If you have a flourishing Rhododendron you may need to consider pruning for a variety of reasons, be it maintenance, rejuvenation or shaping your plant. With a Rhododendron, pruning is very simple, no matter the reason for it, and you can create a shrub with abundant flowers, foliage, and dense branches, all of which contribute to a wonderful garden. The first thing we would point out is that Rhododendrons don’t require regular pruning and they…

Rhododendrons offer spectacular flowers but they are among a particular group of plants that require acidic soil in order to thrive. While most plants can tolerate a wide range of soil types, Rhododendrons cannot. They will not tolerate alkaline soil and if they are exposed to it their leaves will turn yellow, their growth will be stunted, and eventually, they will stop growing entirely and look very sickly. If Rhododendrons are grown in the correct…

When you plant your dahlias be aware of the fact that they require fertile well-drained soil so you can add things to your existing soil such as farm manure or homemade compost to improve the soil and grit to help improve drainage while allowing the dahlias to absorb as much water as possible. If you don’t have free-draining soil they will probably still grow but will need to be lifted to ensure they survive the…

Dahlias are popular for the bright flowers available in a range of colours. However, they do grow particularly high and can get very heavy, which causes gardeners to prefer the prospect of growing them in pots. While tall varieties might need a support structure here and there, Dahlias can absolutely survive effectively in large containers as long as they have the right growing conditions and you give them a little bit of care. In general,…

In this guide, we use large crates with many tubes planted with the tops slightly showing. You can use our process below with all dahlias tubers, so if you have dahlias already growing in single pots this process worths just as well. The idea is to take the cutting and get a little scaping of the mother tuber, as well as this, will greatly improve rooting. You can also take a cutting from stems from…

Dahlias are considered one of the most diverse species, offering flowers the size of dinner plates to tiny pom poms depending on what it is you want. Like most tubers, you can divide them to get additional Dahlias or remove tired mother Dahlias and grow younger ones with lots of potential. Dahlias are very easy to grow as long as they have well-drained soil and access to full sun. They do die off if they…

Dahlias are a beautiful summer flower but winter is not their favourite season. They need to be taken out of colder gardens where the frost may be hard and freeze deeper than the first few inches of soil and stored over winter. If you leave them in the garden and you have a period of cold, the freezing temperatures will actually kill them. The good news is that lifting them is pretty straightforward and nearly…

Geraniums are beautiful, simple to grow, and they produce a lovely scent to add a pleasing ambience to your garden or home. They are effectively grown outdoors and usually brought inside during the winter if you want to overwinter them. If trying to keep geraniums over winter isn’t for you then it’s worth noting that geraniums are very affordable and many gardeners just replace the plants every spring or take cuttings and overwinter these until…

If you have a successful geranium, chances are you want to replicate that success. Once you have an established plant, you can benefit from the use of cuttings to propagate additional plants, especially in comparison to trying to overwinter a geranium, plus you get more of these stunning plants for very little cost.  Geraniums, the longer they are kept alive, lose the floriferous quality for which they’re so popular. To that end, using cuttings to…