Gardening Tips Archives - Page 5 of 17

How a Light Summer Trim Can Help Lantana Keep Blooming in North Carolina

Lantana is one of the toughest flowering plants you can grow in a North Carolina yard, pushing out…

Your Hydrangeas Aren’t Failing You – These 15 Small Habits Are Quietly Cutting Their Blooms

If your hydrangea leafs out beautifully every spring but barely produces flowers, the plant probably isn’t the problem.…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 25

Gardening Tips

Your Tomatoes Are Rotting at the Bottom – Here’s What’s Going Wrong in the Soil and How to Stop It

Spotting a dark, sunken patch spreading across the bottom of your tomatoes is one of the most discouraging…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 25

Gardening Tips

If Your Cucumber Vines Sprawl Everywhere but the Fruit Stalls, One Pruning Cut Redirects Them

You planted cucumbers expecting a steady harvest, and instead you have long, leafy vines running in every direction…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 25

Gardening Tips

The Most Underrated North Carolina Perennial That Keeps Blooming Through the Hottest Full-Sun Days

Most North Carolina gardeners have watched a promising perennial slowly give up during a July heat wave, leaving…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 25

Gardening Tips

Serviceberry for Wildlife, Beautyberry for Lab-Tested Tick Repellency: What North Carolina Homeowners Should Know

Two North Carolina native plants have been circulating online under a claim that one tree feeds wildlife all…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 25

Gardening Tips

7 Native North Carolina Trees That Beat Crape Myrtle for Color and Pollinators

Crape myrtles show up in almost every North Carolina yard, but they came here from Asia and do…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 25

Gardening Tips

The Most Underrated North Carolina Native That Keeps Ticks Out of Your Backyard Vegetable Garden

Ticks are a real concern for anyone who spends time kneeling in a backyard vegetable garden in North…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 25

Gardening Tips

The Yard Habits Quietly Making Your North Carolina Tick Problem Worse This Summer

Ticks are a real part of summer life in North Carolina, and most people assume they just wander…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 24

Gardening Tips

The Most Beautiful Native North Carolina Shrubs You’ll Almost Never Find at a Garden Center

Walk into most garden centers in North Carolina and you’ll see the same rows of imported shrubs over…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 24

Gardening Tips

What Fire Ants in Your North Carolina Garden Beds Are Really Trying to Tell You

Spotting a fire ant mound in your garden bed can make your stomach drop, but that mound is…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 24

Gardening Tips

If Your Tomatoes Keep Splitting Just as They Ripen in the Heat, One Watering Pattern Is Often to Blame

Walking out to your garden and finding a perfectly ripening tomato split open is one of the most…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 24

Gardening Tips

If Your Tomato Plants Suddenly Stop Growing Taller in the Heat, the Trouble Usually Starts Deep Below the Roots

Noticing a low, fleshy weed creeping around your tomato plants at the same time growth seems to stall…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 24

Gardening Tips

The Common Blueberry Mistakes That Quietly Kill North Carolina Backyard Harvests Before They Start

Blueberries grow across North Carolina, but getting a reliable harvest from your backyard takes more than dropping a…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 24

Gardening Tips

If Your Cucumber Plants Look Lush but the Blossoms Keep Dropping in the Heat, One Watering Habit Is Usually to Blame

Watching cucumber vines grow thick and green while every flower falls off before producing a single fruit is…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 24

Gardening Tips

Set Up a Rain Barrel Once and Your North Carolina Container Garden Has Water All Summer

Dragging a hose across a hot patio to water a row of potted plants gets old fast, especially…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 24

Gardening Tips

If Your Pepper Plants Flower Heavily but Drop Every Blossom in the Heat, One Hidden Stress Is Usually to Blame

You step outside on a hot afternoon and find a cluster of pepper blossoms scattered on the soil…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 24

Gardening Tips

The Tall North Carolina Flower That Pulls In Bees, Hummingbirds, and Butterflies All Season

If you want bees buzzing, butterflies landing, and hummingbirds hovering in your yard from June through September, one…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 24

Gardening Tips

If Your Cucumbers Grow Fat in the Middle but Pinch at the Ends in the Heat, One Watering Habit Is Usually to Blame

Pulling a cucumber off the vine and finding it swollen in the middle but pinched or tapered at…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 24

Gardening Tips

If Your Zucchini Grows Huge Leaves but Barely Any Fruit in the Heat, One Feeding Habit Is Usually to Blame

You water faithfully, the plant looks enormous, and yet the zucchini just aren’t showing up. When your plant…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 24

Gardening Tips

If Your Cucumber Leaves Turn Yellow at the Edges in the Heat, One Magnesium Habit Is Usually to Blame

Watching your cucumber leaves develop yellow edges during a summer heat wave is genuinely worrying, and the instinct…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 24

Gardening Tips

If Your Tomato Leaves Yellow From the Bottom Up in the Heat, the Trouble Usually Starts Down in the Roots

Watching your tomato plant’s lower leaves turn yellow during a heat wave is enough to make any gardener…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

Tomato Leaves Curling and Fruit Sunburning? A Recent Fertilizer Overapplication May Be One Piece of a Bigger Puzzle

Curling leaves and pale, papery patches on your tomato fruit can stop a gardener cold, especially when the…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

North Carolina Bluebirds Come Back Every Spring – Here’s How to Get Them Nesting in Your Yard

Eastern Bluebirds are one of the most recognizable birds in North Carolina, with their brilliant blue backs and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

If Your Cucumber Plants Grow Huge Vines but Barely Any Cucumbers in the Heat, One Feeding Habit Is Usually to Blame

Watching a cucumber plant explode into a tangle of thick vines and broad leaves is exciting, right up…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

If Your Zucchini Flowers but Never Sets Fruit in the Heat, One Pollination Habit Is Usually to Blame

Your zucchini plant looks healthy, covered in big leaves and bright yellow flowers, but the fruit just never…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

9 Native North Carolina Plants That Bring Fireflies Back to Your Backyard This Summer

Warm summer nights in North Carolina used to sparkle with fireflies, but a lot of yards have gone…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

If Your Cucumber Vines Wilt at Midday Even in Damp Soil, One Hidden Culprit Is Usually to Blame

Walking out to your garden at noon and finding your cucumber vines draped and limp is an unsettling…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

If Your Tomatoes Stall Out in the Late-July Heat, One Feeding Fix Usually Gets Them Moving Again

Watching your tomato plants slow to a crawl in late July is genuinely frustrating, especially when you have…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

The Native North Carolina Alternatives That Belong Along Your Walkway Instead of Liriope

Liriope shows up along half the walkways in North Carolina, but it is not from here, and in…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

Sudden Squash Wilt Could Signal a Vine Borer – Here Is How to Tell

Watching a healthy squash plant suddenly flop over in the afternoon heat is genuinely alarming, especially when you…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

The One Thing Your North Carolina Tomatoes Need Right Now or Blossom End Rot Wrecks the Harvest

Pull back the leaves on a July tomato plant and you might spot it before you even pick…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

If Your Cucumber Leaves Turn Silvery and Speckled in the Heat, One Sneaky Pest Is Usually Feeding Underneath

Walking out to your cucumber patch on a hot afternoon and finding the leaves looking pale, silvery, or…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

Big Cucumber Harvests Can Start With One Ingredient You Already Have in the Kitchen

Plenty of gardening tips promise that one simple pantry staple will transform your cucumber plants into a bumper-crop…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

If Your Peppers Stay Green and Never Ripen in the Heat, the Trouble Starts Before the Fruit Even Colors

You walk out to your pepper plants expecting a flush of red, yellow, or orange fruit, and all…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

If Your Potted Tomatoes Stay Small and Slow in the Heat, One Container Mistake Is Usually to Blame

Watching your potted tomato sit there barely growing while summer heat cranks up is genuinely frustrating, especially when…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

If Your Zucchini Rots at the Blossom End Before It Ripens in the Heat, One Watering Habit Is Usually to Blame

Spotting a brown, sunken patch on the tip of a young zucchini is one of the more disheartening…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

If Your Pepper Leaves Curl and Cup Upward in the Heat but Pests Are Nowhere in Sight, the Cause Is Usually How You Water

Pepper plants have a way of sending gardeners into a panic when their leaves start to curl or…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

Bitter Cucumbers and Tough Ends in the Heat: How Uneven Watering May Be Contributing

Biting into a cucumber you grew yourself and getting a mouthful of bitterness is genuinely frustrating, especially in…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

If You Spot This Bug in Your North Carolina Yard, Don’t Touch It – Here’s Why

A striking insect has been turning up in North Carolina yards, and the first reaction many people have…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

If Your Tomatoes Get Pale Sunken Patches on the Sunny Side in the Heat, Aggressive Foliage Removal Can Raise the Risk

Spotting a pale, papery patch on the sunny side of a tomato you have been carefully growing all…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

More Bats in Your North Carolina Yard Means Fewer Mosquitoes – Here’s How to Bring Them In

North Carolina summers bring fireflies, garden tomatoes, and unfortunately, clouds of mosquitoes that can make an evening outside…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 23

Gardening Tips

If Your Pepper Plants Grow Bushy but Set No Pods in the Heat, One Feeding Swing Is Usually to Blame

You step outside to check your pepper plants and find them packed with deep-green leaves, looking healthier than…

By John Miller CA · Jul 22

Gardening Tips

If Your Cucumbers Turn Yellow and Mushy on the Vine in Midsummer Heat, One Watering Habit Is Usually to Blame

Walking out to your cucumber patch and finding a soft, yellow fruit hanging on the vine is genuinely…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 22

Gardening Tips

Here’s What It Means When Hawks Keep Circling Back to Your North Carolina Yard

Spotting a hawk once in your yard is a treat, but when the same bird keeps showing up…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 22

Gardening Tips

If Your Cucumber Plants Look Lush but Never Fill Out Their Fruit, One Feeding Swing Is Usually to Blame

You planted cucumbers expecting a steady harvest, but instead you have a jungle of dark-green vines and almost…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 22

Gardening Tips

If Your Tomatoes Keep Splitting Their Skins After a Hot Spell, One Watering Habit Is Usually to Blame

Walking out to your garden after a summer rainstorm and finding your nearly ripe tomatoes split wide open…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 22

Gardening Tips

Pawpaws and Persimmons Are North Carolina Natives Almost Nobody Grows but Every Yard Should Have

Two fruit trees have grown wild across North Carolina for centuries, feeding wildlife and quietly ripening each fall,…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 22

Gardening Tips

If Your Tomatoes Rot on the Bottom Only After a Hot Spell, the Trouble Starts in How You Water

Finding a dark, sunken patch on the bottom of a tomato you have been watching all season is…

By Ethan Brooks · Jul 22

Gardening Tips

Your Zucchini Plants Are Flowering Like Crazy but You’re Not Getting a Single Squash – Here’s Why

How a Light Summer Trim Can Help Lantana Keep Blooming in North Carolina

Your Hydrangeas Aren’t Failing You – These 15 Small Habits Are Quietly Cutting Their Blooms

Your Tomatoes Are Rotting at the Bottom – Here’s What’s Going Wrong in the Soil and How to Stop It

If Your Cucumber Vines Sprawl Everywhere but the Fruit Stalls, One Pruning Cut Redirects Them

The Most Underrated North Carolina Perennial That Keeps Blooming Through the Hottest Full-Sun Days

Serviceberry for Wildlife, Beautyberry for Lab-Tested Tick Repellency: What North Carolina Homeowners Should Know

7 Native North Carolina Trees That Beat Crape Myrtle for Color and Pollinators

The Most Underrated North Carolina Native That Keeps Ticks Out of Your Backyard Vegetable Garden

The Yard Habits Quietly Making Your North Carolina Tick Problem Worse This Summer

The Most Beautiful Native North Carolina Shrubs You’ll Almost Never Find at a Garden Center

What Fire Ants in Your North Carolina Garden Beds Are Really Trying to Tell You

If Your Tomatoes Keep Splitting Just as They Ripen in the Heat, One Watering Pattern Is Often to Blame

If Your Tomato Plants Suddenly Stop Growing Taller in the Heat, the Trouble Usually Starts Deep Below the Roots

The Common Blueberry Mistakes That Quietly Kill North Carolina Backyard Harvests Before They Start

If Your Cucumber Plants Look Lush but the Blossoms Keep Dropping in the Heat, One Watering Habit Is Usually to Blame

Set Up a Rain Barrel Once and Your North Carolina Container Garden Has Water All Summer

If Your Pepper Plants Flower Heavily but Drop Every Blossom in the Heat, One Hidden Stress Is Usually to Blame

The Tall North Carolina Flower That Pulls In Bees, Hummingbirds, and Butterflies All Season

If Your Cucumbers Grow Fat in the Middle but Pinch at the Ends in the Heat, One Watering Habit Is Usually to Blame

If Your Zucchini Grows Huge Leaves but Barely Any Fruit in the Heat, One Feeding Habit Is Usually to Blame

If Your Cucumber Leaves Turn Yellow at the Edges in the Heat, One Magnesium Habit Is Usually to Blame

If Your Tomato Leaves Yellow From the Bottom Up in the Heat, the Trouble Usually Starts Down in the Roots

Tomato Leaves Curling and Fruit Sunburning? A Recent Fertilizer Overapplication May Be One Piece of a Bigger Puzzle

North Carolina Bluebirds Come Back Every Spring – Here’s How to Get Them Nesting in Your Yard

If Your Cucumber Plants Grow Huge Vines but Barely Any Cucumbers in the Heat, One Feeding Habit Is Usually to Blame

If Your Zucchini Flowers but Never Sets Fruit in the Heat, One Pollination Habit Is Usually to Blame

9 Native North Carolina Plants That Bring Fireflies Back to Your Backyard This Summer

If Your Cucumber Vines Wilt at Midday Even in Damp Soil, One Hidden Culprit Is Usually to Blame

If Your Tomatoes Stall Out in the Late-July Heat, One Feeding Fix Usually Gets Them Moving Again

The Native North Carolina Alternatives That Belong Along Your Walkway Instead of Liriope

Sudden Squash Wilt Could Signal a Vine Borer – Here Is How to Tell

The One Thing Your North Carolina Tomatoes Need Right Now or Blossom End Rot Wrecks the Harvest

If Your Cucumber Leaves Turn Silvery and Speckled in the Heat, One Sneaky Pest Is Usually Feeding Underneath

Big Cucumber Harvests Can Start With One Ingredient You Already Have in the Kitchen

If Your Peppers Stay Green and Never Ripen in the Heat, the Trouble Starts Before the Fruit Even Colors

If Your Potted Tomatoes Stay Small and Slow in the Heat, One Container Mistake Is Usually to Blame

If Your Zucchini Rots at the Blossom End Before It Ripens in the Heat, One Watering Habit Is Usually to Blame

If Your Pepper Leaves Curl and Cup Upward in the Heat but Pests Are Nowhere in Sight, the Cause Is Usually How You Water

Bitter Cucumbers and Tough Ends in the Heat: How Uneven Watering May Be Contributing

If You Spot This Bug in Your North Carolina Yard, Don’t Touch It – Here’s Why

If Your Tomatoes Get Pale Sunken Patches on the Sunny Side in the Heat, Aggressive Foliage Removal Can Raise the Risk

More Bats in Your North Carolina Yard Means Fewer Mosquitoes – Here’s How to Bring Them In

If Your Pepper Plants Grow Bushy but Set No Pods in the Heat, One Feeding Swing Is Usually to Blame

If Your Cucumbers Turn Yellow and Mushy on the Vine in Midsummer Heat, One Watering Habit Is Usually to Blame

Here’s What It Means When Hawks Keep Circling Back to Your North Carolina Yard

If Your Cucumber Plants Look Lush but Never Fill Out Their Fruit, One Feeding Swing Is Usually to Blame

If Your Tomatoes Keep Splitting Their Skins After a Hot Spell, One Watering Habit Is Usually to Blame

Pawpaws and Persimmons Are North Carolina Natives Almost Nobody Grows but Every Yard Should Have

If Your Tomatoes Rot on the Bottom Only After a Hot Spell, the Trouble Starts in How You Water