The Dance of the Veggies P2: Crop Rotation

Many gardeners have heard that crop rotation is a good idea, but there’s a lot of confusion out there over how to make it happen. Especially when you’re working with a city-sized space or a container garden, a lot of advice you’ll find out there can sound impossible to follow. But, once you understand the…

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Pest Damage ID Part 3: Who’s destroying my garden?

Creepy crawlies may come to mind first when we think about garden pests, but birds and mammals can sometimes cause us even more trouble. Damage from smaller critters might look like holes or discoloration. But when it comes to uprooted plants, heavily nibbled veggies or flowers, seeds snapped right up out of the ground, or…

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Pest Damage ID Part 2: Who’s Discoloring My Leaves?

Pest damage isn’t always as obvious as holes in your leaves. In our last pest damage ID post, we covered the most common insect pests that chew or rasp away at plant leaves. This time, we’re taking a look at some more subtle culprits: those that suck the juices right out of your plants like…

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The Garden Walk: Daily Checklist for a Healthy Garden

Hi there, dear Sky Nursery readers. Toby Madrone here. I usually stick to a more informative tone, but I decided to change it up a bit today, and share from my personal gardening experience. I hope you enjoy this post in all of its honest plant-nerd glory. I take a walk through my garden every…

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Pest Damage ID Part 1: Who’s chewing holes in my leaves?

If you garden long enough, sooner or later some pest is going to break your heart. Maybe your freshly emerged seedlings will be mowed down to the ground, your favorite flowers will emerge twisted and discolored, or you’ll find an entire shrub defoliated in a matter of days. There are many wonderful and rewarding things…

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Companion Planting

We get a lot of questions about companion planting at Sky. Many gardeners hope for a straightforward list of compatible plants to make it easy to intercrop their garden beds. But ultimately, charts and lists might be a little too simplistic for the beautifully complex world of plants. Instead, we like to think about companion…

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Natural Slug & Snail Management

Ah, springtime in the garden. Bulbs are blooming, bumblebees are buzzing, and mollusks are slowly stirring beneath the mulch.  Wait…. what? Slugs and snails — land-based cousins of marine mollusks like clams — are very much part of our garden ecosystems. Like most of the small animals that call our gardens home, they spend the…

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Squirrels: Garden Friend or Foe?

Squirrels: adorable backyard wildlife, or pesky garden pest? It’s a hot debate in some gardening circles, and consensus may not come anytime soon. In polls, squirrels top lists of everyone’s favorite urban wildlife… and they also top lists of the most annoying pests.  But whether you view squirrels as fluffy friends, problem pests, or admirable…

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