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City Vegetable Gardening Designs The urban gardener can enjoy a city vegetable garden in various ways. You can grow vegetables in containers, which can be transformed into thriving city gardens. These can be easily incorporated into existing patios or balconies or grown in rooftop gardens. Growing vegetables is more versatile than one might think. Container-grown vegetables will produce an adequate supply of produce for the urban gardener while eliminating the hassle of large garden plots....

What is Bird’s Nest Fungus? Soil and organic debris are full of all kinds of marvelous natural composters. One of them, the bird’s nest fungus, is also a master of mimicry. It has the appearance of a cup-shaped nest with little spheres inside that resemble eggs. In fact, the spheres are the method through which the organism reproduces itself. Whenever I see one of these little nests in my bark mulch, it makes me smile....

Bitter Melon Information Bitter melons are the fruit from an herbaceous vine, which as its name indicates is extremely bitter — too bitter to eat if allowed to ripen. Hence, the fruit of the bitter melons — and sometimes the tender leafy shoots — is harvested while young and then stuffed, pickled or sliced into a variety of menu items. Also known as bitter gourd or balsam pear, bitter melons are harvested prior to seed hardening and are of a uniform pale green with a warty appearance....

What is Black Spot Fungus? Don’t let the name fool you. Diplocarpon rosae, or black spot fungus, isn’t just a disease of roses. It can attack any plant with fleshy leaves and stems if the conditions are right. You’ve already taken the first step in treating black leaf spot. You’ve been inspecting your garden on a regular basis and you’ve caught it early. Black spot fungus begins to develop in the spring when temperatures reach into the sixties and the garden has been continuously wet for six to nine hours....

Boston ferns are made for container gardening. As houseplants, they are easy to care for and add lush greenery to your home. Boston ferns are a cultivar of the Sword fern. The variety was discovered in 1894 in a shipment of these ferns. Today many cultivars exist of the fern, which is as popular now as it was in the 19th century. As a foliage plant, the fern can’t be matched, but Boston fern browning on fronds minimizes the attractiveness....

Pruning Boston Ivy Vine Pruning Boston ivy vine can be tricky. If done incorrectly, ivy leaves brown “footprints” as well as ragged edges. To keep your ivy looking tip-top, you’ll want to pinch, snap, or cut trailers as they develop. Removing these unruly shoots will keep your ivy at the desired size, and as an added benefit, ivy cuttings root easily when transplanted into a new pot and make a great hostess/host gift at parties....

Brazilian Cherry Tree Information The Brazilian cherry tree (Eugenia uniflora) is a member of the Myrtaceae family and is related to guava, mountain apple, jaboticaba, and other Eugenia members. This shrub, often referred to as a tree, is also more commonly known as Surinam cherry or Florida cherry, due to the naturalization of the shrub throughout the state. It is native to eastern South America, extending from Suriname, Guyana, and French Guiana down to southern Brazil and Uruguay, where it can be seen growing in thickets along river banks....

Reasons for Brown Leaves on Sago Palm Sago palms are not true palms but members of the cycad family, an ancient plant form that has been around since before the dinosaurs. These tough little plants can withstand a lot of punishment and still reward you with their large attractive leaves and compact form. Brown leaves on sago palm are most commonly caused by sun scorch and inadequate moisture but there are some sneaky little pests and disease issues that can also be the source of the problem....

Bunny Grass Plant Info Bunny grass is a small, clumping grass with soft, ivory to white, oval flowers. They have a soft, touchable texture that is irresistible to both little and big hands. The blades are a soft, green color and 1 to 2 feet (0.5 m.) long. Unlike many ornamental grasses, hare’s tail grass has thin, bendable foliage. Bunny tail grass is a novice gardener’s dream because it’s so forgiving, and bunny grass plant info wouldn’t be complete without noting its drought-tolerance....

Removing offsets from cactus, also known as pups, not only produces another complete plant but is useful in containers that are overcrowded. Cactus propagation via offsets is easier than the slow growth of seed, the surgical precision of grafting and the variability of cuttings. The little cacti are small but complete copies of the parent species and simply need to be removed from the adult. Types of Cacti That Grow Offsets Not all cacti are capable of growing cactus pups, but many of the barrel and rosette types do....

What Does the Turmeric Plant Look Like? Turmeric plants grow to 3 feet (about 1 m.) high with large, 5 inch (13 cm.) deep green leaves. The blooms are green and white edged with vibrant pink and yellow. Turmeric Benefits Growing turmeric plants are great sources of vitamin C, magnesium, and potassium but the list of turmeric benefits doesn’t stop there. With the cultivation of turmeric dating from 300 B.C. by the Harappan civilization, turmeric has been long found to have a plethora of medicinal benefits....

How to Grow Strawberries in High Heat The trick to growing strawberries in hot climates is to have the berries ready for picking in mid-winter, not late spring or early summer as is common in temperate zones. Keep in mind that strawberries take four to five months of growth before they are ripe for harvest and well-established plants are the most prolific producers. So, the question stands, “How to grow strawberries in high heat?...

What is Bupleurum? Although bupleurum is from Asia, it can’t really be classed as a cool-season or warm-season annual. The plant is hardy in United States Department of Agriculture zones 3 to 10, a pretty broad spectrum for a leafy herb. Most gardeners across North America and beyond can learn how to grow bupleurum and keep a ready supply of this useful herb on hand, either fresh or dried. Once a common name among Chinese herb plant info, Bupleurum gibraltaricum, or hare’s ear, grows readily from seed....

What to Know Before Composting Lawn Grass The first thing to know before adding grass clippings to your compost pile is that you don’t have to compost your grass clippings. Gathering up cut grass to compost can be a big chore and if you mow your lawn properly, it is an unnecessary chore. Cutting your lawn at the proper height and with the proper frequency means that the clippings will decompose naturally on your lawn without posing any harm....

Can You Plant Ajuga in Pots? One of my go-to plants for containers or garden beds is ajuga. It is hardy, unfussy, brilliantly colored, and gives more and more plants each season. Container grown ajuga is just as useful and perks up a pot when other plants have yet to bloom or have died back. The lively color and jaunty little flowers can grow in either shade or sun, providing many options for containers in any situation....

What are Cranberry Beans? The cranberry bean, also known as the Borlotti bean in Italy, is fairly difficult to find unless your community has a large Italian population or farmer’s market. Cranberry beans are usually found in the mass market as packaged and dried unless one encounters them in the independent local farmer’s market where they can be seen fresh with their beautiful coloration. More widely known as shell beans, the cranberry bean is unrelated to a cranberry plant, and in fact, most closely resembles the pinto bean, although the flavor is dissimilar....

About Lemon Tree Pruning While pruning lemon trees back will engender larger, healthier fruit, citrus wood is strong, and thus, less likely to break under the weight of a bumper crop than other fruiting trees. Citrus trees can also fruit throughout the tree, including shaded areas, so cutting back lemon trees to improve light availability is not necessary. That said, lemon trees should still be pruned on occasion. Young trees should have any sprouts removed and any weak limbs pruned out....

How to Make a Compost Bucket The first method uses vermiculture, which is commonly referred to as worm farming. This term can be a bit misleading as it implies the purpose of vermiculture is to produce more worms. While that does happen, the main benefit of worm farming is to make vermicompost. Vermicompost is worm castings or the bodily waste which worms produce when they consume kitchen scraps. A balance of brown and green components is needed to make vermicompost....

Avocado Fertilizer Requirements What are avocado fertilizer requirements? The feeding of avocado plants is determined by the soil composition. That is, we fertilize to make up for any nutritional deficiencies in the soil, not to directly feed the tree with its nutrient requirements. Avocados need nitrogen, first and foremost, and a little zinc. You can use a citrus tree fertilizer as an avocado fertilizer or go organic and use compost, coffee, fish emulsion, etc....

Brussels Sprouts and Bolting Bolting is a plant’s natural inclination to propagate. When temperatures and daylight hours increase, annual leafy green vegetables, like lettuce, will quickly send up a stem with a flowering head at the top. When this happens, the plant puts its energy into flower and seed production, not leaf growth. Biennials, like brussels sprouts, can bolt for slightly different reasons. These plants have a two-year life cycle. During the first year, the plant concentrates its energy on leaf production....