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Blood Meal for Rabbit Repellent. Rabbits are the bane of many a gardener's existence, and if you are finding you cannot grow certain edibles or ornamentals without losing them to bunnies, you may need a repellent. Blood meal, while not the most effective repellent out there, has been known to discourage rabbits, at least for a time.
Read MoreWhat to Check for When One Sprinkler Stays on All the Time. Sprinklers can make your busy life easier and less stressful by providing automated water delivery to your landscape, but only if they work properly. If you’ve noticed a sprinkler that consistently fails to shut off or continually leaks, there could be a variety of factors at play. The solution could be as simple as resetting the sprinkler timer’s program, or it may require some real hands-in-the-dirt sleuthing.
Read MoreNandina Domestica Diseases. Low maintenance and hardy, with showy flowers and beautiful winter fruit, heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica) is a favorite in ornamental gardening. Although it isn’t usually afflicted with pests or diseases, it does have a few susceptibilities. Knowing how to recognize them can increase your chances of growing healthy heavenly bamboo.
Read MoreThe Best Month to Trim Bradford Pear Trees. The Bradford pear (Pyrus calleryana “Bradford”) is a native of China and Korea, introduced into the United States under its current name in 1963. It is winter hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5a through 9a, so can be grown in much of the country. This 40-foot-tall tree has a notably difficult branching habit, so pruning effectively is the best way to encourage healthy growth throughout its life.
Read MoreDo Small Pine Trees Need to Be Taken Indoors During Winter Time?. Small pine trees (Pinus spp.) make charming, low-maintenance and family-friendly additions to rock gardens, native gardens or naturalized woodland yards. During the winter holidays, many families enjoy decorating small pines with strings of popcorn and cranberries and other bird treats. Larger pines work well as hedge plants, windbreaks or screens and specimen trees on sprawling landscapes, but they start out small. Although small pines may be more drought-tolerant once established, they tend to be just as cold-hardy as their larger cousins sharing the same U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones.
Read MoreFast-Growing Ivy for Climbing a Brick Wall. Nothing covers a formerly bare surface more quickly or gracefully than ivy. Climbing ivies not only provide a fast way to improve a brick wall’s looks, they are tolerant and undemanding, leaving you free to take care of the many other tasks that occupy your time.
Read MoreHow Fast Will a Majesty Palm Grow Outside?. Majesty palms (Ravenea spp.) are a busy mom’s best friend: lush, exotic-looking and quite tolerant, they will provide years of service and require little labor in the home landscape. Generally the rate at which majesty palm grows is dependent on species, over which topic there is some confusion. Since there are two main species, one of which grows markedly taller and the other of which grows faster, be sure to distinguish between them before planting.
Read MoreCan You Grow Cashews in Texas?. If you are lucky enough to live in a part of Texas where cashews (Anacardium occidentale) will thrive, you may be able to grow this nut for yourself. Though harvesting and eating the cashews is a fun project for kids, watch out for the potentially poisonous parts of the plant.
Read MoreCan a Mulberry Be Kept Small?. Mulberries (Morus spp.) are not typically small plants. While you can train any tree to stay small with assiduous attention to pruning, be aware that if you decide to grow mulberry, you will need to prune it every year to control its height. If you're a busy mom, then the constant pruning may be more than you want to tackle, and even then you might not be able to keep it small.
Read MoreApproximately How Long Can an Olive Tree Live?. Olive trees (Olea europaea) are prized for their fruit, which, when pickled in brine, constitutes a delicacy, as well as their picturesquely gnarled branches and gray-green leaves. When you plant one in the garden, you can rest assured that it probably isn’t going anywhere. When well cared for, an olive tree can live for hundreds of years, even in a cultivated setting.
Read MoreRaspberry Plant Adaptations. Raspberries (Rubus spp.) are one of the most popular additions to the perennial edible garden. Their juicy, jewel-toned fruits and easygoing natures make them tolerant plants for even the busiest gardeners. In addition to their berries, they provide fragrant flowers and visually appealing canes. They have several adaptations that help them survive and have contributed to their place in the home garden.
Read MoreThe Best Time to Spread Grub Killer in Massachusetts. Between everything else you have to get done, you don’t want to hear the kids run in yelling about icky bugs. Busy moms want healthy, happy lawns their children can play on, and white grubs do not contribute to that ideal. Because white grubs, the larval stage of several types of adult scarab beetle, eat grass roots and cause sod to become spongy and roll back, they destroy turf and can cause considerable damage. If you need to resort to pesticides, do so in summer when it will be most effective.
Read MoreQueen Palm Tree Growth Rate. The queen palm (Syagrus romanzoffiana) is a quintessential palm, with a long trunk, soft, feathery fronds that blow in the breeze, and showy fruits that add color and interest to gardens and landscapes. Because the queen palm grows rapidly, it establishes and reaches full height quickly.
Read MoreAvocado Tree Height. The classic, buttery fruit of the avocado tree (Persea americana) is a boon to the backyard garden, but before you take the time and expense to plant and nurture this delicate tree, make sure you have enough room. While avocados aren’t huge trees, they do grow to a considerable height quite quickly.
Read MoreIs the Ranunculus a Dicot?. The genus Rununculus includes among other species a wide range of buttercups, golden-flowered perennials that hail from parts of Europe and Asia. In the garden these cheerful plants provide a profusion of blossoms that can last, depending on the species, into late summer. Though flowering plants come in two forms, monocots and dicots, members of the ranunculus genus are the latter.
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