EXPLAINED: 9 - The Real Truth

8 Garden Tasks That Become Easier in the Final Week of August

The final week of August gives the garden a funny little shift in personality. Summer still has plenty of heat left, but the calendar has started whispering about fall, which makes this an excellent time to tackle jobs that feel much harder when September arrives in a rush.

Frugal Gardening · Aug 21

That “Weed” in Your Yard Could Leave You With Painful Blisters

A harmless-looking weed can turn a routine afternoon of pulling plants into a very unpleasant skin problem, especially if you encounter wild parsnip or giant hogweed. These plants contain compounds that can make skin unusually sensitive to ultraviolet light, so a little plant sap followed by sunshine can produce redness…

Frugal Gardening · Aug 21

Those Beautiful Seeds You Found Online May Be Fake — Here’s How to Tell

Those beautiful seeds you found online may be fake, and the most convincing part of the listing might be the photograph. AI-generated images now make it remarkably easy for dishonest sellers to show enormous flowers, bizarre colors, impossible shapes, and plants that look as if someone crossed a rose with…

Frugal Gardening · Aug 21

Is It Too Early to Prepare Amaryllis for Winter Bloom?

Believe it or not, it is not necessarily too early to prepare amaryllis for a winter bloom, but rushing the process can create more problems than flowers. The trick involves giving the bulb enough time to finish its summer growth before asking it to put on its winter floral spectacular.

Frugal Gardening · Aug 20

5 Low-Cost Ways to Add Vertical Interest After Vines Fade

Vines can make a garden look like it has hired a professional stylist, right up until they finish blooming, turn brown, or retreat for the season. When that happens, all that wonderful vertical space can suddenly look awkwardly empty, but a faded vine does not mean the garden has to…

Frugal Gardening · Aug 20

7 Plants That Offer Seeds Birds Can Eat Through Fall

A garden can keep feeding birds long after the last bee disappears from the flowers, and the trick often involves doing absolutely nothing. Instead of cutting every faded bloom to the ground, gardeners can leave mature seedheads standing so finches, sparrows, chickadees, and other seed-eating birds can pick through them…

Frugal Gardening · Aug 19

What Causes Green Rings Around the Tops of Carrots?

Carrots usually arrive in shades of orange, purple, yellow, or white, so a green ring around the top can look like the vegetable has wandered into the wrong garden department. That green color usually comes from a simple culprit: light exposure. When the upper part of a developing carrot sits…

Frugal Gardening · Aug 19

Can You Move a Raised Bed Without Replacing All the Soil?

Good news, gardeners: a raised bed can move without sending all that beautiful, expensive soil to the compost pile. The trick involves treating the soil like a living garden resource rather than a box of dirt that happens to sit above ground.

Frugal Gardening · Aug 19

5 Ways to Build a Temporary Nursery Bed for Bargain Perennials

Bargain perennials can look like the clearance-bin equivalent of a sad puppy, but a droopy plant in a tiny pot does not necessarily mean a lost cause. A temporary nursery bed gives inexpensive perennials a place to recover, build roots, and gain size before they move into their permanent garden…

Frugal Gardening · Aug 19

Why Are More Gardeners Designing Fire-Smart Borders?

Wildfire safety has changed the way many gardeners think about the edge of a property. Instead of treating a garden border as nothing more than a pretty transition between lawn and flower beds, gardeners increasingly design these spaces to create separation between vegetation, buildings, and potential fire paths.

Frugal Gardening · Aug 19