When can I put my tomato plants outside?

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Wait until the danger of frost has passed and the weather has settled. Use the last average frost date in your area as a guide. For example, in Burlington, VT, the average last frost date is mid May.

So, we traditionally set out our tomato transplants around Memorial Day. About a week before transplanting your seedlings, start hardening them off by gradually exposing them to outdoor conditions. Place the pots in a protected spot outdoors (partly shaded, out of the wind) for a few hours each day, bringing them in at night. Gradually expose them to more and more sunshine and wind. (A cold frame is a great place to harden off plants.)

Once you plant your seedlings in the garden, keep an eye on the forecast. Every year is different and a late cold snap can stunt or kill plants. Always be prepared to cover plants with a row cover, such as our Garden Quilt Cover, if a late cold snap threatens. Eager to get an earlier start? With Tomato Teepees, you can plant a few weeks earlier.

 

Landscaping for Birds

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Conifers provide cover, winter shelter and summer nesting sites. Some also provide sap, buds and seeds.

Grasses and legumes provide cover for ground-nesting birds if the area is not mowed during the nesting season. Some also provide seeds.

Nectar-producing plants attract hummingbirds and orioles. Hummingbirds especially like tubular red flowers, such as fuchsia, bee balm, coral bells and penstemon.

Summer-fruiting plants include cherry, honeysuckle, raspberry, serviceberry, grape and plum. Birds attracted include brown thrashers, robins, thrushes, waxwings, woodpeckers, orioles, cardinals, towhees and grosbeaks.

Fall-fruiting plants include dogwoods, mountain ash, winterberries and cotoneasters. They are used by both migratory birds preparing to leave and non-migratory species preparing for winter.

Many winter-fruiting plants are not palatable until they have frozen and thawed numerous times. These include glossy black chokecherry, Siberian crabapple, snowberry, bittersweet, sumac and Virginia creeper.

Nut and acorn plants provide food and nesting habitat. They include oaks, hickories, buckeyes, chestnuts, butternuts and walnuts. Broken nuts and acorns.

 

When is it Warm Enough to Plant?

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If you want to get your vegetable garden off to a fast start, you need to plant your seeds in soil that’s warm enough to ensure good germination.

For each type of seed — beans, carrots, lettuce — there is a range of temperatures at which that particular type of seed will germinate (see the chart above). Beans, for example, will only germinate if the soil temperature is above 60 degrees F and no warmer than 95 degrees F.

 

5 Ways to Keep House Plants Healthy

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Inspect plants before bringing them indoors. If they show signs of pests or disease, cure the problem before you infect your other indoor plants.

Avoid placing plants in trouble spots, such as near heat or air conditioning ducts, on television or a radiator or between curtains and a frosty window.

Provide the right light. Plants that require full sun will thrive in a south-facing window. East-and west-facing windows have moderate sun. North windows have very little sun.

Remember that air conditions can be very dry in the winter because of heated air. You can provide a little extra humidity with a pebble tray and some misting.

Always plant in sterile soil. That will minimize problems with fungus gnats and other soil-borne diseases.

 

Shop wisely

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Secrets to Landscape Success

Landscaping — labor, plants and materials — may be much more expensive than you think. Do some comparison-shopping at local #Garden centers, and check prices at online Nurseries, too. Create a budget and a priority list if you’re not able to afford everything at once.

 

Think way ahead

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Secrets to Landscape Success

It’s sunny now, but will it be in a few years? Once the trellis is built, the Garden shed goes up and the trees get big, will you still have sunshine where you want it? That sunny #Wildflower patch you envision by the fence won’t work if you plant trees there now. You can move some Pants later, but your basic layout should incorporate changing shade patterns.

 

Gravel entry

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Gravel’s earthy texture, its give underfoot, and its crunchy sound are the reasons why this oldest of #hardscapes will always be perceived as the softest of paving materials. This gravel entry is a clean casual foil for plant textures and colors. Japanese silver grass billows over the basalt wall at right beside climbing hydrangea. ‘Maori Sunrise’ New Zealand flax in a container punctuates the small pond in the middle while ‘Palace Purple’ heuchera mugho pine and gunnera fill a bed near the house. Cotoneaster spills onto gravel.

 

Striking steps

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terraced stone steps in a mix-and-match pattern creates a strong focal point, while “character” plants create visual interest on both sides of the path. Rusty-hued Carex testacea softens the front path, while green kniphofia, plum Heuchera Obsidian, Libertia peregrinans Bronze Sword, and euphorbia surround the Karl Foerster grass. Across the path, drifts of Picea sitchensis Papoose, variegated iris, and Phormium Dusky Chief encircle a ginkgo tree.

 

Around the Bend

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Pretty plants supply a boundary for a walkway.

A relaxing garden bench under a sheltered pergola supplies a scenic resting spot.
Plant a dramatic tree to give height to a bed planted mostly with flowers. A Japanese maple, for instance, offers both color and seasonal foliage.
Annuals, such as lavender and fuchsia petunias, fill bare spots in a perennial garden.
When choosing plants for a flowering garden, include vivid hues — the yellow of black-eyed.

 

Charming Curves

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Undulating borders contain beautiful blooms.

Mulch is an essential; it keeps weeds down and conserves moisture. Here, it also provides a tidy element between plants.
Use geometry to contrast or complement; here, the flower bed’s curving borders repeat in the gentle edging of lawn.
Plants chosen in mostly similar hues — lavender, light purple, and fuchsia, for example — offer a soothing palette for the garden.
Access to, around, and through the garden is essential; a series of round paving stones leads visitors through the grass border.
hardscape structures — such as this garden’s tall birdhouse — add whimsy with function.