Garden Gate

My father-in-law built this bench and surprised me with it at Christmas when I first started gardening. I could immediately picture it nestled into a beautiful woodland garden under our big silver maple tree. So that spring, I ordered a few little perennials, gratefully accepted some hosta divisions, invested in a yew and a hydrangea at our local garden center, tucked in a couple of six-packs of impatiens for color and got a load of mulch from a local tree company. This garden definitely wasn’t the lush show I dreamed of, but it was a start. When my husband and I finally settled onto the bench to enjoy our accomplishment, we realized that we’d sited it with a perfect view of the nearby apartment building’s dumpster. Big miss. But I did…

Bring on the Butterflies! Match your favorite butterflies with their favorite plants on our list. GardenGateMagazine.com/articles/flowers-plants/ Upcycled Container Ideas Thrift some unique pots this year! GardenGateMagazine.com/articles/containers/ Are you ready for spring? GardenGateMagazine.com/articles/how-to How to Harden Off Plants Make sure that young plants get off to the best start as you move them into the garden. DIY Cold Frames Why wait? Start gardening earlier with a cold frame this year. How to Plant Bare-Root Perennials You’ve saved some money and bought bare-root perennials! Find out what to do next. Find expanded articles, giveaways, videos and more at GGMagExtra.com FOLLOW OUR SPRING GARDENING BOARD ON PINTEREST Pinterest.com/gardengatemag/…

Cart around your cucumbers Joan Western, MA Because her container-grown cucumber was heavy and hard to move around her balcony, Joan decided to put it on wheels: She grabbed an unused collapsible shopping cart trolley and plopped the cucumber container within. It now lives on her balcony and is easy to care for and move to chase the sun or make room for visitors. DIY work station Mary Martin, ID If you can find a used kitchen sink at the thrift store—or even have an old one of your own—you can craft an outdoor work table with Mary’s guidance. To begin, build a three-walled base by stacking cinder blocks in a U-shape. See in the illustration below that the lip of the sink rests on the cinder block base. Mary added a gravel drainage basin below…

Botanical Names Red osier dogwoodCornus sericea As winter comes to an end and spring starts to gift us with the warmth of the sun, garden centers and nurseries begin to put out the first flowers of the year. This early enthusiasm inevitably results in a cart filled with plants that you can’t resist, even if you don’t really have room for them. No matter, containers are always an option! PLACE YOUR CONTAINERS Plant up a few spring containers and a bare patio or terrace is suddenly filled with color. Your balcony becomes a bright spot in the apartment complex and neighbors are asking where those plants came from. Grouping containers together provides an even bigger show that draws attention to the entry, or you can use bright blooms to dress up a tabletop…

When you fall in love with a plant at the garden center, you might not realize the challenges it may face at home. How many times have you had to fight back stems from a too-large plant that’s eating your sidewalk, pull unwanted seedlings, watch deer eat stems to the ground or water, water, water a gasping plant? At some point, enough is enough and the plant has to go. That’s not to say that it isn’t a perfectly good plant—it’s just that there might be better alternatives in certain situations. So you can move the offender to a new place in the garden better suited to its characteristics, give it to a friend or even just toss it on the compost pile, but that still leaves a hole to…

Placing nesting boxes around your garden is a great way to encourage feathery friends to start a family there. With more birds in the yard, you’ll enjoy the benefits of these little garden helpers as they eat unwanted insects, munch on pesky weed seeds and help pollinate your flowers. Plus, watching them build their nests and raise chicks is great entertainment! I spoke with Robyn Bailey, NestWatch Project Leader at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in New York, about how you can make your birdhouses safe and welcoming nesting boxes for the birds you want to host. She reminded me that different species of birds prefer different house styles and locations and shared a few things to keep in mind as you decide what works best! WHICH BIRDS WILL VISIT? Common North American…