Ethan Brooks, Author at Complete Gardening

Gardening Tips

Your Coneflowers Sulk and Barely Bloom — Here Are the Spots Where They Finally Take Off

Purple coneflowers look stunning in a sunny garden, but plenty of Southern gardeners end up with scraggly plants…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 8

Gardening Tips

The Christmas Cactus Blooms You Want in Winter Start With One Move You Make Right Now in September

If you have a plant sitting on your windowsill that everyone calls a Christmas cactus, September is the…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 7

Gardening Tips

Your Fall Broccoli Seedlings Bolt to Flower Before They Head Up – Here’s the Heat Slip Behind It

Few things are more frustrating than watching your fall broccoli shoot up yellow flowers before you ever get…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 7

Gardening Tips

Why Your Bell Peppers Turn Red and Wrinkle on the Plant Before You Pick Them

Bell peppers turning red right on the plant can feel alarming, especially when the skin starts to wrinkle…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 7

Gardening Tips

Your Zucchini Plants Are Rotting at the Tips Before They Size Up — Here’s the Fruit-Set Slip Behind It

Watching a baby zucchini swell with promise, then shrivel and rot before it reaches your kitchen, is one…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 7

Gardening Tips

Deer Are Stripping Your Fall Garden as the Wild Forage Dries Up — Here’s the Scent That Turns Them Away

Deer can hit backyard gardens hard during late summer and fall, especially when heat and drought reduce the…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 7

Gardening Tips

Something Keeps Digging Fresh Holes in Your Garden Overnight — Here’s How to Read the Signs and Stop It

Waking up to a yard full of fresh holes is one of those gardening surprises that turns a…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 7

Gardening Tips

Your Clematis Grows Fine but Won’t Flower Next Year Unless You Fix This Care Slip Now

Clematis can fill a fence with lush green growth all season long and still disappoint you with barely…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 7

Gardening Tips

Your Christmas Cactus Looks Limp and Thirsty – Here’s the Summer Watering Slip That’s Really Behind It

You walk past your Christmas cactus and notice the stems have gone soft and droopy, so your first…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 7

Gardening Tips

Your Tomato Plants Are Spent and Falling Apart — Here’s Why You Should Pull Them Now and How to Do It Right

When tomato vines start looking rough, it can be hard to know whether to keep nursing them along…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 7

Gardening Tips

Don’t Ruin Your Final Hydrangea Show — Here’s the End-of-Season Care Slip That Cuts Next Year’s Blooms

Fall is a tempting time to tidy up the garden, and hydrangeas with their faded, papery blooms can…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 7

Gardening Tips

Stop Doing This to Your Hydrangeas Once the Fall Cool-Down Arrives — It Undoes Months of Growth

Picking up pruning shears when the air cools down feels like responsible garden care, but for hydrangeas, that…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 7

Gardening Tips

Your Hummingbirds Stop Visiting as September Flowers Fade — Here’s the Feeder Food That Keeps Them Coming

September in Florida and Texas can feel like the yard is shutting down for hummingbirds. Flowers that fed…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 7

Gardening Tips

Your Climbing Clematis Disappoints Every Year — Here’s the One Hidden Mistake Keeping It From Blooming

You water it, you train it, and every spring you stand there staring at a wall of green…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 7

Gardening Tips

Can You Still Plant Zinnias in September, or Have You Missed the Window This Year?

Holding a packet of zinnia seeds in September and wondering if you’ve already missed your chance is a…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 7

Gardening Tips

Your Hydrangeas Wilt by Afternoon No Matter How Much You Water – Here’s the Watering Slip Quietly Behind It

Watching a hydrangea droop in the afternoon heat is one of those moments that makes every Southern gardener…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 7

Gardening Tips

Something Keeps Bothering Your Hummingbirds Right Before Fall Migration — Here’s the Pest to Stop Now

Late summer is prime time to watch hummingbirds fuel up at your backyard feeder, but something else may…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 7

Gardening Tips

If Weeds Keep Creeping Into Your Bare Spots, This Ground-Hugging Plant Quietly Covers Them for Good

Bare patches in a Southern lawn are an open invitation for weeds, and no amount of pulling seems…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 6

Gardening Tips

These Popular Foods Are Actually Illegal to Grow in Your Backyard – Here Are the Ones to Pull Now

You might be surprised to learn that a few plants sitting in your Southern garden right now could…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 6

Gardening Tips

Your Coneflowers Look Sickly No Matter How You Feed Them – Here’s the Wrong Spot They’re Quietly Planted In

Purple coneflowers are supposed to be tough, but plenty of gardeners watch them struggle season after season despite…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 6

Gardening Tips

Your Perennials Won’t Survive the First Hard Frost Unless You Mulch These 5 in September

Fall is sneaking up on Southern gardens faster than most people realize, and a few perennials in your…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 6

Gardening Tips

Your Hydrangea Blooms Are Turning Brown but the Leaves Look Fine – Here’s What the Plant Is Really Telling You

Seeing your hydrangea flowers turn brown while the leaves stay perfectly green can send a gardener into a…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 6

Gardening Tips

Your Tomatoes Set Less Fruit When These Nearby Plants Quietly Compete – Here Are the Bad Neighbors to Move Now

Ever notice your tomato plants looking healthy but barely setting any fruit? Sometimes the problem is not the…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 6

Gardening Tips

Your Backyard Beds Emptied Out After the Summer Heat — Here Are the Fall Crops That Should Fill Them Now

When summer winds down and your garden beds look worn out, it can feel like the season is…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 6

Gardening Tips

Your Grass Seed Won’t Sprout on Top of the Soil — Here’s the One Basic Mistake Behind the Bare Spots

Scattering grass seed over a bare patch feels like a simple fix, but plenty of Southern homeowners end…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 6

Gardening Tips

These Fast-Growing Perennials Fill an Empty Bed in a Single Season – Here Are the Ones to Plant Now

Staring at a bare, empty flower bed can feel discouraging, especially when you want color fast. The good…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 6

Gardening Tips

Your Tomato Plants Are Winding Down — Here Are the Fall Vegetables That Should Take Their Spot Right Now

When your tomato plants start looking tired and leggy, it can feel like the growing season is over.…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 6

Gardening Tips

Your Lawn Has Bare Patches Heading Into Fall – Here’s the One Move That Fixes Them Before Winter

Bare patches showing up in your lawn right before fall can feel like a race against the clock.…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 6

Gardening Tips

Your Potted Geraniums Stay Leggy and Sparse in a Small Space – Here’s the One Move That Fills the Pot With Blooms

If your porch or balcony geranium looks more like a bare stick with a few leaves at the…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 6

Gardening Tips

Your Geraniums Grow Leafy but Barely Flower – Here’s the One Trick That Fills Them With Blooms

You water them, you feed them, and your geraniums look full and green – but the flowers just…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 6

Gardening Tips

Something Keeps Shredding Your Bird Feeder and Scattering Seed Overnight – A Likely Culprit and How to Stop It

You walk out to your bird feeder in the morning and find seed scattered everywhere, the feeder tipped…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 6

Gardening Tips

Something Keeps Marching Up to Your Hummingbird Feeder and Swarming the Nectar — Here’s How to Stop the Ants for Good

Ants have a remarkable ability to find sugar water, and once a single scout locates your hummingbird feeder,…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 5

Gardening Tips

These Fast-Spreading Garden Plants Are Actually Banned in US Backyards – Here Are the Ones to Pull Now

Some plants look pretty in the garden but cause big trouble once they escape into the wild. A…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 5

Gardening Tips

Your High-Maintenance Flowers Keep Fizzling Out — Here Are the Tough Perennials That Thrive on Neglect

If your fussy flowers keep dying no matter how much you fuss over them, the problem might not…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 5

Gardening Tips

Your Tomatoes Stayed Small This Year No Matter How You Fed Them — Here’s the One Overlooked Mistake Behind It

Picking a handful of tiny tomatoes after months of watering and feeding is one of the most frustrating…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 5

Gardening Tips

Stop Spending Money on Weed Killers – Here’s the Cheap Kitchen Fix That Wipes Out Late-Season Weeds

Every fall, weeds seem to surge back just when you thought the garden was winding down, and the…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 5

Gardening Tips

Your Hydrangeas Struggle in the Heat No Matter What You Do — Here Are the Flowering Shrubs That Thrive in Their Place

If your hydrangeas wilt and brown out every summer no matter how much you water them, you are…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 5

Gardening Tips

Something Keeps Digging Small Cone-Shaped Holes in Your Lawn Overnight — Here Are the Everyday Spots Quietly Drawing Skunks In

Waking up to find a cluster of small, cone-shaped holes scattered across your lawn overnight is genuinely puzzling,…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 5

Gardening Tips

Your Peace Lily Grows Brown Tips No Matter How You Water — Here’s What It’s Really Telling You

Peace lilies are some of the most forgiving houseplants around, but those crispy brown tips can show up…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 5

Gardening Tips

Your Squash Plants Flower All Day but Set Almost No Fruit in the Late-Summer Heat – Here’s the One Fix

Watching your squash plant explode with bright yellow blossoms while producing almost no actual squash is one of…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 5

Gardening Tips

Your Hanging Baskets Struggle in the Heat No Matter How Often You Water — Here’s the Watering Slip Behind It

Hanging baskets can look perfectly watered from the outside and still have a bone-dry root ball on the…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 5

Gardening Tips

Your Tomato Plants Slow Down in the September Heat — Here’s the One Feeding Move That Ripens More Fruit

Green tomatoes hanging on the vine while the calendar flips to September is one of the most frustrating…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 5

Gardening Tips

Something Keeps Draining Your Hummingbird Feeder but the Nectar Isn’t Bringing Them In – Here’s the Sweet Flower That May Help

Your hummingbird feeder keeps emptying out, but you never actually see a hummingbird at it. Before assuming the…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 5

Gardening Tips

Your Hydrangea Leaves Turn Crispy Brown at the Edges While the Plant Looks Fine — Here’s the Warning It’s Sending

Crispy brown edges creeping along your hydrangea leaves can stop you cold, especially when the rest of the…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 5

Gardening Tips

Your Boston Fern Turns Crispy and Brown at the Tips – Here’s What to Check Before You Cut It Off

Waking up to find your Boston fern looking like it spent the night near a campfire is genuinely…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 5

Gardening Tips

Creeping Charlie Keeps Taking Over Your Lawn – Here Are the No-Chemical Tricks That Finally Stop It

Creeping Charlie is that low, sneaky weed with round leaves and tiny purple flowers that spreads across your…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 5

Gardening Tips

Your Cucumber Leaves Turn Yellow and It’s Spreading Fast – Here’s What the Plant Is Trying to Tell You

Watching yellow spread across your cucumber vines can feel alarming, especially when it seems to move from plant…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 4

Gardening Tips

Watering Your Lawn in the Midday Sun Normally Won’t Scorch Ordinary Grass – Here’s a Common Preventable Mistake Burning It Brown

Most Southern homeowners have heard the warning: never water your lawn in the heat of the day, or…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 4

Gardening Tips

Your Lawn Stays Thin and Patchy After Overseeding – Here’s the One Seeding Mistake Leaving Bare Spots Behind

Overseeding sounds straightforward enough: scatter some seed, water it, and wait for the bare patches to fill in.…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 4

Ethan Brooks

Skip These Two Fall Hydrangea Moves or You’ll Quietly Cut Next Year’s Blooms – Here’s What to Do Instead

Your Coneflowers Sulk and Barely Bloom — Here Are the Spots Where They Finally Take Off

The Christmas Cactus Blooms You Want in Winter Start With One Move You Make Right Now in September

Your Fall Broccoli Seedlings Bolt to Flower Before They Head Up – Here’s the Heat Slip Behind It

Why Your Bell Peppers Turn Red and Wrinkle on the Plant Before You Pick Them

Your Zucchini Plants Are Rotting at the Tips Before They Size Up — Here’s the Fruit-Set Slip Behind It

Deer Are Stripping Your Fall Garden as the Wild Forage Dries Up — Here’s the Scent That Turns Them Away

Something Keeps Digging Fresh Holes in Your Garden Overnight — Here’s How to Read the Signs and Stop It

Your Clematis Grows Fine but Won’t Flower Next Year Unless You Fix This Care Slip Now

Your Christmas Cactus Looks Limp and Thirsty – Here’s the Summer Watering Slip That’s Really Behind It

Your Tomato Plants Are Spent and Falling Apart — Here’s Why You Should Pull Them Now and How to Do It Right

Don’t Ruin Your Final Hydrangea Show — Here’s the End-of-Season Care Slip That Cuts Next Year’s Blooms

Stop Doing This to Your Hydrangeas Once the Fall Cool-Down Arrives — It Undoes Months of Growth

Your Hummingbirds Stop Visiting as September Flowers Fade — Here’s the Feeder Food That Keeps Them Coming

Your Climbing Clematis Disappoints Every Year — Here’s the One Hidden Mistake Keeping It From Blooming

Can You Still Plant Zinnias in September, or Have You Missed the Window This Year?

Your Hydrangeas Wilt by Afternoon No Matter How Much You Water – Here’s the Watering Slip Quietly Behind It

Something Keeps Bothering Your Hummingbirds Right Before Fall Migration — Here’s the Pest to Stop Now

If Weeds Keep Creeping Into Your Bare Spots, This Ground-Hugging Plant Quietly Covers Them for Good

These Popular Foods Are Actually Illegal to Grow in Your Backyard – Here Are the Ones to Pull Now

Your Coneflowers Look Sickly No Matter How You Feed Them – Here’s the Wrong Spot They’re Quietly Planted In

Your Perennials Won’t Survive the First Hard Frost Unless You Mulch These 5 in September

Your Hydrangea Blooms Are Turning Brown but the Leaves Look Fine – Here’s What the Plant Is Really Telling You

Your Tomatoes Set Less Fruit When These Nearby Plants Quietly Compete – Here Are the Bad Neighbors to Move Now

Your Backyard Beds Emptied Out After the Summer Heat — Here Are the Fall Crops That Should Fill Them Now

Your Grass Seed Won’t Sprout on Top of the Soil — Here’s the One Basic Mistake Behind the Bare Spots

These Fast-Growing Perennials Fill an Empty Bed in a Single Season – Here Are the Ones to Plant Now

Your Tomato Plants Are Winding Down — Here Are the Fall Vegetables That Should Take Their Spot Right Now

Your Lawn Has Bare Patches Heading Into Fall – Here’s the One Move That Fixes Them Before Winter

Your Potted Geraniums Stay Leggy and Sparse in a Small Space – Here’s the One Move That Fills the Pot With Blooms

Your Geraniums Grow Leafy but Barely Flower – Here’s the One Trick That Fills Them With Blooms

Something Keeps Shredding Your Bird Feeder and Scattering Seed Overnight – A Likely Culprit and How to Stop It

Something Keeps Marching Up to Your Hummingbird Feeder and Swarming the Nectar — Here’s How to Stop the Ants for Good

These Fast-Spreading Garden Plants Are Actually Banned in US Backyards – Here Are the Ones to Pull Now

Your High-Maintenance Flowers Keep Fizzling Out — Here Are the Tough Perennials That Thrive on Neglect

Your Tomatoes Stayed Small This Year No Matter How You Fed Them — Here’s the One Overlooked Mistake Behind It

Stop Spending Money on Weed Killers – Here’s the Cheap Kitchen Fix That Wipes Out Late-Season Weeds

Your Hydrangeas Struggle in the Heat No Matter What You Do — Here Are the Flowering Shrubs That Thrive in Their Place

Something Keeps Digging Small Cone-Shaped Holes in Your Lawn Overnight — Here Are the Everyday Spots Quietly Drawing Skunks In

Your Peace Lily Grows Brown Tips No Matter How You Water — Here’s What It’s Really Telling You

Your Squash Plants Flower All Day but Set Almost No Fruit in the Late-Summer Heat – Here’s the One Fix

Your Hanging Baskets Struggle in the Heat No Matter How Often You Water — Here’s the Watering Slip Behind It

Your Tomato Plants Slow Down in the September Heat — Here’s the One Feeding Move That Ripens More Fruit

Something Keeps Draining Your Hummingbird Feeder but the Nectar Isn’t Bringing Them In – Here’s the Sweet Flower That May Help

Your Hydrangea Leaves Turn Crispy Brown at the Edges While the Plant Looks Fine — Here’s the Warning It’s Sending

Your Boston Fern Turns Crispy and Brown at the Tips – Here’s What to Check Before You Cut It Off

Creeping Charlie Keeps Taking Over Your Lawn – Here Are the No-Chemical Tricks That Finally Stop It

Your Cucumber Leaves Turn Yellow and It’s Spreading Fast – Here’s What the Plant Is Trying to Tell You

Watering Your Lawn in the Midday Sun Normally Won’t Scorch Ordinary Grass – Here’s a Common Preventable Mistake Burning It Brown

Your Lawn Stays Thin and Patchy After Overseeding – Here’s the One Seeding Mistake Leaving Bare Spots Behind