Never Plant These Next to Your Fall Cabbage and Broccoli or the Heads Stay Small
You water, you feed, and you wait, but your fall cabbage and broccoli still form heads no bigger than a fist. Often the problem isn’t…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 6, 2026
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Gardening Tips
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2,422 Articles
Gardening Tips
The One Thing North Carolina Oakleaf Hydrangeas Need Before Winter So Next Summer’s Blooms Come Back Huge
Your oakleaf hydrangea is already planning next summer’s flowers, even as its leaves turn wine red this fall.…
By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 6
Gardening Tips
Clover Can Be a Clue to Low Nitrogen or Thin Turf in Your Lawn, and Here’s How to Respond
You pull the clover, spray it, and a few months later the same green patches are back. It…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 6
Gardening Tips
Your Hydrangea Blooms Turned Papery Brown This Fall, and Cutting Them Off Now Costs You Next Summer’s Flowers
Those crispy brown hydrangea heads in your yard can look like a plant in trouble. Most of the…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 6
Gardening Tips
What It Really Means When Raccoons Start Raiding Your North Carolina Yard Every Night This Fall
You hear the lid rattle, or you find a patch of lawn flipped over like a rug. Fall…
By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 6
Gardening Tips
Warmth and Direct Sun Can Make Hummingbird Feeder Nectar Lose Clarity Sooner
You glance at the hummingbird feeder and the nectar that looked crystal clear a few days ago now…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 6
Gardening Tips
Trying to Root Climbing Rose Canes: A Southern Gardener’s Experiment
A climbing rose can give you a lot of green stems, and it is tempting to wonder if…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 6
Gardening Tips
White Mushrooms Keep Popping Up in Your Lawn After Fall Rains, and Here’s What They Reveal About Your Soil
You walk out after a soggy October weekend and find a scatter of pale mushrooms standing in the…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 6
Gardening Tips
Shredded Leaves for North Carolina Vegetable Beds: A Winter Cover Option for Gradually Better Clay Soil
Rain hammers bare garden soil all winter, and that can wash away the best part of your bed.…
By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 6
Gardening Tips
Turn One Hydrangea Into a Whole Row of New Shrubs With This Simple Fall Branch Trick
A low hydrangea branch can become a brand-new plant without you buying a single nursery pot. The trick…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 6
Gardening Tips
Compost or Bagged Soil? Only One Breaks Up North Carolina Clay Fast Enough for Spring Beds
If you garden in North Carolina, you know the red clay that turns to brick in July and…
By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 6
Gardening Tips
Onion Planting Timing in the South: Why Your Window Depends on Where You Garden and How You Plant
Big, sweet onions start with a good plan in the fall. Southern gardeners can grow bulb onions through…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 6
Gardening Tips
Your Fig Tree’s Harvest Is Over, but These Fall Steps Decide How Many Figs You Get Next Summer
The last ripe fig is gone, and your tree looks like it can rest until spring. Not quite.…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 6
Gardening Tips
The Hard-to-Find Native North Carolina Trees That Outshine Every Bradford Pear Once You Track Them Down
Every spring, Bradford pears light up North Carolina roadsides with white blooms that smell like something went bad…
By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 6
Gardening Tips
Milkweed and Nectar Plants: Building Monarch Habitat in Southern Yards
Most Southern gardeners have watched a monarch drift across the yard and keep going. Flowers feed adult butterflies,…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 6
Gardening Tips
Your Potted Snapdragons Look Thirsty but Persistently Wet, Poorly Drained Mix May Be the Real Problem
A droopy snapdragon in a pot makes most of us grab the watering can right away. But a…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
North Carolina Counties Are Restricting These Popular Yard Plants, and Some Are Probably in Your Beds
Some of the most common plants in North Carolina yards are now on official watch lists, and a…
By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
Fresh Fall Bulbs Found Disturbed in the Morning? Ways to Reduce Digging and Protect the Bed
You plant a batch of fresh bulbs, and the next morning the soil is churned up and a…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
That Glossy Groundcover Spilling Over Your Beds Can Be Invasive in Parts of the South, and Here’s Why
That shiny green ivy filling your shady bed may look tidy, but it can behave very differently once…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
Pale, Stunted Fall Lettuce? Low Fertility Is One Possibility Worth Testing For
You set out fall lettuce in a bed that worked hard all summer, and now the leaves look…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
If You Want Tulips in Texas or Florida, Your Bulbs Need a Fridge Chill Starting Now
Tulips do not feel at home in most Texas and Florida winters, because the ground never stays cold…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
Your Hummingbird Feeder Needs a Real Cleaning in Fall, and Here’s How to Scrub Out Hidden Mold
A hummingbird feeder can look fine from the patio and still have sticky film tucked into its tiny…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
Could Afternoon Sun Affect Your Hummingbird Feeder? Where to Move It and What Else to Check
A hummingbird feeder that hangs untouched all week can leave any gardener scratching their head. In hot parts…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
Raised Beds That Dry Out Fast: How to Help Your Soil Hold More Water
A raised bed that looks dry again just days after watering can leave you wondering what went wrong.…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
Could a Barn-Owl Nest Box Help With Rodents in a North Carolina Yard?
Rats in the shed and chewed plants in the garden make many North Carolina homeowners reach for poison…
By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
Weeds Keep Sprouting Between Your Patio Pavers No Matter How Often You Scrape Them? Here’s How to Manage Them
You scrape the weeds out of your patio on Saturday, and by the next warm, rainy stretch they…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
Worn-Out Black-Eyed Susans in Fall: Leave Seedheads or Divide the Clump?
A black-eyed Susan that looks ragged by fall can leave you wondering if it is finished. Before you…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
Those Brown Bags Hanging on Your North Carolina Shrubs This Fall Aren’t Seed Pods, Here’s What They Really Are
You spot a small brown cone dangling from your arborvitae and wonder if it is a seed pod,…
By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
Sow These Wildflower Seeds This Fall and They’ll Fill Your Beds Every Spring Without Replanting
Fall is the secret planting season most Southern gardeners miss. Seeds scattered in October or November settle into…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
A Native North Carolina Groundcover to Consider Instead of Vinca Under Shade Trees
Bare, weedy ground under a shade tree is a common headache in North Carolina yards. Many people reach…
By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
Your Hummingbird Feeder Keeps Dripping Sticky Nectar Everywhere, and Shade May Help Stop a Sun-Related Leak
A sticky puddle under your hummingbird feeder is more than a messy nuisance. Spilled nectar invites ants, bees,…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
Asian Lady Beetles Keep Swarming Your Windows This Fall? How to Cut Down on How Many Get Inside
Warm autumn afternoons can turn a sunny wall into a crawling mass of small orange beetles. Many of…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
Winterberry Holly Adds Native Bird Food and Winter Color to North Carolina Yards
Bright red berries on bare branches can make a gray winter yard look alive. Winterberry holly is a…
By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
Garlic Planting Time in the South: Georgia, Texas, and Florida Fall Windows
Garlic is one of the easiest crops to tuck into a Southern bed, but the calendar trips up…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
Is Your Hummingbird Feeder Placement One Reason It Sits Full? How to Test a Better Spot
A feeder full of nectar and no hummingbirds in sight can leave you scratching your head. Where you…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
A Brush Pile Can Offer North Carolina Songbirds Supplemental Cover in Winter
Walk out your back door on a sleety January morning and the yard can look empty. Juncos, sparrows,…
By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
Your Late Hummingbirds Skip Your Yard Because Your Fall Containers Have No Nectar Flowers, and These Potted Bloomers Fix It
Every fall, hummingbirds zip south through Texas and Florida looking for one thing: fuel. If your porch pots…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 5
Gardening Tips
When to Cut Back Daylilies in Fall: Signs Your Plants Are Ready
Daylilies look messy once the flowers fade, and it is tempting to grab the shears and clear everything…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 4
Gardening Tips
Foxgloves Grow Big Leafy Rosettes Without Flower Spikes: What to Check Before You Worry
You planted foxgloves, and now you have a bold clump of fuzzy green leaves but no tall flower…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 4
Gardening Tips
Why Do Christmas Cactus Buds Drop After a Move? Light May Be Only Part of the Story
You bring your budding Christmas cactus to the front room for the holidays, and a few days later…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 4
Gardening Tips
If You Want Spring Harvests Without the Rush, These Vegetables Need Planting in October
Spring gardens often start with a mad scramble of buying seeds, prepping beds, and racing the heat. In…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 4
Gardening Tips
Why Chickweed Can Take Over Your Lawn After Quietly Sprouting in Fall
That green carpet of chickweed in late winter did not appear overnight. In many Southern lawns, the seeds…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 4
Gardening Tips
A North Carolina Native Tree for Spicebush Swallowtail Caterpillars and Fall Color
Few native trees offer something for caterpillars in summer and something for people to admire in autumn. Common…
By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 4
Gardening Tips
Why Fall Radishes Turn Hollow or Pithy, and How That Differs From Splitting
You pull a plump, shiny radish from the garden, slice it open, and find a spongy or hollow…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 4
Gardening Tips
Can Crape Myrtle Roots Lift a North Carolina Driveway? What to Check Before You Blame the Tree
Crape myrtles are everywhere in North Carolina yards, and many of them stand close to a driveway. When…
By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 4
Gardening Tips
Hummingbird Feeder Quiet? Start With the Commonly Recommended Nectar Mix
A hummingbird feeder that suddenly goes quiet can leave you scratching your head. Before you start changing things…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 4
Gardening Tips
Quiet Hummingbird Feeder? Check the Ports and Clean It Right
You hung the feeder, filled it with nectar, and waited. Meanwhile, the neighbors have hummingbirds buzzing around their…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 4
Gardening Tips
Bees and Wasps Crowding Your Hummingbird Feeder? A Saucer-Style Swap May Reduce Their Access
A feeder full of buzzing, stinging visitors can make a backyard feel off limits to the hummingbirds you…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 4
Gardening Tips
Opossums May Eat Slugs in North Carolina Gardens, but a Night Visit Won’t Tell You Much
You flip on the porch light and see a gray, pointy-faced opossum shuffling past your collards. It is…
By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 4
Gardening Tips
Is Your Raised Bed Soil Really Tired by Fall? Why Settled Soil Isn’t Always Depleted Soil
Your raised bed looks a little lower than it did in spring, and the tomato and pepper plants…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 4