Gardening Tips

You flip on the porch light after dark and there it is again, a toad sitting right by…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 29

A yellow leaf on your pothos can make your stomach drop, especially when you are not sure what…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 29

A cold snap is on the way, and your vines are still hung with hard green tomatoes. Some…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 29

You walk out to the garden and find big, glossy peppers that just will not change color. It…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 29

Those brown, spiky seed heads on your coneflowers are not leftovers. They hold seeds you can gather and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 29

You look at your lilac in October and see a few stray branches begging for a trim. Grab…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 29

That glossy vinca on your hillside looks tidy, but it creeps into woods, smothers wildflowers, and does a…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 29

Most people take their feeders down in September and think the hummingbird show is over. In the South,…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 29

Walk out to your daylily bed after the first cold snap and you may find leaves that are…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 29

Carolina Chickadees are small, curious birds that stay in North Carolina all year. When cold weather arrives, finding…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 29

A full feeder with no visitors can feel strange, especially when the yard was busy a few weeks…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 29

You lift your hummingbird feeder and spot dark specks tucked around a port or along a seam. It…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 28

Every spring, those long purple flower clusters on wisteria vines make homeowners want to fill their own arbors…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 28

A ZZ plant that looks bare or uneven can worry even an experienced plant owner, but the cause…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 28

A fig tree that pushes out lush, dark leaves all season but hands you almost nothing to eat…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 28

A fig tree can keep producing fruit year after year with surprisingly little pruning, but one poorly timed…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 28

Raised ridges snaking across your lawn and small volcano-shaped mounds appearing overnight are signs that a mole has…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 28

Peony season ends fast, and what you do right after the last flower fades matters more than most…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 28

Moles do not show up just to cause trouble. They move in because your yard keeps offering food,…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 28

Green film creeping across your siding can make a perfectly solid house look worn-out and neglected almost overnight.…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 28

Many North Carolina gardeners plant butterfly bush expecting a pollinator paradise, but the picture is more complicated than…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 28

If your hydrangeas gave you a disappointing show this season, the decisions you make right now can either…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 28

White clover creeping through your lawn is a signal worth paying attention to, but it rarely points to…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 28

Spot a small green lizard clinging to your potted fern or perched on a container plant near the…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 28

A lot of gardeners feel the urge to clean everything up as soon as flowers fade. But some…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 28

Spotting a bright green anole doing push-ups on a sunny fence rail is one of those small garden…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 28

Lavender is one of those plants that looks effortless until it suddenly doesn’t. Many Southern gardeners walk outside…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 28

Walking out to check your hummingbird feeder and finding it untouched can feel like something went wrong overnight.…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 28

Fall cleanup in North Carolina means one thing for backyard composters: a mountain of leaves and yard waste…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 28

Pulling beets at the right size can make a real difference in how tender and flavorful they turn…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 28

A rough, uneven lawn is more than an eyesore – it can make mowing miserable and hide real…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 28

Late September is not the obvious time to start seeds, but one cool-season vegetable still has a real…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 28

Hydrangeas are beautiful, but they can be fussy about water, pruning, and even the kind of sun they…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 28

Tomatoes are not always the easiest crop to grow, and when they start yellowing, wilting, or producing poorly,…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 27

A colorful yard does not have to mean spending every Saturday pulling, pruning, and fussing over plants. The…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 27

Petunias can put on a stunning show from spring through early summer, but by August many gardeners notice…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 27

Brown tips and edges on a peace lily are frustrating enough the first time, but watching the damage…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 27

Lavender is one of those plants that rewards a little neglect more than a lot of attention, especially…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 27

Camellia shrubs are a backyard favorite across North Carolina, prized for their glossy leaves and stunning fall and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 27

Lavender is one of those plants that looks effortlessly tidy in photos but can turn into a sprawling,…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 27

Fall color in North Carolina is shaping up to be anything but uniform this year. An August 2026…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 27

A plant can look pretty in the nursery and still turn into a big headache at home. Some…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 27

Watering your tomatoes every day sounds like good plant care, but the real story is more complicated than…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 27

Fall is not just cleanup season. It is also the perfect time to plant flower seeds that wake…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 27

Collards are one of North Carolina’s most beloved vegetables, but getting them to taste tender and mild instead…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 27

Fall is the season when many gardeners make a quiet mistake that costs them next summer’s hydrangea blooms…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 27

Garlic planted into soggy fall soil can face a real problem in North Carolina, where heavy autumn rains…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 27

If your fig tree is loaded with developing fruit right now, there is still something practical you can…

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 27

Carolina Wrens are tough little birds, but a hard winter cold snap can push even year-round residents to…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 27