Innehållsförteckning för Fall 2025 från Garden Gate

If you've been using the same shovel for all your gardening jobs, you may be working harder than you need to. A tool tailored to the task of moving compost, planting or edging can tackle the job more efficiently and be easier on your back. Let us help you match the tool to the task. Buying high-quality tools ensures their longevity. Here's how to shop smart: ✓ Look for a single-forged and tempered steel shovel blade. Stamped metal is more likely to bend. ✓ Examine the spot where the blade joins the handle on the back of the shovel. A closed socket is better than an open one, which tends to break or bend more easily. ✓ For shovels with a steel blade, go with 12-, 14- or 16-gauge steel.…

The growing season may be winding down, but there’s plenty of time for your garden to show off! Choosing the right combination of plants can keep it looking good until cold weather finally arrives. While there are plenty of flowers that still look great, don’t forget about foliage texture and color, as well as structural elements such as tree limbs and trunks. All these items together create a gorgeous fall garden. Let’s take a look at three plant combinations that can brighten your garden in late summer and fall. Jewel-bright annuals Let your garden shine with this combination of bright annuals. With their slender stems weaving together and the butterflies they’ll attract, these plants will make your garden feel like a summery meadow right up until frost. Annuals don’t…

Cape daisies Osteospermum hybrids If you want a blast of color, Cape daisies are the plants for you! Available in a rainbow of hues, Cape daisies (sometimes known as African daisies) will add zing to any cool-season planting. WHERE THEY WORK BEST Cape daisies can be planted in the ground as bedding annuals, but they’re especially good in container plantings, where they can bloom for months. HOW TO GROW THEM Plant Cape daisies as soon as they’re available in your area in spring or fall. They’re happiest in temps between 55 and 75 degrees F and prefer full to part sun and well-drained, moist soil. Try to keep the foliage dry when you water, as they can be susceptible to fungal problems. Feeding with a 10-10-10 fertilizer once a month…

Gardeners have been told for years not to disturb the roots too much when transplanting container-grown trees and shrubs. However, I’ve successfully planted dozens of plants with another approach: root washing. Potting mix has a lot of benefits for container-grown plants: Roots can push through it freely, it drains quickly so roots don’t suffocate from being overwatered, and its light weight makes transporting easier and less expensive. However, it’s very different than the garden soil you’ll be moving the plant into. By the time you bring a tree or shrub home, the roots have most likely been repotted several times and developed into a dense, spiraling pot-bound mass similar to the one you see in photo 1. The goal is to get those roots to spread horizontally to anchor the…

Whether you’re trying to recreate the wild look of a prairie or just need a tough plant for a hot, dry spot, ‘Ha Ha Tonka’ little bluestem will deliver. This tough, reliable grass won’t just tolerate harsh conditions though: Its subtle beauty shines in any garden. Soft blue-green leaves are densely covered with tiny hairs that catch the light, and the purple-brown seedheads fade to fluffy white and last into winter. The foliage also changes to shades of burgundy and orange in fall, although the halo of fine hairs makes it harder to see than with some little bluestems. VERSATILE BEAUTY Include native ‘Ha Ha Tonka’ in any wild or prairie-style planting. With its pedigree, it really is a “natural” there! The foliage reaches about 2 feet tall, while the…

Shorter days and cooler temperatures mean the growing season is drawing to a close. But once frosts and freezes have called a halt to flowers and foliage, long-lasting perennial seedheads continue the show well into the winter months. Sure, the color palette is more muted, but that makes the lingering shapes and forms all the more interesting. They also have a wonderful way of changing with the weather. If you’re an early riser, you may get to enjoy your seedheads transformed by feathery white hoarfrost before it melts in the sun. Freezing rain turns them into fabulous ice sculptures, and a dusting of snow makes for magical effects as the seedheads catch the drifting flakes. MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE All this beauty has a practical benefit too: Seedheads supply…

Let’s face it—gardening requires a certain amount of planning ahead. Take bulbs, for example. Those classic spring bulbs we all love, like tulips, daffodils and hyacinths, need to be planted in the fall in much of North America. Finally, after a winter’s worth of anticipation, up they come to welcome spring. Worth the wait, isn’t it? But what do you need to do to get bulbs off to a good start? 1 BUY HEALTHY BULBS Look for large, firm bulbs that feel heavy for their size. Soft or shriveled ones won’t make it. However, a little bit of blue-gray mold won’t hurt anything if it wipes off easily. 2 KNOW WHICH SIDE IS UP With tulips and other true bulbs, it’s easy to tell. But with some plants that grow from corms,…

Audri collects seeds each fall to share or donate, but she needed a way to keep them fresh and dry. Her method? Saving the small food-grade silica gel packets that come in prescription and over-the-counter medicines! By adding a packet to her stored seeds, she prevents moisture buildup and ensures better germination for next season’s planting.— Audri Goronson, CO Garden mums not blooming? Leilah Khaled, OK In mid-October Leilah was puzzled when her friends were posting photos of their flower-covered garden mums (Chrysanthemum hybrids) while hers were still just mounds of green foliage. It occurred to her that leaving the lamp on above the mums all night might be the culprit. Leilah’s instinct was correct. Garden mums are photoperiodic and don’t set buds until the days get shorter and the…

The Secret to a Beautiful and Bountiful Vegetable Garden The first time that New Jersey’s Resh Gala tried to grow tomatoes, she didn’t get a single edible fruit, thanks to blossom end rot and other struggles. But she was determined to learn from her failure. The next year, she had more encouraging results in her small raised bed and decided to keep growing. Since then, she’s learned that not everything will be perfect: Whether it’s a new pest infestation, bad weather or something else, every year is different. But when one crop struggles, another one usually thrives. This determination to keep trying new things and continue gardening through difficulties lead to Resh being named 2020 Gardener of the Year by Burpee Home Gardens. Now she’s launched a business, Hundred Tomatoes…

Sometimes by fall, borders are starting to get that “I just can’t go on” look. Thank goodness for garden mums! These tried-and-true perennials keep patios, pots and borders colorful for up to eight weeks, from late summer to late fall, without serious pest or disease problems. FALL-PLANTED MUMS The big garden mums that you see at practically every store in town this time of year are full-grown and ready to pop in the ground or containers. Often called “cushion” mums, most of these types have been treated with growth regulators and pruned multiple times to form classic 12- to 24-inch flower-covered mounds like ‘Autumn Fire’ at left. Those in a series, such as Chelsey,™ Paradiso or Cosmic, are the same size but have different bloom colors. Even if plants are…

Repeat, repeat, repeat. As a landscape architect and teacher of garden design, this simple advice is something I often share with new designers. In outdoor spaces, it can be tempting to add a variety of elements, but repetition is what brings a design together. Using the same shapes, colors and materials helps create a sense of unity and adds rhythm and visual interest. The result is a space that’s not only more visually appealing but also easier to understand and navigate. You can see this principle at work in the garden at left. Here, repeated ornamental grasses, allium blooms and rusty orbs create rhythm and unity while adding just enough variety to keep the look lively and engaging. As in other design disciplines, repetition in a landscape brings structure to…