Julie Richards
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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 Julie Richards
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How To Propagate A Buxus
How to Propagate a Buxus. Buxus shrubs are also called boxwood shrubs. The evergreen foliage is a favorite in formal gardens and landscapes. The buxus shrub grows slowly and can be expensive. You can cut the expense of adding more buxus shrubs to the landscape by using hardwood or semi-hardwood, stem-cutting propagation methods. Hardwood stem cuttings should be taken in the early spring before new growth starts. You can take semi-hardwood cuttings in the fall for propagation as long as you care for the cuttings indoors.
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How Many Different Colors Do Tulips Come In?
How Many Different Colors Do Tulips Come In?. One of the earliest forms of stock trading took place in the 16th and 17th century when dealers bought and sold promissory notes guaranteeing the delivery of a particular tulip bulb. Tulips (Tulipa spp.) originated not from Holland but from Central Asia, and were the downfall of many wealthy families. Flower history was made in the 1600s, when a single tulip bulb sold for the equivalent of $70,000. The actual transaction involved 4,000 pounds of butter, 12 sheep, eight pigs and much more. You can still purchase tulip varieties that were available in the 1500s. Since that time, breeders have developed tulips in hundreds of colors and petal forms. With almost 6,000 named cultivars, there is a color for everyone.
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How To Grow Green Giant From Cuttings
How to Grow Green Giant From Cuttings. The Thuja green giant grows to a stately 50 feet tall when planted by itself and 20 to 30 feet when planted in a group or privacy fence. Being a tree listed in the public domain, any gardener is free to propagate the green giant. Grow green giant from cuttings taken in the winter to ensure a perfect clone of the original plant.
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How To Soak Watermelon Seeds In Milk Before Growing
How to Soak Watermelon Seeds in Milk Before Growing. Watermelons need a long growing season to develop to maturity. Some areas provide the right amount of days without worry. Other areas have shorter growing seasons so the watermelon plants must be started ahead of time for transplanting into the garden. If you soak the watermelon seeds in milk before planting them, the seeds soften and germinate more quickly than they would if planted directly in the soil. Although you can soak the watermelon seeds in water, the milk adds extra nutrients upon which the sprouting seedlings feed.
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How To Propagate Thuja Cuttings
How to Propagate Thuja Cuttings. The green giant thuja remains in the public domain of plants, allowing anyone the right to propagate its cuttings. This majestic conifer grows upwards to 60 feet during its lifetime, making it a good specimen for wind breaks and privacy hedging. Thuja delivers quality cuttings in the winter after the tree reaches dormancy. Trying to propagate thuja cuttings during any other time of the year results in less than satisfactory results.
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Tips On Growing Pansies From Seed
Tips on Growing Pansies From Seed. Pansy flowers grow all over the world in almost every color combination you can imagine. This flower has been called an annual, biennial and a perennial by myriads of gardeners. Pansies grow anywhere and can tolerate lots of abuse. The one thing pansies do suffer from is heat. The cooler temperatures of the northern states keep pansies growing from spring to fall while it is the winter months where pansies thrive in the southern states.
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How To Prepare A Field For Planting
How to Prepare a Field for Planting. An open field presents many possibilities for planting. Whether putting in a cash crop or tending the field to make ready for vegetables, steps must be taken to prepare the field for planting. Thought must go into the process before the first tractor tire hits the soil to create the proper growing medium for the chosen harvest.
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How To Care For A Star Of Jerusalem Plant
How to Care for a Star of Jerusalem Plant. The star of Jerusalem plant goes by many names, such as salsify, goat's beard and go-to-bed-early. The scientific genus is Tragopogon, with over 10 species available worldwide. The flowers may be yellow, purple or white and form on long stalks among the grass-like foliage. The star of Jerusalem is a biennial plant and reseeds its self. Hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture planting zones 4 through 8, some areas classify the plant as an invasive weed. The tap root is edible, and the entire plant has been used medicinally.
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How To Build Raised Planters On A Hillside
How to Build Raised Planters on a Hillside. The benefits of planting in a raised bed or planter--from warmer soil temperatures to lower maintenance--far outweigh the cost and energy expended to set up the planter. However, if your ideal garden area is along a hillside, the simplicity of building a raised planter frame and setting it on the ground is more challenging. To build raised planters on a hillside you need to break ground and take measurements before you purchase materials.
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Tulip Poplar Tree Diseases
Tulip Poplar Tree Diseases. Tulip poplar trees grow to heights of 150 feet or more. The tulip shaped leaves flutter in even the slightest breeze. Tulip poplar trees produce a beautiful bloom closely resembling a yellow and green tulip. This fast growing member of the magnolia family is majestic standing alone in a large grassy area. The tulip poplar is extremely hardy and seldom succumbs to any pests or diseases.
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What Time Of Year Do You Plant Fruit Trees In Louisiana?
What Time of Year Do You Plant Fruit Trees in Louisiana?. Located in the southern part of the United States, Louisiana provides a long growing season for fruits and vegetables. Fruit trees like kumquat, orange and pawpaw do well in the climate. Louisiana's USDA hardiness zones are 8a, 8b and 9b, which means garden work is best suited for cool months.
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How To Propagate Rhododendrons Cuttings
How to Propagate Rhododendrons Cuttings. Propagate rhododendron cuttings as a hardwood. The woody stem produced during the end of the growing season on plants and shrubs is referred to as hardwood. Hardwood is somewhat pliable but will generally snap when bent in two. Although hardwood cuttings require more time to cultivate, it is worth the effort to grow a duplicate of the beautiful flowering rhododendron used as the host plant. Cuttings from the smaller rhododendron taken root more easily than those of the larger varieties.
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How To Propagate Bamboo From Cuttings
How to Propagate Bamboo From Cuttings. Bamboo grows quickly and in some areas takes over with surprising vigor. The many uses of bamboo, from furniture to flooring, make it one of the most desirable plants for growing. Propagate bamboo from cuttings, just like many other plants, with the aid of a rooting hormone found in most garden centers. There are two ways to propagate bamboo with the rooting hormone.
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How To Plant Onion Bulbs
How to Plant Onion Bulbs. Onion is a cool-weather vegetable that does well when planted two weeks before the last frost date in areas with short growing seasons. Long-day onions do well in areas where sunlight lasts 15 to 16 hours per day. Plant short-day onions in the early fall for southern areas with long growing seasons. Short-day onions mature with only 12 hours of daily sunlight. Northern areas have long days for growing and the southern areas grow gardens in the winter with shorter days.
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Potato Varieties For Bin Growing
Potato Varieties for Bin Growing. Potato cultivation methods include burying seed potatoes and mounding soil around the potatoes as they grow, growing in straw or other organic medium, or bin growing. Bin growing means planting seed potatoes in a container of some type, like old tires or buckets. Soil or organic material is added as the potato vines grow. This way, potatoes are produced in several layers of the bin instead of just one layer in the garden. Determinate potatoes flower once and produce one layer of potatoes, so they are not suitable for bin growing. Indeterminate potato varieties, which flower continuously throughout the growing season, are better for bin growing.
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How To Propagate Grape Vine Cuttings
How to Propagate Grape Vine Cuttings. There are three ways to successfully propagate grape vines. The first way is through layering, where one cane is pulled down and partially buried in the soil until roots form. The rooted cane is then severed from the mother plant. The second method is to grow the seeds of the produced grapes, but fruit seed does not always grow true to the parent plant. The final way to propagate grape vines is through rooting grape vine cuttings. Stem cuttings taken from the mother plant produce an identical plant. The cuttings produce healthy grape vines that start to produce fruit as early as the second year of growth.
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How To Split Hydrangea Plants
How to Split Hydrangea Plants. Hydrangea plants grow into large shrubs and take over gardening spaces if left to their own devices. Split hydrangea plants to limit the size of an existing plant and to add a new one to the garden. Smaller plants need only be split once while larger plants do well when split into several smaller hydrangea plants.
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How To Grow Elephant Ears In Zone 6
How to Grow Elephant Ears in Zone 6. Elephant ears (Colocasia esculenta) are tropical plants that thrive in sunlight or shade and need a humid environment. In northern regions, such as USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6, elephant ears grow from tubers, or corms, which are dug up each fall and planted again in the spring. It is possible to bring the plant into the house for the winter and return it to the outside when danger from frost has passed.
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How To Design A Round Flower Bed
How to Design a Round Flower Bed. There is so much more to designing a round flower bed than just making a circle and planting some seeds. Every aspect of the project must be examined before turning over one shovel of dirt. From lighting requirements to slope for proper drainage, a beautiful flower bed starts with a good plan.
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How To Grow New Plants From Another Plant
How to Grow New Plants From Another Plant. Garden centers sell liquid or powder rooting hormone, which allows the home gardener to grow new plants from another plant and creates an inexpensive way to add additional plants to the landscape. Many plants can be cloned through stem cuttings taken during the early part of the growing season when the stems bend easily, but do not break.
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How To Prune Burford Holly Shrubs
How to Prune Burford Holly Shrubs. The Burford holly shrub, easily recognized as a favorite holiday decoration, can grow to heights of 15 feet, according to the U.S. Department of Forestry. Pruning keeps the attractive, deep-green foliage to a reasonable size for easier maintenance. According to North Carolina State University, the three main reasons to prune a shrub is because of disease, dying limbs or foliage, or damage to the shrub. The Burford holly shrub is not prone to disease, so pruning this self-pollinating shrub is mainly for appearance. Prune Burford holly shrubs along the outer branches to keep them growing tall, or maintain a compact shrub by topping the holly bush. Either pruning method is acceptable at any time of the year. For healthy growth after pruning, provide fertilizer to the shrub in the spring or fall.
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How To Prune Old Grape Vines
How to Prune Old Grape Vines. Growing grape vines also means learning how to prune old grape vines for quality fruit production the following growing season. Each year, when the vines go dormant, the grape vines must be cut back to remove old growth and make way for new growth and fruit development. You will know when the grape vines are dormant because the leaves turn brown and start falling off. It is important to prune grape vines so that the quality of the grapes remains high.
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How To Remove And Store Lily Bulbs
How to Remove and Store Lily Bulbs. The magnificent lily flower grows from carefully tended bulbs each year. The exotic flowers provide fragrance and color to any flower bed. Lifting the bulbs in the fall adds protection from harsh winter weather and allows the bulbs to go dormant or gives them a state of rest. Proper storage keeps the lily bulbs plump and fresh for spring planting and summer blooms.
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How To Grow Cactus Cuttings
How to Grow Cactus Cuttings. Cactus offer a variety of shapes and color to the indoor garden. The blooms provide brilliant contrast to the shades of green normally associated with cacti. One of the easiest plants to care for, cactus also make a good plant to propagate for anyone who enjoys them and wants more for the garden. It is very easy to grow cactus cuttings from any of the succulents already growing, whether it is removing a pad or cutting a section from the host cactus.
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How To Root A San Pedro Cactus Cutting
How to Root a San Pedro Cactus Cutting. The San Pedro cactus propagates easily from cuttings with a simple sand medium. Any succulent must be allowed to form a callous on the wound (cut edge) before attempting to root. The callous forms in just a few days for smaller cuttings, while large or thick cactus cuttings may take months to properly callous over and be ready to root.
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