Hot Gardening How-Tos
How To: Prune a Japanese Maple tree
Sometimes your Japanese Male can get a little out of control and ends up looking like a bush. In this how to video, Dave guides you through the process of pruning a Japanese maple tree. Make sure you prune your Japanese Maple carefully because the tree takes a while to grow the branches back.
How To: Prevent poison ivy
Poison ivy is a real pain. And it is especially bad to have poison ivy in your garden. Learn how to identify and remove poison ivy with little to no risk to your skin with this gardening tutorial. Remember to be careful and wear long pants and gloves when handling poison ivy
How To: Make your hydrangea flowers bluer
Your hydrangea plant tag may say that it is blue but when it blooms it is more of a white color with a light blue tint. Learn how to deepen the blue color of your hydrangea flowers with this gardening tutorial. Get brighter, more intense blue hydrangeas with the tips from this how to video.
How To: Create the perfect flower pot
Want to have a beautiful potted plants but don't want to put in all the effort? You can create spectacular flower pots that last all season long with these four easy tips. You don't need to spend too much time on your flowers and you can get great results with this how to video.
How To: Grow a sustainable garden
The EcoGarden is designed to give back to nature and show people how easy it is to go green in their own backyard. All you need to remember is to plant, feed and protect to grow your own sustainable garden. This how to video teaches you how to care for your beautiful and eco friendly garden.
How To: Distinguish between edible and poisonous mushrooms
Learn which mushrooms are edible and which are poisonous with this tutorial. Mushrooms are abloom in this search for wild mushrooms. Stay safe when camping or just when you are picking food off the ground with this plant identification video.
How To: Germinating seeds in paper towels
In this short how-to video, self-described earth mother Mayo Underwood demonstrates how you can germinate seeds in damp paper towels prior to planting them in your personal garden. Watch this tutorial and start some seeds of your own today!
How To: Plant a beautiful and functional container garden
When there isn't space in a garden for favorite plants, they can be planted in containers and placed on a patio or deck. This how-to clip provides instructions for how to plant a beautiful and functional container garden.
How To: Prune a Bramley apple tree
The Bramley is a large, heavy-cropping cooking apple popular for baking, making apple sauce and other apple dishes. In this two-part how-to series, Stephen Hayes of Fruitwise Heritage Apples demonstrates how to properly prune a Bramley apple tree and other apple trees with a similar habit of growth. Watch this instructional video to learn how to prune your own triploid and tip-bearing trees.
How To: Plant a dogwood tree
Beautify your surroundings and offset global carbon emissions by planting a tree. Oregonian writers Kym Pokorny and Anne Jaeger demonstrate best practices for tree planting as they plant a dogwood in this brief tutorial.
How To: Prune a high-density fruit tree
In this how-to video, Ed Laivo and Tom Spellman of Dave Wilson Nursery give you advice on how to prune high-density fruit trees as they look at Santa Rosa plums, pluots and nectarines in their own orchard. Watch this video to learn how to open your trees up for sunlight and airflow while simultaneously managing fruit buds so as to ensure uniform, healthy fruit growth.
How To: Thin your fruit tree
Thinning, or pruning, is the most important step in getting the best fruit from your tree. In this tutorial from Dave Wilson Trees, you'll learn how to thin your own fruit trees as they look at the plum, peach, apricot, nectarine, aprium and pluot trees in their own orchard as part of their spring maintenance routine. Watch this video and learn how to keep your fruit trees healthy and bearing uniform, healthy fruit!
How To: Understand why apple trees need to be pruned
Each year an apple tree should produce three things: new growth, fruit buds on last year's and older growth, and fruit on those fruit buds formed in previous years. In order to keep an apple tree in balance and fruiting, one must prune. However, pruning is often done poorly. In this, the first installment of his series on practical apple tree pruning, Stephen Hayes of Fruitwise Heritage Apples looks at the general structure of the apple tree.
How To: Rind graft an apple or pear tree
Grafting, also known as "top working," is simple-but-essential technique that enables you to change the variety of fruit a tree bears. In this tutorial, Stephen Hayes of Fruitwise Apples Heritage demonstrates the rind grafting technique, a useful method for grafting over a sound-but-unwanted apple or pear tree.
How To: Understand the basics of apple tree pruning
Each year an apple tree should produce three things: new growth, fruit buds on last year's and older growth, and fruit on those fruit buds formed in previous years. In order to keep an apple tree in balance and fruiting, one must prune. However, pruning is too often done poorly. In this, the second installment of his series on practical apple tree pruning, Stephen Hayes of Fruitwise Heritage Apples looks goes over what to look for in a good secateurs, or pruning shears, and how to thin out sp...
How To: Germinate Japanese maple tree seeds
Seeking to attain germination rates as high as 98%? Japanese-Maple.com's Ken Alston shares the little-known nursery secret to germinate Japanese maple tree seeds using resealable zipper storage bags and a standard refrigerator.
How To: Graft over an apple tree
Grafting, also known as "top working," is simple-but-essential technique that enables you to change the variety of fruit a tree bears. In this tutorial, Stephen Hayes of Fruitwise Apples Heritage reviews the essentials of top working while discussing an apple tree that was successfully grafted a year prior.
How To: Prune a mature apple tree with secateurs or shears
In this instructional pruning video, Stephen Hayes of Fruitwise Heritage Apples prunes "shoots," or the leave-offs of past years' growth of the Egremont Russet apple tree. He uses secateurs, or pruning shears, and emphasizes the need for balance and fruit bud management. Watch as Stephen prunes a mature Egremont Russet and learn some instructional apple tree pruning tips.
How To: Prune apple tree spurs
In this installment from the Fruitwise Heritage Apples guide to apple pruning, Stephen Hayes goes over the essentials of thinning spur systems, which develop naturally over time and can lead to overcrowding.
How To: Care for a neglected apple tree with a pruning saw
Pruning a neglected apple tree is not difficult. Unless the tree is seriously post-mature, diseased or very badly situated, a few simple principles and a sharp saw will see it right. In this video, yet another installment in the Fruitwise apple pruning tutorial series, learn to utilize a pruning saw to remove whole branch systems that are diseased, too low, too crowded or crossing while leaving the rest of the tree alone.
How To: Prune apple trees with a pruning saw
The Fruitwise Heritage Apple series of practical apple tree pruning tutorials continues with a look at the use of the pruning saw. In this short video, learn how to properly wield a pruning saw so as to prune apple trees both safely and effectively.
How To: Organically fertilize a garden
Allen shows us how to organically fertilize your vegetable garden. Insect and pest control as well as fertilizer can be used to keep a garden safe for the whole family, as well as pets, as well as producing food free of chemicals. Watch this video gardening tutorial and learn how to organically fertilize a garden.
How To: Care for plaenopsis orchids
They're known the world over and grow in some pretty strange places. But, as Allen Smith shows us, orchids don't have to be foreign to you. They can however be tricky to care for. Phalenopsis orchids are a great orchid for beginners. Watch this video gardening tutorial and learn how to care for orchid flowers.
How To: Prune and take cuttings from a epiphyllum plant
Properly pruning and taking cuttings from a plant is essential to the life of the plant This gardening how-to video demonstrates how to prune a epiphyllum plants for optimal growth.
How To: Pot a rooted geranium cutting
The hard part of planting your geraniums is getting them to produce roots. Once you have done that it is important to transfer them to an adequate pot for further growth. This gardening how-to video demonstrates the proper way to pot up rooted geranium cuttings.
How To: Make and use elecampane as a cough syrup
Elecampane is excellent as a honey cough syrup. This home remedy cough is easy to make. Watch this how to video to learn how to make and use elecampane cough syrup from roots.
How To: Prune dead wood from Robinia trees
Robinia frisia limbs are prone to dying, that is why it is important to prune them properly. If you wait until the winter to prune the dead wood you wont be able to tell the difference between the dead wood and the dormant tree limb. In this how to video Martin Fish from Garden News explains how and when to prune dead wood from Robinia 'Frisia'.
How To: Make a thyme seat
By combining plants and a garden seat together you can create a lovely living seat that will look good all year round and if you use herbs to make the seat it will also smell good. In this how to video we are making a seat using thyme, but you could also use chamomile, pennyroyal or any low growing, fairly tough plants. This type of seat is mainly decorative because for much of the time the plants or compost will be damp, but if you use a cushion when sitting on the herbs you will get a wonde...
How To: Lift and store Dahlia tubers
Traditionally the time to lift Dahlia tubers is after the foliage has been frosted, but before it gets too cold that the tuber itself is affected. In this tutorial, Martin Fish from Garden News shows you how to lift and store your Dahlia tubers for the winter.
How To: Repot lucky bamboo
Lucky bamboo is a beautiful plant to keep in your home. In this tutorial, garden News correspondant Martin Fish shows viewers how to save lucky Bamboo from flower arrangements and regrow it into a houseplant. With the tips from this how to video you can repot lucky bamboo in your home.
How To: Repair cracked plant pots
You don't have to throw away those broken pots and re-pot the plants inside. In this gardening tutorial, Martin Fish from Garden News shows viewers how to repair cracked pots. With this the tips from this how to video you can save money on plant pots.
How To: Make leaf mold
Leaf molds are great way to make mulch for your garden. In this how to video, Martin Fish from Garden News explains how to make a leaf mold. Follow the steps to make a leaf mold and by this time next year you will have lovely mulch for your garden.
How To: Tie in climbing plants
It is ideal to tie your climbing plants against a wall in order to train it to grow up. In this how to video, Martin Fish from Garden News demonstrates how to use a new product called Soft-Tie to tie his climbing plants.
How To: Prick out Foxglove seedlings
In this gardening tutorial, Martin Fish from Garden News demonstrates how to prick out Foxglove seedlings. "Pricking out" is when seedlings are transplanted into larger pots or trays to give them more room to grow on. The ideal time to do this is when the seedlings are at the two-leaf stage and before the true leaves have developed, or as soon as they are large enough to handle.
How To: Create a bog garden in a container
Learn how to create a bog garden in containers with this gardening tutorial. There are some lovely plants for growing in damp, boggy conditions, but if your soil is well drained and dries out quickly these bog plants will struggle to grow. A simple way of growing bog plants is in a large container such as a half barrel that has no drainage holes in the base. The barrel when wet will seal and hold water very well keeping the compost moist at all times. What you may need to do if the barrel is ...
How To: Make hanging plant baskets
One of the best ways to add summer colour to your garden or patio is with hanging baskets. Now is the perfect time to plant up baskets in order to give the plants a few weeks to establish before they are hung outside after the danger of frost has passed. Learn how to make a beautiful hanging baskets with this tutorial.
How To: Plant and care for sweet peas
Learn how you can plant and care for sweet peas with this gardening tutorial. Sweet peas are one of the best annual climbing plants for the garden and they can be grown in several different ways to get a superb display of flowers through the summer months. Traditionally sweet peas were sown in the autumn and planted out in early April, but spring sown plants can be planted out into May and will still flower well, albeit slightly later. If you haven't sown any seeds but would like to grow some...
How To: Plant and care for Rhododendrons
Rhododendrons must have lime-free soil and that can make them tricky for some of us that garden on neutral or limey soils. Planting in the garden is a waste of time and money. If you want, you can make a raised bed and fill that with acid soil but digging a hole in your garden and filling it with acid (ericaceous) compost only works for a while. The water from the surrounding soil will drain in and spread the lime and although you can acidify soil with sulphur chips you really are making life...
How To: Sprout seeds
If you can't get out into the garden, or you want to get the kids involved on a wet day, why not sprout some seeds?
How To: Repot plants
Potted plants of all kinds, whether in the house, greenhouse or outside, need repotting eventually. There are several reasons, the most obvious being that they simply get larger and top-heavy. Most houseplants don't need repotting that often because, if we give them plenty of liquid fertilizer in the growing season, they won't be short of nutrients and should therefore be healthy.