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Types of Careers in Gardening If you love gardening, there are plenty of different gardening jobs that allow you to take this hobby and passion and turn it into a way to earn a living. Some of the many possible career opportunities related to plants and gardening include: Gardening/landscaping: This is a great career choice if you want to get dirty, work with your hands, and if you are not necessarily interested in getting a degree....

What Garden Charities are Out There? While there’s far too many to name individually, you can normally visit your local extension office or nearest botanical garden to find information on local garden nonprofits. A quick Google search online will also provide numerous garden charities and causes that are out there. With so many to choose from, where do you start? It’s overwhelming, I know. That said, many gardening associations and organizations are well known, and those can be great places to start....

Tips for Propagating Leaf Cuttings Before you start with leaf cuttings, you need to be sure to water the plant you’re planning to cut a few times prior to starting, preferably the day before. This will make sure the leaves will remain full of water and not deteriorate before roots have formed. Before you cut the leaf, make sure it is healthy, disease- and pest-free, and a good copy of the parent plant....

Knock Out Rose Diseases There are five common diseases of Knock Out roses and one serious virus that they now must also deal with. The five common Knock Out rose diseases are: Black Spot Fungus Botrytis Blight (aka: Gray Mold) Powdery Mildew Rust Stem Canker A well fed, well hydrated and actively growing Knock Out rose bush will be able to fend off these diseases. However, if we add into the scenario the stresses of injury (perhaps due to a weed whacker), heat stress, lack of water, poor soil, or insect and mite invasion, the rose bushes become a far more easy target for diseases to attack....

Most Common Pests of the Northwest Arguably, the most common Pacific Northwest pests are slugs and snails. These terrestrial gastropods can wreak havoc in the garden, especially around tender new plants. Cool, overcast, and rainy weather bring out these mollusks to feed on leaves. Irregular holes found anywhere on the leaf are a sure sign of these northwestern garden pests, but a telltale trace of slime will be the main clue if unsure....

Want to know the best thing about creating a “time capsule” garden? It’s a wonderful way to tie some historical relevance into your child’s learning. What is a Time Capsule Garden? An innovative term for garden trends from the past, the time capsule garden can be a planting strategy that was used in the 1700s or 1800s, and works perfectly in your current landscape. Ornamental blooms were not as widely used back then....

About Powdery Mildew on Onions Powdery mildew on onions is a fungal disease caused by the pathogen Leveillula taurica. While the disease commonly called powdery mildew can affect thousands of different plant varieties, there are actually different pathogens that cause the disease in specific plants. Leveillula taurica is a powdery mildew pathogen that specifically infects plants in the Allium family. This can play an important role in selecting the proper fungicides for onion powdery mildew control....

How to Dry Ornamental Gourds Gourds include flowering plants in the family Cucurbitaceae, most commonly Cucurbita and Lagenaria (calabash or bottle gourd). Ornamental gourds suited for use as DIY decorative gourds are those with a hard skin that when dried has the consistency of wood. How to properly dry your gourds prior to decorating them is key. First, harvest the fruit when it has developed a hard rind and/or wait until the stems dry and turn brown and the foliage has begun to die back....

Panda Face Ginger Info Wild gingers can be found all around the globe, but those that are cultivated for their ornamental value are primarily from the shaded woodlands of Asia and North America. Native growing Panda Face ginger can be found in Hubei and Sichuan, China, specifically. Although unrelated to culinary ginger (Zingiber officinale), this wild ginger’s root does have a spicy scent and can be substituted in Asian culinary creations…not, that I am suggesting you dig this little beauty up!...

How to Plant Celery Bottoms Most plants grow from seeds, but some grow tubers, stem cuttings, or bulbs. In the case of celery, the plant will actually regenerate from the base and regrow new stalks. This process is called vegetative propagation and it doesn’t only apply to rooting celery from the base. Although the process is a little different, beets, romaine, sweet potatoes, and even herbs like garlic, mint, and basil can all be vegetatively propagated....

Foil Be they poinsettias, Norfolk Island pines, or cyclamens, many holiday plants come with festive foil covering their pots. Through the holiday season, the foil can remain. Just be sure to lift the plant from the wrapper, water the plant and allow it to drain before replacing the foil sleeve. For the long haul though, you’ll want to remove the foil and repot into a permanent container with drainage holes....

About Potato Grow Bags You can make a bag out of burlap or even grow potatoes in a cardboard box. The container or bag lets the plant spread out its roots and you can still add layers of soil. The reason for layering is the same as hilling. Potato tubers send out roots at the eyes, which branch out in the soil. The more you cover the top of the root zone, the more roots they send out....

Pink Succulent Plants Pink succulents may display the color on leaf edges or with streaks or blotches mingled throughout the foliage. Others may be a solid color. Some need the stress of sunshine to get the desired color, while other plants have it without manipulation. If you wish for a particular color, research the plant to learn what creates the color and causes it to get brighter. Sometimes it has to do with the chlorophyll that normally makes leaves green....

How to Propagate an Artichoke As a tender perennial, artichokes are winter hardy in USDA zones 7 through 11. Modern-day gardeners wishing to cultivate artichokes in other climates can do so by planting artichoke from seeds and growing them as annuals. Rooting artichoke cuttings is another method of artichoke plant propagation and is used in areas where they can be grown as perennials. Planting Artichokes from Seeds When growing artichokes as an annual crop in cooler climates, it’s best to start the seeds indoors approximately two months before the last frost date....

Fact or Fallacy: Do Tomatoes Like Coffee Grounds? The short answer is yes and no. Like any garden additive, too much of a good thing can be detrimental. Consider what happens when too much fertilizer is applied to the lawn. Instead of a lush green carpet of grass, the turf turns brown. So yes, tomatoes can benefit from coffee grounds, but only in moderation. Here are some positive ways coffee grounds improve soil quality and growing conditions for tomatoes:...

How to Grow Roses on a Fence Roses on Chain Link Fences For tall chain link fences, attach a climbing rose to the fence to help hide the fence and add beauty to it. Plant the climbing rose bushes up close to the fence to grow up the fence easily and use it for support. Space the climbing rose bushes out at 6- to 7-foot (2 m.) intervals along the fence, as this gives them room to grow and spread out their long canes....

What are Shallot Sets? When planting shallot sets, consider that shallots are classified into two groups: pear-shaped (the French type) and round. The color of each variety will run from white to purple with the flavor varying depending on the type of shallot set, weather, and growing conditions. A shallot set is a grouping of small individual shallot bulbs generally purchased from a nursery. A 1-pound (.5 kg.) shallot set is enough to plant a 20-foot (6 m....

Soil Amendment Info Soil amendment can be as simple as mixing in leaf litter or it can be as complicated as running drainage pipes. The condition of your soil needs to be adequate for sustaining plant needs. Compact or hard soils are actually great for starting a lawn, as long as you add a little sandy topsoil if starting from seed. Plants like fruits and vegetables, however, need loose, nutrient-rich soil with plenty of organic amendments added every year....

They dig up bulbs and eat tender new plants. In extreme cases, the rodents can jump from trees and find ways into your home, nesting in your attic or crawlspace. Knowing how to keep a squirrel out of fruit trees and other tall plants will help you enjoy their antics without worrying about their destructive natural habits. Why Worry About Squirrel Proofing Fruit Trees? There are numerous varieties of squirrels throughout the United States and North America....

How to Propagate a Starfruit There are three methods that are commonly used when propagating starfruit trees. They are seed propagation, air layering, and grafting. The latter is the most desirable method for large scale production. Growing a New Starfruit Tree from Seeds Starfruit seeds lose their viability quickly. They must be harvested from the fruit when they are plump and mature, then planted within a few days. Seed germination ranges from one week in the summer to two or more weeks during the winter months....