the most current and helpful tips, strengthened by expert insight and tutorials from our talented team.

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Stories By Amelia Allonsy

  • Flowers
    Flowers By Amelia Allonsy November 4th, 2022

    How To Retrieve Seed From A Begonia Plant

    How to Retrieve Seed From a Begonia Plant. Begonias (Begonia spp.) are difficult to grow from seed, but the seeds themselves are quite easy to retrieve from plants at the end of the flowering period. These annual plants can flower throughout summer, but produce seeds in small seed pods toward the end of the growing season. Annuals do not return from their roots in the following growing season, so you must retrieve the seeds in fall and store them until spring. The many different begonia species can be used for borders, container gardens or grown indoors as houseplants.

    By Amelia Allonsy November 4th, 2022 Read More
  • Structures
    Structures By Amelia Allonsy November 4th, 2022

    How To Install A Garden Hose Holder

    How to Install a Garden Hose Holder. Tangled, messy hoses not only make your outdoor space look unorganized, they also present a tripping hazard as you walk around your house. When you keep your hose stored on the ground, you must untangle the hose each time you want to use it. A wall-mount hose hanger keeps the hose wound neatly against the side of your house or garden shed. A common hose hanger is basically just an arm to hold the hose, but some include a reel to make winding easier. All hangers install in basically the same way with a mounting plate and anchor screws.

    By Amelia Allonsy November 4th, 2022 Read More
  • Flowers
    Flowers By Amelia Allonsy November 4th, 2022

    How To Use Root Stimulator When Planting

    How to Use Root Stimulator When Planting. Root stimulator products applied soon after planting contain fertilizers and hormones intended to boost root and plant growth for faster establishment in the soil. There is no solid research to support the efficacy of root stimulants, but neither is there research to disprove the claims of the various root stimulants. While the jury is still out, many gardeners apply root stimulator products and claim to see benefits. The amount of root stimulator to use increases with the size of the plants to be treated.

    By Amelia Allonsy November 4th, 2022 Read More
  • Trees
    Trees By Amelia Allonsy November 4th, 2022

    How To Kill A Fruit Tree & Its Roots

    How to Kill a Fruit Tree & Its Roots. It may seem baffling that anyone would consider killing a fruit tree when fresh, free fruit for your family is at arm's reach, but there's really no point in keeping a tree if it doesn't serve its purpose. Trees can stop producing good quality fruit over time, some trees never produce fruit at all and sometimes, having a large tree in the yard is more nuisance than the short harvest season is worth. However, fruit trees produce root suckers when cut down, so you must kill the entire root system to keep the tree from returning.

    By Amelia Allonsy November 4th, 2022 Read More
  • Trees
    Trees By Amelia Allonsy November 4th, 2022

    How To Dig Up A Wisteria

    How to Dig Up a Wisteria. Wisteria (Wisteria spp.) is a classic climbing plant, grown for its drooping purple or pink flowers and woody stems that can cover an arbor or grow on the side of a building. Without frequent pruning, these showy plants can become invasive and show up in unwanted areas of the garden, particularly Chinese wisteria (Wisteria chinensis). Even if you cut the wisteria back to the ground, its roots continue to sprout new growth, so you must dig up the roots to get rid of unwanted wisteria.

    By Amelia Allonsy November 4th, 2022 Read More
  • Trees
    Trees By Amelia Allonsy November 4th, 2022

    How To Trim A Bottle Brush Tree

    How to Trim a Bottle Brush Tree. The bottlebrush tree (Callistemon spp.) gets its name for its large, showy flowers that look just like a baby bottlebrush, something with which any mother is all too familiar. Though useless for cleaning up after a feeding, these plants do make for an impressive showpiece in the garden. While the genus does include some true tree forms, most bottlebrush trees are actually shrubs pruned as standards. All but one strong shoot are removed, and it is pruned back repeatedly to make a bushy canopy. These specimens require summer trimming to maintain the tree form and control errant branches.

    By Amelia Allonsy November 4th, 2022 Read More
  • Flowers
    Flowers By Amelia Allonsy November 4th, 2022

    How To Plant In A Cardboard Box

    How to Plant in a Cardboard Box. Your local garden center sells biodegradable cardboard seedling trays and cell packs made from ground, wet, cardboard pulp so the material breaks down faster and roots can push through. Without processing the cardboard into pulp, you can use a plain cardboard box to grow larger plants. Though it sounds unlikely, a thick, sturdy cardboard box can hold up for an entire growing season, allowing you to save money on plastic and ceramic planters. This works well for growing annuals and vegetables from spring through fall. The cardboard can be composted at the end of the growing season.

    By Amelia Allonsy November 4th, 2022 Read More
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    Trees
    Trees By Amelia Allonsy November 4th, 2022

    How To Prune An Overgrown Laurel

    How to Prune an Overgrown Laurel. The mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), also called American laurel, grows wild in sandy or rocky woodlands throughout the eastern United States. They sometimes grow wild in yards within U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 9, but cultivars are available at garden centers. This evergreen shrub grows between 5 and 30 feet tall. It usually blooms in May, featuring large clusters of five-sided pink or white blossoms. Overgrown laurels become leggy with no foliage at the base of the plant, and benefit from renovation pruning to encourage new, healthy growth.

    By Amelia Allonsy November 4th, 2022 Read More
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    Trees
    Trees By Amelia Allonsy November 4th, 2022

    How To Kill A Privet Bush With Chemicals

    How to Kill a Privet Bush With Chemicals. You probably see privet (Ligustrum spp.) bushes on every block as you drive around your neighborhood because they're such common shrubs for hedges. These evergreen shrubs and trees grow in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 10, but exact zones vary among the 50 species. Privet can be invasive and spread to unwanted areas. A small piece of root left in the soil after pulling plants can re-sprout. Chemical herbicides work best to kill privet because they kill the plant's roots.

    By Amelia Allonsy November 4th, 2022 Read More
  • Produce
    Produce By Amelia Allonsy September 6th, 2022

    How To Bury Plants In Pots In The Ground

    How to Bury Plants in Pots in the Ground. Even novice gardeners know that plants in nursery containers should be transplanted immediately to prevent crowded containers, but there are exceptions to every rule. Many plants are considered invasive, but if you still want to add them to your garden, you can bury the pots in the ground to prevent the plant from spreading to unwanted areas of the garden. This method also works well for growing perennials that can be propagated by division. If you want to confine a plant to a 24-inch diameter space, plant in a 24-inch diameter container and dig and divide when the plants outgrow the container.

    By Amelia Allonsy September 6th, 2022 Read More
  • Flowers
    Flowers By Amelia Allonsy September 6th, 2022

    Shrubs Deer Love

    Shrubs Deer Love. Deer are herbivores that feed on a wide variety of plant foods. In the wild, they eat leaves, flowers and twigs from trees. They also consume nuts, berries and seeds, such as acorns, blackberries and blueberries. If the food supply in the wild is scarce, deer may graze shrubs in landscapes. There are a few common shrubs deer eat, so plant these if you want to attract deer or avoid them to keep deer away.

    By Amelia Allonsy September 6th, 2022 Read More
  • Trees
    Trees By Amelia Allonsy September 6th, 2022

    How To Split A Dieffenbachia Plant

    How to Split a Dieffenbachia Plant. The genus Dieffenbachia includes tropical foliage plants that are hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 through 12, but are grown as houseplants in colder climates. The plant gets the name dumbcane because its stems contain skin-irritating needle-like raphides that cause a burning sensation in the mouth and throat when ingested, literally making one speechless. Although mothers might wish for quiet when the kids are running around screaming, you should definitely keep this toxic plant out of the reach of children, particularly when dividing to make new plants and exposing the inner flesh.

    By Amelia Allonsy September 6th, 2022 Read More
  • Structures
    Structures By Amelia Allonsy September 6th, 2022

    How To Clean Dead Leaf Buildup Out Of A Pond

    How to Clean Dead Leaf Buildup Out of a Pond. A pond or water feature adds serenity to an outdoor space and, when coupled with a trickling waterfall, can help tune out traffic and other neighborhood noises. Ponds do need regular maintenance to keep them clean and free of leaves and other debris. It seems that even without deciduous trees in the yard, fallen leaves will travel miles just for the opportunity to fall in your pond. A sturdy net is all you need to clean the leaves from the pond, but you can also use a shop vacuum to pick up smaller leaf fragments.

    By Amelia Allonsy September 6th, 2022 Read More
  • Structures
    Structures By Amelia Allonsy September 6th, 2022

    How To Prevent Having To Trim Around A Fence

    How to Prevent Having to Trim Around a Fence. Lawn trimming around borders, walkways and fences adds to lawn maintenance time. Besides the cost, weed trimmer string constantly beating against the bottom of the fence wears away the string quickly and can damage the fence, especially if you have a wooden or vinyl fence. Mulch edging applied under and next to fencing eliminates the need to trim around the fence. When the edging is set even with the soil to create a mow edge, you can mow directly over the edging.

    By Amelia Allonsy September 6th, 2022 Read More
  • Flowers
    Flowers By Amelia Allonsy September 6th, 2022

    How To Transplant Sassafras

    How to Transplant Sassafras. Common sassafras (Sassafras albidum), also called root beer tree, not only looks attractive -- it has aromatic root oil that's long been used to make tea and fragrant soap. Grown in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 9, moms and kids alike will surely be intrigued by the three distinct leaf patterns, including a bi-lobed, mitten-shaped leaf; one tri-lobed leaf; and one unlobed, elliptical leaf. Container-grown sassafras trees are most adaptable to transplanting, but you might find some success digging up a small sassafras tree to shade your favorite backyard relaxation spot.

    By Amelia Allonsy September 6th, 2022 Read More
  • Flowers
    Flowers By Amelia Allonsy September 6th, 2022

    How To Get Rid Of Phlox

    How to Get Rid of Phlox. Among the roughly 70 species of phlox (Phlox spp.) most are low-growing or trailing plants, but some upright, shrub-form species reach several feet tall. Some species of phlox are annuals, but most perennials that die back or stop growing in winter. Most grow in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 2 through 10, but this varies among species. Phlox can sometimes be hand-pulled, but it's difficult to remove all the roots, particularly with creeping varieties, so a herbicide application can help completely remove the phlox.

    By Amelia Allonsy September 6th, 2022 Read More
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    Flowers
    Flowers By Amelia Allonsy September 6th, 2022

    How To Sculpt Garden Bushes

    How to Sculpt Garden Bushes. Sculpting garden bushes is a horticultural art known as topiary, a term that refers to the process and the final product. Gardeners sculpt bushes to create a more formal look in their gardens, whether by sculpting geometric shapes, archways or animals. Topiary sculpting takes several years to achieve desired results because you must wait for the bush to mature and you can only trim a little at a time. Many topiary sculptors use metal frames to guide the shaping and pruning of bushes. The best bushes to sculpt are evergreens with small leaves and dense growth, such as boxwood or yew.

    By Amelia Allonsy September 6th, 2022 Read More
  • Produce
    Produce By Amelia Allonsy September 6th, 2022

    How To Make A String Trellis

    How to Make a String Trellis. The simple design of a string trellis should not diminish its usefulness in the garden for supporting plants. With simple tweaks to the supports and types of string, a string trellis can support lightweight plants with tiny tendrils such as fragrant Confederate jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides), which grows in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 through 10, or heavy annuals such as indeterminate tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum).

    By Amelia Allonsy September 6th, 2022 Read More
  • Trees
    Trees By Amelia Allonsy March 24th, 2022

    How To Kill Tree Suckers

    How to Kill Tree Suckers. Trees with shallow roots commonly develop strong upright shoots called suckers. Some tree species are more prone to develop root suckers than others, including Bradford pears (Pyrus calleryana) and tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima). Herbicides applied to suckers can kill the entire tree, so the best control method is to persistently cut back the suckers and hope they don't grow back. If the tree is already cut, herbicides can be used to completely kill the suckers because you won't risk killing the tree. Eventually, the suckers absorb enough herbicide to kill the roots and stop new sucker growth.

    By Amelia Allonsy March 24th, 2022 Read More
  • Pumpkin
    Flowers
    Flowers By Amelia Allonsy March 23rd, 2022

    Root Rot On Pumpkins

    Root Rot on Pumpkins. Pumpkins (Cucurbita spp.) and other plants cannot grow healthy and strong without having a strong, healthy root system to transpire nutrients and water throughout the plant. Root rot, a condition in which the roots literally rot in the soil, is caused by excessive moisture in the soil. Root rot occurs when fungi present in contaminated soil spreads to the roots.

    By Amelia Allonsy March 23rd, 2022 Read More