Yearly Archives: 2025

Sweet Peas, the “Queen of Annuals”

For many gardeners, it’s not the tulip or daffodil to forward to at the end of winter, it’s the sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus) that declares, “spring is here!” The colors and sweet fragrance of these climbers announce the coming of warmer days like no other.

Choosing Sweet Peas

The hardest part of growing sweet peas is choosing from the riot of colors. From the palest of pastels to the most vivid of hues (including stripes), reds, pinks, white, blues, purples, yellows… the list seems endless. Many gardeners buy mixed packages of seeds to avoid the decision and to add a riot of spring color to the garden and landscape.

Beyond color, it is important to carefully consider different types of sweet peas. If the seed package says “tendril” this means the plants have small green growths to attach to a surface or netting to help the vine grow upright. This is how the taller sweet pea vines support themselves as they grow to 6′ (or even taller!), and they will need an appropriate trellis, arbor, arch or other structure to reach their full beauty. The varieties with no tendrils remain more compact, making them great in containers. Some of these will trail downward, creating a beautiful draping effect. Other dwarf non-vining varieties act as annual fillers in the mixed garden bed or as borders.

Growing Sweet Peas

These beauties are super easy to grow. To improve the germination rate, especially of the darker colors, use nail clippers to gently nick the seed coat and soak overnight before planting. This will allow thin shoots to pierce through the thick seed covering more easily so they can grow effectively. Sow the seeds 2″ deep in rich, well-draining soil in a full to partial sun location. If the soil is heavy, add compost to improve the texture and nutrition. Keep the soil moist, but avoid saturated soil that can drown small seeds or delicate roots. Germination should occur within 10-28 days. Continue even and consistent watering. When seedlings are 4-5″ tall, thin them to create 5-6″ spacing between plants. To encourage bushy and compact plants, pinch the tips when three sets of leaves form. Generally, do not provide additional fertilizer, otherwise the plants may be lush but the flowers will be sparse.

Impatient gardeners or those who may have a shorter growing season may also be able to purchase seedlings from a garden center. This way there will be fragrant sweet pea bouquets a month earlier, and there’s no need to miss out on the sweetness if the ideal seed planting date has passed. Removing flowers when transplanting will encourage stronger root growth to produce larger flowers later if desired.

Seeds for perennial sweet peas are also available. Unlike annual sweet peas, the perennial plant will continue to bloom throughout warm, humid summers. Be aware, however, that annual sweet peas tend to have a gloriously heady scent, but this is a feature sorely lacking in the perennial form.

Enjoy the Beauty

Those long-lasting, colorful and fragrant flowers are so sweet in large loose arrangements. They’ll easily last a week if the water is changed daily and a bit of the stem is snipped off each time to improve water uptake. Remember, the best way to extend the sweet pea blooming season is by daily picking early in the day. Or, simply enjoy these beautiful blooms by walking through the garden each day and relaxing in their delicious scent and colorful blooms.

Fall Flowers – Really!

Gardeners who just can’t get enough of annual sweet peas don’t have to mourn their loss in spring. Instead, grow them again in the autumn! These fast-growing flowers will thrive just as well in the cool autumn as they did in the early days of spring. Just remember to provide enough time for flowering before the first frost hits, and you’ll love using sweet peas to say goodbye to the gardening season in fall just as you said hello to them in spring.

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sweetpea_4_250x250sweatpea_2_250x250Lathyrus in little vases

Pruning Evergreens

When choosing an evergreen for your landscape project, it is always best to select a plant that will not outgrow its designated space, crowding out nearby plants or distorting its own shape without enough room to shine. Proper research can help you choose – you should know the ultimate height, width and growth rate of your selection before committing to what may be one of the more costly additions to your landscape. Always choose naturally slow-growing or dwarf conifers for small spaces, bearing in mind how nearby plants and structures may limit available space over time. Fortunately, just about every genus of evergreen is available in a dwarf variety.

That being said, what if the mistake has already been made? We’ve all made it! It is easy to fall in love with a sweet little plant in the garden center that, within a few years in the ground, looks like it could swallow your house. Fear not, there are ways to rectify the situation with proper pruning.

You will need the right tools to accomplish the job:

  • Loppers
  • Bypass pruners
  • Safety goggles
  • Leather gloves

Pruning should begin in the early spring before the plant’s soft new growth hardens off. Take a close look at your evergreen to determine its branching habit. Pine, spruce and fir trees all have layers of branches that are whorled around the trunk. Arborvitae, juniper, yew and false cypress have limbs that are produced randomly along the trunk.

Conifers with a random branching habit are able to grow new limbs from old, foliage-bearing wood. You may prune this type of evergreen back to this older wood to encourage a more compactly branched habit and keep size down, or to create the desired shape. Whorled branching evergreens are pruned differently, however. They have new growth called “candles” at the tip of their branches, and they really do look like candles with lighter coloration. To promote a more densely branched, compact habit, pinch the candles back by up to half their length before the needles harden off. Never cut into the older wood below the candle, as this type of evergreen does not have dormant buds on the stem that will become new growth. Pruning into old wood will leave a hole in your plant and distort its overall appearance.

As always, we are eager to assist you with selecting the proper plant for any landscape project you undertake and to advise you on proper pruning to keep it healthy and beautiful for many years.

prune2Pine with Cones natural backgroundprune1

Keeping Cats Out of the Garden

Do you love cats but don’t love them in your garden? Outdoor cats will seek out a nice patch of soil to do their business or to roll around and play. Cats will mark their territories on sheds, fences or plants, and may even raise a new litter under a deck or in an open shed. Fortunately, there are a number of safe yet effective ways to keep our furry friends, or those of our neighbors, from messing up the garden.

Discouraging Cats

Whether the cats visiting your garden are prowling pets, lost strays or wild-bred feral cats, the same techniques can be used to make your garden and landscape less cat-friendly. Popular options include…

  • Commercial Repellents
    There are a many effective odor and taste repellents on the market. Seek out a product that is safe for humans and animals made from botanical oils. You will need to reapply this type of repellent after a heavy rain but usage will decrease once the cat is retrained to go elsewhere.
  • Citrus Smells
    Cats don’t like the sharp, tangy smell of citrus. Instead of composting them, throw the peels of oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruit on the ground where cats tend to visit.
  • Heavily Scented Plants
    Some plants are known to repel cats by their scent, particularly plants with strong odors that will irritate sensitive feline noses. Try planting Coleus canina, otherwise known as scaredy cat plant, along with pennyroyal, rue, lemon-thyme, geranium or lavender throughout the yard and garden.
  • Uncomfortable Ground
    Use stones instead of mulch as a ground cover to prevent cats from digging. Sharper, larger stones are best and will be uncomfortable for cats to walk across or lay on as well. You can also lay chicken wire on top of the mulch to make it less comfortable for cats and to prevent digging.
  • Opt for Thorns
    Plant low growing, thorny plants such as carpet roses, barberry or prickly pear at the base of your bird feeder to protect your feathered friends from predatory cats. Use thorny plants in borders or alongside fences to help keep cats away as well. Even plants with sharp, stiff foliage, such as holly, can be effective.
  • Sprinklers
    Install a motion-activated sprinkler. This method is used to frighten cats away, not to soak them. As the cat is retrained to go elsewhere its use eventually becomes unnecessary.
  • Sound Deterrents
    Install an ultrasound device containing a motion sensor which, when triggered, gives off a high-pitched sound that is imperceptible to humans but bothersome to cats. With their sensitive ears, cats may avoid any area where the sound is strongest.
  • Remove Food
    Be sure there are no food sources for outdoor cats in your yard. Do not feed your own pets outside, and keep trash cans tightly covered or inside a garage where cats cannot reach them. Keep compost piles behind a fence and under a mesh cover as well so cats cannot forage for scraps.

Using several techniques simultaneously will have the best effect at discouraging cats. These are clever, intelligent creatures that can easily overcome one obstacle, but when you have used several tactics at once, the cats will take the easier route of simply staying away.

What You Should Never Do

While there are many ways to keep cats out of your yard, you should never take steps that could deliberately injure or kill the animals. Avoid harmful traps, toxic poisons or setting your dogs on outdoor cats, as these methods can easily backfire and hurt local wildlife instead. With patience and perseverance, it is possible to keep cats out of your garden safely.

Tremendous Turf

The benefits of turf grass as a ground cover are numerous and often undeclared or overlooked. In recent years, turf has gotten a bad reputation due to the belief that a beautiful lawn requires a lot of hard work and overuse of dangerous chemicals. This is a misconception and the benefits of turf can far outweigh the concerns, particularly when you care for your turf properly and responsibly.

The following is a list of the many advantages that our lawns provide. This list was provided by and may be found, along with other helpful turf information, at www.TheLawnInstitute.org.

Environmental Benefits

  • Cools the Air
  • Produces Oxygen
  • Filters Air & Reduces Pollution
  • Captures & Suppresses Dust
  • Recharges & Filters Groundwater Supply
  • Reduces Storm Water Runoff
  • Controls Soil Erosion
  • Retains and Sequesters Carbon
  • Assists Decomposition of Pollutants
  • Restores Soil Quality

Community & Human Health Benefits

  • Enhances Community Pride & Social Harmony
  • Offers a Natural Playing Surface for Recreation
  • Provides a Safe Surface & Reduces Injuries
  • Promotes Outdoor Activity & Exercise
  • Improves Physical & Mental Health
  • Relieves Stress
  • Lowers Allergy-Related Problems
  • Dissipates Heat & Cools the Environment
  • Reduces Glare
  • Diminishes Noise Pollution
  • Minimizes Nuisance Pests
  • Compliments Overall Landscaping
  • Preserves Natural Wildlife Habitat

Economic Benefits

  • Increases Property Values
  • Reduces Home Cooling Costs
  • Provides a Low-Cost Ground Cover
  • Serves as a Fire Barrier
  • Improves Visibility & Deters Crime
  • Boosts Human Productivity

With so many benefits to healthy, luxurious turf, won’t you give your lawn another chance? We can help – from suggestions for revitalizing a weak lawn to proper mowing tips to fighting weeds and pests, plus all the tools, seed, fertilizers and amendments you need to improve your lawn – our experts can help you make the most of every square inch of your turf!