Jasmine Hughes

Hydrangeas get plenty of attention in North Carolina gardens, but they are not the only shrub that blooms…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 12

North Carolina red clay can feel like gardening in a brick, so it makes sense to search online…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 11

Swallowtails and other butterflies need nectar, and the shrub you plant decides what is on the menu. Butterfly…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 11

Late fall can leave a North Carolina yard looking tired, with summer flowers faded and few blooms left.…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 11

Every fall, North Carolina yards fill up with free mulch that many people send to the curb. Shredded…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 11

Rosemary looks tough, but a pot changes the game when winter rolls in. The thin walls of a…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 11

A fast black snake zips along your mulch bed, and your heart skips. Then it shows up again…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 11

Aphids clustered under your fall kale and collards can make any gardener hunt for a quick fix. A…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 10

Mowing a steep front yard slope in July heat is no fun, and it can be risky too.…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 10

Knock Out roses look tough, and they are, but the weeks before winter still matter. A few simple…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 10

If you have ever watched deer mow your hostas down to bare stems overnight, you know the frustration…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 10

That shaggy, curling bark on your river birch can look like something has gone wrong. Many North Carolina…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 10

Collards are one of the toughest leafy greens you can grow in a North Carolina yard. When the…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 10

You flip on the basement light and something with long legs and a humped back springs across the…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 9

Bare mud and stubborn weeds love to move into the gaps between stepping stones. A low native plant…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 9

Garlic goes into the ground when most of the garden is winding down, and that is part of…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 9

Something small and brown keeps darting through the mulch by your back steps, and it moves too fast…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 9

A fence line needs a screen that looks good in July and still does its job in January.…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 9

Raking leaves and stacking firewood feel like simple fall chores. Yet a snake that wants to stay out…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 8

Fall raking puts your tools right where small, secretive animals sometimes shelter. The spotted salamander is a native…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 8

Bearded irises are tough plants, but they have one big weakness in North Carolina gardens. Our wet winters…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 8

Many North Carolina fences wear a green blanket of English ivy, and it looks harmless enough. But that…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 8

Once the last muscadine drops from the arbor, it is tempting to think the vine can take care…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 8

Big golden webs strung between porch posts and shrubs can stop a homeowner in their tracks. The spiders…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 8

Walk across a North Carolina yard in October and you may spot a small fuzzy caterpillar hurrying over…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 7

October feels like the end of the garden year for a lot of folks, but in North Carolina…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 7

Every yard has a spot you wish nobody could see, like the humming AC unit or the row…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 7

Walk past a yard in early fall and you might spot clusters of bright purple berries wrapped around…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 7

A fig tree can look dead after a hard January freeze, then surprise you with a basket of…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 7

Every spring you reseed the bare patch under your big oak, and every August it turns back into…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 7

Blueberry bushes that go unpruned for years can fill up with thin, crowded shoots and small berries. A…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 6

Your oakleaf hydrangea is already planning next summer’s flowers, even as its leaves turn wine red this fall.…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 6

You hear the lid rattle, or you find a patch of lawn flipped over like a rug. Fall…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 6

Rain hammers bare garden soil all winter, and that can wash away the best part of your bed.…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 6

If you garden in North Carolina, you know the red clay that turns to brick in July and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 6

Every spring, Bradford pears light up North Carolina roadsides with white blooms that smell like something went bad…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 6

Some of the most common plants in North Carolina yards are now on official watch lists, and a…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 5

Rats in the shed and chewed plants in the garden make many North Carolina homeowners reach for poison…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 5

You spot a small brown cone dangling from your arborvitae and wonder if it is a seed pod,…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 5

Bare, weedy ground under a shade tree is a common headache in North Carolina yards. Many people reach…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 5

Bright red berries on bare branches can make a gray winter yard look alive. Winterberry holly is a…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 5

Walk out your back door on a sleety January morning and the yard can look empty. Juncos, sparrows,…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 5

Few native trees offer something for caterpillars in summer and something for people to admire in autumn. Common…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 4

Crape myrtles are everywhere in North Carolina yards, and many of them stand close to a driveway. When…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 4

You flip on the porch light and see a gray, pointy-faced opossum shuffling past your collards. It is…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 4

Plenty of North Carolina homeowners plant a row of Leyland cypress for fast privacy, only to watch the…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 4

You reach under a pot or into a pile of leaves, and a sharp sting stops you cold.…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 4

A fuzzy little caterpillar on a shrub can look cute, but some of them can leave a painful…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 4

A fig tree in a pot can give you sweet, sticky fruit right off your North Carolina patio.…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 3