Gardening Features

How To: Pinch out and pot on sweet peas

Learn how to pinch out and pot on sweet peas with Sarah Raven's step-by-step video guide. This how to video demonstrates how to pinch out sweet peas to get really big stalky, chunky plants. Pinch out the tips of the sweet pea plants. These instructions lend expert advice on the pinch out/pot on process for sweet peas. Pinch out and pot on sweet peas.

How To: Rid your yard of moles

Moles can be a real problem in gardens. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to get rid of them. The best way is to try several methods until you find one that works. Even then if you manage to catch or deter a mole it's not always the end of the problem. For much of the year moles are solitary, and have their own territory. If you catch the little fellow, his neighbor will take advantage of the tunnel system and move in. This how to video give you some ideas of how to get rid of those pest...

How To: Propagate delphiniums, campanulas and lupins

Watch Carol Klein as she guides you through the process of propagating delphiniums, campanulas and lupins; from taking basal cuttings and potting them on, to how to stake them. To propagate: get as close as you can right at the base of the plant. You want nice, gritty compost. Plunge your propagation cutting in there as deep as you can get it. Propagate delphiniums, campanulas and lupins.

How To: Build a greenhouse to grow flowers or vegetables

In this tutorial, we learn how to build a greenhouse to grow flowers or vegetables. A greenhouse means the growing season doesn't have to end. You should plan the greenhouse out on paper before you begin, and allow space for walkways, location, and more. Make sure you can afford one and know that it will cost more for you to keep the climate in this preferable to grow plants. You can put a number of different glasses on the greenhouse, so pick which one you can afford and prefer the most. Pla...

How To: Prune roses and spot dead branches

In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to prune roses. Users will need a pair of garden trimmers or cutters. Observe the rose stem and check to see if there are any thorns and if it has a black color. If it does, it needs to be cut. Then remove the mulch around the canes. When cutting, go as deep as you can to allow the new cane to fully develop. Cut the cane and make sure that you see clean, green tissue. This video will benefit those viewers who enjoy gardening, and would like to learn h...

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: Prune and stake tomatoes effectively

Tomatoes are one of the most popular plants for at-home gardeners to attempt to grow. Most do not achieve large crops. This video from a nursery manager features detailed advice and information on how to prune and stake your tomatoes properly. These techniques will improve your tomato yields and make working in your garden much more satisfying and delicious. Prune and stake tomatoes effectively.

How To: Build your own hydroponics system

In this tutorial, we learn how to build your own hydroponics system. To do this, you will need: square line rain gutter, 6x end caps, 3x gutter running outlet, 1x small pond pump, 2 meters pond pump tubing, timber for framework, large plastic container, and gutter leaf guard. When you start, you will need to measure out how tall your pump will need to be, then build the framework to surround it. Then, grab all your gutter parts and put them together. Once you do this, start to set up all the ...

How To: Pinch out the branches on your tomato plants

This video from the the excellent UK series Container Gardening for Food teaches you a simple technique for increasing the yield of your tomato plants. By simply pinching out the new buds your plants continues to sprout after its already fully limbed, you can keep it from expending energy making new limbs and make it focus that energy on growing larger, more delicious tomatoes. A must-watch for any at-home tomato grower.

How To: Prune a flower carpet rose for the spring

Even though flower carpet roses aren't as susceptible to disease as are other rose species, you'll still need to care for them to ensure that they stay healthy. In this horticultural how-to, Dave, of Growing Wisdom, will tell you how to see to it that your flower carpet roses have a healthy summer and fall.

News: Garden-in-a-Jar

Terrariums. With fall quickly turning into winter, now's your chance to capture some of that remaining greenery as your very own garden-in-a-jar. I was lucky enough to catch Paula Hayes' terrarium show at Marianne Boesky Gallery in NYC this past summer. Her work is beautiful, not to mention inspiring:

How To: Mist houseplants

This video demonstrates how to mist your plants and to keep insects away. Plants that like high humidity will benefit the most from misting. Use an empty spray bottle that already has a mister. Clean the bottle well and spray a few times to get residual material from the tube. The best time to mist is in the morning, but you should mist at least once a day. Using a humidifier along with the misting process in the winter will make your plants happy.

How To: Grow Juniper bonsai from cuttings

First of all you have to take the branch of the juniper tree. You can do this activity in the early spring which is the months of February and March. Take a very sharp knife and then peel the bark until you see green color. You have to tear the bark down until you see the greenery below the bark and that greenery is called cambium which is extremely thin. You have to use your knife to remove any kind of knots from the bark. Now you have to dip it in the “RooTone” which is a rooting hormone an...

How To: Remove a plant without digging

In this video tutorial, you'll find step-by-step instructions on how to remove an unwanted rose, or any other unwanted plant, without digging it out of the ground and without the use of pesticides. For full instructions, watch this garden how-to.

How To: Clone plants

This video will teach you how to propagate plants from a stem cutting using asexual propagation (a.k.a cloning). The methods shown are mainly for hydroponics but can be used in soil.

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: Make a clay pot look like an antique

One way for a middle-aged person to look better than ever is to sit on a patio surrounded by well-aged pots. Flaking, lichen-covered clay pots give the impression that they’ve been around a lot longer than you have. And because antiqued pots look expensive, everyone will think that your investments are doing well and your children have moved out. There are three methods of giving your pots the beauty of antiquity. Two of these techniques take minutes, and the other one takes months.

How To: Prune an olive bonsai tree

This video explains how to prune an olive bonsai tree properly. the olive tree used in the video is an europaea tree bought from an exclusive bonsai tree company. The way the tree is pruned are by cutting the tree so that that it has an upward shape to stimulate vertical growth. It is explained that a process known as "cut and grown" are used with the olive tree because it makes the tree grow much faster and produce more fruit. Any branches or leaves that are unnecessary to the vertical growt...

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...