Brett Horton

Your basil looked fresh and full when you brought it home. Now the leaves are small, the stems are thin, and the plant seems to struggle no matter how often you check it. The problem may be growing beside it. Some plants spread into basil’s root space. Others block the sun, trap moisture, or need … Read more

Your Venus flytrap looked sharp and healthy when you brought it home. A few weeks later, the traps began turning black. New leaves stayed small, and the plant seemed to stop growing. You may have watered it, moved it to a pretty pot, and even fed it a few flies. Yet nothing helped. The problem … Read more

You spend a weekend planting a beautiful flower bed. Then spring returns, and half the plants are gone. That gets expensive. It also leaves bare spaces that you must fill again and again. A better plan is to choose flowers that bloom year after year from roots, bulbs, or rhizomes that can remain in the … Read more

Your aloe vera looks dry, so you give it a little water. Then you water it again a few days later because the leaf tips still look brown. Soon, the soil smells damp. The leaves feel soft. The plant starts leaning even though you have been caring for it closely. The problem is often the … Read more

Summer heatwaves are brutal on our gardens. Hand watering with a heavy can is exhausting. Surface water evaporates too quickly in the hot sun. Municipal water restrictions make things worse. Using a hose is legally banned during droughts. Your tomatoes and peppers often suffer in the dry soil. But municipal rules do not mean your … Read more

When temperatures soar and your lawn starts turning a crispy golden brown, your first instinct is likely the exact thing that will kill it. Homeowners put hours of work into their spring lawns. Then they watch them die by July. You apply spring maintenance rules to extreme summer weather. This destroys root systems and wastes … Read more

A tomato plant with no flowers is not always hungry. Sometimes it is simply too young. Newly transplanted tomatoes often spend their first few weeks building roots and adjusting to outdoor conditions. Growth above the soil may slow while this happens. Temperature can also delay development. Penn State Extension says tomatoes prefer daytime temperatures near … Read more

Danny’s patio had enough space for a table and several chairs. Yet no one wanted to sit there. The concrete looked dull. The afternoon sun made the space too hot. At night, it was dark and exposed. A few random pots only made the patio look more unfinished. Danny did not need a larger patio. … Read more