Construction & Repair Housekeeping Home Appliances Tools & Equipment Interior Design Plumbing & Electric Furniture & Woodworking Landscaping Eco-Friendly Flower Arrangement Home & Garden WonderHowTo

Gardening Features

iOS 18 Tips, Tricks, How-Tos, News

How To: Build a hoophouse

Hoophouses (or high tunnels) are unheated greenhouses that are becoming increasingly popular with home gardeners and farmers eager to extend the growing season. In this two part series, learn how to make one of your own. Adam Montri is the hoophouse specialist for Michigan State University and in this tutorial, he takes you through all of the necessary steps for building one.

How To: Improve your soil with winter digging

Winter digging is the best way to improve your soil and get it ready for planting in spring. Double-digging is simple but can be hard work. In this gardening tutorial, Geoff Stebbings from Garden Answers explains how to do winter digging simply without getting too exhausted.

How To: Effectively water your garden to beat the summer heat

If you're new to gardening, it's important you know some of the best tricks. Not being able to do something properly can result in flowers that may soon die. One thing that is important is watering your plants just right during the summer. So in this tutorial, you'll find out how to effectively water your garden in order to beat the summer heat. Pay attention and good luck!

How To: Plant a 30 minute vegetable garden

You can have a garden in less than 30 minutes. The key is a product called garden socks. They are two cubic feet long and they have one cubic foot of compost inside of them. One thing that makes this product useful is that they are very light and easy to carry around and they provide a weed free garden. All you have to do is build your raised box and then fill it with these lightweight two-foot socks of compost. Next take the plants that you are going to plant and arrange them in the box in t...

How To: Care for a garden in february during dormant season

John White, a Doña Ana County Extension Agent, highlights a new section on the show - a monthly checklist for the garden. This time, he talks about what to do in your garden in the month of February. The checklist includes planting dormant plants, pruning with a purpose and applying herbicides and pesticides. He shows us various types of dormant plants that can be purchased from nurseries in February for planting such as potted, bare-root or root-balled plants wrapped in burlap. As for prunin...

How To: Mulch your garden

Mulching is an essential part of good garden practices. And if you've ever done any landscaping around your home, you know that a generous layer of mulch around your plants can give your garden a nice finished look. In this tutorial you will learn how to mulch for a more beautiful garden and healthier plants.

How To: Choose cool weather veggies & flowers for your garden

The presenter, John White, explains how to choose and transplant cold weather vegetables and flowers in this video. The first vegetable he identifies is spinach. He suggests ensuring that the plant has been "hardened off" when buying transplants from the nursery. Next John presents leaf lettuce, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and Swiss chard as some additional vegetables. He does remind the watcher to consult the plant labels for all the spacing information they may need. Moving on to flowers, J...

How To: Identify pecan weevil problems

In this Home & Garden video tutorial you will learn how to identify pecan weevil problems. John White presents this video along with Carol Sutherland, extension entomologist. After pecan is infected with pecan weevil, it has the potential of spreading in the entire area. The indication of pecan weevil infection is an opening on the crust of the pecan which may or may not be a perfect circle. But, on the nuts the holes are perfect circles. There is usually one hole on the nuts; though sometime...

How To: Add color to the garden with perennials

Southwest Yard and Garden featuring John White, Dona Ana County Extension Agent, hosts a 6 minute clip with co-host Master Gardener Valois Pearce both of Dona Ana County, New Mexico host a short web show featuring plants that can easily survive on smaller amounts of water over typical plants. They begin by discussing the full sun Ice Plant, which comes in many species and colors as well as their hardiness, but unfortunately are easy targets for wildlife. They then move onto the Gopher Plant, ...

How To: Make compost in your backyard

In this how to video, you will learn how to make your own compost heap. Compost is nature's own living fertilizer. It can be purchased at stores, but you can also make it yourself. This can be started in any weather and at any time of the year. Tree trimmings, grass clippings, food scraps, coffee grounds, saw dust, and even dryer lint can be used for compost. Any mix can be used. The critical ingredient is oxygen. Coarse and soft mixes should be used. Water is also important. You want living ...

How To: Identify common shrub & tree diseases

John White (Doña Ana County Extension Agent) talks to Natalie Goldberg (Extension Plant Pathologist) about Powdery Mildew that affects many plants. They look at a Japonica that is heavily infested. Powdery Mildew is enhanced by shaded condition despite the dry climate. It starts with a spot spore infection that will easily spread by the wind or by rubbing. Control methods are difficult and involves a lot of routine applications of chemicals (ornamental fungicide) to keep it in check once the ...

How To: Keep cut flowers fresh

The key to keeping fresh cut flowers perky for a week or more without floral preservatives (which contain biocides that kill bacteria and fungus) is to keep the water fresh and the stems free of air pockets so they can continue to draw up water.

How To: Move houseplants back inside for the winter

If you're like me, you put some or all of your houseplants outside for the summer. Now that fall is here, it's time to think about moving them back in for the long winter ahead. This how to video shows a few steps you can take to prepare your plants for indoor conditions. Following these easy steps should help ensure your plants winter over successfully, so you can get them outside again next spring.

How To: Identify common tree problems

For new landscapes people tend to generally plant the new 'purple leaf plum' trees in a square shaped small plots. They also plant some small plants around it to make it look good. However when the tree grows older it needs to spread its roots. At that time these plants may try to hinder the trees roots growth. Therefore it is advisable remove them once the tree starts growing bigger. Then you can also add water to the roots by spreading it around the area of the tree.Whenever there is proble...

How To: Water deciduous trees in autumn

Watering requirements for deciduous trees is dramatically different in autumn than at other seasons throughout the year. In the autumn there is less wind, less evaporation, the temperatures are lower and so there is less of a problem with dehydrating the plant. When you plant the tree. Dig a hole and put the tree in the hole. Fill the hole half way full of soil and flood the rest of the hole with water. Let is soak in and then fill it again. This will soak the roots and also the ground around...

How To: Plant broad beans

Tom Cole shows us how to plant broad beans. Using the listed tools from the video and the easy steps from the video, Tom Cole stresses not to position the beans opposite of each other so they do not block each others sunlight. Plant broad beans.

How To: Water trees and shrubs in a nursery stock

Plant nurseries have thousands of trees and shrubs in stock. To keep them from drying out and dying, it is important to water them on a regular basis. This how-to video will show you how to water thousands of trees and shrubs. Learn to test the soil around the plants and about irrigation systems that will help you keep you plants alive

How To: Fertilize your lawn

In this video, we learn how to fertilize your lawn. First, you need to pick out what kind of fertilizer you need. You need to know how to read the numbers that are on the bag, so you can choose the right kind for you. After this, go to the store and look at the different fertilizers that are in stock. Look at the back of the bag and read to see if it's the correct type for your project. After this, look up the right time to apply the fertilizer to your project. When spreading it, make sure it...

How To: Choose the right garden mulch

This video will show you how to choose the right mulch for your garden. The first thing to learn is that you have a lot of choices when it comes to selecting a garden mulch. The first type is organic mulch. Organic mulch is a kind of mulch that will break down into the soil over a period of time. Wood chip is an example of organic mulch. You can put a weed mat down under the mulch to keep the weeds from growing up. A second way to mulch the garden is with a decorative pebble. They come a wide...

How To: Prick out bedding

If you grow your own bedding plants one of the main jobs over the next few weeks is 'pricking out'. This 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. When done at this stage of growth there is less shock and root disturbance to the seedlings and they will establish and grow on much...

How To: Grow pawpaws in your home garden

Pawpaws are a little-known American fruit. With their unusual texture and tropical flavor, pawpaws make a great addition to a lot of recipes. They're easy to grow at home, too, in almost any climate! Here is everything you need to know about growing pawpaws, plus a recipe for a delicious and healthy smoothie!

How To: Make chile pods mild or hot

In this Home & Garden video tutorial you will learn how to make chilly pods mild or hot. Curtis Smith, extension horticulturist, presents this video along with Patricia Aaron. The heat of the chilly is in the skin and the veins. When you cut open a chilly, you will see all the veins are near the shoulder or the chilly. So, the shoulder part of the chilly is hotter than the tip. So, if you want to make the chilly milder, then cut off the top part. Seeds do not add to the heat of the chilly. If...