Jenny Harrington
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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.
As we cover many fields of expertise, we make it a priority to ensure every beat remains fresh and comprehensive. Additional information on our editorial process available here.
Stories By Jenny Harrington
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How To Care For A Goldfish Plant
How to Care for a Gold Fish Plant. Goldfish plant (Nematanthus gregarius) is an interesting plant with shiny green leaves and orange blooms that resemble brightly-colored goldfish. Also known as "guppy plant," goldfish plant can be a bit fussy and challenging to grow, but the beauty of the foliage and the year-round blooms are worth the extra effort. Plant a goldfish plant in a sturdy pot, or plant it in a hanging container and let the goldfish blooms dangle.
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How To Lay Sod In The Desert
How to Lay Sod in the Desert. Maintaining a lush green lawn is a challenge in the desert. According to the University of Nevada, the Las Vegas area receives less than 4 inches of rainfall yearly and has an evaporation rate of 80 inches of moisture a year. In addition, temperature extremes in the desert range from very hot in the day to below freezing at night. But it is possible to maintain a green lawn. The key is to select drought-tolerant sod varieties and to properly irrigate the grass.
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How To Store Paperwhite Bulbs
How to Store Paperwhite Bulbs. Paperwhite narcissus bulbs may be one of the easiest bulbs to force for indoor growing because they do not require a chilling period before they will grow. If you purchase the bulbs before you are ready to force them to bloom, simply hold them until approximately one month before you wish for them to bloom. Store paperwhite bulbs for future forcing, and when you are ready, they will be ready to emerge with tall stems and creamy, white blossoms.
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How To Save And Store Hyacinth Bulbs
How to Save Hyacinth Bulbs. Hyacinth is considered a spring bulb like daffodils and tulips. They bloom shortly after the ground thaws in spring, bringing early color to your garden. Hyacinths come in a range of colors including white, pink and blue. Hardy plants, hyacinth bulbs overwinter in the ground, even in cold winter areas. Storing bulbs is only necessary when you desire to move the hyacinth bulbs to a new bed or force them indoors or when it is time to separate the bulbs---approximately every two to three years.
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How To Prune Oriental Poppies
How to Prune Oriental Poppy. Oriental poppies are a perennial that is native throughout Asia. With their large blooms that are sometimes 6 inches across, interesting color combinations and tissue paper-thin petals, these flowers look great in any garden. Oriental poppies are hardy from Zones 2 to 9, meaning that they will grow in almost any region around the U.S. quite easily. Caring for Oriental poppies is simple too. They require only a little bit of pruning to keep them looking their best in your garden.
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How To Build A Raspberry Trellis
How to Build a Raspberry Trellis. Raspberries are a good choice to grow in the home garden. They grow on 3- to 4-foot canes that need support, usually by some type of trellis. This keeps the canes from flopping over onto the ground and increases yields. Raspberries grown on a trellis can yield about three to five pounds of berries for every 5 feet of row, if well-cared for under optimal growing conditions.
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How To Wrap A Plant Pot
How to Wrap a Plant Pot. Potted plants allow individuals to give a lasting gift to friends and relatives. Adding a special touch to this gift involves creating a simple wrap for your potted plant to hide the unsightly green or black plastic pot. Let's look at how to wrap a plant pot to create a beautiful gift that will last considerably longer than cut flowers.
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How Many Blades Of Grass Are In A Square Foot?
How Many Blades of Grass Are in a Square Foot?. The amount of blades of grass in a square foot of lawn depends on the type of grass and the density. The average square foot of grass has 3,000 blades, according to the Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.
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How To Prepare The Soil To Grow Morel Mushrooms
How to Prepare the Soil to Grow Morel Mushrooms. Morels are one of the most sought-after wild mushrooms, and many chefs consider them a rare and special delicacy. If you can't find a good patch of morels in the wild, you can grow your own at home. Like all mushrooms, morels require a specific habitat and weather conditions, so you will have to choose your site and prepare your soil carefully.
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Indoor Potted Plant Identification
Indoor Potted Plant Identification. Thousands of plants have been cultivated to grow indoors. Identifying house plants requires looking closely at their overall appearance and growth habits.
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Braided Hibiscus Directions And General Care
Braided Hibiscus Directions. The braided hibiscus is a small tropical tree often used to decorate patios and indoor areas. This kind of tree has a braided trunk that is composed of several interwoven coils. This does not occur naturally. Instead, the grower must actually train the branches to coil around each other to form a tree-like shape rather than simply growing out. Horticulturists do this with the help of a support. You can buy already braided hibiscus from many stores, but doing it yourself can be a fun adventure.
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Information About Cypress Trees: Origins And Examples
Information on Cypress Trees History. The cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) is a legendary tree, not only because it can live 2,000 or more years, but because of its historical associations. For example, some reports say that a massive cypress tree in Soma, Lombardy, dates back to the birth of Jesus Christ, while others put its planting at about 40 years before.
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What Flowers Are Native To Thailand?
Flowers Native to Thailand. The lotus (bua, pathum and ubon in Thai) is probably the most common native flower of Thailand. It grows wild in the country's waterways. Descriptions of the lotus in Thai literature reflect its historical and cultural significance and its religious role as the flower associated with gods and goddesses. Yet it is just one of hundreds of species of flowering plants that find favor in a land famous for revering and exporting beautiful flowers.
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The Best Fruit Trees For Deer In Pennsylvania
The Best Fruit Trees for Deer in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania's range of hardiness zones make the state ideal for growing a variety of fruit trees that attract deer. A deer's strong sense of smell helps it find ripe fruit still on the tree or on the ground, but deer also like to nibble new spring growth on fruit trees. Provide new trees with protection from foraging until the trees establish themselves. For best results in attracting deer, consider growing small groves of the fruit trees deer love most.
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How To Get Rid Of Inchworms In The Garden
How to Get Rid of Inch Worms in the Garden. Inchworms are not actually worms, but moth larvae--better known as caterpillars. Inchworms are indeed pests in the garden because they eat plant leaves, especially vegetable plants. They also infest trees and eat their leaves, sometimes causing serious and irreversible damage. Many types of caterpillars are referred to as inchworms, including the cankerworm. Inchworms typically appear in either the spring or fall.
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What Herbicides Will Kill Bamboo?
What Herbicides Will Kill Bamboo?. An herbicide is a naturally occurring or chemically created compound that kills specific plants. Herbicides are available for killing everything from moss to water plants. Bamboo is quick growing and even faster spreading, using runners to spread out over large distances. Bamboo is also highly resistant to most herbicides, which must be applied in specific ways in order to completely eliminate the bamboo.
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How To Transplant Hibiscus Trees
How to Transplant Hibiscus Trees. Hibiscus is classified as a shrub. A hibiscus tree is a shrub that has been carefully pruned from infancy to grow in the shape of a tree. The large flowers of the hibiscus provide color and attract hummingbirds to the landscape. Hibiscus is a tropical plant, it grows well outside all year in regions where the soil and air temperatures never drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Clemson University. Transplant hibiscus during the cool season. Transplanting is stressful for any plant; high temperatures and excessive sun can wilt a stressed hibiscus.
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Xeriscape Design Ideas For Florida
Xeriscape Design Ideas for Florida. Xeriscaping gives Florida gardeners a vast number of plant choices. From muhly grass to bromeliads, low-maintenance plants come in all textures, sizes and colors. The key idea of xeriscaping is selecting "the right plant for the right spot." The ideal xeriscape design remains essentially maintenance free once established. While gardeners often use cacti for xeriscaping in dry areas, many plants and flowers flourish in Florida xeriscaping.
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How To Prune A Dwarf Weeping Cherry Tree
How to Prune a Dwarf Weeping Cherry Tree. A dwarf weeping cherry tree adds color and character to many landscapes. Prune and trim cherry trees annually to keep them in peak health and form. Although most stone fruit trees should be pruned in the winter, prune weeping cherries in the summer after they have flowered to avoid Silver Leaf disease. By reducing the dead wood and excess branch load on the tree, you ensure that more of the tree's resources go to flowering and trunk growth, thus encouraging more flowers and a healthier tree.
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How To Identify Thistle
How to Identify Thistle. Thistles belong to a large plant family and are mostly native to Asia and Europe. Thistles may be part of the Cirsium, Carduus, Carthamus or Onopordum genus. Some thistles are considered noxious weeds or invasive plant species because of their vigorous reproduction and sometimes toxic qualities. Some thistles are not considered invasive, mostly because their spread is naturally controlled by native plants or certain feeding insects. Proper thistle identification is important in knowing whether the plant's presence warrants any control measures.
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Insects That Eat Algae
Insects That Eat Algae. Algae are a sprawling green or blue-green group of organisms which belong to the Paraphyletic group. Like plants, algae uses chlorophyll to capture light and convert it to sugar; however, algae is not scientifically considered to be a plant. Algae is very beneficial to aquatic life as it intakes animal waste for its nitrogen, expels oxygen and provides food for various forms of aquatic life. While many animals, like salamanders and frogs, eat algae, many insects also consume the it.
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Florida Palm Trees & Their Fruit
Florida Palm Trees & Their Fruit. Palm trees are plentiful in Florida, especially in the southern part of the state. In addition to adding beauty and structure to landscapes, some palm trees bear edible fruits. Dates are the most popular of the palm tree fruits, but several other varieties of palms also bear delicious fruits.
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How To Plant Seeds With A Heat Lamp
How to Plant Seeds With a Heat Lamp. Starting seedlings under lights inside gives them a chance to grow strong before planting outside. It also lets you start tender vegetable plants indoors while temperatures outdoors are still too cold. Some plants, such as peppers, love heat and warm soil, and air temperatures are necessary for the seedlings to grow properly. Heat lamps provide the warmth and light required for these types of plants. Use them to supplement normal grow lights, as using them exclusively may burn and damage plants.
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