Complete Gardening -

Plant of the Week

If your ripe tomatoes keep splitting open on the vine this August, one watering swing usually starts it

Walking out to your garden after a summer rainstorm and finding your biggest, ripest tomatoes split wide open is genuinely discouraging. The damage seems to...

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 2, 2026

Field Notes

If Your Zucchini Fruit Rots and Shrivels at the Tip This August, Inadequate Pollination Is Often the First Place to Look

The California Toad Homeowners Might Accidentally Harm When It’s Quietly Helping With Snails and Slugs

If Your Cucumber Leaves Turn Crispy and Scorched at the Edges in This August Heat, One Watering Swing Usually Starts It

If your eggplants keep dropping flowers without setting fruit this August, one feeding habit usually starts it

From the Garden

If your fall broccoli and cabbage seedlings keep wilting in this August heat, one planting habit usually starts it

When Fire Ant Mounds Take Over Your North Carolina Garden Beds This Summer, These Native Birds May Catch Flying Queens But Won’t Replace Treatment

The California Native Vine That Pulls Hummingbirds Off The Feeder And Onto Your Fence Instead

If your bell peppers get sunscald and pale leathery patches in this August heat, one pruning habit usually starts it

More Green Toads In Your Central Texas Garden Means Fewer Scorpions (Here’s How To Bring Them In)

In Bloom

What It Really Means When Praying Mantises Show Up In Your North Carolina Garden, And Why You Want Them To Stay

That Shiny Lizard in Your Yard May Be a Western Skink – a Native Generalist Predator Worth Getting to Know

More Green Lacewings In Your Central Texas Garden Means Fewer Aphids (Here’s How To Bring Them In)

Gardener's Selection

If your tomatoes are cracking and rotting on the bottom this August, the trouble usually starts below the fruit

Florida Plants That Turn Your Yard Into Owl Territory So the Rats Move On for Good

The California Alligator Lizard Homeowners Chase Off Their Woodpile Is Quietly Thinning The Ticks Near The House

If your tomatoes slow way down in this August heat, your feeding routine usually needs a reset

If your ripe tomatoes keep splitting open on the vine this August, one watering swing usually starts it

The Potting Shed

When Fall Armyworms Start Chewing Your North Carolina Lawn Bare This Month, Reach For These Birds Instead Of A Spray Can

The California Snake Homeowners Kill By Mistake, When It’s Actually Eating The Gophers Wrecking Your Beds

More Barn Owls Over Your Central Texas Yard Means Fewer Rats (Here’s How To Bring Them In)

If your cucumbers turn bitter and inedible in this August heat, one watering swing usually starts it

The Most Underrated North Carolina Native Shrub That Pulls Box Turtles Into Your Garden Beds And Keeps The Pests Down

The Native Texas Plant That Pulls In Green Anoles And Sends Roaches Off Your Porch For Good

If your cucumber vines are loaded with flowers but no fruit ever forms this August, one pollination gap usually starts it

What It Really Means When Toads Start Living In Your North Carolina Garden Beds, And Why You Want Them To Stay

Green Lynx Spiders in Your Texas Garden May Help Against Caterpillars on Fall Vegetables

If your zucchini plants are all leaves and vine but the fruit never fills out this August, one feeding habit usually starts it

If your squash plants look fine at dawn but wilt flat by afternoon this August, the trouble usually starts at the base

The Most Underrated North Carolina Native Shrub That Pulls Songbirds In All Winter While Quietly Feeding The Bees In Spring

Green Anoles May Eat Some Porch Insects in Central Texas – Here’s How to Support Them

If your pepper plants are dropping their blossoms before they set fruit in this August heat, one watering swing usually starts it

7 Florida Native Ground Covers That Replace Bark Mulch and Stop Washing Away Every Summer Storm

The Garden Almanac

Field Notes

The Florida Shrub That Looks Harmless in Your Yard but Can Send You to the ER If Sap Reaches Your Eyes

If your zucchini plants keep dropping their baby fruit before it grows this August, one hidden habit usually starts it

What It Really Means When Alligator Lizards Lay Eggs Under Your California Woodpile, and Why You Want Them to Stay

7 Native Florida Ground Covers That Take Over Your Lawn and Cut Your Mowing to Almost Nothing

The Drought-Proof California Native Shrubs That Replace Crape Myrtle And Actually Feed The Birds

What It Really Means When Fall Webworm Nests Show Up In Your North Carolina Trees, And Why Cutting Them Down Usually Backfires