Thin your garden. It may be painful now, but you’ll be rewarded.
Gardening: Thinning results in harvests that are mega-better and, in some instances, like beets, is the only way to get a useable crop. Do not put this easy chore off.
Gardening
Have you planted enough seeds in your garden? Here’s how to tell.
Gardening: If you are really worried and have the space, you can try to plant more seeds. Still, it is best to just relax for another week.
Alaska’s growing season is getting longer. Why not try for a second crop this year?
Gardening: Some cole crops are great candidates for a second crop. So are head lettuces and arugula.
You have only a brief window to get your Alaska garden planted. That time is now.
Gardening: If you have a choice, plant on a cloudy day. Don’t put fertilizer in planting holes.
You can try to delay the inevitable when it comes to spruce bark beetles; just don’t do damage in the process
Gardening: Water, proper pruning for air circulation, and other steps are key to trying to prevent the beetles from hitting your trees. However, this is nature at work. Why we think we can prevent her from winning is a mystery.
No gardener has the right to use a poison that could harm their neighbors or the environment
Gardening: When you’re choosing plants for your garden, consider the pest control measures they require.
Take these steps now in your yard so you’re ready for planting time
Gardening: Containers in the sun can support plants now, provided you can protect them if a night gets close to freezing.
Spring is finally here, but try to stay off your lawn for a while
Gardening: Here’s what to do with outdoor containers, the mulch on your garden beds and other tasks for early spring.
Will the recent Alaska cold snap affect spring planting? Here are some possibilities.
Gardening: Soil temperatures rule once things get above freezing - which they will from here on.
You might not like to eat kale, but it will look great in your yard
Gardening: It’s a great week to start kale indoors. While you’re at it, plant a few tomatoes and some broccoli.
Alaska gardeners might feel the urge to prune right now. Resist it.
Gardening: Wait for leaves so the plant can make carbs to help heal the wounds. Here are other garden chores to do instead.
Popular Alaska garden crops like kale, cauliflower and broccoli should be started from seed now
Gardening: All these go-to plants are easy to germinate, and we now have enough daylight hours to skip supplemental lighting.
Invasive species can lurk everywhere from seed packets to aquarium tanks
Gardening: Alaska gardeners know what happens when the wrong plant gets loose in the yard.
Sunflowers come in all sorts of colors. Don’t limit your plantings to yellow.
Gardening: Sunflowers come in red, white, yellow and orange, in almost any size, and they’re truly easy to grow.
Growing your own celery could put you off store-bought celery forever. But you need to start seeds now.
Gardening: You’ll be amazed at how much better homegrown tastes. It’s also time for Alaska gardeners to start gladioli, pansies and lobelia.
Don’t wait for spring: Early-bird gardeners get the fattest begonia tubers
Gardening: It’s time for roses, fuchsia, pelargoniums, rhodochitons and even begonias to get water and take in some sunlight.
Don’t try to sterilize your soil in a microwave. In fact, don’t sterilize your soil at all.
Gardening: Rest assured, you want those microbes. And, by the way, don’t sterilize your seeds with hydrogen peroxide or anything else.
You can wait for spring to garden for fresh greens, or you can grow delicious, leafy lettuces now
Gardening: While you’re at it, why not try Tom Thumb cherry tomatoes, some of those small carrots or radishes? You can grow a restaurant-worthy salad in the middle of the winter.
It’s too early to start seedlings indoors. Here’s what to do instead.
Gardening in Alaska: Starting seeds and growing seedlings when the proper time arrives is not difficult.
Some garden books to inspire and inform Alaskans while we’re between seasons
Gardening: From growing plants under artificial lights to the world of botanical fragrances, there’s a topic for every gardening interest.