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Problems with Cape Marigold Plants Given the right conditions, problems with cape marigold may begin with their invasion and stopping it. Confine them to appropriate spots in the landscape where they can be easily contained. Deadhead regularly to prevent their spread. Soil that is too rich creates Dimorphotheca problems. This flower grows well in sandy, well-draining soil and will even grow in amended clay. An attractive covering of mulch helps retain moisture....

How to Grow a Camellia in a Pot Growing camellias in containers is easy. Camellias prefer well-drained, acidic soil, preferably with a pH between 5.0 and 6.5. A commercial mix for rhododendrons or azaleas is perfect. Alternatively, make your own mix by mixing coarse peat moss or small pine bark with coarse sand in equal parts. Avoid fine peat moss, which tends to quickly become too dry or too wet and may lead to loss of the camellia....

Troubleshooting a Christmas Cactus with Yellow Leaves If you notice your Christmas cactus leaves turning yellow, consider the following possibilities: Time to repot – If the container is packed tightly with roots, the Christmas cactus may be potbound. Move the Christmas cactus to a pot one size larger. Fill the pot with a mixture that drains well, such as two parts potting mix and one part coarse sand or perlite. Water well, then withhold fertilizer for a month after repotting a Christmas cactus....

Carrot Root Knot Nematode Info? If you have discovered your carrot patch is yielding stumpy, rough looking, forked roots, you probably have a root knot nematode infestation. This pathogen is common in root crops but also in celery and lettuce. Symptoms vary slightly by plant variety, but in all cases crop production is reduced and the food looks unsightly. Root knot nematodes in carrots are particularly prevalent in northern regions. The good news is that you can control the pathogen to a certain extent....

When placed in the right location, it may even thwart them from venturing into unwanted areas of your garden. Read on for tips on creating a cat-friendly garden. Cat-Friendly Garden Ideas My mother loves to garden but she also has a large assortment of cats too. Although these are largely indoor kitties, they have a designated area all their own outdoors in which they are free to roam about. Mom calls it the “cat palace....

Symptoms of Cherries with Brown Rot The first symptoms of cherries with brown rot are browning of blossoms and small brown spots on ripening fruit, followed by death of small twigs. Infected blossoms often drop off the tree and gummy cankers appear on twigs between healthy and diseased areas. Fruit remaining on the tree may become mummified. The spores spread in damp weather, when you may see clumps powdery, brownish-gray spores on infected flowers and fruit....

Propagating Christmas Cactus The very first step is understanding if you actually have a Christmas cactus. Easter and Thanksgiving cacti look deceptively similar. Click here to figure out which you have. Propagating Christmas cactus is easy. In fact, when it comes to the Christmas cactus, propagating is a great way to share this wonderful plant with others. Christmas cactus propagation usually begins by simply taking a short, Y-shaped cutting from the stem tip....

What is a Christmas Palm? The Christmas palm (Adonidia merrillii) forms a lovely smaller tropical tree suitable for home landscapes. What is a Christmas palm? The plant is also known as the Manila palm or dwarf Royal. It is native to the Philippines and useful in United States Department of Agriculture zone 10. The tree only gets 20 to 25 feet (6-8 m.) in height and is self-cleaning. Lucky warm season gardeners should know how to grow Christmas palm tree for diminutive tropical flair but easy maintenance....

Chrysanthemum Crown Gall Symptoms Crown gall of mum plants disrupts the flow of nutrients and water to other parts of the specimen. The first observed symptoms are usually on the crown of the plant but can also be seen on the stem. The disease also affects the roots, but this is less easy to detect without digging up the plant. The galls are warty tumors seen upon the basal or crown parts of the chrysanthemum....

Issues Affecting Chrysanthemums In many regions, the appearance of late summer is accompanied by the golds, rusts, bronzes, reds, and oranges of chrysanthemum blooms. Every supermarket, big-box store, and nursery is bursting with their charismatic fall color. For the most part, problems with these plants are not a threat to their health, but occasional attacks of chrysanthemum pests and diseases can diminish vigor and affect bloom production. Excess moisture is one of the main threats but so, too, are insects on mums who chew and suck, diminishing plant vitality....

It has a mat-forming habit and a semi-woody taproot, which hugs the ground. While getting rid of lespedeza clover may seem like a fruitless task, some control measures can be employed. Removing Lespedeza from Lawns The common lespedeza weed grows best in thin and dry turf that is compacted. Keeping your turf healthy by providing the proper nutrients for your soil type, maintaining the proper pH for your soil, and mowing on a regular schedule will impede the spread of these weeds and is one of the best ways for controlling lespedeza....

Is My Compost Finished? There are many variables that contribute to the timing of finished compost. It depends upon the particle size of materials in the pile, how often it is turned to supply oxygen, the moisture level and temperature of the pile, and the carbon to nitrogen ratio. How Long Does Compost Take to Mature? It can take from one month to a year to achieve a mature product, factoring in the above variables, plus the intended usage....

Weeping pussy willows can be very ornamental additions to your backyard in appropriate climates. You can even grow them in a pot in your garden or patio. If you are interested in growing potted Kilmarnock willows, read on for more information. Potted Weeping Pussy Willow In one sense of the word, every weeping willow has a weeping aspect since the tree’s leaves are long and pendulous. That’s what gives these beautiful trees their common name....

What is a Courtyard Garden? There really are no limits, as long as it is in a courtyard, for what makes up a courtyard garden. A courtyard is any outdoor space enclosed by the walls of a house or another building. A courtyard garden may be fully enclosed on four sides, with a gate or another doorway for entry, or it may be three-sided. For instance, you may have a semi-enclosed space as an entryway leading to the front door of your house....

What is Habiturf Grass? If you have looked into earth-friendly lawns, you may have come across the term habiturf and wondered what is habiturf? In 2007, the Ecosystem Design Group of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, TX. created and began testing what they named the Habiturf lawn. This alternative to the traditional non-native lawn was made from a mixture of grasses native to the south and midwestern United States....

Flowering Quince Pruning You’ll need to trim flowering quince back between autumn and before leaf break-in in springtime. This is the case with most other bushes that flower in spring. Most light pruning is generally undertaken just after flowering. Heavy structural pruning is done in winter while the plant is dormant. Failure to trim flowering quince can result in leggy, overgrown plants. Pruning a flowering quince encourages the tree to produce vigorous new growth....

Why are My Cyclamen Leaves Going Yellow? It could be normal. Cyclamens come from Mediterranean countries, where winters are mild and summers are extremely dry. Many Mediterranean plants bloom in winter and sleep through the summer so that they don’t have to struggle to survive the dry conditions. When leaves are turning yellow on cyclamen as summer approaches, it may simply mean that the plant is preparing for summer dormancy. It’s not easy to bring a cyclamen back into bloom after a long summer nap, but if you want to try to save your plant over the summer, let the leaves remain in place until they fall off on their own....

Do You Need to Deadhead Coneflowers? Though most of us would love to spend all day, every day, in our gardens, real life gets in the way. Instead, we select easy, low maintenance plants that look like we spent hours in the garden when, in fact, their care only requires a few minutes here or there. I often suggest coneflower, which tolerates poor soil, excessive heat, drought, full sun to part shade, and will bloom continuously whether you deadhead it or not....

Northeast gardening chores continue until the ground has frozen solid and even then, there are things like planning the next season’s garden that can be worked on. The following Northeast regional to-do list will help accomplish December garden tasks that will make the successive growing season even more successful. Northeast Gardening for the Holidays The Northeast gets inundated with cold temperatures and snow soon enough, but before the weather has you stuck inside, there are a number of December garden tasks to attend to....

Wandflower, or Dierama, is slightly frost tolerant and grows well in USDA plant hardiness zones 7 to 9. Growing Dierama wandflowers provides dramatic form and texture to sunny, well-drained areas of your garden. Dierama Plants Dierama plants spring from corms, which are underground storage organs much like tubers or bulbs. The angel’s rod fishing plant has delicate bell-shaped pink, purple, or white flowers dangling from the stems. The stems may grow 6 feet (2 m....