If you’re interested in building or installing raised beds, you might be wondering how exactly you should fill them since, given their size or shape, you might need to add lots of materials before you can start gardening. Should you fill it with soil or compost? Should you add sticks, branches, leaves, or other yard…
If you’ve got aphids in your garden, you might be wondering whether you should intervene or just leave them alone. If you do nothing, will Mother Nature help you out? Will those aphids just go away on their own? Aphids will sometimes go away on their own due to the arrival of beneficial predators, the…
If you’ve been gardening for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard that aphids are bad news. But have you ever wondered how exactly aphids will harm your plants? Or what aphid damage looks like? Aphids harm plants by draining them of nutrients, causing yellowing or discolored foliage as well as plant decay and death….
If you’ve been gardening for any amount of time, you’ve likely had to deal with aphids at least once each season…and likely over and over year after year. It seems they’re always coming back, but why is that? Why won’t they just stay away for at least a few years? With nearly 5,000 species and…
Whether you’re new to growing your own okra plants or you’ve been growing them for years, at some point in time, you’ve probably seen tiny specks clustered around the plants’ leaves, buds, or flowers. For beginning gardeners (like I was 10 or so years ago), it’s easy to ignore or overlook those specks. I certainly…
If you’re new to gardening, you might have looked out at your garden during a rainstorm and wondered if the rain would help take care of your pest problems. Maybe it would wash off and kill some of the aphids that have shown up in your garden recently, especially when it’s pouring outside. Could that…
Aphids are a practically unavoidable menace to gardeners everywhere. There’s nearly 5,000 different species, they’re spread across all corners of the world, and they’ll show up out of nowhere to siphon nutrients out of your favorite garden veggies. Beyond a hope and a prayer, there’s little you can do to keep them 100% out of…
One of my favorite things to grow is lettuce. I go overboard in the spring planting rows of butterhead, loose-leaf, and romaine (my neighbors love me!). And I can often get a great fall crop since I live in Zone 8, which has a longer growing season. But whether it’s spring or fall, one of…
Fighting off an ant infestation is tough enough, but it’s even harder to do so while keeping your furry friends safe. I feel your pain, pet parent. While there are many over-the-counter products that are effective at fighting ants, there are very few that are safe for dogs. This means that dog lovers have to…
If you’re reading this article, you’ve likely heard of neem oil. Derived from Azadirachta indica, a tree found primarily in Southeast Asia and certain parts of Africa, neem oil is a natural insecticide that has been shown to kill off or repel literally hundreds of bugs. But what about ants? Have you ever wondered if…
