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| We're pleased to introduce Sandy Feather as a garden columnist at donnan.com. Sandy is Pittsburgh's leading garden columnist and works as the Extension Educator for Penn State's Cooperative Extension in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. | |
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RSS Feed for
Sandy's Garden Columns |
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African Violets blooming What can cause African violets to stop blooming. |
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African Violets - Propagation from
cuttings African violets (Saintpaulia spp.) are easy to propagate by leaf cuttings. |
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Aggressive
Perennials Perennials that are 'garden bullies.' |
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Almonds and Pecans Are Almond and Pecan trees hardy in Pennsylvania? |
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Amaryllis Care How to care for amaryllis bulbs during and after they bloom. |
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Amaryllis - Starting Amaryllis from
seed You can start new amaryllis plants (Hippeastrum spp.) from the seeds contained in the pods. |
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Annual flower trial -
Outstanding performers Annual flowers that perform well with minimal maintenance. |
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Annual flower trial - Flowers rated
'good' and 'poor' Annual flowers that performed 'average' to 'poorly.' |
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Artillery Fungus
New! This could explain those black tar spots on your house. |
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Asian Lady Beetles Beetles that gain attention when they move into households to overwinter. |
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Asparagus beetles Two types of beetles chew on your asparagus plants. |
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Asparagus growing Preparing asparagus for the winter. |
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Attracting Songbirds
New! Plants for your yard that attract birds. |
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Azaleas and Rhododendrons Rhododendrons and azaleas both are classified in the genus Rhododendron, so they are very similar. |
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Azalea Bark Scale White crusty areas on an azalea's branches may be this soft scale insect. |
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Azalea gall Azalea gall is caused by a fungus. |
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Bagworms What look like pinecones may actually be bagworm cases. |
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Bamboo: How to get rid of bamboo Bamboo takes time and persistence to eliminate. |
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Bees in the Garden Use these plants and methods to encourage and protect honeybees. |
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Best Flowers Our best performing flowers of 2008. |
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Biofungicide for tomato late blight Another option for preventing late blight on tomatoes. |
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Black spot
on roses - Control methods Black spot is the most common and severe disease that rose growers have to face. |
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Blighted tomatoes Late blight also damages the tomatoes, not just the leaves. |
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Blister beetles Bad for your flowers and to the touch! |
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Blossom End Rot on Tomatoes Blossom end rot appears as black leathery areas on the blossom end of maturing tomatoes. |
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Blueberries in containers Blueberry plants require an acidic, evenly moist yet well-drained soil rich in organic matter. |
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Blueberry pruning and care When and how to prune blueberry bushes. |
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Boxwood leafminer Blisters on boxwood leaves are characteristic of boxwood leafminer. |
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Butterfly Bush
New! Whacky spring weather was brutal to subshrubs like Buddleia. |
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Caladiums Growing a caladium indoors is difficult due to lower humidity. |
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Canna Viruses Cannas are susceptible to several viruses. |
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Chinch Bugs These bugs love hot, dry summers on lawn areas in full sun. |
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Christmas Tree Freshness
New! Purchasing and maintaining a fresh cut Christmas tree. |
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Clematis Care - Pruning Clematis Vines It's advisable to prune all clematis annually. |
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Clematis
Problems Clematis wilt occurs most frequently on large flowered hybrid varieties. |
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Coffee on
Plants Compost coffee grounds before using them in the garden. |
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Coleus Saving Coleus from your flower garden one year to the next. |
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Common Stalk Borer Common stalk borer feeds on over 175 types of plants. |
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Compost - Composting for the garden Compost that is thoroughly "done" has a fresh earthy smell, and you cannot identify the original components. |
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Composting for Houseplants Compost should be completely broken down for houseplant use. |
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Controlling Weeds Weeds in ground covers require extra work and care. |
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Corn Earworms Corn earworms cause damage by feeding on the fresh silk and boring into the tips of the ears of corn. |
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Cover Crops Cover crops such as winter rye are grown to protect the soil from erosion and increase its nutrient content and organic matter. |
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Crabgrass How to get rid of crab grass in your lawn. |
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Crabgrass infestation repair How to repair lawn spots damaged by crabgrass infestations. |
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Crane Flies Huge mosquitoes or crane flies? |
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Crape Myrtle Are Crape Myrtles hardy enough for northern climates? |
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Crown Gall This "brain-looking" growth is common on Euonymus. |
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Cucumber beetles Beetles transmit a disease called bacterial wilt to your cucumbers. |
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Cucumber problems Downy mildew is a real problem when growing cucumbers. |
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Currants with insects Red currants can have several insect problems. |
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Cutting-back overgrown Yews Overgrown Taxus can be severely cutback in early Spring. |
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Cyclamen How to care for this holiday plant. |
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Deer resistant flower bulbs
New! If deer eat your tulips try these bulbs. |
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Deer Rubs on Tree
Trunks Preventing and repairing deer damage to the trunk of a tree. |
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Dividing Dahlias for planting How to divide Dahlias before planting them. |
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Dog damage to
Lawns
New! Tips for preventing dog damage to your lawn. |
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Dollar Spot Dollar spot disease is a big problem on bluegrass lawns. |
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Drought Tolerant Plants A list of landscape plants for dry conditions. |
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Easy Perennials Try some of these plants for an easier time in your garden. |
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Eggplant
Flea Beetle Numerous tiny holes on plant leaves are characteristic of Flea Beetle feeding. |
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Emerald Ash Borer This deadly insect is now present in 10 Pennsylvania counties. |
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Euonymus Scale White flecks on euonymus leaves are probably scale insects. |
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Fertilizer burn on lawns What to do following over-application of lawn fertilizers. |
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Fertilizing Daffodils - What to use
and when Daffodils and other bulbs put on significant root growth in the fall, so it's a good to time fertilize them. |
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Ficus Leaf Drop - Houseplants dropping
leaves Weeping figs (Ficus benjamina) are famous for dropping leaves when moved from one location to another. |
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Fire Blight on
Crabapples This bacterial disease affects plants in the Rose family. |
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Flower Pots need good drainage Use an interior plastic pot liner with drainage if necessary. |
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Flower Trials The hottest picks in flowers, by guest columnist Nancy Knauss. |
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Fourlined Plant Bugs Fourlined Plant Bugs cause circular brown spots in flower foliage one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter. |
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Freeze Damage to
Outdoor Plants Plants damaged by a cold snap. |
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Fungus Gnats - Those annoying little
household pests These common houseplant pests are primarily nuisance insects. |
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Garden soil amendment Amending garden soil often begins with horse manure. |
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Gardenias as Houseplants Successfully growing a gardenia indoors requires special care. |
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Grape Black Rot When grapes shrivel up before they are mature enough to harvest. |
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Grass Seed Purchases Considerations for buying the right grass seed. |
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Grasses with endophytes Endophyte-enhanced turfgrasses are insect resistant and more! |
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Grassy Weeds in Daylilies Quackgrass is the ultimate challenge. |
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Gray Mold on Peonies Peony botrytis is the most common disease of herbaceous peonies. |
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Groundcovers under trees These groundcovers work better than grass under trees. |
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Ground Ivy Ground Ivy is a tough lawn weed to eliminate. |
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Growing Amaryllis Foliage usually appears after flower stalks. |
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Growing Black-eyed Susan This tough perennial does have a few problems. |
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Growing Beans Legumes do better when treated with rhizobia. |
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Growing Blueberries Look to the soil and roots when you have sluggish blueberry plants. |
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Growing Boxwood Plant boxwoods in areas with good drainage. It's alright to prune them while dormant. |
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Growing Christmas Cactus How to keep Christmas cactus blooming. |
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Growing Prayer Plant Learn about the three things that can cause brown leaf tips. |
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Growing Rhubarb Rhubarb is a cool season, perennial vegetable grown for its piquant leaf stalks used in pies and other dishes. |
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Growing Rosemary How to grow the rosemary herb indoors during the winter. |
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Growing Seeds Indoors How and when to start your vegetable plant seedlings. |
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Growing Zucchini Why your garden zucchinis might be bitter tasting. |
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Gypsy Moths Gypsy moth caterpillar identification and control. |
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Helping the Honeybee Steps you can take to encourage honeybees in your landscaping. |
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Hemlock insect
pest spreads Hemlock woolly adelgid has devastated Canadian hemlocks. |
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Hibiscus How to overwinter Hibiscus indoors. |
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Hillside
Plantings Hillside plantings can replace difficult to mow lawn areas on slopes. |
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Holly Leafminer - Control measures There are several species of leaf mining flies that attack holly foliage. |
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Honeylocust sprouts Getting rid of root sprouts from a tree that was cutdown. |
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Honeysuckle Aphids Honeysuckle aphid feeding spoils the flowers and the toxin they inject causes curling of the leaves. |
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Hostas and HVX Hosta virus X (HVX) was first reported in 1996. |
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Houseplants frozen? How to tell if houseplants have survived a freeze. |
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Houseplants
- Watering Drooping and leaf loss can be signs of drought stress. |
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How to prune a Butterfly Bush When and how to trim Buddleia. |
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Hydrangeas not blooming Why your hydrangea is not flowering |
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Impatiens Problems Verticillium wilt is a common problem when impatiens are planted in the same place every year. |
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Insects in Mulch Properly applied mulches have many benefits. |
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Integrated Pest Management IPM is a common sense approach to pest control. New! |
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Iris Borer Iris borers enter through the leaf and exit through the rhizome |
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Japanese
Knotweed Japanese knotweed, also known as Mexican bamboo or Japanese bamboo, is extremely difficult to eradicate. |
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June Beetle or Emerald Ash Borer? Distinguishing the difference between the two insects. |
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Kerria in the Garden Tending Kerria in the garden. |
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Landscaping Steep Banks Landscaping's greatest challenge is steep banks. |
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Late-season Garden Vegetable Plants What to plant in your vegetable garden after mid-July. |
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Lawn: Beautiful lawn tips Follow these tips for a beautiful lawn! |
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Lawn fundamentals Fundamentals for keeping a lawn in good condition. |
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Lawn grasses for low maintenance Grasses to ease your lawn care tasks. |
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Lawn plantings in Fall Working with nature by seeding your lawn in the fall. |
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Lawn spot-seeding How to successfully spot-seed a new lawn. |
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Lawn surface
roots What you can do about bumpy tree roots in your lawn. |
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Lawns in the Shade How to grow grass in the shade. |
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Lawns with low maintenance practices Cutting back on chemicals and pesticides in your lawn care. |
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Lawn weed control How and when to treat lawns with weeds. |
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Leucothoe Leucothoe prefers a shaded location. |
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Lilacs Not
Blooming Lilacs (Syringa spp.) fail to bloom for a number of reasons. |
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Low-E window glass and houseplants Higher window insulating values mean less light for indoor plants. |
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Magnolia scale Sticky-stuff, bees and black leaves are the usual symptoms. |
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Mail Order Plants How to handle your plant order upon arrival. |
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Maple Leaf Spot A wet spring increases the occurrence of leaf spots. New! |
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Mexican Bean Beetles One 'bad' lady bug may be devouring your green beans. |
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Mold on Peonies Gray mold (botrytis) will cause black leaves and flower buds. |
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Moles Lawn damage from moles? |
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Moss Controlling moss problems on your lawn. |
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Moving a
Holly bush How to transplant a holly when it gets too big. |
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Moving houseplants indoors at summer's
end Expect some leaf drop due to changing light conditions. |
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Mulching tree leaves into your lawn Tree leaves bring added benefits to your lawn, so mulch them if they aren't too thick. |
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Mulching
Rhododendrons Leaves that are light green can indicate a nitrogen deficiency. |
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Mulching trees What's up with this "volcano mulching" of trees? |
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No Berries on Holly Hollies (Ilex spp.) are dioecious with male and female flowers produced on separate plants. |
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No lawn pesticides How to grow lawns without pesticides. |
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Norfolk Island Pine - Culture and care Norfolk Island pines (Araucaria heterophylla) can make attractive, durable houseplants. |
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Oak Wilt Northern red oaks are more susceptible than white oaks. |
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Oakleaf Hydrangea Pruning When to prune Oakleaf Hydrangeas. |
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Oleander trimming How to trim Oleanders without affecting their blooms. |
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Outstanding Perennials - Perennial
Plant of the Year The selections for Perennial Plant of the Year. |
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Overwintering Bulbs Caring for daffodils and more. |
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Pachysandra diseases
New! Volutella is the most common disease of pachysandra. |
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Pampas Grass How to deal with large clumps of Pampas Grass. |
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Pear Tree
problems
New! Several things can blemish pears. |
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Peony care - How to get your peonies
blooming Peonies fail to bloom for a number of reasons, including lack of maturity. |
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Pepper
Plant Problems Pepper plants in the vegetable garden can drop their leaves for a number of reasons. |
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Pesticide Storage Pesticides need to be stored properly. |
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Petunia Flowers Getting Eaten? Tobacco budworm larva damages petunias and many other species of flowers. |
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Picking Flowers List of flowers that did well, and not so well, in our southwestern Pennsylvania gardens. |
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Pine Sawfly Sawflies cause needle stubble on Mugo Pines, watch for them in the Spring. |
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Pine tree dieback Weevils could be causing the growing tips of your pines to dieback. |
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Pink Patch on Lawns
New! Pink patch and red thread are similar lawn diseases. |
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Plants for Street Lawns What to plant on those narrow strips of ground. |
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Planting
Annuals Annual flowers can suffer from heat stress and sunburn when they are suddenly exposed to full sun rather than given an opportunity to acclimate gradually. |
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Planting in the Shade A list small trees, shrubs and perennial plants that flourish in shady locations. |
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Planting Potted
Tulips in the Garden Potted tulips don't usually move very well into the garden. |
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Poinsettia care after Christmas Caring for poinsettias and getting them to re-bloom. |
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Poison Oak and Poison Ivy
identification How to identify poison oak, poison ivy and poison sumac. |
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Potato Beetles Watch your tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, and peppers. |
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Powdery Mildew White coating on plant leaves is probably Powdery Mildew. |
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Preparing a Vegetable Garden for
Winter Steps for getting your veggie garden ready for winter. |
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Pruning
Hydrangeas What you need to know about Hydrangeas flowering. |
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Pruning Raspberries Raspberry varieties require different pruning strategies. |
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Pruning
Rhododendrons Overgrown rhododendrons can be salvaged with severe pruning. |
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Pruning snow damaged plants How to prune away snow damage. |
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Raised Bed Plantings Plants for hot, dry locations along your foundation. |
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Raspberry
Problems Several varieties of raspberry cane borers can cause problems while growing raspberries. |
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Renovating Privet Hedges Mid-March is the best time to renovate privet hedge. |
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Rhododendron Problems Watch for these three major rhododendron diseases. |
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Root Sprouts on Trees How to deal with root sprouts on trees. |
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Rose color change
New! Why your yellow rose becomes a red rose. |
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Rose midge One reason roses won't bloom. |
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Rose preparation for winter How to get your roses ready for cold weather. |
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Rubber Mulch Rubber mulches are touted as longer lasting than shredded bark. |
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Scale Insects Scale insects can be hard to detect if you are not familiar with them. |
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Scheffleras How to prune overgrown schefflera houseplants. |
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Slope Plantings Plants to use when planting a slope that has clay soil. |
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Slug Damage on Hostas There are environmentally-friendly ways to prevent slug damage. |
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Slugs in the Garden Ridding your garden of slugs. |
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Snow Mold damage to lawns Why lawns often look worse for wear in early spring. |
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Soluble Salts on Clay Pots Accumulations of soluble salts from fertilizers and minerals appear on clay pots. |
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Squash Vine Borers Often the cause of zucchini wilt in hot weather. |
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Starting
Seeds Indoors Start your cool-season vegetable crops indoors from mid-February to early March. |
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Stink Bug damage to plants Stink bug damage to agricultural and ornamental plants. |
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Stink Bugs Not all stink bugs are bad! |
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Stinkhorns
New! These garden fungi will get your attention! |
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Storing Dahlias over winter How to store dahlia tubers over the winter. |
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Storing Seeds from your Garden Seeds should be stored in a cool, dry place. |
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Strawberry patch care How to maintain your strawberry patch through the seasons. |
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Strawberry selection and culture Strawberries are one of the most commonly grown fruits in the home garden. |
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Termites in
mulched beds Both wood mulch and stone mulch can invite insect problems. |
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Thistle Control What to do when thistles take over your carpet Juniper bed. |
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Tomato Growing 101 Stick to basics for tomato growing success. |
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Tomato Late Blight Avoid growing potatoes and tomatoes next to each other. |
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Tomatoes and Late
blight Steps to prevent the devastation of tomato blight. |
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Tomatoes with TMV Leaf roll on tomato plants may be due to Tobacco Mosaic Virus. |
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Top Flowers of
2009 Demonstration garden results are in for the best flowers of 2009 |
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Transplanting
in Late Fall Some plants tolerate late fall transplanting better than others. |
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Transplanting Shrubs Before Home Construction It's best to move woody plants while they are dormant. |
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Tree replacements for Ash trees
New! Trees to plant if the borer takes your Ash. |
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Trimming Holly How and when to trim your Hollies. |
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Tulips that will not bloom Listed here are the reasons (other than deer) that tulips will not bloom. |
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Vegetable Gardens - Mulches Leaves that have been composted or shredded make a good winter mulch for the vegetable garden. |
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Vegetable gardens in partial shade Leafy crops do better than most with less than 8 hours of sun. |
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Vegetable garden weed control How to control weeds in your veggie garden. |
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Vegetable gardens and temperatures Certain temperature ranges favor vegetable production. |
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Vegetable Seed for Next Year's Garden Saved vegetable seed can last several years depending on the variety. |
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Viburnum dieback Don't stress your viburnums. |
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Viburnum Leaf Beetle /
Updated These small leaf beetles defoliate several Viburnum species. |
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Vines for a
Shady Trellis Nice perennial vines that perform well on a shady trellis. |
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Watch for Ticks!
New! Ticks can carry Lyme disease, and more. |
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When to fertilize your lawn Apply lawn fertilizer late in the Spring for better results. |
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When to Prune
Shrubs Some shrubs need to be pruned at the right time. |
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Watering new landscaping Too much water can be as bad as too little. |
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Webworm on Honeylocust Honeylocust trees with brown, webbed leaves in late summer. |
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Weeds in gravel driveways What to do about weeds growing in a gravel driveway. |
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Whitefly control with insecticidal soap or
oil These small flying insects are common pests on many houseplants as well as on plants in the garden. |
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Why roses won't bloom Rose buds that turn brown and fail to produce flowers are classic symptoms of a rose midge attack. |
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Wild Onions
or Wild Garlic? Wild garlic and wild onion are related and similar in appearance. |
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Wildflowers Converting your lawn into a wildflower meadow. |
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Window box flowers 25 annual flowers for sunny window boxes. |
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Winter
garden beauty Plant selections that will add interest to a winter landscape. |
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Wisterias that don't flower How to care for stubborn bloomers |
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Wood ashes
will affect the soil's pH Wood ash reacts with soil much like lime, raising the pH of the soil. |
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Yellow Nutsedge Nutsedge likes wet areas of the lawn and landscape. |
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Zucchini blossom end rot Why your half grown zucchinis are rotting on one end. |
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LINKS Master Gardener's gardening columns
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