Urban Gardening

Lightweight polymer planting containers are excellent indoors or outside, for food crops or ornamentals.

Eight Great Gifts for Urban Gardeners

Picking gifts for friends can be tricky, but fortunately gardeners are easy. We always need new plants, products, and materials. Below are ... more »


GreenCare volunteers help out with a mulching project. (Photo courtesy of GreenCare.)

GreenCare for Troops

The upcoming holidays are about giving, sacrifice, and community involvement regardless of your religious affiliation. Some organizations represent those tenets year round ... more »




Gigantic butter bean plants tower over Walton's grandkids.

Carl Walton: An Original Urban Gardener

Urban gardening and sustainable gardening are "hot" right now. But some people have been practicing both for decades. On the west side of Chicago lives one such pioneer ... more »



Q & A

Question: My container zinnias were colorful and longlasting, but marred by what I think was powdery mildew. What is the best treatment for this? more »

  

Receive NGA Newsletters

Donate to NGA

William Moss
E-mail Moss your questions.

Christmas tree boughs make an attractive post-holiday garden mulch.

Gardening Tips

  1. Avoid landfills by recycling or repurposing your Christmas tree after the holidays. Its fragrant needles are excellent in potpourris and the branches serve as ornamental cover and winter protection for your garden. Many communities have collection and recycling programs. Fish biologists also take old Christmas trees and sink them in ponds to create fish habitats.

  2. Begin to monitor houseplants for pests and diseases. Take care of problems early and be careful not to overwater.

  3. December has the shortest days of the year for those of us in the northern hemisphere. To enjoy this month's natural beauty, rise early and take pre-work walks in the bright sun instead of cold evening walks under the Yule moon.