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When you have poison oak growing near your house, your thoughts turn to poison oak removal. Unfortunately, getting rid of poison oak is not an easy matter. The plant is an American native beloved by birds. They eat the berries then spread the seeds far and wide. Complete eradication is impossible, so you’ll have to consider your poison oak control options. What Does Poison Oak Look Like? In order to start poison oak removal, you have to be able to identify the plant....

Worm plant Chinese jade Jade necklace vine Baby necklace Lucky for us colder clime growers, this plant is hardy and can even withstand a light freeze. The genus Crassula may exceed 200 species. Crassula marnieriana is one of the most unique with vertical stacked thick leaves adorned on the edges with blushed pink. Here are a few tips on how to grow a jade necklace and experience the architectural beauty and Dr....

Are Pepitas Pumpkin Seeds? You may have heard that “pepitas” is another term for pumpkin seeds. Yet, the pepitas at the store don’t look like the seeds that come from homegrown pumpkins. Pepitas have a fine papery skin, much like hulled sunflower seeds. So, are pepitas simply hulled pumpkin seeds? While that seems logical, pepitas are not produced by hulling ordinary pumpkin seeds. Unlike the hard-shelled seeds that most gardeners find inside garden-grown pumpkins, pepitas come from a special type of winter squash called oilseed pumpkins....

Portabella Mushroom Info Just to address what might be confusing here. I am talking about portabella mushrooms but you are thinking about portobello mushrooms. Is there a difference between portobello vs. portabella mushrooms? Nope, it just depends on who you are talking to. Both are just slightly different ways of saying the name for more mature Crimini mushrooms (yeah, sometimes they are spelled cremini). Portabellas, or portobellos as the case may be, are both simply criminis that are three to seven days older and, thus, larger – around 5 inches (13 cm....

What is an Heirloom Plant? So what is an heirloom plant? Some define heirloom vegetables and fruits by the length of time in which the cultivar has been grown. Some horticulturists actually put a date on this definition; the date being any cultivar developed before 1951 can be categorized as an heirloom vegetable or fruit. Prior to 1951, people were growing heirloom plants because growers had not yet introduced the first hybrid cultivars....

What is Ginseng Used For? Ginseng remedies are often seen in holistic or natural health food stores. It may be raw but is generally sold in a drink or capsule. In Asian markets, it is often found dried. There are many purported uses for ginseng, but no actual medical evidence of its effects. Nevertheless, ginseng remedies are big business and most studies seem to agree it actually can help reduce the incidence and duration of the common cold....

Making a bee nesting box gives the bees shelter to raise their young, ensuring future bee populations. There are a few ways to make a homemade bee house. Don’t panic if you aren’t handy, a DIY bee nest isn’t very complicated. Read on to learn how to make a bee house. Homemade Bee House Ideas If you have provided a diverse group of flowering plants, then the bees have a steady supply of food....

There are actually a number of garden related activities you can do that can help build your child’s language and writing skills, and even tie into social studies while using the garden. Language/Literacy in the Garden Young children can practice writing letters by using a stick or even just their finger to make letters in the dirt or soil. They can be given letter cards to use or you can tell them a letter to write, which also helps with letter recognition....

Details on Echeveria Plants Echeveria spp. stem from thick-leaved rosettes. The leaves are fleshy and have a waxy cuticle on the exterior. Often the leaves are colored and a firm touch can mar the skin and leave marks. The Echeveria succulent plant is slow growing and usually doesn’t exceed 12 inches (31 cm.) in height or spread. Native from Texas to Central America, the plants prefer desert conditions, but will tolerate periods of moisture as long as they are allowed to dry out before applying more water....

How to Keep Cats Out of My Garden Soil It’s no secret– cats are unpredictable and extremely territorial, so keeping cats out of garden areas can be a bit tricky. They mark their territory by depositing pheromones from scent glands (urinating or otherwise), and will continue to visit as long as their scent remains. Therefore, if an area of your garden has been frequented by a cat, the first thing you must do to keep cats out of the yard is remove any feces along with some of the soil....

Things That Can Kill Your Seedlings Growing plants from seeds is a rewarding endeavor that reaps big rewards. Caring for seedlings after germination isn’t hard, but attention to such things as damping off, nutrition, temperature, water, light and transplanting will guarantee stout seedlings that survive the rigors of outdoor living. Even the most experienced gardener can benefit from some seedling care tips to boost their success. Those little green shoots poking through the soil send our hearts soaring with thoughts of fresh produce and the joy it brings to our summer entertaining....

How to Grow Plants in Perlite Adding perlite to your vegetable beds or container garden keeps the soil loose and aids in aeration. Perlite is a lightweight, sterile material that doesn’t harbor pests and diseases. It doesn’t deteriorate and best of all, it’s non-toxic and is approved for organic gardening. The most common method for applying this soil additive to the garden is to top dress the ground with 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm....

Benefits of Aerating Your Lawn There are several benefits of lawn aeration. Lawns with a thick build up of thatch that is more than an inch (2.5 cm.) deep can suffer from disease and insect problems. This deep layer of old material harbors pests and disease pathogens, such as fungal spores. The thatch also minimizes the amount of nutrients and moisture that the roots need to grow. The benefits of aerating your lawn also include stimulating root growth by providing a more porous and easy to navigate soil texture....

Companion Planting with Leeks Not every gardener believes in the power of companion planting, but enough do and know that their gardens are protected against pests and certain crops thrive when planted near each other. While there isn’t any specific science, companion planting would seem to support crop health in many cases. Several pests make leeks their target. Allium leaf miner, leek moth, and onion maggots are but a few of the insects and their young that target plants in the family....

What is Mangosteen? A mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) is a truly tropical fruiting tree. It is unknown where mangosteen fruit trees originate, but some conjecture the genesis to be from the Sunda Islands and the Moluccas. Wild trees can be found in Kemaman, Malaya forests. The tree is cultivated in Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, the Philippines and southwestern India. Attempts have been made to cultivate it in the U.S. (in California, Hawaii and Florida), Honduras, Australia, tropical Africa, Jamaica, the West Indies and Puerto Rico with extremely limited results....

Milk Fertilizer Benefits Milk is a good source of calcium, not only for humans, but for plants as well. Raw, or unpasteurized, cow’s milk has some of the same nourishing properties for plants that it has for animals and people. It contains beneficial proteins, vitamin B, and sugars that are good for plants, improving their overall health and crop yields. The microbes that feed on the fertilizer components of milk are also beneficial to the soil....

What is Monkey Grass? Monkey grass is a groundcover that looks very similar to turf grass. It is the common name for liriope (Liriope muscari), but it is also referred to as border grass. In addition, monkey grass is oftentimes used as the common name for a similar plant, dwarf mondo grass (Ophiopogon japonicus). Are Liriope and monkey grass the same? In so far as ‘monkey grass’ is often the terminology used for liriope, then yes, which is confusing since mondo grass is also called ‘monkey grass’ and yet liriope and mondo grass are not the same at all....

The Most Hardy Evergreen Trees While some deciduous trees are extremely cold hardy, evergreens are among the most cold hardy trees around. Think of the spruce that grow in Alaska. Yes, there are evergreen spruce and pine and even cypress trees that thrive down to USDA plant hardiness zone 2, and even more for still cold zones 3 and 4. Since trees hardy to zone 2 will also do well in zones 3 and 4, let’s look at the evergreen trees that will survive zone 2 winters....

Types of Mountain Laurel Pests This shrub is a great plant for shady yards and forest gardens, but there are a few bugs that eat mountain laurel. Be aware of all the possible mountain laurel insects that may infest so that you can take steps to prevent and manage as needed: Lace bug – If you see pale, mottled discoloration on your mountain laurel’s leaves, it may be lace bug that is sucking the sap out of them....

What is Hybridization? Hybridization is growing two plants together in a special way to help the plants develop the natural traits we like. Hybridization differs from Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) because hybridization takes advantage of traits natural to the plant, where GMOs insert traits that are not natural to the plant. Plant hybridization can be used to create flowers with new and prettier designs, vegetables that taste better, or fruits that resist disease in the garden....