March/April 2024

Garden Gate

The Illustrated Guide to Home Gardening and Design

Garden Gate1 min read
Garden Gate
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Kristin Beane Sullivan EXECUTIVE ART DIRECTOR Eric Flynn SENIOR EDITORSherri RibbeyTEST GARDEN MANAGER/ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jennifer HowellASSOCIATE EDITORMarisa Reyes DIGITAL MEDIA MANAGERKatie Meyer ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTORCarrie
Garden Gate1 min read
From The Editor
As much as I look forward to getting back into my garden every spring, sometimes the to-do list (even if self imposed) can be overwhelming. I used to plant, divide, prune, weed and edge from sunup to sundown. These days I just don’t have that kind of
Garden Gate1 min read
Garden Gate Online
GardenGateMagazine.com Proven plant combos and tips will help your hanging baskets look better than ever. Plant these gorgeous cold-tolerant plants first thing every spring. Match the mulch to the situation to get the results you want. Use this han
Garden Gate3 min read
Reader Tips
Sheryl Fullner, WA Arthritis makes gardening in low beds or at ground level difficult for Sheryl. When she saw some used industrial liquid containers, called IBC (intermediate bulk container) tanks, for sale on Craigslist, she got an idea. With the
Garden Gate3 min read
Welcome Spring With Cool-Weather Containers
Winter is fading away and spring annual and perennial flowers are starting to pop up in garden centers in full bloom. Even if the ground is still frozen in your beds and borders, you can start planting containers to scratch that gardening itch you’ve
Garden Gate1 min read
3 Deck Furniture Solutions
Create a destination getaway outside the traffic flow created by several exits. Create one large lounging area with a wide path through the middle when exits split up the space. Choose double-duty seating and a table that’s easy to move around when y
Garden Gate8 min read
These 8 Shrubs Create a Show in Every Season
Flowers are usually the first thing someone notices about a plant. After all, you can’t miss the bold orange blooms of a daylily or a giant sunflower, but once those flowers fade, there’s not a whole lot to attract attention. So if your borders are l
Garden Gate7 min read
Speedwell
It’s easy to give ho-hum plantings an exciting new look when you add speedwell to the mix. Long spikes of purple, lavender, blue, pink or white last for several weeks starting in late spring or early summer. SPEEDWELL LOVE Bees and butterflies are fr
Garden Gate3 min read
Which Cottage Garden Spike Is Right For You?
When you dream of the perfect flower border, are bright blue delphinium spikes at the top of your list? You’re not alone. But good looks aren’t the only thing these 3- to 6-foot-tall perennials have to offer. The blue, purple, pink, red or white late
Garden Gate3 min read
Plants On The Move
Whether you’re moving a plant across the yard, across town or across the country, relocating trees, shrubs and perennials can be stressful for them. When the plant is a treasured heirloom peony or an expensive hellebore, you want to do your best to s
Garden Gate4 min read
Rhubarb
Wouldn’t you love a plant in your vegetable garden that you didn’t have to start every year? Get a rhubarb patch going, and you’ll have plenty of this tasty fruit every spring and summer for pies, jams, sauces and syrups. As a bonus, the plants are b
Garden Gate6 min read
LOVE Affair with TEXTURE, STONE & WATER
Downsizing for Ruby and Frank Andrews meant moving from a 30-acre ranch with a 3-acre garden to their 1-acre property in Granite Bay, California, a suburb of Sacramento. There wasn’t much there when they moved in 13 years ago, but that was just fine
Garden Gate6 min read
7 Plants I Always Start From Seed
Seeds can be started many ways: outdoors directly in the ground, indoors under lights or in a greenhouse, and even in the refrigerator in a paper towel. I use all of these methods. The needs of the plant and how it germinates best determine the way I
Garden Gate4 min read
Sparkling Spring Shade Garden
Like a tonic you sip to send away your winter blues, here’s a garden with all the elements to reinvigorate a gardener for the season ahead: a concoction of shapes and textures, sharp and soft colors and peculiar plants that attract your attention. Wi
Garden Gate3 min read
Q & A
Q I overwintered a Spanish lavender topiary. It’s showing new growth, but looks ragged. How do I prune it? Melissa Russell, NJ A As growth starts, remove dead sections of your Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas) plant first. Then snip off any gr
Garden Gate3 min read
Garden Essentials
There’s no need to fill a large container completely full of heavy potting mix if you are planting shallow-rooted annuals — they only need about 6 to 8 inches for root growth. Place this sturdy insert inside a pot with sloped sides to create a false
Garden Gate1 min read
Weed Watch
What it looks like This native woodland perennial has flowers that are popular with many species of bees. While not invasive, it can be aggressive, spreading by seeds and rhizomes to form dense colonies in shrub and perennial beds. In early spring, t
Garden Gate2 min read
Jump Start Your Spring
Can’t wait to start gardening this spring? Grab a few Senetti Magenta Bicolor cineraria plants at the garden center and get growing. This cool-weather-loving tender perennial’s bright 3-inch blooms last for weeks in spring without a lot of fuss. CREA
Garden Gate7 min read
What’s Your Gardening Style?
Maybe you’ve never quite put your finger on why you choose the plants and designs that you do. This quiz will help you define your preferences, quirks and motivations. Take it to see how your approach aligns with these four global garden styles. That
Garden Gate1 min read
Praying
It doesn’t have to bethe blue iris, it could beweeds in a vacant lot, or a fewsmall stones; justpay attention, then patch a few words together and don’t tryto make them elaborate, this isn’ta contest but the doorway into thanks, and a silence in whic
Garden Gate2 min read
The Ole Rhubarb Switcheroo!
One of my earliest memories is following my Grandma Jo to the yard at five or six years old to cut fresh rhubarb stalks for a snack. My cousins and I were each given a small Tupperware®cup (all shades of orange, brown, and green, courtesy of the 1980

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