Two Minutes in the Garden: Gardening Tips, Science, Myths

It's not just some pretty decoration for your garden! Mulch delivers benefits to your plants, your soil ... and will even save you some work. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: Do You Know Hummingbirds? Take the Quiz and Find Out!

One of the biggest threats our new seedlings face is damping-off. What can we do to improve our odds of avoiding it? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: Best Living Plants for Miniature Gardens (Resource Guide)

What is it about the no-dig approach that is so appealing? What are some of the objections? And what does the research say? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: How to Grow String of Pearls (Semecio rowleyannus)

No-dig methods lower the apprehension of many new gardeners and have attracted lots of adherents over the years. Others question if a garden can really go without a good digging. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: How to Grow Sunflowers and What to Avoid

You can help strengthen your seedlings by giving them a quick, gentle brushing -- maybe with your hand or something lighter. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: 12 Smart Tips for Starting a Budget-Friendly Organic Garden

It's a plant hack that has taken off on social media. Is shaking your plants just silliness, or is there actually something to it? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: Germination Trick for Stubborn Delphinium Seeds

In much of the U.S. and Canada, we will soon be welcoming hummingbirds back to our gardens. When will they arrive and how can we prepare? READ MORE AT Empress of Dirt: 2021 Hummingbird Migration Map (Find Out When to Expect Them)

Salts are the source of essential nutrients for your plants, but they can also interfere with plant growth and even kill plants. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: 20 Perennials with Long-Lasting Blooms

It's often recommended but seldom done. Do we really need to get our soil tested? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: 4 Essential Tips for Indoor Seed Starting Success

Free plants that you weren't expecting to find in your garden can be a nice surprise -- but may not always be what you want. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: Is Wood Ash a Good Soil Amendment?

Seeds all have different labels on the packets -- open-pollinated, hybrid, heirloom, organic -- so what do those labels mean? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: 12 Tips for Growing Giant Sunflowers

When we propagate plants from seeds we usually get a genetic combination of two parent plants. But some plants can actually produce clones of themselves through seeds. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: 60 Herbal Plants to Grow for Homemade Tea

Many of us are getting to the time of year when we can start seeds indoors -- but we may need to hold off just a little bit longer. Why is that? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: Using Biochar as a Soil Amendment (Pros and Cons)

Many people generate a lot of ashes over the winter from fireplaces and wood stoves. There's some good stuff in there for plants, so can we use wood ash in the garden? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: 10 Flower Growing Secrets & Common Mistakes

Some gardeners come to love scientific names and take pride in learning them ... for others they can seem a bit pompous. But there are good reasons that our plants need scientific names. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: Perennial Flower Bloom Times From Spring to Fall

Juniper berries, ginkgo fruit and others may look like fruit, but botanists say otherwise. So, if they aren't fruit, what are those fruit-like structures produced by non-flowering seed plants? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: How to Grow a Peach (or Plum) Tree From the Pit

We're heading into peak seed-starting season in this part of the world. If you haven't started seeds indoors before, this is a great year to start -- and now is the time to get ready. MORE FROM Empress of Dirt: Seed Starting for Beginners: Sow Inside Grow Outside

Manure from different animals is a popular addition to garden soil but you'll also hear a lot of warnings about its use. And what about using waste from your pets?

Have you heard the one about how you can tell a female bell pepper from a male? Well, that one's just a myth -- fruit isn't male or female. But plants can be. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: How to Grow An Apple Tree From Seed

It's very different from what we do with plants growing outdoors in the soil. With houseplants, it's all on us to make sure that the essential nutrients are available. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: How to Grow Asparagus (and Plant Crowns)

Stratification is a technique used to give dormant seeds the experience of changing seasons even when they've only gone from a drawer into our fridge. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: Winter Sowing: Starting Seeds Outdoors in Milk Jugs

There are things we can do with dormant seeds to prod them along and get them to germinate. One of the most important for gardeners is scarification. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: What to Prune in Winter

Seed dormancy can be frustrating for gardeners -- having seeds that won't germinate -- but it's an important part of the survival of many plant species. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: Science-based Companion Planting Tips for Growing Vegetables

Most places now have recycling programs for Christmas trees -- or you can try one of the 25 creative projects from our list to put your tree to good use. MORE FROM Empress of Dirt: 25 Creative Ways to Reuse Christmas Trees

It's no fun to shovel, and it can look lovely ... but is that blanket of snow good or bad for your plants? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: Easy Winter Composting in a Cold Climate