Category: Home & Garden

If you’ve ever found yourself the owner of an old property that’s beautiful but in sore need of attention, you already know: Remodeling the kitchen and bathrooms, painting all the walls, redoing the floors, etc. can suck up a lot of your budget and time (maybe even take an entire year)—but it’s the landscaping that will try your patience. The journey to the outdoor space of your dreams is long (think years, as the garden fills in) and most likely riddled with little failures.

For Amy Ilias, a designer, and her husband Jim Denney, an artist, it took four years, to be exact, to finally tame and shape their backyard into what they wanted: a spacious bluestone patio—with ample space for relaxation, outdoor dining, and poetry readings—surrounded by a lush garden with native plantings that highlight the beauty of their mid-19th-century Italianate house and play well against its unique lavender shade.

“The landscaping has happened in phases, in order of what was most critical,” says Amy. The first phase addressed the crumbling steps off the dining room. In the second phase, Jim installed a 16-foot dry well as a solution to the yard’s drainage issues (“when it rained, the entire backyard puddled up,” she says), and the couple designed the bluestone patio and paths. This was followed by the addition of a steel curved edge to a garden bed.

The last phase—one that all gardeners know to be never-ending—is new plantings. They chose “native plants that would stand a chance in this zone,” says Amy but otherwise relied on their artistic instincts to decide what to grow. “Our house is lavender, so the plantings had to make sense with the house. We really wanted a lot of texture and color, and to choose plants that would be rather low-maintenance, with staggered bloom times.”

“It is so satisfying to see things happy and return each year—like seeing old friends. Every morning this spring, we walked the garden to see what popped up overnight. The garden is becoming more established and beginning to feel like it has always been here.”

Join us for a garden tour of this most magical backyard in the Hudson Valley—and be sure to scroll to the end for the “before” photos. (For a tour of the interiors, see The Lavender Ghost: In the Hudson Valley, a Creative Couple’s Victorian Home with an Old Soul.)

Photography by Amy Ilias. (Follow her Instagram account here.)

Today we’re visiting Paula Brown’s beautiful garden in Ottawa, Ontario.

I love my plants, and they love me.

These pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago, and more plants are still coming to bloom. In the spring my roses are floriferous! I love bringing sick plants back to vigorous health—so rewarding! Seeds, bulbs, annuals, perennials, I love them all!

I have been gardening all of my life, as my parents loved vegetable gardens. I even have a tomato plant in the pictures that I am sending. My daughter gave me the plant, and my garden welcomed the little guy with open arms. My true love is flowers, though, as you can see!

It always amazes me how the plants each year work so well together. 

It is hard for me to pick a favorite plant, but I would have to say hibiscus when they are in bloom. I love the red color, and they scream, “Look at me!” The sea of Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum × superbum, Zones 5–9) is a fantastic backdrop for the red hibiscus.

My husband edges the garden for me so beautifully. It gives the gardens that edge of class which I love. I hope to be gardening for a long time to come, even though I am in my mid-70s. Time will tell, but the plants have become my friends over the years, and I do believe that I can speak “plant.”

 

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

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Plant necrosis is the premature death of cells caused by injury or destruction of the plant’s tissues or cells caused by its own enzymes (autolysis). 

You may also hear this condition referred to as leaf spot disease, damping off, or several other names applied to plant death caused by viral, bacterial, or fungal infection. 

This type of condition leads to the yellowing, browning, and blackening of certain plant parts, predominantly seen in leaves. 

Deficiencies in essential elements like Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Copper (Cu), and Potassium (K) are often associated with necrosis in plants. 

In this article, we share smart tips to help you identify and deal with plant necrosis. Read on to learn more. 

What Causes Leaf Spot Plant Disease and How to Prevent Them

Top 10 Tips for Preventing Plant Necrosis

Plant necrosis is challenging, but it is not impossible to prevent and treat it. To prevent leaf spot diseases and maintain healthy plant growth, follow these ten tips:

1. Remove fallen leaves before the first freeze to prevent pathogens from overwintering and infecting plants in the spring.

2. Don’t overcrowd your plants. Always consider plants’ mature size as a spacing guide during planting.

3. Keep your trees and shrubs properly trimmed to improve air circulation and light penetration.

4. Avoid overhead watering using a soaker or drip hose. Water the base of trees to avoid wetting leaves.

5. Never allow soil to become too soggy or too dry. Maintain consistent soil moisture throughout the growing season by allowing the soil to nearly dry before re-watering.

6. Apply a 3- to 4-inch-deep layer of mulch around trees and in garden beds to keep soil evenly moist. Avoid direct contact with the plant stems and tree trunks.

7. Apply fresh mulch annually to maintain a nice thick level of protection.

8. Refrain from fertilizing trees and plants affected by leaf spot diseases unless a soil test recommends nutrient correction.

9. Use fungicides sparingly as a preventative. For example, if your tree gets powdery mildew or sooty mold in the summertime, apply fungicide lightly before symptoms appear on leaves.

10. Consider hiring a professional arborist for leaf spot disease treatment for large trees.

What Causes Plant Necrosis?

Plant viruses, bacteria, poor conditions, and several different nutrient deficiencies can lead to plant necrosis. 

Most often, the lack of Potassium causes chlorosis, leading to tissue death. Other nutrient shortages may also cause this problem. 

For example, a lack of Calcium can stunt plant growth, and Magnesium deficiency may also cause necrosis in plants. The insufficiency of any of these nutrients may cause necrosis that mostly affects the leaf tissue of plants.

Fundamentals of Plant Diseases: Symptoms of Necrotic Spots

How Can You Tell Necrosis From Chlorosis?

Chlorosis and necrosis are very different plant conditions. Chlorosis is caused by a lack of iron in the soil or the plants’ inability to access iron.

When this happens, the plant’s chlorophyll breaks down, or its production is disrupted. This interferes with photosynthesis and causes yellow leaves. 

On the other hand, necrosis causes plant tissue to turn dry and brown-to-black. This usually happens along the leaf margins and then spreads across the body of the leaf.

How Can You Tell Necrosis From Blight?

Blight involves yellowing, browning, and dramatic changes in plant vigor. 

It is characterized by very quick yellowing, browning, and collapse of plants’ leaves, shoots, stems, and flowers. This is quickly followed by entire plant death. 

Necrosis is cell death that causes browning or blackening of certain plant areas, not the entire plant.

Necrotic Plant Diseases

Can You Treat Necrosis In Plants? 

Various triggers can cause necrotic plant disease and affect any plant, so treatment success can vary widely. 

Overall, it is better to prevent this problem than to attempt to treat it, but there are treatments to be had in some cases. 

For example, in the event of necrotic leaf blotch in apples, it is possible to treat trees to manage symptoms. Treatment will not cure the disorder, though. 

Necrotic leaf blotch is a physiological disorder that affects Golden Delicious apple trees and bud sports (crosses or mutations). This disorder causes medium to large, irregular necrotic lesions on the mature leaves of trees from mid- to late summer. 

When this happens, the affected tissues turn yellow, and the leaves fall. Regular application of zinc oxide every two weeks from the time buds first appear until the harvest can mitigate symptoms.

To manage this condition, you can treat trees with zinc-containing fungicides or foliar sprays containing zinc nutrients before symptoms appear or as quickly as possible. This can help reduce the severity of the symptoms. 

Good Plant Care Is The Best Prevention For Necrosis

The best way to avoid plant necrosis and a vast array of other plant problems is by simply providing your plants, trees, and shrubs with what they need to thrive. 

Remember to research the requirements of every plant you add to your collection so that you can be sure of providing it with just the right light, temperature, water, soil, and nutrients for success. 

Keep a close eye on your garden so that you can address potential problems before they become overwhelming. 

Follow these tips to protect your plants from necrosis and promote their overall health and growth.

Yellowing leaves on plants can be a normal process. Older leaves naturally turn yellow and fall, replacing fresh, new growth. In the autumn, tree leaves naturally change colors and fall. 

Neither of these instances is cause for concern, but if your plant, shrub, or tree is exhibiting lots of yellowing leaves and it is not the right time of year for leaves to change, you may have a problem with iron chlorosis, a common nutrient deficiency. 

If a plant cannot get enough iron into its leaves, it will not be able to conduct photosynthesis and create chlorophyll, the source of the leaves’ green color. 

When plant leaves become yellow in a uniform manner, this is chlorosis. It is an indication that your plant is not producing enough chlorophyll. 

This disorder has many causes, including:

• Herbicide misapplication
• Temperature extremes
• Nutrient deficiency
• Disease pathogens
• Too much water
• Too much light
• Too little water 
• Insect feeding
• Root damage

Because so many types of stressors can cause chlorosis, it’s easy to see that there is no single answer to preventing and treating the condition. 

Generally speaking, best practices in plant care will help you avoid this problem in your plants.

If you do have trouble with yellowing leaves, it’s a good idea to review your plant care practices and correct any problems with light, temperature, water, soil, fertilizer or pests. 

In this article, we’ll discuss some of the conditions that cause chlorosis in plants and provide sound advice on how to fix this common plant problem. Read on to learn more. 

How to Treat Chlorosis

Chlorosis Caused By Nutrient Deficiency

The most common form of chlorosis is iron chlorosis. This happens when your plant is not receiving enough iron. Iron chlorosis can be caused by a lack of iron in the soil, or it may be that your plant cannot absorb the type of iron present. 

A plant with iron chlorosis will have yellow leaves with green veins. To correct this problem, you’ll need a chelated iron plant supplement. 

Apply this to the soil according to the packaging directions. For acid-loving plants, you may also wish to add a sulfur product to further acidify the soil. 

How Can You Tell If Your Plant Has Iron Chlorosis? 

Iron chlorosis typically affects new growth before affecting old growth. With this problem, the body of the leaf will turn yellow, but its veins will stay green. 

In very severe cases, the leaves may turn completely white and fall. The growth of twigs and branches may also be stunted, and the plant’s stems and limbs may die. 

Badly affected plants may not bloom or produce fruit. 

Why Does Iron Chlorosis Happen? 

This problem may happen because there is not enough iron in the soil or because the soil pH levels are too alkaline. This prevents plants from being able to uptake the iron that is in the soil. The best way to determine what is wrong with your soil is to perform soil testing. 

You can test your soil using a soil test kit or contact your local cooperative extension service for assistance. Testing your soil will help you determine its pH level and texture. This is all valuable information. 

What Can You Do To Treat Iron Chlorosis?

If your soil testing reveals that your soil is too alkaline (higher than 7) you can add soil amendments, such as sulfurs and sulfates, as mentioned. This will make it easier for your plants to access the iron in the soil. 

Generally speaking, too alkaline soil may inhibit plants’ iron absorption. The soil pH level of 6.0-6.5 is best for most plants. 

Acid-loving plants are happier with soil with a pH level as low as 4.5. You can achieve this level and improve your plants’ ability to uptake iron by amending the soil with a wide variety of products, such as: 

• Aluminum sulfate
• Ferrous sulfate
• Iron chelates
• Iron sulfate
• Sulfur

If your soil test shows that your soil is lacking in iron, you can also add micronutrients to your soil. Additions of iron and manganese can help resolve chlorosis problems; however, you will also want to improve the quality of the soil. 

Some nutrient supplements can simply be sprinkled on the soil and watered in. Others need to be worked into the soil for best results. Be sure to follow the packaging instructions closely. 

There are also nutrient supplements that can be injected into the soil using a root feeder. This might be a more viable option for the landscape’s large plants, shrubs, and trees. 

Natural Soil Amendments Provide Steady Support

Plants in the landscape will also benefit from adding 2”-4” of organic mulch (e.g., leaf mulch or compost) to help keep the soil uniformly moist and maintain a steady addition of nutrients into the soil as the mulch decomposes. This also helps keep the soil at the proper pH level. 

Begin by simply applying several inches of organic compost around the base of affected shrubs or trees. 

Top this off with a thick layer of bark mulch. The compost will bring more nutrients to the soil, and the mulch will help keep moisture levels consistent. 

With time, the mulch will also break down and nourish the soil. When this happens, you can simply turn it under and add more compost and mulch. This will help build the good quality soil that is absolutely essential to preventing and correcting problems with iron chlorosis. 

Brighten Leaves With Foliar Feeding

In addition to correcting soil pH levels and introducing nutrients, you can also give your plants’ yellowing leaves a temporary boost with foliar feeding. 

Improving the soil and adding nutrients are long-term solutions, but they may not have very quick results. Indeed, soil improvements and amendments may take a year to fully resolve the issue. 

To improve the appearance of your plants in the meantime, you can deliver a dose of iron by spraying the plants’ leaves with an iron compound. 

Spray the leaves liberally with a soluble organic iron complex, iron chelate, or iron sulfate solution. 

Repeat the treatment once every couple of weeks throughout the growing season. This will help keep the plant green, but it will not correct problems with the soil. 

Identify the Leaf Yellowing Pattern & Treat Nutrient Deficiency with the Best Fertilizer

Identify & Correct The Problems That Lead To Chlorosis

Yellowing leaves are typically one of the first symptoms of a wide array of environmental stresses. 

Prolonged periods in a less-than-ideal environment will cause stunted growth, yellowing leaves, and overall failure to thrive. It’s important to pay close attention to your plants and note any negative symptoms and their progression. 

When you notice something is awry with your plants, chances are very slim that the problem will correct itself. 

Negative symptoms like chlorosis are your plants’ cry for help. Examine the plant and its living conditions carefully and make corrections as needed. 

Very often, plants show symptoms that seem to be caused by pests or diseases, but the real root cause is the plants’ environment. 

This type of stressor is termed an “abiotic injury.” This condition is caused by too much or too little water, too much or too little light, or poor soil. 

Chlorosis Caused by Overwatering

For houseplants, one of the main causes of chlorosis is overwatering. When plants’ roots are consistently soggy, the plant simply cannot “breathe” or process nutrients correctly. 

Also, soggy roots quickly become rotten, causing the plant to succumb to fungal and bacterial infections. This is also a prominent cause of chlorosis. 

Weakened plants are more subject to pest infestation, and pests will further stress the afflicted plant and cause even greater problems with yellowing. 

If the problem that caused the yellowing, to begin with, is not corrected, the plant’s leaves will turn brown, and it will die. 

In the case of potted or container plants, you may be best off simply repotting with an all-new, fresh potting mix. 

Fix Chlorosis With Excellent Plant Culture

Remember that iron chlorosis begins in the soil. To avoid it, you must provide a good environment for your plants right from the start. To correct it properly, you must test your soil and make the correct changes. 

When you provide your plants with excellent growing conditions, you will have hit upon the long-term solution to preventing and treating chlorosis. 

Plants provided light, airy, nourishing, well-draining soil, the right amount of light, air, and water are unlikely to experience excessive yellowing of leaves. 

Here’s everything we’ll go over in this article:

Are you ready? Time to get growing!

Check Your Sunlight

In fall, the sun shines at a lower angle in the sky. Before you get busy with your fresh batch of autumn plants, make sure to take a good look at your beds or rows and make sure they will get enough light. Many fall crops require full sun exposure, which is defined as at least 6 hours of sun a day.

Make Your Beds

Do you still have vegetables that are producing? If they look happy, let them hang out. If they look scrappy, maybe it is time to, well, scrap them. Some, such as kale, may improve in the cooler weather.

To prepare your soil for your new seeds or seedlings, loosen it up a bit and remove any weeds.

Work some compost in next. If your soil has been busy growing plants all summer, it will need a fresh infusion of organic material and nutrients to help your new plants grow.

Plan your plantings as you would for a spring or summer garden. If you get a lot of rain at this time of year, you may want to provide more space between plants, to promote air circulation.

Get Ready To Dig In

Finally, you’re ready to plant. We’ve got you covered if you need a quick primer on planting a vegetable garden!

Don’t forget, it’s sweater weather for your soil, too. Make sure you mulch around your plantings to keep the soil warm.

And if you aren’t getting regular autumn rains where you live, make sure to water. Your garden won’t need as much water as it does in summer, since lower temps and indirect sun mean less evaporation, but it still needs an occasional drink.

If you’re not sure exactly how much water your plants are getting naturally, consider installing a rain gauge in your garden, and supplement with sprinklers or the garden hose accordingly.

Provide Protection

Cooler temps and occasional high winds mean some plants will benefit from a little extra protection.

Row covers and cold frames can come in handy to extend the gardening season into the fall, and if you have a greenhouse, this may be the perfect spot to place pots of tender seedlings.

With less food available at this time of year when many plants are going dormant, don’t be surprised if the local deer, squirrels, birds, and other wildlife stop by for the occasional snack. Bird netting and row covers or screens with a larger weave can come in handy here, if you want to protect your plants from hungry passers-by without shading them too heavily.

There are several varieties, which can come in different colors including purple, red, white, and green. The leaf shapes can also differ as some are smooth while others, like savoy are crinkly.

And while it isn’t as trendy as kale or cauliflower, it is surprisingly nutritious.

Nutritional Composition

As with many other cruciferous vegetables, this one is low in calories, yet high in many important vitamins and minerals.

Vitamin C works to keep your immune system strong and supports the growth of bone, collagen, and other important tissues. It’s also needed for the body to be able to absorb iron.

It is a good source of folate and vitamin B6 as well, both of which are needed for energy metabolism and nervous system functioning.

It’s also rich in minerals – potassium, calcium, and magnesium.

Sauerkraut is a fermented German dish made by combining shredded cabbage, salt, and caraway seeds in a jar or fermentation crock. Over the course of 2-5 weeks, beneficial Lactobacillus bacteria begin to grow, resulting in a tart, slightly sour taste.

Another popular fermented condiment is kimchi.

Commonly found in Korean cuisine, the popular paechu kimchi has a few more ingredients than sauerkraut. Usually made with Napa cabbage, it may also contain fish sauce, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, scallions, and shrimp. However, instead of requiring a few weeks, kimchi usually takes just 1-5 days to ferment.

Both of these fermented condiments result in the growth of beneficial bacteria known as probiotics.

When you eat them, these probiotics help to promote the growth of even more healthy bacteria in your gut, which has been associated with a range of benefits from better digestive health to reduced risk of chronic diseases and improved mental health.

Boosting beneficial bacteria may also improve absorption of several nutrients and promote the production of vitamin K and B-vitamins.

You can read more about healthy fermented foods on our sister site, Foodal.

Does Cooking Affect the Nutrient Content?

Do you prefer your cabbage raw or cooked?

While the raw vegetable is a staple ingredient in coleslaw and salads, many people find cooking it more appealing, as some varieties can be quite bitter.

However, cooking does more than just reducing bitterness. It can also lead to some nutritional losses.

A study published in the Journal of Food Chemistry in 2014 found that the raw purple variety had significantly higher amounts of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals compared to steamed, stir-fried, boiled or microwaved.

This vegetable also contains sulfur compounds which have also been shown to decrease when cooked. This is also why when it’s cooking it can start to have an unpleasant smell, as the sulfur compounds are being released.

But what if you prefer it cooked? Steaming was found to retain the most antioxidants and vitamin C compared to other cooking methods, making this a good option if you don’t like it raw.

Additionally, for those who find raw cabbage difficult to digest, cooking it and eating smaller portions may help prevent or reduce GI side effects.

Overall, if you choose to cook it, the shorter the cooking time and less water used, the more nutrients it will retain.

If you need inspiration for what to do with raw cabbage, try the delicious homemade coleslaw recipe from our sister site, Foodal. Or check out this recipe on Foodal for salmon tacos with red slaw.

In this article, we’re going to be unlocking the secrets of how and when to harvest arugula, so that you get the tastiest homegrown greens possible for use in salads and other dishes.

Here’s what you’ll discover:

When to Harvest Arugula

Once your seeds have sprouted, but when will it be time to start picking?

When you decide to harvest arugula depends first and foremost on when you planted it. Since it’s a cool-weather crop, you can plant it as soon as your soil thaws in the spring in USDA Hardiness Zones 3-6.

In Zones 7-11, you should plant it in early spring for a late spring crop, or late summer for a fall crop.

This plant matures quickly, especially compared to lettuce – yet another reason why I think it’s a fantastic choice for salads!

The fastest-maturing varieties are ready for harvesting just 35 days after sowing. Most are ready after 50 days.

Check the back of your seed packet to determine when the variety you are growing should be ready.

Knowing which variety you are growing is the best frame of reference for when to harvest, but keep in mind that you don’t have to wait the full growing time before plucking leaves for your salads and sandwiches.

Flavor Is Key

A member of the Brassicaceae family, which also counts mustard greens among its members, arugula is often described as having a peppery kick.

In young greens, this kick is understated. Tender leaves just a few weeks old have a mild flavor and – in my opinion – make the best salad base.

But if you love biting into a salad with a zesty edge, you’ll want to harvest when the plant is more mature. The older the leaf, the sharper the bite – but there is a caveat to this:

If you wait too long, it will bolt.

Especially if you’ve planted a summer crop, as this plant favors cooler weather, it will bolt much more quickly under the hot sun than it might if you planted at another time of year.

Some people think once it has bolted, the greens are too bitter to eat. But leaves picked from a bolted plant can be used to make a fantastic pesto, or a peppery addition to your favorite pasta salad.

The way I see it, there are three different harvesting stages. Which one you choose will depend on what you’re using the greens for, and what your taste buds prefer.

There are two ways you can harvest baby greens: pinching, or cutting.

First, check to make sure the leaves are long enough. If they are two to three inches long, they are ready for picking as baby greens.

It usually takes about three weeks from sowing to reach this stage, depending on the variety.

If you just need a few young leaves for a small salad or garnish, pinch them off from the outer portion of each plant, leaving plenty of even younger ones to keep growing and maturing at the center.

For a bigger salad, maybe a fresh green salad with arugula, beets, goat cheese, and olive oil like this one from our sister site, Foodal, you’ll want to pick your baby greens in larger bunches.

To harvest more leaves in batches, use a pair of clean gardening shears or kitchen scissors and start cutting the more mature, outer leaves first, making sure to cut them at the base of their stems.

Then cut the younger leaves from the center of the plant. Leave behind all the new growth on the central stalk, as well as the smallest baby leaves, and just a few big ones.

You can harvest half the plant at once without doing it any damage. By cutting it back, you’ll actually encourage new growth, which slows bolting and allows you to “cut and come again.”

To harvest, you can take a clean garden knife or shears and cut up to half of the leaves from each plant, at the base of the stalks, just like you’d do for baby greens.

If it’s hot outside, watch your plant for the telltale sign that it’s about to bolt: the emergence of small, weedy-looking, lobe-less leaves at the top of the plant.

These leaves are shortly followed by flowers, so act quickly if you don’t want your crop to bolt!

It’s the strongest-flavored rocket of all. If your plant has really gone wild and is growing leaves off a thick, woody stalk, don’t eat that part.

Just pluck the leaves off the stalk, and use them in that arugula pesto.

You can even harvest arugula flowers. They make a flavorful addition to any spring salad.

Despite the common perception that summer = an abundance of flowers, late August can actually be a somewhat quiet time in the garden. Many of the plants that are in bloom in late spring and early summer have tapered off, and colorful fall foliage seems a long way off. 

What’s needed is a little late-summer color to spruce up the garden, and even better if the plants continue to bloom well into fall. Luckily, there are plenty of flowers that are in their prime right now and that will keep on blooming into fall or even until frost!

Here are 9 of our favorite late-summer flowers for the Pacific Northwest (Editor’s Note: Plant availability may vary. Please ask us for substitutions and alternatives).

On Friday the 11th, Rachel and I and one of our sons visited one of the two Ever’man groceries in Pensacola. Ever’man is a nice, whole-food style independent market with good produce and a very nice buffet that also serves good coffee.

After lunch and some shopping, we headed back to our van. As we got in, Rachel said, “Hey – look at those nitrogen-fixers on that lot!”

Sure enough, there were multiple nitrogen-fixing shrubs at the edge of what looked like a construction site. The soil was terrible and beat up, with patches of sand, and obvious subsoil exposure. But there, right in the middle. nature was stitching itself back together. I borrowed Rachel’s smartphone and filmed a video.

Check it out here.

Today I got around to actually uploading that video and identifying the nitrogen-fixers on the lot.

Here are the pictures I took:

According to PlantNet, they were Sesbania drummondii. You have to be careful with plant ID apps, and check the species against lots of photos later, but PlantNet is one of the best I’ve seen. It’s also browser-based, so I don’t need a dang smartphone to use it.

According to Plants for a Future:

“Sesbania drummondii is a perennial plant with stems that become more or less woody, especially near the base; it can grow up to 4 metres tall. The plant has potential for use as a biomass crop and hyperaccumulator plant on sites contaminated with heavy metals. It is occasionally grown as an ornamental.”

Looks like a good food forest addition. If they can grow in the awful soil next to a hot parking lot and still be green and happy, they should do great in our food forest project.

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Potted specimens need more care than those in the ground. They’re a bit more exposed out there.

Think of it like the difference between living in a tent and living in a well-insulated house – that’s how the roots feel in a container versus the soil.

If you need a refresher on how to grow hostas, check out our guide.

Here are the steps we’ll discuss to protect your hostas in the winter:

As with all perennials, your USDA Hardiness Zone and the plant’s Zone rating dictate how you should care for your plants.

A Zone 4 to 8 hosta cultivar grown in Zone 6 is going to need less fussing over than the same plant might if it was grown in Zone 4.

You should also keep microclimates in mind. Every garden has its own microclimates, and they can impact the work you need to do.

In a cozy spot protected from freezing wind and extreme variations in temperature, you can probably skip the mulching step, for instance.

Some areas gather more moisture, some are drier, some reflect heat, and others stay colder.

Finally, don’t assume that just because your plant was fine last year, it will be fine this year.

Pests can build up in numbers over years, a particularly harsh winter might cause unusual damage, or a plant might have been stressed in the previous growing season.

Prepare to adapt as needed from one growing season to the next.

1. Remove the Leaves

If you do nothing else on this list, don’t skip this step.

In the fall, usually after a frost arrives, the leaves will turn yellow and brown, and will collapse into a mushy mess.

The world won’t end if you don’t remove the dead leaves and petioles, but you can greatly reduce the chance of pests and diseases finding their way into your hostas if you do.

Plus, it just looks better.

Removing foliage also denies slugs and snails a place to hide out and breed. That means you’ll be dealing with fewer mollusks next year. Hooray!

Get out a pair of scissors and cut off all of the spent foliage at ground level.

We generally like to wait until the leaves die back on their own because we can be sure all the nutrients in the leaves have been stored up by the roots.

Toss the leaves in your compost pile.

But wait! There is an exception to this…

If your hostas are infested with nematodes, don’t wait until the leaves die back. Once they start turning yellow in the fall, get out there and remove them.

That way, all the nematodes don’t have time to exit the leaves and move to the soil and roots. This won’t eliminate a nematode infestation, but it will help to reduce it.

Dispose of the cut leaves rather than tossing them in the compost if you had an infestation or if they were diseased.

To learn more about nematodes, such as how to confirm that your plants have them, read our guide to hosta pests.

2. Mulch

Mulching is optional, but I strongly encourage it in areas where the weather regularly freezes and then warms. The repeated freeze-thaw cycle can seriously damage roots.

Mulch helps moderate the shift between temperatures and protects the plant’s roots.

Mulching is especially helpful for newly planted hostas, which haven’t had time to establish a large, robust root system yet.

It’s also extra beneficial for potted plants, which are more vulnerable to the effects of freezing and thawing, and frost heaving.

Straw, leaf litter, shredded bark, pine boughs, or well-rotted compost all work well as mulch.

I personally stick with pine or straw because slugs don’t seem to like them as much as they like leaf litter and shredded bark.

Use a few inches of mulch, and be sure to remove it in the early spring. If you leave the mulch in place, it can smother the plant or cause crown rot.

3. Stop Feeding

You’ve got enough going on in the fall – don’t add unnecessary fertilization to the list.

Hostas don’t need much fertilizer in general, but feeding in the fall can actually harm the plants and your environment.

Excess fertilizer might run off into areas where you don’t want it, including waterways.

It also encourages new growth right when the plants should be putting themselves to bed.

Once you start planning your Halloween costume, the kids are back to school, and the leaves are just starting to turn, put the fertilizer away.

4. Divide Large Plants

If you didn’t do your division chores in the spring, now is the time to split up your hostas.

Before you break out the shovel, water the plants well if you’ve had a dry fall. You want the soil to be moist and easy to work.

It’s easier to divide them if you do it while some of the leaves are intact, but you can do it even after the leaves have died back.

If you aren’t familiar with the process of dividing a hosta, read our guide, which will walk you through the entire process from start to finish.

5. Protect Containers

The easiest way to protect your containers from cracking and your hostas from freeze-thaw cycles is to bury them in the soil, even if you only partially bury them.

If you can’t or don’t want to do this, you can move them against a wall or wrap them in burlap. You could also cover them in pine boughs.

Avoid placing them somewhere they’ll collect rainwater or snowmelt off of a roof or other structure.

The point here isn’t to avoid the cold, so don’t take the pots into a garage or shed. Just protect them from repeated freezing and thawing.

The exception to this is if you’re growing a hosta that is on the border of hardiness for your region.

If you live in USDA Hardiness Zone 5 and you are growing a cultivar that’s hardy to Zone 5 in a pot, you should treat it as if it’s growing in Zone 4 and tuck it into a garage or shed to provide some protection from the cold. Always subtract one Zone for containers.

6. Mark Your Plants

I learned this one the hard way. Several times. If you do any early spring planting, you don’t want to go digging into the roots of existing hosta plants that haven’t popped up yet.

Don’t cover the area where the leaves will emerge, but use a stick, wire, or something else that you have on hand to note where the plants are while you’re cutting back the foliage.

I’ll sometimes stick a tomato cage upside down in the soil to mark a spot if I’m sure I’ll be digging around there and the plant isn’t in a spot that’s visible from my house.

Tomato cages aren’t exactly pretty, but they’re sturdy and large enough to prevent any major mishaps.

Feel free to skip this step if you know exactly where your plants are or if you don’t have any spring digging plans.

Let the lunar light shine bright on your garden. Moon gardens are mystical spaces that embrace the darkness and contain bright white plants and those that only bloom at night. The result is a beautiful, serene space for enjoying the garden long after the sun has gone. Here’s how to plant your own moon garden.

When the sun sets, the garden turns into a magical place. What was once a world of bright reds and blues with buzzing bees and songbirds turns into a fairy realm where nature slows down.

While many of us and the plants, bugs, and animals head to sleep, others are just emerging for the night. They relish in the cool nights and the swell of darkness to go about their business.

Some flowers look stunning basking under a lunar glow, reflecting the moonlight and releasing sweet fragrances to attract pollinators.

If you want to experience the mystical and otherworldly feel of a moon garden, here are the plants and info you need to design one yourself!

This post will cover…

What is a Moon Garden?

Moon gardens are spaces specifically designed to be enjoyed at dusk and night. The flowers and plants are carefully chosen to reflect the moonlight or are plants that can only bloom once the sun sets.

Beyond the plants, other elements also make up a moon garden. The animals that come out during the day disappear, and in their place, crickets, cicadas, frogs, fireflies, moths, and bats emerge. Many of the flowers that come out at night are pollinated by moths, bats, or the wind.

Moon gardens have a distinct mystical feel to them. They’re a calming yet mysterious place where it feels like you’ve entered into a different world. If you’ve ever walked through a large garden at night, you know exactly what I mean.

Sometimes, people will refer to moon gardens as twilight, night, or evening gardens. Other times, people will use the name moon garden to describe a space with other elements like a moon gate or a window. These aren’t meant to be enjoyed at night but instead to frame a view or for spiritual purposes.

History of Moon Gardens

Moon gardens were first planted in India. The most notable is the Mehtab Bagh (moonlight garden) in the Taj Mahal complex. It has a large reflecting pool with the Taj Mahal centred in the distance. It has white walkways and many night-blooming plants.

Even before the Mehtab Bagh was built, Indians created many moon gardens. Rather than enjoy gardens on hot days, these moonlight gardens featured plants that bloomed at night. They often added pools or other water to the garden and lit pathways and platforms within it with oil lamps.

One of the first moon gardens designed in North America belonged to Benjamin Poore. In 1833, he built a moon garden in Indian Hill, Massachusetts. There, he had a large garden of white flowers and white animals, including cattle, pigeons, and a dog. White animals are by no means a moon garden requirement..that’s a Poore thing!

Folklore of Moon Gardening

The moon has long been present in many stories, myths, and folklore for people worldwide. As such a large, ethereal presence, it’s no wonder people hold the moon in such high regard.

Gardening by the Moon

Moon phase gardening, or planting by the moon, is a very old practice that believes the lunar cycle affects plant growth. While there haven’t been many studies proving or disproving this, some people still practice it.

The belief is that the moon’s gravitational pull, known to affect the earth’s tides, can also affect the water intake in plants. At a full moon, when the gravitational pull is its strongest, it pulls up lots of water from the plant roots and increases overall growth.

The phase of the moon could dictate when it was the best time to plant, cultivate, and harvest plants. Full moons allowed farmers to plant crops well into the night, especially in June when the daylight was the longest.

Types of Full Moons

Native Americans would name the types of full moons to tell time. Different areas would have different names than others, which is why we see such variety.

They were often named after what was in season. Some common ones include the Strawberry Moon in June, the Corn Moon in September, the Hunter’s Moon in October, and the Harvest Moon around the autumnal equinox.

Other Folklore

There are so many stories and old wives’ tales revolving around the moon. Here are just a few:

• Slaughtering livestock during a waxing moon results in juicier meat.
• Horseradish harvested during a full moon will have the best flavour.
• Wood shingles will lie flatter if you cut them in the moonlight.

Plants to Add to a Moon Garden

The core of a moon garden is choosing the right flowers and foliage to plant. Most often, you want night/dusk blooming flowers that come out when the sun goes down. Or, you want bright white or light-coloured flowers that will reflect the moonlight, and silvery foliage.

Other important elements are those with notable fragrances and the ability to attract pollinators.

Here are some of the most common plants you might find in a moon garden:

• Angel’s trumpet (Brugmansia) note: poisonous; keep out of the reach of pets and children
• Dahlia (Dahlia)
• Dusty miller (Jacobaea maritime)
• Evening primrose (Oenothera biennis)
• Evening rain lily (Zephyranthus drummondii)
• Flowering tobacco (Nicotiana alata)
• Foam flower (Tiarella)
• Four o’clock (Mirabilis jalapa)
• Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
• Gardenia augusta (Gardenia jasminodes)
• Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla)

• Impatiens (Impatiens)
• Lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantine)

• Lilies (Lilium) note: poisonous; keep out of the reach of pets
• Mock orange (Philadelphus x virginalis)
• Moonflower (Ipomoea alba)
• Night blooming jasmine (Cestrum nocturnum)
• Night phlox (Zaluzianskya capensis)
• Night-scented stock (Matthiola longipetala)
• Magnolia (Magnolia)
• Peony (Paeonia)
• Snowdrop (Galanthus)
• Sweet rocket (Hesperis matronalis)
• Texas sage (Leucophyllum frutescens)
• Tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa)

How to Create a Moon Garden

Pick a Location

Place your moon garden where you’ll enjoy it the most. First things first, ensure it gets enough moonlight for the full effect of the plantings to take place. Too much shade, and you might not even notice your moon garden.

Your moon garden can be as small as a window box or as large as the entire entranceway to your house. It’s easy to mix in amongst other flowers and gardening beds, as the white will go with all the colours during the day and stand out at night.

At Moss Mountain Farm, they have a moon garden for entertaining. At dusk when the light goes down, they serve cocktails and begin their evening parties. The entire garden is white plantings that glow perfectly in the moonlight.

Plant Your Flowers

A big part of moon gardening is ensuring that you’re stimulating other senses beyond sight. Strong fragrant flowers like jasmine or gardenia can be welcome additions and attract evening pollinators.

Plant your flowers in groupings for maximum impact. Also, try to stagger the bloom times of the different plants so that your moon garden is in full effect all season long.

Water Elements

Like the original Mehtab Bagh gardens, water is another important element of moon gardening. A simple fountain can add sound and a feeling of serenity.

Still water can create stunning reflections of the moon. Try a birdbath or a pond as a reflecting pool.

Landscape Lighting

Additional ambient lighting can also be used, but sparingly. Add fairy lights to a patio or LED lights along walkways. Other great options are silhouette/spotlight lights for trees and other large windows.

Add Seating

Moon gardens are wonderful evening entertaining spaces. From late night barbeques to sitting around a backyard fire, add some seating near your moon garden. This way, you can relax and take in the mystical energy of the garden and the moon.

For extra ambience, bring along a portable speaker or add music to your moon garden.

And that’s how you can enjoy your garden by moonlight. Let me know in the comments below if you make a moon garden yourself. They really are a magical space and worth all the planning.

More Serene Garden Designs

Rusts don’t kill their hosts, but they don’t do them any favors either. This type of rust is found throughout the world wherever turnips are grown.

As far as plant diseases go, white rust on turnips is not usually a serious disease. The leaves of infected plants look hideous, but the roots are typically fine.

Unfortunately, there are no fungicides registered in the US to control white rust on turnips. You will have to rely on preventative techniques.

We will walk you through the symptoms and life cycle of this disease and cultural methods to control it.

How the Infection Spreads

Spores spread from the pustules, including those produced on cruciferous weeds. Wind, insects, or rain disperse them to other plants in the same fields or even in other fields.

The infection is more likely to spread in wet weather that is 60 to 77 F.

Plants can also become infected from thick-walled spores called oospores that are formed in the stagheads and overwinter in plant debris in the soil.

Another downside of this rust is that it can predispose your plants to develop downy mildew(link to turnip downy mildew article), another disease caused by a water mold.

Cultural Controls

The lack of fungicides registered to control white rust on turnips limits your options to cultural controls. One of the key ones is to buy high quality seed that is produced in a dry climate!

Since the organism can overwinter in plant debris in the soil, try to plant your seed in a well-drained bed that doesn’t have any plant residues in it.

It is important to eliminate any cruciferous weeds like mustard or shepherd’s purse near your plants, since they can harbor the disease. If you can, rotate your turnips with a non-cruciferous crop for at least two years to purge the soil of infective spores.

Try to minimize overhead sprinkling. That will not prevent the rust from causing disease, but it may minimize its severity.

After you have harvested your turnips, incorporate any remaining crop residue into the soil as soon as possible, so it will decompose and reduce the chances of the spores surviving.

Invasive autumn olives have a long, rewarding season. Ripening from late summer through fall, their small red drupes are tart, sweet, gelatinously juicy, and tannic, like an unlikely meeting of red currants with tomato and persimmon. Foraging for the fruit can be grounding at a time when events make us feel like we’re trapped on a roller coaster that jumped the rails into the void. Collecting seasonal food (“…while we have seasons,” we ruminate, darkly) can be very therapeutic. So gather autumn olives while ye may—they are a delicious sustainable forage.

Photography by Marie Viljoen.

One of the best feral fruits to be found, autumn olives (also called Japanese silver berry) are also one of the least appreciated. Introduced to the United States from East Asia in the early 19th century, Elaeagnus umbellata received a boost when it was widely planted in the mid 20th century to rehabilitate strip mines and to contain erosion beside highways. Oops. Autumn olive now thrives in the eastern United States, into the Midwest, and south to Florida, forming nitrogen-fixing, allelopathic, habitat-disrupting thickets where it is happy.

That’s plenty of fruit for everybody, including fall’s migrating birds, who spread it as they travel.

Picking autumn olives does in fact help curb the small trees’ spread, although to be effective, you would have to be thorough. Autumn olive is considered a severe threat, in conservation terms, in several states. Better yet, collect, then cut down. And do not plant.

You might notice the trees in spring, when, for a few weeks, an invisible curtain of scent may stop you as you pass the unobtrusive trees. Concealed beneath the silver-green leaves are thousands of tiny, pale yellow tubular flowers in intensely scented clusters.

The easier time to recognize the tree is as late summer dips towards early fall, and the red currant–like fruits are beginning to ripen inside their silver filigreed skins.

Dated conventional thinking supposes that a plant in a cultivated setting is a plant safe from escape. How can an exotic ornamental in an urban park or a suburban garden possibly affect the woodland or meadows or shorelines miles away?  The answer is the thing with feathers. Locally, where I forage, New York City is on migration’s super-highway—the Atlantic Flyway. Stuffed full of autumn olives, birds pass the seeds as they travel.

Collecting the fruit is a tiny gesture towards halting the spread of a species whose chief antagonist to date has been Roundup. In the age of Monsanto and resistant superweeds, eating invasive plants has never seemed more virtuous.

My name is Melina. Welcome to my Zone 8a garden in the Seattle area. It has been a few years since I have shared photos of my garden with you all (A Love/Hate Relationship With the End of the Season), so it’s nice to have you back to have a peek around. Much has changed over the past couple of years, and slowly my grass is disappearing as my annual “edging” project turns into another foot (or two) of garden border. (The shovel just slipped, LOL.) Next year I have plans to take out some larger sections for dahlias and berry beds, but here is where it sits right now. I have a collector’s garden, which means I love plants but don’t have enough space to plant three or five of many things. So instead you will find a lot of one-offs jammed together in the borders. Like many, I found my way to the garden through the need for peace and healing. What started as a “hobby” has quickly turned into an obsession that I hope to parlay into a career one day. For now, though, I will keep experimenting in this lovely space—learning and growing through dirty hands, piles of garden magazines, and those of you on social media willing to share your spaces and lessons learned. The gardening community is a wonderful one, and I am glad to be a part of it.

Front bed with sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum, Zones 4–8), hellebores (Helleborus hybrids Zones 4–9), hostas (Hosta hybrids, Zones 3–9), and heucheras (Heuchera hybrids, Zones 5–9), with an azalea (Rhododendron hybrid, Zones 5–9) in the background

‘Quartet Rainbow’ stock (Matthiola incana, annual) is a favorite flower I grew from seed this year.

Another front bed with snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus, Zones 7–10 or as an annual) that overwintered from last year, foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea, Zones 3–8), ferns, Rozanne geranium (Geranium ‘Gerwat’, Zones 5–8), feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium, Zones 5–8), Canterbury bells (Campanula medium, Zones 4–8), and ‘Karl Foerster’ grass (Calamagrostis × acutiflora, Zones 3–9)

This long view of the backyard garden features ‘Endless Summer’ hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Endless Summer’, Zones 5–9), spirea (Spiraea japonica, Zones 5–9), ageratum (Ageratum houstonianum, Zones 10–11 or as an annual), and a Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Ukigumu’, Zones 5–9). The photo was taken at the beginning of July 2023.

This back garden bed includes ‘Endless Summer’ hydrangea, a nandina (Nandina domestica; I believe it’s ‘Gulf Stream’, Zones 6–9), ground-cover plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, Zones 5–9), and a unique stone pot with annuals in the background.

This front window box includes dusty miller (Jacovaea maritima, Zones 7–10), hostas, dwarf Alberta spruce (Picea glauca ‘Conica’, Zones 3–6), begonias in pots, creeping jenny (Lysimachia nummularia, Zones 3–9), ‘Lime Marmalade’ heucheras (Zones 4–9), Torenia (Zones 10–11 or as an annual), and a Sedum in the concrete pot.

The pond area has hostas, ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius, Zones 2–8), euonymus (Euonymus fortunei, Zones 5–8), and other perennials. ‘Prince Tut’ grass (Cyperus papyrus ‘Prince Tut’, Zones 10–11 or as an annual) is in the foreground.

Here is a full-on view of my front garden bed. Many plants are here, but you can see brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla, Zones 3–8) and a pot full of impatiens (Impatiens walleriana, Zones 10–11 or as an annual).

This is an alternate view of my back garden, looking back at my greenhouse. In the foreground is my hanging basket (the primary flower seen is ‘Persimmon’ petunia from Proven Winners), heather, sedum, ‘Ukigumu’ Japanese maple, and ‘Pink Pyramid’ magnolia in the very back corner. Other plants are listed in photo 4.

This is the same view of my back garden as in photo 4, but it was taken in May 2023. Some tulips are visible, as well as a few pansies scattered throughout.

If you want to see more, check out Melina’s instagram: @gardenwithmelinalynne

 

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So that your crop is ripened to perfection, you’ll want to know how to tell when exactly your apples are ripe as well as some of the finer points of the actual picking process.

Here’s what I’m going to cover:

Estimating Your Harvest Window

I’m going to explain how to judge ripeness later in the article, but before your trees even set fruit, it will be helpful for you to have a harvest window in mind, a rough estimate of when a particular tree will be ready to pick from.

When you purchase an apple tree, the vendor should provide information on its expected ripening season, letting you know whether your tree is very early, early, midseason, or late.

Write this information in your gardening journal so that you have a handy reference available – especially if you plan to grow your own small orchard.

Once you get to know your tree, you can make notes on actual ripening times, and then refer back to this information in subsequent years.

Ripe fruit is sweeter than fruit that is simply mature, and can be used for short term fresh eating, and of course, baking and preserving projects.

Mature fruit, on the other hand, can also be eaten fresh, but they are still just a little underripe. These will have a more tart flavor and a slightly starchier mouthfeel than fully ripe fruit.

Apples will continue to ripen after they are picked and will hold up well for long term storage when stored properly.

When picking your crop, you want the fruit to at least be mature, if not ripe, depending on your intended use. Or you could pick some that are ripe, and some that are just mature, potentially from the very same tree at the same time.

Professional growers start testing their crop for maturity at least two weeks before expected harvest time, examining fruit color, firmness, and starch content. I’ll describe how to judge these factors very shortly.

The pros have a few other tricks up their sleeve, since getting large crops to market is at stake, such as starch iodine testing.

But in this article, I’m going to focus on testing that is easily available to the home grower with nothing more than your senses of sight, touch, and taste.

Background Color

While your vision is not the only sense you should use when judging your crop for maturity, it is an excellent place to start.

Inspect one of the apples on your tree. Does it have a mix of green and red coloring on its skin?

If you ignore the red areas of the skin, the remaining color is the background color. When many cultivars mature, their background color changes from green to yellowish green or golden.

For solid red cultivars, you may be able to see a background color on the shaded side of the fruit, since red pigments are more concentrated in areas of the skin that are exposed to the sun.

While this test does not work easily for all cultivars, particularly those that are still green when ripe, it is relevant for many of them and is a good place to start.

If apples are overripe, their skins will take on a dull appearance.

However, as with our fellow humans, it’s important not to judge your apples solely on the color of their skin. ‘Red Delicious,’ for instance, can turn red before reaching full maturity.

Keep reading to learn what steps to take next!

Taste Test

Now comes the fun part – it’s time to use your sense of taste to look for the telltale flavor of your chosen cultivars, to indicate maturity or ripeness.

Take a bite out of the fruit you just picked.

Here’s your second chance to evaluate firmness. If it’s too hard to bite into, your harvest is not ready to pick.

If it passes the firmness test, the next question to ask yourself is: does it make your mouth pucker? If so, they are still a bit immature.

Immature fruit are not only tart, but they are also astringent, giving your mouth that puckery feeling. They also have a texture that can make you feel like you have cotton in your mouth.

A mature apple should feel crisp in your mouth instead of cottony.

Along with being crisp, mature apples will be slightly starchy, but you should find the taste pleasant, in contrast with the starchiness of those that are immature.

When these fruits mature, their starches turn into sugars. So if you’ve got all starch and no sweetness, they need more time on the tree.

On the other hand, if the flavor you experience is quite sweet, it is past maturity, and is now ripe and ready to enjoy for fresh eating.

This is where that long-strapped harvesting bag is going to come in handy.

You can sling it across your body, climb up the ladder, and hold on with one hand, while picking apples and dropping them into your bag with the other hand.

Of course, as with any use of a ladder, a good safety measure is to have a second person steadying the ladder when you climb up – and possibly preparing to catch you if you fall – in case you lose your balance. Hey, it happens to the best of us!

Immature apples are unpalatable and will cause your mouth to pucker if you try eating them. These won’t continue to ripen after picking.

Instead of using mine for food, I feed them to my sheep and donkeys as treats – they don’t seem to mind the astringent flavor.

These immature fruits can also be composted.

When I find mature apples on the ground, on the other hand, I sort through them and salvage any that are in good shape to use in the kitchen.

I cut out any damaged portions and use the rest for baking projects, or transforming into preserves.

If they are still not quite ripe when a light frost is on the way, leave them on the tree to allow them to continue ripening.

However, if a hard freeze is in the weather forecast with temperatures dropping to 29°F or below, there is a risk that your crop will be damaged.

If your crop is mature, pick as much of it as possible prior to a hard freeze.

However, if the weather forecast predicts low temperatures right at 29°F, look at the hourly forecast. If the weather is likely to only dip briefly to that temperature, your crop may be able to withstand it. It is prolonged exposure at or below this temperature that causes damage.

In my location in the arid Intermountain West, the coldest overnight temperatures are usually in the morning right before sunrise, and they don’t last very long before the sun starts to warm things back up.

If you find yourself in a similar situation with your apple crop, and it’s at risk of a very brief exposure to 29°F weather, you may want to leave your fruit on the tree to continue maturing.

If your crop gets hit by a hard frost when it is at maturity or full ripeness, the fruit may be salvageable.

Wait until the air temperatures warm back up before harvesting the fruit. Because ice crystals can form within the apples and damage their cells, they will not hold up to storage and should be used as quickly as possible.

These fruits may be best put to use in applesauce or some similar preparation where the texture isn’t such an important consideration.

If you miss out on your apple harvest year after year because of hard frosts, you probably have a variety that is too slow to mature for your climate.

To ensure that your crop has enough time to reach maturity, pick a variety better suited to your location.

A good place to find suggestions on varieties for your specific location is at your local county extension office.

Add a backdrop of lovely leaves to the mix, and you’re left with a group of plants that deserve your attention and gardening time.

But if you’re growing a beautiful new plant for the first time, then you owe it to yourself to know how to do so properly from the get-go. And that’s where this guide comes in.

We’ll give you the low-down on nemesia plants: how to propagate them, cultivate them, maintain them, and more!

And hopefully, as you learn how to grow nemesia, your appreciation for these plants will grow as well.

Here’s what we’ll be diving into:

Shall we begin?

What Are Nemesia Flowers?

Flowering species of the Nemesia genus belong to the Scrophulariaceae or figwort family and they can trace their origins to southern Africa.

Suited to a range spanning USDA Hardiness Zones 2 to 11, the genus contains 69 recognized species of annuals, herbaceous perennials, and subshrubs, along with many cross-species hybrids.

Plants from the Nemesia genus are renowned for their striking, tubular flowers, which sit atop square stems while flaunting colored throats alongside two sets of lip-like petals.

While the top “lip” bears four lobes, and the bottom one has two.

These fragrant flowers can exhibit practically every hue save for green, attracting pollinators such as bees and butterflies.

Surrounding the flowers are pairs of green, lance-shaped, and sometimes toothed leaves.

The size of the entire plant varies among species, but many garden favorites have heights and spreads of six to 24 inches.

In floriography, i.e. “the language of flowers,” nemesia flowers have come to represent friendship, making them the perfect ingredient for platonic floral arrangements.

In American gardening and landscaping, the beautiful blooms of these plants are often featured in spring to early summer or fall.

Nemesia Propagation

If you want to grow some of these plants for yourself, you’ll need to propagate them first, whether it’s by sowing seeds, rooting stem cuttings, or transplanting more developed specimens.

From Seed

Utilizing purchased seeds is a cheap, efficient, and easy way to end up with a bunch of Nemesia specimens. Make sure to select varieties that are capable of growing in your garden’s Hardiness Zone!

In spring, about four to eight weeks before the local final frost date – or just in early spring, if your Zone lacks frost – fill a seed tray with a seed-starting mix such as a combo of peat moss and perlite.

Moisten the media, then scatter your seeds across the soil’s surface. Cover them with the slightest layer of additional media, then leave the tray exposed to bright, indirect light somewhere indoors.

Keep the media moist. The seeds should sprout in about five to 10 days. As the seedlings begin to compete for space, thin out the weakest-looking ones so you’re left with strong, healthy seedlings spaced an inch or two apart.

Once the seedlings reach two inches in height, you can move them into their own individual pots filled with a similar medium as the seed tray.

Continue to care for them, providing bright light and moist soil. Pinch them back to encourage bushiness, if desired.

After four to eight weeks have passed and when your outdoor garden is frost free, you can harden off the seedlings outdoors.

To do this, bring the seedlings outside into an area with their preferred light exposure and leave them there for 30 to 60 minutes before bringing them back inside. Add an additional half to a full hour of outside time with each successive day until they can handle a full day of outdoor exposure.

At this point, your plants are ready to go into the ground or into more permanent containers!

Once the next frost-free date in spring rolls around, you can harden them off like you would seedlings before they go in the ground.

Via Transplanting

When it’s transplanting time, prepare planting spaces either in-ground or in containers.

Regardless of the planting medium that you opt to use, ensure that it’s well-draining and fertile with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0. Texture-wise, sandy and/or loamy soils are preferable to clay.

Space these sites out as wide as you need to, to accommodate the mature spreads of your transplants, and dig holes as deep as and just a bit wider than their root systems.

Next, gently ease the transplants out of their containers before setting them into their holes.

Backfill the holes with the dug-out soil, water in the transplants, and presto!

How to Grow Nemesia Flowers

Now that your nemesia plants are safe and snug in their new homes, let’s discuss how to keep them healthy and happy throughout their stay.

Climate and Exposure Needs

These plants can thrive in a wide range of climates.

Depending on the species, plants may require a full sun to partial shade exposure.

This obviously depends on the variety that you choose, but for the most part, full sun brings about more blooms, since flower production requires a lot of photosynthesis.

Soil Needs

It’s worth repeating: ample drainage, fertility, and a slightly acidic to neutral pH of 6.0 to 7.0 are the essential ingredients for optimal nemesia soil, along with a sandy and/or loamy soil texture.

Annual amendments of organic matter in springtime will help with fertility and drainage.

Working a couple inches of humus such as compost or well-rotted manure into the soil each spring is a solid prescription.

Water and Fertilizer Needs

Pruning and Maintenance

The majority of your nemesia pruning will entail deadheading, or removing spent flowers, as well as removing any damaged, diseased, or dead plant tissues.

If a specimen is struggling or has ceased to bloom due to summer heat, cutting back the plant by one-third to one-half can promote reblooming and healthy new growth.

Putting down an inch or two of organic mulch around plants can help prevent moisture loss, suppress weed growth, and add a neat aesthetic to your landscape.

But make sure to keep the mulch at least two inches away from the crowns to avoid introducing rot!

To promote overall plant health and avoid root bindage, container-grown nemesia should be repotted as they outgrow their homes.

Providing the root system with an inch or two of fresh, empty soil on all sides should be enough wiggle room.

Nemesia Species to Select

If you’re located in USDA Zones 2 to 11, there’s a variety of Nemesia for you. And depending on your selection, your specimens may possess a tolerance for heat, humidity, and/or frost!

Whether you head to a physical plant nursery or do your shopping online, you can find Nemesia species in a plethora of different colors and sizes. But which one to choose?

These three are solid choices:

Caerulea

Hardy in USDA Zones 9 to 10, N. caerulea typically grows to a height of one to two feet with a spread of nine to 18 inches.

Wielding smooth, lance-shaped leaves, this nemesia bursts with stunning flowers in early summer, each with white, pink, and/or light blue petals that surround yellow-colored throats.

Full sun will yield the best blooms, while a bit of afternoon shade will stretch out that blooming period the longest.

With mature dimensions of a foot in height and nine inches in width, N. versicolor is hardy in Zones 9 to 10 and wields beautiful colors from across the spectrum in its blooms, save for green.

Oftentimes, you’ll find bicolored specimens, for double the fun!

Managing Pests and Disease

Thankfully, there’s not too much for the gardener to worry about when growing nemesia, health-wise.

Herbivores such as deer and rabbits tend to leave these plants alone, and the insects and diseases that do pose a threat are pretty manageable.

But as a general recommendation, many afflictions can be prevented with proper cultivation and TLC, since pests and pathogens tend to go after unhealthy specimens the hardest.

Insects

The neat thing about pest management? It also tends to limit diseases as a side benefit, since pathogens can hitch a ride on bugs all too easily.

Powdery Mildew

A very easy condition to notice, powdery mildew is a fungal disease that leaves plant surfaces looking like they’ve been dusted with a fine white flour.

Along with looking conspicuously sickly, infected tissues can become distorted, turn yellow or brown, and even die.

Since fungi love moisture, it’s important to promote enough airflow and avoid splashing water onto the leaves. Space specimens apart appropriately, and irrigate the roots directly instead of watering from overhead.

In the case of an infection, prune away any severely symptomatic tissues. If the specimen is disease-ridden and unlikely to recover, lift and pitch it.

Learn more about powdery mildew in our guide.

Root Rot

What do you get when you mix a plant’s root system, too much moisture, and not enough oxygen? Why, you get root rot, of course!

As the roots “drown,” they begin to turn necrotic, which causes major health issues for the shoots above the soil line.

To prevent this common ailment, don’t overwater your plants and ensure that their soils are well-draining.

If any specimens have rotted roots, prune them away and replant. If the majority of the roots are rotted, then the odds of survival are probably slim.

Best Uses of Nemesia Flowers

To be honest, any spot where pretty flowers can stand out as a feature is also a place that will probably suit a nemesia nicely.

These plants look especially gorgeous in beds, as part of mixed borders, and in containers.

Depending on the size and color of the type that you’re working with, nemesia can also look stunning in rock gardens, as mass plantings, or as a ground cover.

If you’re looking for companion planting options, try placing other attractive bloomers like snapdragons, pansies, or pinks nearby.

Collaborative post

If your outdoor space has a lawn, you’re probably keen to keep it looking as good as possible.

Easy lawn maintenance tips

A well-maintained lawn can really improve the look of your garden, not to mention provide a welcoming habitat for wildlife and a place for the family to relax.

Here are the top five lawn maintenance tips every homeowner should know.

1. Fertilise your soil

Soil is the main factor determining the health of your lawn. Failing to provide the soil with the best nutrition means your lawn will struggle to thrive.

Your lawn needs to develop healthy root systems. It helps to work from the ground up, ensuring your soil can support living organisms like earthworms and beneficial fungi. Most homeowners don’t understand their soil properties, including the pH, but you can easily buy a test kit to determine the quality of your soil.

Digging up a small patch of your lawn can also give you an idea of your soil condition.

Regular application of fertiliser designed specifically for lawns is an easy way to keep your grass in top condition.

2. Choose the right grass for your area

There are different types of grasses for different landscaping purposes. By choosing a type of grass that is well-suited to your soil and local environment, you can cut down on lawn maintenance and give your lawn the best chance of thriving.

If you can’t maintain a real grass lawn, one simple way to transform your space is to install artificial grass. Professional installers can offer you a range of beautiful realistic grass varieties to meet your needs. Pets are happy on artificial lawns, and you will never have to worry about dirty floors. Perfect artificial turf is mess-free, evergreen, and easy to maintain.

3. Know how to thatch well

Thatching involves removing debris like dead leaves, decaying grass, and other materials from your lawn. This practice prevents grass rot, weed growth, and pest infestation, and also opens up the lawn to allow nutrients and water to penetrate.

You only need a simple raking device to thatch your lawn well, collecting dead grass and leaves with minimal effort.

4. Hydrate your grass

Hydrating your lawn will promote faster growth and a more lush appearance.

Use sprinklers where possible, to ensure even water distribution; the water needs to reach the roots of your grass.

The best time to hydrate your lawn is in the early morning hours. Evaporation is minimised at this time of day, so you can cut down on water usage and be more eco-friendly.

5. Invest in the right equipment

Caring for your lawn requires some basic gardening equipment.

A lawnmower that’s suited to the size of your lawn is essential, while edging shears or a strimmer will cut down on laborious maintenance. The thatching we mentioned earlier can be done with a scarifying tool, but you can also use a standard garden rake to do the job.

More low maintenance gardening tips

Here are some more useful resources to help you save time in the garden:

In addition to all that, the fruits and veggies produced tend to be cleaner. If you design your system well, it can also use less water.

So, yes – vertical gardening is, first and foremost, an excellent method of expanding your growing space. But there are many, many other benefits that are just icing on the cake.

We’ll cover all the basics to help you get started. Here’s a quick preview of everything you’ll discover up ahead:

Whether you’re looking for a way to squeeze some herbs into your ninth floor apartment or you want to expand your veggie garden without taking up more space, this guide has you covered.

Let’s dive in.

What Is a Vertical Garden?

First, let’s define our terms. A vertical garden is one that utilizes vertical rather than horizontal space to grow plants, often fruits and veggies.

This involves growing your plants on fences or trellises or using a tall structure to support containers.

What might this look like?

It could be a six-foot trellis at the center of a garden bed or a system of shelves with pots affixed to them. It could be hanging baskets suspended from a patio roof, hooks, or posts. It might be a living wall.

Even an espaliered tree could be considered a form of vertical gardening.

But if you get creative, you can also grow lettuce and other greens, onions, kale, garlic, eggplant, peppers, radishes, turnips, shallots, and most types of herbs and microgreens.

If you want to try something a bit more unusual that will be just as happy in a vertical garden, consider asparagus beans, sweet potatoes, chayote, nasturtiums, grapes, hops, kiwis, Malabar spinach, passion fruit, cabbage, or amaranth.

Grapevines and hops will need a large structure, and if you want to train fruit trees into a vertical plane, you’ll need a fairly big wall, depending on the size of the tree you choose.

You don’t have to grow edible plants, either. Ornamentals like annual flowers and vining plants are options too.

How to Grow Vertically

Most veggies and fruits need full sun, so make sure your setup is in a spot with the right sun exposure. That usually means your rig will need to face south and not be blocked by buildings or trees.

Keep in mind how exposed to wind your outdoor location is – blustery weather can flatten a trellis heavy with ripening pumpkins or cucumbers. If possible, pick a sheltered spot and be sure to secure your structures firmly.

If you’re planning to affix a trellis or other support to a wall or a fence, be sure to assess how much sun it receives during the hot summer months. A brick wall, for example, will be baking hot if it’s exposed to full sun throughout the growing season.

Also consider what you will grow in the space around your vertical garden. The shade cast by a trellis growing green beans can be the perfect location for herbs and low-growing veggies that require some protection from the sun.

Bend the material so the tops meet and secure them with rope.

Alternatively, angle thicker pieces of wood so they meet at the top and secure them.

Beans will climb up the teepee without any assistance, but other plants that can’t secure themselves will need some help from you.

In a pinch, you can simply hang some netting against a wall or from a pair of poles and you’ve got a structure to attach vines to.

Hardy and versatile, adding height, depth, and texture, this all-season perennial could be the missing piece in your gardening plan.

Get ready for a whimsical adventure as we explore the wild and wonderful world of maiden grass.

Here’s a look at what I’ll be covering in this guide:

What Is Maiden Grass?

M. sinensis, commonly referred to as maiden grass, Japanese silver grass, or Chinese silver grass, is an ornamental perennial native to Eastern Asia.

It belongs to the Poaceae family and the genus Miscanthus, though it was formerly classified as a species of Eulalia.

This species is also referred to in common parlance as eulalia grass, and it is called susuki in Japan.

Maiden grass is recognized for its upward-arching stems and leaves, which create a rounded, fountain-like appearance. It has a clump-forming habit, reaching heights of four to 12 feet, and spreading three to six feet wide.

Its colorful foliage and showy, textured flower plumes make it an attractive choice for ornamental gardening.

Differentiating M. sinensis from other ornamental grasses requires a close and careful look at its characteristic features: blade-like leaves with serrated margins and whitish to silvery midribs, and pink to red flowers that grow in loose terminal panicles.

It grows best in USDA Hardiness Zones 4 to 9, but has invasive potential in certain North American regions.

In the cooler months, maiden grass provides seasonal interest as its foliage turns yellow to orange, typically in the fall, then fades to a beige-tan color in the winter.

Depending on the variety, from late August to October, pink to red plumes of small flowers bloom above the foliage.

The seeds mature by mid-fall and the plumes turn beige, retaining their arching shape and beige color throughout the winter.

Cultivation and History

The Latin word sinensis, meaning “from China,” reveals this plant’s geographic origin.

It was described by Eduard Hackel, an Austrian botanist specializing in agrostology, or the study of grasses, in the late 19th century.

M. sinensis has a long history of cultivation in its native regions of Japan, Korea, and China, specifically an area that extends north to the subarctic Kuril Islands of Russia and the Hokkaido islands of Japan, south and west through the main islands of Japan, the Korean Peninsula, and eastern China, and into the subtropics of Ryukyu, Japan, and Taiwan.

In its native range, Chinese silver grass has long been used for roof thatching on traditional buildings, and although it’s not as popular as it once was, this material is still being used in roofing today.

It’s also used to make yellow dye, and storage bags for charcoal. And in Japan, maiden grass is used to stabilize easily erodible soils and is sometimes planted to revegetate abandoned ski slopes.

Because Japanese silver grass is highly productive and uses nutrients and water efficiently, it has been identified as a potential biomass energy crop capable of producing electricity.

Of particular interest is the sterile triploid Chinese silver grass hybrid Miscanthus × giganteus. In Korea and western Japan, it’s been used as organic fertilizer.

The exact timeline and route of maiden grass’s introduction to North America is unknown. However, we do know that by the early 1940s, it was present in the eastern United States.

Early observations of “wild types” were documented along roadsides and railroad tracks in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. In 1942, it was described as “abundantly naturalized” in Washington, DC. But how did this happen?

M. sinensis was initially cultivated in the United States for its aesthetic appeal, providing texture, color, and movement in landscape designs, with numerous versatile applications, including naturalized and wild gardens, borders, meadows.

Over time, maiden grass gained popularity due to its adaptability to a wide range of soils and conditions, its low-maintenance nature, and its multiple uses – from creating privacy screens to dried flower arrangements.

Over the years, maiden grass breached cultivation in North America, and it was spotted growing wild in many eastern states, from Massachusetts southwards across the Mid-Atlantic and southeastern states.

It’s also been reported in Great Lakes states including Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois, as well as in Ontario, Canada, and in western regions of the US as well, including parts of Colorado and California.

It’s now considered an invasive species in certain states, including North Carolina. Do your research in these areas, and look for alternatives or cultivars specifically bred to be sterile.

Species plants and some cultivars are capable of reproducing from seed, allowing them to easily escape cultivation. But other commercially available cultivars are sterile and can only be propagated in other ways. Let’s investigate further.

Maiden Grass Propagation

Home gardeners can propagate some cultivars of M. sinensis from seed, while other cultivars can only be reproduced clonally.

You can divide mature plants in your garden, or purchase seedlings or clones from nurseries and greenhouses.

What does this mean? We have options! Well, depending on the desired cultivar, that is. Let’s take a look at these methods.

From Seed

Before we jump right into learning to grow maiden grass from seed, we should probably clear some things up.

Propagation of M. sinensis from seed is uncommon with the ornamental cultivars you’ll find in your local nursery.

That “wild type” I mentioned earlier, the species plant, is the one that usually produces a significant number of seeds that become airborne, and dispersal is enhanced in open, blustery swaths of land, like along interstate highways.

Cultivars such as ‘Variegatus,’ ‘Cosmopolitan,’ and ‘Zebrinus’ are good choices as there is no record of them self-seeding and becoming invasive.

Additionally, Miscanthus is self-incompatible, meaning one individual plant, grown in isolation, cannot usually develop seed.

Being aware of the potential for unintentional spread of some cultivars as well as the species plant is important. Here are a few words of wisdom for responsible maiden grass parents:

Refraining from planting the “wild type” of M. sinensis is crucial for home gardeners to avoid contributing to its invasive spread.

Existing ornamental plantings should be monitored carefully for self-seeding into nearby gardens, woodlands, or natural areas, especially in regions where M. sinensis has become invasive.

Place the seed tray in a location where it will receive bright but indirect light with temperatures between 62 and 72°F (16 to 22°C). Maintain a consistent level of moisture during the germination period. Germination can take seven to 28 days.

When the seedlings are large enough to handle, you can transplant them into larger pots or containers, or move them directly to your garden, depending on your current local conditions. I’ll discuss the transplanting method a little later. Read on!

Division

M. sinensis can be propagated by dividing mature plants. This involves splitting an established clump into smaller sections, each with its own roots.

It’s important to note that some cultivars are protected by patents, making propagation illegal.

Before you attempt this method of propagation, check your plant tag or do the necessary research on whichever variety you have planted.

The best time to perform this process is in the spring. Start by watering your plant thoroughly a day before dividing it to minimize stress.

Dig around the clump, going deep enough with your shovel to get under the root ball. Lift the loosened clump out of the ground.

Using a sharp, clean spade or gardening knife, cut the clump into sections. The number of sections will depend on the size of your original clump but each should have a good amount of roots and shoots for successful replanting.

Plan to replant your divisions straight away, or as soon as possible after performing surgery. Now that we’re at the point of replanting, let’s learn how to transplant.

Transplanting

Here’s a step-by-step method to put your divisions, potted nursery plants, or new seedlings into the ground:

Start by preparing your planting site. Maiden grass is a sun worshiper, so aim for a full sun location, or somewhere it can receive at least six hours of sunlight each day.

It also prefers well-draining soil, so avoid areas of standing water or where water might pool after a rainstorm.

If your soil is heavy clay, you might want to amend it with organic matter like compost or aged manure to improve the structure and drainage.

At maturity, these plants can spread up to five feet, so plan for enough space when choosing your location. Clear away weeds and debris to create a clean space for your new plant to set its roots.

To prepare your Japanese silver grass for transplant, ensure that it has been watered well prior to planting day.

Try not to disturb the roots too much when removing transplants from their pots. If they’re pot bound, tease the roots apart and trim off any dead or unhealthy roots.

Dig a hole at least twice as wide as the root ball and just as deep. Place the plant in the hole, ensuring the top of the root ball is level with or just slightly below the surface of the soil.

Backfill the hole with soil, pressing gently around the plant and tamping the soil down gently to eliminate air pockets. Water your new planting well, giving it a big drink.

How to Grow Maiden Grass

M. sinensis is quite cold-hardy and can be grown in USDA Hardiness Zones 4 to 9. This means it can tolerate winter temperatures down to -30°F (-34°C).

Maiden grass prefers a full sun location, so choose a spot where your plant will get at least six hours of sunlight each day. In hotter climates, it may appreciate a little afternoon shade.

M. sinensis grows best in well-draining soil. It’s tolerant of a variety of soil types, including sandy, loamy, and clay soils, as long as water does not pool.

If your soil is heavy clay and does not drain well, consider amending it with organic matter, such as compost or well-rotted manure, to improve drainage and fertility.

Maiden grass is tolerant of a range of soil pH levels. However, it generally prefers a slightly acidic to neutral pH between 5.5 and 7.0.

This can be a granular or liquid fertilizer with a balanced N-P-K ratio, like 10-10-10. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for the correct application rate.

Remember to always water in any fertilizer that you apply to help it penetrate the soil and reach the root zone of the plant. In fertile soils, you might find that additional fertilization isn’t necessary.

Mulch around the base of the plant to conserve moisture and suppress weeds. Be sure not to pile the mulch against the base of the plant, as this can encourage rot.

Water regularly, especially in the first year as your Japanese silver grass establishes its roots. M. sinensis can tolerate some drought once it’s established, but it’s best to keep it watered well until that point.

M. sinensis can be grown in containers as well as the ground, so it makes a nice choice for privacy on patios.

For potted specimens, start by choosing a container with drainage holes that is at least twice the size of the root ball. Fill the bottom of the container with good quality potting soil.

Remove the plant from its nursery pot and set it into the new container. Fill the space around the root ball with potting soil up to the same level as the plant was in its nursery pot.

Place the container in a location where it will have full sun to part shade and water thoroughly. Plants grown in containers will need to be watered more frequently than those grown in the ground.

Remember, the needs of these plants can vary based on local conditions, so it’s always a good idea to check with a local nursery or extension service for the best advice in your area.

Growing Tips

• Plant in a full sun location, with well-draining soil and a pH level of 5.5 to 7.0.
• Water new plantings regularly until established, and during dry spells after that.
• Space plantings 3 to 5 feet apart to accommodate mature size.
• Apply a general, all-purpose fertilizer in early spring if desired.

Pruning and Maintenance

For M. sinensis, regular pruning and maintenance are essential for a healthy, well-structured plant.

Pruning is best carried out in late winter or early spring before new growth starts. At this time, cut the entire plant back to four to six inches above the ground.

This will allow the plant to rejuvenate, stimulating fresh growth for the upcoming growing season.

If you prefer, you can leave the dried maiden grass stalks in place over winter for added texture. They add charming winter interest! But make sure to cut them back before new growth appears in spring.

You can learn more about pruning ornamental grasses in our guide.

Maiden grass is relatively low maintenance once established. It’s drought tolerant and doesn’t usually require extra watering unless conditions are exceptionally dry.

It’s also generally pest- and disease-resistant, although it’s a good idea to keep an eye out for signs of rust in wet weather, which I’ll discuss a little later on.

If a clump becomes too large or the center begins to die out, it’s time to divide the plant. This is best done every two to four years in the spring.

They’re not very pleasant or tasty to eat! This makes Japanese silver grass a good choice for landscapes where these visitors like to hang out.

But a few pests and diseases might give you a bit of trouble from time to time, so let’s review them here just in case.

Pests

It’s important to remember that insects can carry disease, so staying on top of infestations will help you to get ahead of potential issues.

Look out for these bugs and you’ll be in good shape:

Aphids

Aphids are tiny, sap-sucking bugs that attack a wide range of plants, including maiden grass. They can cause distortion and yellowing of the leaves and impede a plant’s growth.

Try battling them with insecticidal soaps and neem oil. Or blast them with the hose to dislodge them.

Ladybugs love to feast on aphids, so consider bringing some in if you don’t see them in your garden.

Learn more about how to deal with aphids in our guide.

Mealybugs

Mealybugs are small, soft-bodied insects covered in a white, waxy substance. They can live inside the stems of M. sinensis, causing stunted growth.

These insects could be tricky to eradicate. If an infestation isn’t too severe, you can spray with an insecticidal soap or neem oil.

You can also introduce or encourage natural predators like ladybugs or lacewings. These good bugs should keep the bad ones in check.

If natural solutions aren’t enough, you can treat these bugs with a systemic insecticide applied in late spring or early summer when they’re most active.

Read our guide to managing mealybugs to learn more.

Spider Mites

These miniature arachnids will also suck the life from your plant. Signs of infestation include yellowing and browning of leaves, and fine webbing on the plant.

Leaf Rust

Leaf rust is a fungal disease that can become a nuisance for Japanese silver grass. To identify it, look for yellow, orange, or red blisters on the leaves.

To treat leaf rust, remove and destroy infected leaves and apply a fungicide intended specifically for ridding your plant of rust disease.

Also, make sure your plant has good air circulation to discourage fungal growth.

Miscanthus Blight

Miscanthus blight attacks the leaf blades and sheaths, or the lower portion encircling the stems.

Stagonospora species of fungi cause the spots and infection can eventually lead to death in severe cases. The pathogens thrive in damp or wet, humid conditions.

Practice good garden sanitation by removing and destroying infected leaves. If your plants have contracted blight in the past, consider applying fungicides as a preventative method.

Keep in mind that your best defense against pests and disease is to keep your plants healthy. Water when appropriate and practice good sanitation to promote good health.

Best Uses of Maiden Grass

Japanese silver grass is a versatile ornamental plant that can be incorporated into your landscape in various ways.

Its tall, elegant plumes make it a lovely choice for privacy screens, or a backdrop for other plantings, adding depth and structure to your garden.

Maiden grasses can also make breathtaking specimen plants, with their striking autumnal color and winter interest.

They’re perfect for mass planting and make a big impact with a sea of movement and color in larger garden spaces.

Due to their robust and hardy nature, M. sinensis and other ornamental grasses can also be grown in containers and make a good option for creating privacy in various sitting areas like patios and around pools.