Ask a Master Gardener: Sustainable fall maintenance

When the air becomes cooler, and leaves begin to turn colors, it’s time to gear up for fall garden maintenance. Or is it?

Weeding is often a reality of summer landscape maintenance. Some people don’t mind weeding, some highly dislike it, and other people fall somewhere in between.

As warmer weather approaches, it is a great time to consider how you use the outdoor spaces in your life. Whether you rent or own, use public land or private, there are things that you can think about to help make these outdoor spaces work better for you.

One of the great joys and challenges of gardening is seeing creatures inhabit and eat from our gardens. However, in some cases, animals and insects are unwelcome visitors.

Raised beds are a great way to minimize effort and maximize enjoyment of vegetable and flower gardens. 

Wood ashes are a surprisingly useful byproduct of winter heating.

It’s a good time to step back and think about the bigger picture. A question to consider is why do we clear out our gardens before the winter? What’s the purpose?

Milkweed is a critically important plant for the monarch butterfly, which is threatened with extinction.

Common invasive species that you might find in your garden or landscape often started out as decorative landscape plants. Plants like knotweed, goutweed, burning bush and Japanese barberry were once imported for their attractive and vigorous garden charac … (read more)

Cucurbits are easy to grow but they are threatened by a number of unfortunate pests that can make growing these fruits and vegetables much more difficult.

While you are waiting for the plants to fruit, it is important not to make too many changes so that the shrubs can focus on berry production.

Peaches are one of the more surprising fruits that grow in Vermont. Easy to pick and fantastically juicy, peaches are beautiful, fuzzy globes to look forward to each summer.

Think that a shady area can’t have a garden? Think again! Shade gardens can be fantastic places to showcase foliage color, texture and flowers, too.

Growing flowers, vegetables and berries for eating is fun and nourishing, but what about growing them to make colorful dyes?

A simple staple in many cuisines and recipes, onions can be a satisfying plant to grow in the garden.