Ask a Master Gardener: Why attract birds to your garden

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.

Ask a Master Gardener: No-till raised beds

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

Ask a master gardener: How to use wood ash in the garden

Wood ashes are a surprisingly useful byproduct of winter heating.

Ask a Master Gardener: How to tend an ecologically sensitive garden

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?

Ask a Master Gardener: All about marvelous milkweed

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

Ask a Master Gardener: What to do about garden invasives?

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)

Ask a master gardener: What’s eating my squash?

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.

Ask a Master Gardener: All about blueberry season

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.

Ask a master gardener: How to grow peaches in Vermont

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.

Ask a Master Gardener: What to plant in a shade garden

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.

How to cultivate natural dyes from your garden

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

Ask a master gardener: How to grow onions

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

Ask a master gardener: How to force spring bulbs

Watching the first flowering bulbs appear from the thawing ground in spring is one of my favorite times of the year. Luckily we don’t have to wait all winter to have spring blooms. A great way to do this at home is by forcing bulbs. Forcing bulbs means tr … (read more)

Fall Guide: Sunflowers take the spotlight this season

Fall is a great time to observe sunflower plantings in your community, to enjoy their beauty and think about how you might like to grow them next season.

How can rain gardens help with stormwater? Ask a master gardener

Water plays a significant role in the health of our landscapes in more ways than meets the eye.Stormwater is water that collects on the surface during and after a rainstorm or from melting snow. Depending on the permeability and slope of the surface it hi … (read more)

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