Composting and Recycling Chart from Vassar Sustainability Humans produce a ton of waste that ends up in landfills around the world. Landfills produce methane, a major greenhouse gas, and are a monument to human wastefulness. It is important to keep usable materials out of landfills. Recycling materials such as plastics, cans, glass and [...]
What is Crop Rotation Crop rotation is the practice of switching the family or type of crops grown in a plot each year. This cycling helps to maintain soil health and break up disease and pest cycles. As a result, proper crop rotation can reduce the need for fertilizer and pesticides. Benefits of Crop Rotation [...]
Benefits of Cover Crops As part of this week’s series on integrated pest management systems and reducing the need for chemicals in the garden, here is a look at the practice of growing cover crops for the benefit of the soil. Cover crops help to prepare the land for the growth of the main crop. [...]
Companion planting is one of the techniques used in integrated pest management plans to reduce the use of pesticides in the garden. Companion planting takes advantage of the simple fact that some plants grow better together than alone. Similarly, some plants are not compatible and inhibit each others growth. Companion planting is the practice of [...]
Sweet potatoes not only taste sweet and delicious, but they are nutritious as well. Sweet potatoes contain antioxidants, blood sugar regulating nutrients, and anti-inflammatory nutrients. On top of all of that, sweet potatoes are a great source of vitamins as well! Here are our tips on how to grow your own sweet potatoes. We recommend [...]
There are many reasons to think about reducing water use in the garden including conserving water, saving money, not having to worry about local watering bans during droughts or even if you want to put in a new bed that is inconveniently far away from the nearest water source. Here a couple of Hook’s tips to [...]
Patio tomatoes are a great way to get hassle free tomatoes. Patio tomatoes grow well and produce tomatoes in the pot they come in. No transplanting necessary! That being said, these tomatoes will do well if you do want to transplant them into a larger pot or into your garden for a head start on [...]
Here at Hook’s Greenhouse we have grown Blueberries and other perennial fruits for years at our garden center. Blueberries are great in the landscape or in straight rows in a blueberry patch. Blueberries are native to North America, hardy, easy to grow. These fruit bearing shrubs grow best in full sun and well-drained, organically rich, [...]
Starting a vegetable garden from scratch takes a lot of work but is fulfilling and worth all the effort put in in the end. Here is a quick and easy guide to the basics of planning, preparing and maintaining a vegetable garden. The first step in establishing a garden is picking out your plot. Be [...]
Trillium is a beautiful easy maintenance native perennial. Are you tired of tough gardening chores and plants that require constant attention? We are too! One way to decrease time working in the garden and increase time spent enjoying the garden is to pick plants that are adapted to the spaces available in your [...]
Different types of plants, just like different types of people, thrive in different conditions. Some plants, such as the Hibiscus, prefer wet soil while others, such as succulents, prefer dry. A few notable plants that have specific soil preferences are succulents, cacti, orchids, blueberries and hibiscuses. Succulents and cacti are native to arid climates and [...]
Every garden has at least one tricky spot where most plants do not perform well. These spots tend to be either too wet, too dry or too rocky. Luckily there are plants that not only can tolerate these unusual conditions but can thrive in them. Spaces in the garden that are constantly wet or tend [...]
Container gardening is different from planting in the ground. The space is limited which affects the amount of soil the plants roots can reach to absorb water and nutrients. Keeping this spatial limitation in mind there are a couple of important factors to take into account when container gardening including the size of the pot, [...]
When it comes to buying potting soil keep an eye out for labels that say fertilizer starter charge and slow release fertilizer included in the mix. These phrases sound similar but refer to an important often overlooked difference in potting soils. A soil labeled fertilizer starter charge contains a minimal amount of fertilizer mixed into [...]
It is time to delve into the dark dirty secrets of soils! This series of blogs are dedicated to demystifying the many varieties of soil and help you pick which one is best for your garden and budget. Here at Hook’s we know that choosing what type of soil to buy can be tricky considering [...]