WHAT WERE GARDEN READERS interested in in 2015? As is often the case, it’s usually about solutions–like when to sow seed or pull your garlic, tips for growing a great tomato, or how to prevent spindly seedlings, or whether to worry if conifer needles turn brown. Have a look at 2015’s top-40 stories over all (including not just ones published in 2015 but also those from the archive, often found by searchers), and also a list of the top-10 new-in-2015 topics:

new-in-2015 top 10

1. do home weed and pest remedies work? with Jeff Gillman
2. poison ivy with Dr. Susan Pell
3. shop for plants with an expert’s eye, with Dr. Holly Scoggins
4. how to grow figs, with Lee Reich
5. 18 confidence-building tips for starting seeds
6. what’s wrong with my tomatoes? with Dr. Meg McGrath
7. a hydrangea primer, with Chanticleer’s Eric Hsu
8. how to plan bulbs creatively, with Chanticleer’s Jonathan Wright
9. the acorn connection, with Dr. Rick Ostfeld of Cary Institute
10. the tick-borne disease equation, with Dr. Rick Ostfeld of Cary Institute

top 10 in 2015, including archive posts

1. the tricky matter of when to harvest garlic
2. how to freeze parsley, chives and other herbs
3. what to plant now for a fall vegetable garden
4. when to start seed (with a calculator)
5. 10 thoughts on successful underplanting
6. growing and storing a year of parsley
7. growing potatoes organically: when and how to plant, hill and harvest
8. 6 lessons about hosta, with Tony Avent
9. when inner conifer needles turn yellow or brown
10. farm-fresh peaches, frozen to perfection
11. what’s in pickling spice? some recipes
12. why vegetable seedlings stretch and get spindly
13. what weed is it? putting names to pesky plants
14. new! slideshow of my 54 top shade plants
15. growing and storing a year of garlic
16. there’s more than one way to ripen a tomato
17. skins-on easy tomato sauce to freeze
18. garden prep: how to make a bed, with cardboard
19. do home remedies for weeds or pests really work? (with Jeff Gillman)
20. tips for growing better tomatoes from seed
21. poison ivy with Dr. Susan Pell
22. grow healthy tomatoes: staking, pruning and hygiene (with Tom Stearns)
23. overwintering rosemary, indoors and out
24. how to shop for plants with an expert’s eye, with Holly Scoggins
25. 10 tips for growing blueberries in the backyard
26. fear not! how to prune clematis, with Dan Long
27. how to grow figs, with Lee Reich
28. just saying no to deer, with fencing
29. hot plant: Stewartia, an ideal small tree
30. organic lawncare with Paul Tukey
31. how to start seeds: 18 confidence-building tips
32. the toughest groundcovers I rely upon
33. garlic harvesting and curing
34. soil-saving tricks for planting big pots
35. what’s wrong with my tomatoes? with Dr. Meg McGrath
36. herbed, roasted tomatoes to freeze, with Alana Chernila
37. my top conifers for year-round beauty
38. a Hydrangea primer, with Chanticleer’s Eric Hsu
39. when-to-start-what vegetable seed calculators
40. great shrub: bottlebrush buckeye

the top 2015 podcasts

THE TOP podcasts of 2015, from my weekly public-radio program, are recounted in this story (click!).