Spruce bark beetles are back with a vengeance. Here’s how to defend your trees.
Jeff Lowenfels: There is a spruce beetle outbreak in Southcentral. Since the beetles don't emerge for a few weeks, we might as well start thinking about the problem.
Gardening
It’s spring – so stay off that soggy lawn
Jeff Lowenfels: Walking on a wet lawn this time of year compacts the soil, which is a sure way to invite problems that will detract from your lawn's appearance.
Determinate vs. indeterminate tomato plants, and other nagging garden questions answered
Jeff Lowenfels: Can you replant those daffodils that have been blooming indoors? When should you pinch a plant? Here are the answers.
Alaska gardeners, it’s time to germinate something
Jeff Lowenfels: We now have enough daylight that you no longer need lights to germinate and grow seedlings. Right at the top of the list for this week as far as I am concerned are tomatoes.
Now is the perfect time to grow an indoor salad garden. Here’s how
Jeff Lowenfels: I know that my Alaska rule is no seed starting without supplemental lights until April 1, but this is an exception.
You can start poppies and raspberry bushes from seed. Here’s how
Jeff Lowenfels: It is really easy to grow your own raspberries, but there is an important trick.
Readers ask: Seedlings, compost and overgrown orchids
Jeff Lowenfels: The question of the week is: Can you use compost to start seeds?
Here are the plants you need to start now for them to be ready for summer
Jeff Lowenfels: This is the time of year that snoozing results in losing.
Local markets have the supplies you need to get ready for spring
Market Fresh: There has been plenty of wintry whiteness around Southcentral this week. But as the calendar turns to March, at least one local farmer is thinking summer colors.
How to de-ice your walkways without killing your yard
Jeff Lowenfels: For gardening purposes, it's important to know how much salt is too much when it comes melting ice with plants in the area.
Scale and spider mites are hitting houseplants hard. Here’s how to check yours.
Jeff Lowenfels: Complaints about scale and mites are frequent enough to warrant a check of your collection of houseplants.
Start preparing for the outdoor growing season now
Jeff Lowenfels: February is the start of the indoor part of the Alaska gardener's outdoor growing season.
Yacon, ulluco, skirret: Here are some exotic tubers worth trying in your Alaska garden
Jeff Lowenfels: If a tuber can be grown in the high altitude of the Andes, it should probably be tested here in Alaska.
What’s the easiest houseplant to grow?
Jeff Lowenfels: Even if you're terrible at gardening or aren't able to water plants on a regular basis, you can't go wrong with these.
First smartphones, then smart homes. Now, prepare yourself for the smart lawn.
Jeff Lowenfels: The impact of new-fangled tools is bound to be great once they permeate our horticulture culture.
From exotic strawberries to ‘cucamelons,’ day dreaming and ordering seeds goes hand in hand
Jeff Lowenfels: It's easy to find all kinds of interesting seeds online, though it may make you wish you lived where it is warmer and there is a longer growing season.
For seed catalogs, look to the internet – but proceed with caution
Jeff Lowenfels: Some of the "rules" or suggestions pertaining to seed catalogs remain the same. Just because you are using the Internet, doesn't mean you can go wild.
The politics of gardening, from your Alaska backyard to the White House
Jeff Lowenfels: Gardening is not about politics. However, I allow myself one exception, and that is the last column of the year.
Last-minute gift suggestions for the gardener on your list
Jeff Lowenfels: Suggestion one: Don't wait so long next year!
Indoor plants to make your house smell nice this winter
Jeff Lowenfels: Rule number one: If you find Jasminum polyanthums for sale, no matter the time of year, buy them all.