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Autumn Joy sedum is a plant that lives up to its name

For some visual joy in autumn, plant Autumn Joy sedum.The plants’ domed flower clusters now smile skyward like heads of pink broccoli. Autumn Joy is, understandably, a stalwart of the late summer and...

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Plant for posterity: Replace a giant tree with a giant-to-be

Nothing like some strong winter winds to remind one of mortality — tree mortality.No tree lives forever. Nothing does. But we humans sometimes don’t appreciate trees’ mortality, especially trees that...

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Pruning: Get the right cut for the growth you want

In the short space that follows, I think I can guide you on how to prune any plant, from a midget marigold to a mighty oak.That’s because all plants respond similarly to pruning. Once you understand...

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Don't ignore forsythia just because it's gone green

The warm glow of forsythias cools down as their flowers fade and green leaves start to unfold. For the next 11 months, this plant that displays such cheerful color on the drab heels of winter will be...

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Vegetable gardens can be pretty as well as functional

Considering the superior flavor of fresh-picked vegetables and the choices you get when you grow your own, it’s a wonder that more people don’t have vegetable gardens.Even a local farm or farmers...

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Staking trees: Do it only if needed, and do it right

To stake or not to stake?Too many gardeners answer this question in the affirmative. Who doesn’t want to lend support to a wispy, young tree?And there are situations when a tree can use some mechanical...

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Dogwoods' beauty continues into summer

The last of the “hounds of spring” is in its glory. Dogwood.The flamboyant show began back in late winter when cornelian cherry (Cornus mas), a kind of dogwood, swathed its branches in a veil of small,...

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Strawberry beds get a boost from renovation

If you saw my strawberry bed, you might think I don’t like strawberries. The leaves have been lopped off, some plants were ripped out of the ground, and those that remain are partially buried in...

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Preparation, planning make for a successful meadow

Weeks of lawn mowing can make a backyard meadow — a carefree carpet of flowers and grasses — seem like an especially appealing alternative.Even small yards can accommodate a patch of meadow.Although a...

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Gardening: growing blackberries without the blood

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been picking and eating what are arguably the best fruits I have ever tasted (a belief I often hold when a particular fruit is ripe). They are blackberries, but not...

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Plan, plant now for spring-flowering bulbs

It’s nearly that time of year when gardeners think of spring — of planting bulbs that are going to bloom then.Bulbs are “pre-packaged” flowers, so a green thumb isn’t necessary to get those first...

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Luscious fruits come from timely harvest, good storage

“Ripe” is a term that’s used much too freely when it comes to fruits.A plum is not supposed to taste sour like a lemon; that lemon-y plum is not ripe. Nor — and this is important — will it ever be.read...

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Using a coldframe is like moving your garden south

In one weekend, you could effectively move your garden — or at least part of it — a few hundred miles south. If you’re handy, you could do it in less than a day.Do this by building a coldframe — a...

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Eat fruit at peak flavor

Pick up an apple and hold it to your ear. Can you hear it breathing?Of course you can’t. But that apple, like any other harvested fruit or nut, is breathing, taking in oxygen and giving off carbon...

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Manage light for flavor and tenderness

Some of my vegetables blanched at what I did to them. Not from embarrassment, but from lack of light.To make a vegetable more tender and less bitter, consider blanching it. Plants blanche when they...

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