How-to

It happens to all of us. At least, it happens to me and a lot of other gardeners I know. Winter is right around the corner and you have all these plants in pots that you were sure you were going to have time to plant during the growing season. And now the growing season [...]

Last weekend the last stage of the front walk project was completed. Every stone had to be leveled and the gaps between stones filled in.That's how my sons did it, at least. A lot of people would use sand for the leveling and joint-filling, but they thought the crushed bluestone would stay put better. They [...]

The path project, on hold for weeks, finally took a step forward this past weekend. The split blue stone from the quarry arrived last week, three large pallets worth. The stone came in a variety of thickness and sizes, from half an inch thick to three inches thick, and from one foot in diameter to [...]

Because my 'Josef Lemper' hellebore was turning yellow, I decided to contact my source for advice. This plant was sent to me to try out in my garden compliments of Skagit Gardens, so I contacted Rhonda Jennings, who sent me the sample, to see what she thought. The best thing to do, if you haven’t [...]

Gardening experience, for the most part, is accrued bit by bit, as decisions are made to do this chore before the other, plants die and we know why--or we don't--and mental notes are made about what is blooming when. But every so often, the gardener has an epiphany, a light bulb moment. These milestones represent [...]

They may look delicate with their dainty wings and ephemeral personalities, but don't let fairies and their gardens fool you. With some weatherizing and a winter vacation indoors, you can tap into the fairy garden craze and enjoy your own miniature landscape no matter where you live. Make your fairy's home as sturdy as possible [...]

In my previous post on crocuses in the lawn, I explained why I chose the site I did. It had southern exposure, so the snow melted early there, and was near enough to the driveway so that anyone arriving would be sure to see them. So this site was perfect to satisfy my emotional goal [...]

Crocuses in the lawn were not originally in my garden plans for this year. I knew I wanted to dig a lot of daffodils from my old garden and I would be replanting them in the fall. I suspected I would not have time to plant all those daffs and crocuses besides. (My suspicions were [...]

(Editor's note: Neil Moran wrote North Country Gardening seven years before Cold Climate Gardening got started. I asked him to share what he's learned since building his greenhouse.)As you all know, the summers are sweet, but short here in the North. It seems not long after we’ve sown our vegetable crops and put out the [...]