Parsnip Canker

We typically think of spring as prime planting season, but when it comes to deciduous fruit trees, it pays to get an earlier start. Starting in mid-winter, mail order nurseries start shipping “bare root” fruit trees—because they are fully dormant, the trees do not require soil or a pot—which may be planted as soon the ground thaws in your region. Advantages abound: Less Stress Planting is a fundamentally stressful experience for plants, because their roots get disturbed in

I recently received my first ever boysenberry plant in the mail, and it came in the form of a tissue culture. It looked like an ordinary seedling you might buy from a nursery. But the owner of the store told me that it had been propagated in a lab. When you purchase boysenberry plants to set out in your garden, you will usually have an option of a dormant bare root, or a small plant propagated in the nursery by one of four methods: a rooted cutting, tip layering, root division, or mic

Are your homegrown carrots forked, branching, twisted, or knobby? While they may make for amusing photos, these deformed vegetables can make food preparation a challenge – try turning a twisted carrot into carrot sticks! These odd-shaped vegetables can also be a sign of serious garden problems. But what causes these deformed veggies? There are many different factors that can cause twisted, forked, and asymmetrical roots – ranging from how you prepare your soil to nasty gar

Trees root faster if they can “wiggle” a little in the wind. So don’t stake a new tree unless it’s in a windy spot or has a broad canopy that could whip in the wind too much. Drive a couple of sturdy wood or metal stakes into the ground outside the root ball to keep from damaging it. Attach the tree with soft, stretchy ties in a figure-8 around the trunk. Tie just below the first set of branches—that’ll keep the tree stable, but still allow it to move slightly. Leave stakes in place fo