FOR MOST OF MY CAREER, I was an editor more than a writer, and good thing. Editing is the gardener’s assignment, especially in August—and particularly..

THERE IS PAYOFF—new potatoes, a tomato finally, and then garlic harvest as the month winds down. There are also problems to be managed (hello, Japanese..

REMEMBER, amid the frenzy: There is nothing wrong that some good-quality mulch won’t improve visually (while helping build soil beneath as a bonus). I’m spreading..

WE ARE NOT POWERLESS over April–even though in most areas, it’s a contender for the busiest month of the garden year. My best advice for..

MY BEST MARCH GARDEN ADVICE: Make like a daffodil. Poke your head up and have a look around—but be prepared to abort the mission, perhaps..

THE HOUSEPLANTS ARE NOTICING, and so am I: the days are longer, making us both want to get up and grow. Rather than torture tomato..

THE ANSWER IS NO: No, you probably shouldn’t start all your vegetable seed now, unless it’s for a cool-season crop and you live in a..

ONE LAST-MINUTE FIRE DRILL of outdoor chores, before it’s time to settle down with the seed catalogs: That’s December in my Northeast garden life, the..

SO MANY LEAVES, so little time. That’s November’s urgent-feeling message—to somehow tuck in before the snows arrive. Composting expertise, the top skill any gardener can..

WHERE TO BEGIN with the massive job called fall cleanup? Top on our chores list this month: a 7-point program to help us all focus—along..

SEPTEMBER IS OPPORTUNITY MONTH: the opportunity (especially up north) to divide or add perennials; to plant shrubs and trees; to repair or renovate lawns; to..

THE JAPANESE BEETLES are subsiding, or at least focusing their energies to activities other than chewing leaves, but the rabbits? No such luck. I’m tempted..

THE JULY DRILL, IN SHORTHAND: Raise the mower deck; man the sprinklers; get out the vegetable seeds—and pull out the weeds. Got it? Diligence on..

I’M FIGHTING THE URGE to go inside, draw the blinds, and take refuge in streaming videos (perhaps with an entire rhubarb crumble by my side)...

RECALCITRANT is the politest word I’m using to describe spring so far, and looking at the national weather map, I’m probably not alone in muttering..