Ethan Brooks

Those tall, feathery asparagus ferns can start to look messy by fall, and it is tempting to grab…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 28

A messy clematis can make you want to grab the shears the moment the weather cools. But some…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 28

You pull every weed from your patio on Saturday, and by the next rainy week the gaps look…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 28

Walk out one cold morning and find your sweet potato vines drooping and black, and it is easy…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 28

A peace lily that collapses over the rim of its pot looks like an emergency. Many gardeners grab…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 27

Every fall, lots of gardeners haul their patio pots inside to protect them from the cold. Some plants…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 27

Yellow leaves on a potted fig in late fall can make any caretaker nervous. Sometimes it is simply…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 27

A snake plant that sits quietly all winter can leave you wondering if anything is happening in that…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 27

Did your raised bed sink a few inches over the summer, or did your tomatoes and peppers fall…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 27

You tuck garlic cloves into the ground in fall and expect green shoots later. Sometimes you dig one…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 27

You walk out to the garlic bed after a chilly night and spot yellow tips on leaves that…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 27

Yellow leaves on spinach can stop a gardener in their tracks. The color looks simple, but it can…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 27

A split hose or a leaky spigot is a pain to find on the first warm spring day.…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 27

A fig in a pot can look dead by December, and that scares a lot of gardeners. Most…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 27

Weeds love a freshly planted garlic or onion bed, and the slow-growing alliums can lose the race. Straw…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 27

Your herb bed may look quiet this winter, but under the soil, three plants are still on the…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 27

When the first cool snap hits, you might spot dozens of brown, shield-shaped bugs soaking up sun on…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 27

The last flower has dropped, and your Christmas cactus suddenly looks a little plain. What you do next…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 27

You pulled a big batch of beets from the garden, and now you want them to last. Beets…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 26

You walk out to the garden in late fall and spot green garlic tips already pushing through the…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 26

Garlic goes into the ground in fall, and plenty of Southern gardeners wonder if they have missed their…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 26

Those hard green figs hanging on your tree in late October can feel like a small mystery. Some…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 26

Those tomato cages and stakes leaning against the shed have been through a long season of leaves, soil,…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 26

That bare strip along the fence keeps sprouting weeds no matter how often you pull them. Creeping thyme…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 26

A fig tree that has dropped its leaves is not finished for the year. The bare branches can…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 26

A cold snap can end your tomato season overnight, and the vines are often still loaded with green…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 26

You went out to check your fall-planted onion or shallot sets and found some that feel soft, mushy,…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 26

A holiday cactus with no buds in late October can feel like a missed deadline. The plant is…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 26

That amaryllis bulb you tucked away last spring has been quietly resting, and the calendar is now telling…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 26

Your pepper plants look full and healthy, but nearly every fruit is still green. That can feel like…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 26

You carry your pepper plant inside before a cold snap, and a few days later leaves are yellowing…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 26

Your amaryllis stands tall with strap-like leaves, yet there is no flower stalk in sight. That can feel…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 26

You walk out to the garden after a cold, rainy stretch and the lettuce edges are brown and…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 26

When hosta leaves turn yellow and flop over in fall, many gardeners worry the plant is dying. It…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 26

Bringing a healthy-looking tomato or pepper plant inside can feel like a win against the first chilly nights.…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 25

You walk out after a soggy week and find your best cabbage cracked wide open. It is a…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 25

Your potted herbs do not all want the same winter home. Rosemary, thyme and oregano come from dry…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 25

You carried your basil, rosemary, or thyme inside to keep it safe, and now it looks pale or…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 25

Your rosemary looked great on the patio, so why does it start to struggle a few weeks after…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 25

You pulled up your fall beets expecting fat, round roots, and found tiny ones sitting under a jungle…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 25

A chard plant that looks tired in December can still feed you for weeks if you pick it…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 25

You flip over a collard leaf and find a gray, fuzzy-looking crowd tucked along the underside. The leaf…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 25

A hosta with a sad, open middle and leaves that flop to the sides can make a shady…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 25

A tall Brussels sprout stalk covered in tiny, open sprouts can leave any gardener scratching their head. Many…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 25

That poinsettia you kept alive since last December is probably sitting there with plain green leaves. Many gardeners…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 25

That pot of red or pink geraniums on your porch does not have to be a one-season plant.…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 25

A forecast frost can make any fig grower nervous, especially when the tree has been giving you sweet…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 25

Coyotes have a nose that can pick up a whiff of food from a surprising distance, and fall…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 25

Those leaves piling up in your beds might be doing more work than you think. Instead of bagging…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 24