Growing Conditions

A successful landscape takes more than just selecting beautiful plants – it means surveying a garden site for the best location. Learn how to scrutinize your site to pick the best place to grow a garden – especially trees and shrubs.

Gardening through hot, dry summers can be tough, but it’s not impossible – if you have the right plants. Here are a few tolerant beauties that can brighten up your spring and summer gardens year after year, even when Mother Nature turns up the heat!

Don’t let hot, drought-filled weather dry up your dreams of growing a productive, yet water-efficient vegetable and flower garden! A wise and seasoned gardener shares her secrets for enjoying a thriving garden with minimal maintenance and water.

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map provides a general guide to growing conditions in North America. It divides the continent into 11 plant hardiness zones based on average minimum annual temperatures within each zone. Learn what zone you live in, as well as what that means for your garden.

We were all fooled: Spring popped up, we ran out to the garden, and then Mother Nature blasted us with unexpected freezing temps. If your garden now looks like it’s not going to make it through the rest of the season, don’t panic. All may not be lost.

When the weather outside turns frightful, and you fear the worst for your little shrubs, what’s a gardener to do? Understanding how plants react to sudden low temps and following a few simple tips might just help save your shrubs.

It’s a topic of shady character: moist shade garden vs. dry shade garden. Learn how moisture affects the plantings and care of both types of landscapes.

Four great shrubs for swampy spots are buttonbush, red-osier dogwood, Virginia sweetspire and pussy willow. Read up on the fine characteristics of each of these plants to find out which will work best in your wet site.

pH is important to gardeners because it affects everything they work with: soil, water and plants. But what does “pH” mean and how does it work? Read on to find out!

A soil sample analysis is your gardening road map to maximum plant growth. Learn how to collect and submit a soil sample.

The weather’s getting warmer and the urge to garden is great – don’t let your plants get frostbit by a cold night in early spring! Here are a few quick and easy ways to protect your springtime plants when the temperature dips.

Four great trees for very wet sites are sweetbay magnolia, sycamore, weeping willow and baldcypress. Each has unique characteristics that make it perfect for your marshy, problem spot.

Brighten up your garden with five annuals that provide a punch of color in the often dark, dull shade.

It seems like the seasons aren’t what they used to be. Recent changes in weather patterns are throwing many US regions for a loop. So how can we handle this – for our gardens, as well as for our planet?

The light levels in your yard change throughout the day and from season to season. Give your plants the proper sun (or shade) they need by first evaluating the light that streams into all parts of your yard.