Marissa Baker
Garden Guides Editorial Policies
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 Marissa Baker
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Why Are Honeysuckle Plants Poisonous To Dogs?
Why are Honeysuckle Plants Poisonous to Dogs?
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Effects Of Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) On Plant Growth
Effects of Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) on Plant Growth
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How To Identify Ryegrass And Kentucky Bluegrass
How to Identify Rye Grass & Kentucky Bluegrass. Properly identifying the type of grass you have can help prevent you from giving the grass too much or too little water and fertilizer. Likewise, all grasses aren't mowed the same, and shearing rye grass and Kentucky grass too close to the soil can cause bald spots on the lawn. Lawn grass is typically a mixture of grasses instead of a single species. Rye grass is either annual or perennial. Kentucky bluegrass and both rye grasses are cool-season turf grasses. Annual rye grass is used to overseed warm-season grass in areas with moderate temperatures from the fall to early spring. Perennial rye grass tolerates a high amount of traffic and is mixed with Kentucky bluegrass for growing lawns during the cool months of the year in moderate, coastal climates.
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Full Sun Rock Garden Plants
Full Sun Rock Garden Plants. Rock gardens work in difficult landscape areas like slopes, dry spots or hard-to-reach crannies. Commonly designed to resemble a natural environment, rock gardens often contain wildflowers and alpine plants because these plants are hardy, easy to care for and adaptable to changing conditions. As you design your garden, create a naturalized effect by incorporating various sizes and types of rocks and plant species, then repeat some of the plants throughout the garden to visually tie it together.
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How To Plant Sod In Texas
How to Plant Sod in Texas. Laying sod is the fastest, and one of the easiest, ways to start a new lawn. If you live in Texas, the chief concerns when planting a lawn from sod are choosing a species of grass that grows well in your area and making sure the new lawn gets plenty of water. Before installing, perform a soil test to see if any amendments are required.
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How To Plant Pansies In Containers
How to Plant Pansies in Containers. Pansies (_Viola × wittrockiana_) are compact plants that provide a splash of color in containers. The range of colors includes white, pink, red, orange, bronze, yellow, blue, purple and black, as well as many multicolored varieties. They grow best in full sun to part shade.
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Dwarf Bottlebrush Plants
Dwarf Bottlebrush Plants. Australian natives, many bottlebrush (_Callistemon spp._) varieties grow as 30-foot trees or large shrubs. Dwarf bottlebrush (_Callistemon citrinus_ "Little John") is more compact. It was discovered in the 1980s by Ken Dunstan of New South Wales, Australia, and was named the 1986 Shrub of the Year in Australia.
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How To Repair A Lawn From Too Much Fertilizer
How to Repair a Lawn From Too Much Fertilizer. Regardless of the grass type of your lawn, using general fertilizers can help with growth, health and sustained viability. But too much fertilizer can damage and even kill a lawn. One of the main dangers of over-fertilizing lawns is that an excess amount of nitrogen from the fertilizer infiltrates the soil, causing the lawn to yellow and eventually brown. To repair the lawn from this damage, you need to use a few simple, lawn-cleansing and sodding techniques that will return your lawn to a healthy state.
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DIY Heating Pad For Germinating Plants
DIY Heating Pad for Germinating Plants. Most seeds require heat to germinate, particularly warm-weather annuals such as garden tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) and petunias (Petunia x hybrida), which only germinate in temperatures between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Even after the seeds have sprouted, little seedlings often need additional heat when you start them early in the year. Bottom heat is typically recommended for supplying additional heat, either in the form a commercially available heating pad designed for seed starting or as part of a do-it-yourself project.
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Can You Plant The Seed Heads From Garlic?
Can You Plant the Seed Heads From Garlic?. Garlic is a cool-season plant that grows best in the fall or early spring months. Most gardeners grow new garlic plants by planting cloves from a bulb. Garlic also grows from the seeds produced on its stalk.
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Good Plants For Erosion Control
Good Plants for Erosion Control. Location is a primary consideration when selecting the best plants for erosion control. Sunny slopes with sandy soil and rocky hillsides both need a mixture of sturdy, drought-tolerant trees, spreading perennials and/or groundcovers. Shaded locations require plants with roots that can hold soil in place and thrive in low-light levels. In locations near water, like stream banks, plants that are fast-growing and tolerate wet soil are the best choices.
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Plants For A Spanish-Style Garden
Plants for a Spanish-Style Garden . Spanish garden design has heavily influenced landscaping in Mediterranean climates around the world. It is particularly well-suited to warm, dry locations because most plants grown in Spanish-style gardens are drought resistant. Silvery green foliage is a common feature in these gardens, and edible plants are frequently grown as well. The overall style is relaxed, and it pairs well with both modern and classic architecture styles. Features in a Spanish-style garden include terraces, fountains, courtyards, fountains and reflecting pools, with symmetry being a main element.
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Plants For Small Containers
Plants for Small Containers. Plants that will grow in small containers must be chosen carefully. The plants should have small root systems so they won't be cramped, and they should have small flowers and leaves so they don't appear top-heavy and overwhelm their containers. Almost any kind of container works for a small plant, as long as the container has bottom drainage holes and is large enough to hold at least 1 to 3 gallons of potting soil.
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Knock Out Rose Disease
Knockout Rose Disease. Knockout Rose is a popular rose choice due to its low maintenance, brilliant clusters of bright flowers and fragrance. Knockout Roses are known for their resistance, but they are not completely safe from rose diseases.
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Do Mums Do Better In Sunlight Or Shade?
Do Mums Do Better in Sunlight or Shade?. Like all plants, chrysanthemums only grow when a few basic requirements are fulfilled, including proper soil, water, food and light. The light exposure of a mum plant determines how quickly, how fully and how beautiful the flowers of the plant bloom, and only through proper light exposure can you ensure that the mums will live up to their full potential.
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Landscape Shrub Choices For Kansas
Landscape Shrub Choices for Kansas. Not just any shrub will do in a Kansas landscape. Drought-tolerant shrubs are a good choice for western Kansas, while shrubs grown in Eastern Kansas will receive more rain. Site-specific factors like available sunlight come into play as well. The chosen shrubs must also be hardy in Kansas, which falls in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5, 6 and 7.
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How To Plant Grass In The Summer
How To Plant Grass in the Summer. While it is generally recommended that grass seed should be planted either before or after the heat of summer, there are a few things you can do to help establish healthy grass if you must plant in the summer months. The most important is taking steps to ensure your soil stays moist during the hot, dry days. Once you've chosen the appropriate seed for your climate type, you should determine if you're planting over your existing lawn or starting with bare soil.
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