Posts in Gardening
Brace Yourself

I hate to say it, but to quote Eddard Stark, “Winter is coming.”  This week’s cooler weather has got me thinking about changing leaves, the smell of wood smoke, and frosty mornings.  With the changing of the seasons, there are a number of things you can do now to prepare your landscape for winter and give you landscape a boost in the spring.

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Late Summer Gardening

As summer begins to wind down toward fall, the spring-planted garden changes character. Once bright green and limber, the foliage darkens, dries, and makes a rasping, rattling sound as you wander through. In the late-summer vegetable garden, your plants are entering the seed making phase and require a little special attention to prolong their productivity. 

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What are Invasive Species?

On Monday Bea Corra from Parkersburg shared a picture of a plant on our Facebook page wanting to know what type of plant it was and whether it was invasive or harmful.  I instantly had a flashback to August 2005 when I was studying Plant Taxonomy at Marshall University.  The plant (right) is Japanese Knotweed, an invasive species.  I also remember Dr. Evans’s advice for getting rid of it … “sell your house”.  This week, we’re going to take a look at what makes a plant invasive and some of the most common in our region.

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Caring for Ball & Burlap Christmas Trees

Buying a potted evergreen to serve both as a Christmas tree and a yard tree is possible, though a bit of a challenge. Most trees do best if they are planted soon after purchase and during the cool months of autumn. But that doesn't stop gardeners from making this plan work just fine.

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