(For Release On Or After 06/26/09) When I’m asked about what should be done in the garden this time of year, I generally reply, “As little as possible.” The period from late June to mid-September is the most stressful time of the year for gardeners and their plants.

(For Release On Or After 06/19/09) If you picked dewberries or blackberries from the wild as a child (or adult) and miss those wonderful shiny, black fruit bursting with sweet juice, you’ll be glad to know blackberries are easy-to-grow and productive in the home garden.

(For Release On Or After 06/12/09) Summer-flowering vines can be used to provide color, fragrance and interest to Louisiana landscapes. They also can provide screening and even shade if they are allowed to cover an overhead structure. Indeed, no other group of plants can provide the same effects as vines.

(For Release On Or After 06/05/09) June is the peak month for harvesting early summer vegetables. One reason people grow their own vegetables is the outstanding quality of freshly harvested produce. Harvesting at the right stage, however, is essential to getting the best quality vegetables from your garden.

(For Release On Or After 05/29/09) Winters have been relatively mild in Louisiana over the past few years, and I see lots of palms being planted around the state. They add a wonderful tropical look to the landscape.

(For Release On Or After 05/22/09) Grown and used in cuisines around the world, basil also is indispensable to Louisiana cooks. Besides having extraordinary taste, basil is really attractive and easy to grow.

(For Release On Or After 05/15/09) You may sometimes read or hear information about planting certain plants around other types of plants to prevent insect problems. This is commonly called companion planting. Generally, research does not substantiate the claims of companion planting.

(For Release On Or After 05/08/09) Most years I get a few questions asking why purple martins failed to take up residence in a birdhouse provided for them.

(For Release On Or After 05/01/09) Many gardeners suffer from pollen allergies and are prone to sneezing, runny noses, watering eyes and sinus pressure headaches while working outside when pollen counts are high.

(For Release On Or After 04/24/09) Vines are an amazing group of plants with enough diversity to boggle the mind of any gardener. What binds these wonderful plants together is their universal lack of strong stems.

(For Release On Or After 04/17/09) Mulching is an easy-to-do, labor-saving gardening technique that all gardeners should take advantage of. A mulch is a material, usually organic but sometimes inorganic, that we use to cover the soil surface around plants. Mulching beds is an important part of sustainable landscaping.

(For Release On Or After 04/10/09) Some the most popular vegetables planted in Louisiana home vegetable gardens belong to the cucumber family, or Cucurbitaceae.

(For Release On Or After 04/03/09) Among my favorite spring wildflowers are the amazingly beautiful native Louisiana irises. In gardens and landscapes, hybrids of our native species bloom in a rainbow of colors with large, showy flowers on tall stems.

(For Release On Or After 03/27/09) As we move into April, we can enjoy the peak blooming season of our cool-season annuals. But it’s not too early to begin to plan our summer gardens.

(For Release On Or After 03/20/09) Louisiana gardeners can begin to plant spring and early-summer vegetables this month. You can plant after the last freeze date in your area, but be prepared to cover or protect tender plants in case of an unusually late freeze.

(For Release On Or After 03/13/09) Visions of delicious home-grown vegetables can become a reality with a little planning and some work.

(For Release On Or After 03/06/09) Late January through early March is an appropriate time to prune most summer-flowering trees and shrubs. Especially in the case of trees, pruning generally should be done to enhance their natural shape while correcting any problems.

(For Release On Or After 02/27/09) Every year, Louisiana gardeners see amazingly beautiful beds of pansies, violas, dianthus, snapdragons and many others whose peak blooming season is late March through May.

(For Release On Or After 02/20/09) Swiss chard is a leafy vegetable that can be grown easily in Louisiana vegetable gardens during fall, winter and spring. It is reliable and very productive and should be more commonly planted.

(For Release On Or After 02/13/09) This is the time of year for garden catalogs to arrive in the mail. Mine generally start to arrive in December and continue through February. Most gardeners would likely tell you that mail order is their least preferred way to purchase plants, and I generally agree.

(For Release On Or After 02/06/09) February is a great time to plant hardy fruit trees, bushes or vines in your landscape. Local nurseries should have an excellent selection of these plants newly arrived for planting in late winter and early spring.

(For Release On Or After 01/30/09) Few shrubs or trees are best purchased and planted while they are in bloom. One notable shrub, however, is currently in glorious bloom. And right now is an excellent time to plant it into your landscape. I am, of course, referring to the camellia – Camellia japonica.

(For Release On Or After 01/23/09) The presence of birds is almost universally welcome among gardeners. Their contribution of movement, color, sounds and pest control are unique and desirable.

(For Release On Or After 01/16/09) The name “asparagus fern” is a strange jumble of terms. These plants are neither ferns nor edible vegetables. Asparagus ferns are versatile, reliable and easy to grow and are useful in a variety of gardening situations.

(For Release On Or After 01/09/09) Many gardeners consider snails and slugs to be the most disgusting pests in the garden. I could live with their looks if they just didn’t cause so much damage.

(For Release On Or After 01/02/09) All-America Selections is a nonprofit organization that tests newly developed cultivated varieties of seed-grown bedding plants and vegetables in garden plots all across the United States.

(For Release On Or After 12/12/08) Now is an excellent time to evaluate your landscape for any pruning that needs to be done, since many plants can be pruned now through February.

(For Release On Or After 12/26/08) I recently received a copy of a book called The Garden in Winter. Imagining what I would see inside, I opened the book and the pictures were just what I had expected. The pages were filled with snowy scenes.

(For Release On Or After 12/19/08) Among my favorite dishes for breakfast is a stack of hot, buttered pancakes drowning in maple syrup. Although we can’t grow the sugar maples that produce that delicious syrup here in Louisiana, a wonderful selection of maples can be used as shade trees and ornamentals in our landscapes

(For Release On Or After 12/5/08) Of the many kinds of plants we use to decorate our homes for the holidays, the holiday cactuses possess a special beauty. And yes, despite the fact that these plants don’t possess spines, they are true cactuses.

(For Release On Or After 11/28/08I wish more gardeners understood that fall is a primary planting season in Louisiana. For years horticulturists have tried to get the word out that November through February is the ideal time to plant hardy trees and shrubs in the landscape. Planting in late November and early December is especially good since trees and shrubs planted now benefit in several ways.)

(For Release On Or After 11/21/08) Fall is an outstanding time to plant many of the hardy culinary herbs, and one of the most popular is parsley.

(For Release On Or After 11/14/08) Now is the perfect time to plant cool-season bedding plants that will brighten our landscapes over the next five or six months. Gardeners often overlook the fact that some cool-season bedding plants are wonderfully fragrant.

(For Release On Or After 11/07/08) So you’ve finally decided to get that hobby greenhouse you always wanted. Even though winter weather in Louisiana is relatively mild, gardeners still may find that a greenhouse offers a variety of advantages.

(For Release On Or After 10/31/08) Few flowering bulbs can surpass the stately beauty of the amaryllis. Typically blooming in April, this popular bulb is a star performer in the spring garden.

(For Release On Or After 10/24/08) The seasons are changing, and we are entering a transitional period in the flower garden when warm-season bedding plants begin to fade and cool-season bedding plants are planted to provide fall, winter and spring color.

(For Release On Or After 10/17/08) As the days shorten and temperatures gradually become cooler, it is apparent summer is finally ending. Lawn care definitely begins to change during this time of year.

(For Release On Or After 10/10/08)In my previous column I discussed weed control in the landscape. I focused primarily on preventive and corrective methods of controlling weeds without using herbicides.

(For Release On Or After 10/03/08) There are lots of reasons why we shouldn’t let weeds grow in our landscapes.

(For Release On Or After 09/26/08) Birds can contribute wonderful things to the enjoyment of a landscape, such as movement, color, sounds and even pest control. The presence of birds is almost universally welcome among gardeners. Gardeners can even go so far as to design and plant landscapes that are particularly attractive to birds.

(For Release On Or After 09/19/08) When it comes to home landscaping, many gardeners remain confused about how to create what they want. The important thing to remember is that developing an attractive, properly functioning landscape is best done using a process.

(For Release On Or After 09/12/08) Roadsides and meadows come alive with colors of native wildflowers in September, October and November. Gardeners – who sometimes struggle to create beautiful displays of flowers in their landscapes – often marvel at the way nature seems to achieve such beauty without effort.

(For Release On Or After 09/05/08) September is one of our most active months for tropical storms and hurricanes. Trees are particularly vulnerable to the effects of high winds and sustain various types of damage as a result.

(For Release On Or After 08/29/08) Plants under heat stress are weakened, and we generally see an increase in disease and insect problems at the end of the summer. Keep your eye out for pests.

(For Release On Or After 08/22/08) You must be careful with several things you may do in your yard or garden to avoid damaging your plants. Here are a few things to be aware of.

(For Release On Or After 08/15/08) Growing plants outdoors in containers is popular for a variety of reasons. In-ground beds are not always available where you would like to grow plants.

(For Release On Or After 08/08/08) There is something particularly satisfying about putting quality, nutritious food on the table as a direct result of your gardening efforts. August is a transitional time in the vegetable garden.

(For Release On Or After 08/01/08) Months of hot, humid weather make summers in Louisiana a challenge to many of the plants in our gardens. As other plants languish in the heat, a wonderful group of plants called gingers thrive and delight us with bold foliage and attractive flowers.

(For Release On Or After 07/25/08) Wherever you go in America, gardeners will tell you about the terrible pest problems they have to deal with. Still, it seems like we have more than our share of insects, diseases and weeds in Louisiana.

(For Release On Or After 07/18/08) Many vegetables planted in spring are finishing or already have reached the end of their productive season. Once the harvest is finished, they should be removed from the garden.

(For Release On Or After 07/11/08) Deadheading is an important but often neglected gardening technique. It refers to pruning off old, faded flowers from a plant as it blooms.

(For Release On Or After 07/04/08) Few sights are more thrilling in the garden than rapidly moving hummingbirds darting among the flowers.

(For Release On Or After 12/28/2007) The basic techniques of gardening today are not that much different than those our great grandparents used. Still, technology and the age of communication are definitely changing the way we live, work and garden. Gardeners will, with greater ease and frequency than ever before, exchange ideas and be exposed to new concepts about how and why we garden. How will the new trends affect the plants we use and how we design with them and care for them?

(For Release On Or After 11/23/07) Many plants seem to save up all summer for the spectacular display of flowers, fruit and foliage showing up in our gardens now. If you want to punch up the color level in your garden from October through December, here are some trees, shrubs and perennials you might consider including in your landscape.

(For Release On Or After 11/16/07) Botany lessons are often helpful for gardeners to understand some of the underlying reasons why plants behave the way they do and why we do things a certain way. When growing a plant that is expected to produce fruit, knowing something about the reproductive workings of the plant is in the gardener’s best interest to prevent disappointment.

(For Release On Or After 11/09/07) Fresh, ripe strawberries are a favorite with just about everybody, and now is a great time to plant them into your garden. Strawberries are best planted from late October through November for production next spring. They are easy enough that growing a crop is a fun project for kids at home or in school.

(For Release On Or After 11/2/07) Gardening is a well-documented and beneficial form of exercise. It contributes to a healthy lifestyle.

(For Release On Or After 10/05/07) Fall is a prime planting season in Louisiana. Cool-season flowering bedding plants and cool-season vegetables are planted from now through February, and November through February is the best time to plant hardy shrubs, ground covers and perennials in the landscape. How well you prepare the soil before planting has an enormous effect on the health and growth of your plants.

(For Release On Or After 10/26/07) October is a transitional month in Louisiana flower gardens. Many warm-season annuals have finished or are finishing, and gardeners’ thoughts begin to turn to cool-season bedding plants for fall, winter and spring color.

(For Release On Or After 10/19/07) We’ve become accustomed to running out and buying flats or pots of blooming bedding plants to create “instant flower gardens.” This last-minute approach, however, will simply not work when using spring-flowering bulbs in the landscape. If you want beautiful beds of daffodils, tulips or Dutch irises next spring, you should think about planting them now.

(For Release On Or After 10/12/07) Cooler mornings in October make it a joy to get out and work in the home vegetable garden. A number of delicious and nutritious vegetables will thrive in the coming cool season. Indeed, some of our favorite vegetables can only be grown in Louisiana October through April.