If you are looking for a winter crop that is easy to grow indoors and adds freshness and nutrition to many dishes, grow microgreens. Microgreens are the seedlings of many of the greens and other vegetables we commonly grow in the garden, harvested when the plants have grown just one set of true leaves ...

This sounds like a vegetable self-help group, but it is really all about keeping tomatoes off the ground.

Long-time gardeners have usually tried several tomato trellising systems in search of a heavy-duty solution ...

Dwarf mondo grass (Ophiopogon japonicus ‘Nana’) is not really grass! It’s a miniature member of the lily family, sometimes used as a turf substitute in the Southern states. In Ohio, it serves best as a dense, evergreen, sun- and shade-tolerant ground cover. It is a classic element in traditional Japanese gardens and looks wonderful in formal or modern landscapes as well ...

Just because it’s a native doesn’t mean it will be happy wherever you plant it. There are a lot of terrific reasons to grow native plants, but the most-cited reasons are not necessarily the best. There is little doubt that natives are hot. From two-minute TV segments to print media and even garden club lectures, you can’t avoid the message: “Grow native plants because they are easier, need less water and care and are better for the environment.” But is it true ...

Double your space by planting spring-flowering bulbs alongside perennials, trees and shrubs. Everyone loves a bargain – and if it’s a two-fer, even better. Gardeners never have enough space, but I have developed some strategies that double my space – using bulbs with shrubs, grasses or perennials. Thus I have color in my garden, sometimes in February and definitely in March, long before spring has actually arrived ...

I am the last person you would ask about the latest ladies’ fashion. Really. I still own sweaters older than my sons. They are in college. But I do know a great bargain when I see it, and I like to look a little spiffy. Plus, I am very into comfort. So maybe you really should ask me what I like to wear in the garden. This year, it is full-skirted dresses of all sorts (on the cheap, too).

Want more structure to your garden? Have a spot where rain water always puddles? Looking for a hardscape project with a Japanese-inspired look? Ever hear of a dry stream bed? Dry stream beds are decorative stone features that can also carry rain water away from foundations and garden beds ...

To everything there is a season, it is written, and no one knows this more than gardeners. We cold-climate growers have just wrapped up the biggest one of all – summer – and have enjoyed a pretty luxurious fall. Most of us don’t really look forward to the cold and gray days of winter, but at our house, we celebrate another growing season: The Amaryllis Season.

Most spring-blooming bulbs rot in soggy soils. But some bulbs actually thrive. Here are several spring-blooming bulbs you can plant now to brighten up your boggy areas. Gardeners with very moist or wet soil often despair, resigning themselves to being “bulbless.” I am happy to report that some bulbs actually like wet places and will not rot ...

About 12 years ago, I began adding plants to newly created ornamental garden beds in my backyard. This is an area in full sun and has mostly dry soil, except in spring when it can sometimes have standing water for the better part of a day. It’s an area that has proved ideal for growing boltonia ...

In October, we tend to think the native blooming plants’ seasons are completed. But there are a number of beautiful native wildflowers whose blooms, foliage and seedpods add interest to October and late fall woodlands and prairies. Several species adapt to home gardens and can be found in garden centers or ordered from specialty native plant nurseries. Plus, each has an old story to tell.

This is the time of year when you notice all the blooming trees — they just seem to pop out of the landscape. Maybe it is time you added one or two (or all of them!) to your garden.