Home » Archives for Gaspard Lorthiois

Brown scale insects clustered along a weeping fig stem and leaf vein with sticky residue

Ficus benjamina pests: scale, spider mite and mealybug told apart

Foliage houseplants
Tabby cat sitting on a wooden floor looking up at a large potted weeping fig

Ficus benjamina and pets: what the sap does, and what it does not

Foliage houseplants
Secateurs cutting a weeping fig stem with a drop of white sap, prepared cuttings and a glass of water on a bench

Ficus benjamina propagation: cuttings, water or compost, and air layering

Foliage houseplants
Weeping fig in a terracotta pot by a window with fallen leaves scattered on the wooden floor

Ficus benjamina leaf drop: the seven causes and how to tell them apart

Foliage houseplants
Winter Plant Covers

Tips For Protecting Plants In Winter

Special reports
Harvesting Aloe Vera Gel

How to Harvest Aloe Vera Gel?

Cacti and succulents
Guttating plants

Why do some plants have dewdrops and not others?

Special reports
Guttation and dew

What is inside a dewdrop? Is it dangerous? Can you drink it?

Special reports
Ramial chipped wood

Ramial Chipped Wood, the best mulch straight from the forest

Special reports
Recipe for radish leaf soup

Radish leaf soup recipe, the perfect summer delight

Soup
Jerusalem sage

Jerusalem sage, learn to grow Phlomis fruticosa

Garden Flowers
Damping off

Preventing damping off: How to save your seedlings

Treating diseases and pests
Pruning trees, why and how

Tree pruning, a near-surgical operation to reduce or shape a tree

Trees and shrubs
New Zealand flax

New Zealand flax, a grass with stunning colors

Perennials
container carrot

Container carrot, short and stout varieties are the answer!

The Vegetable Patch
Benefits of kaki (persimmon)

Persimmon (kaki): how to choose it, ripen it and use it in the kitchen

Health
year round hedge

A striking hedge all year ’round with shrubs that shine in different seasons

Trees and shrubs
blue garden landscaping 1

How to landscape a blue-themed garden

Garden Flowers
Magnolia grandiflora

Grandiflora Magnolia: evergreen star of summer, amazing head-sized blooms

Trees
Cut rose flowers

Roses, wonderful cut flowers for bouquets

Roses
Benefits of curry

Curry plant (Helichrysum italicum): traditional uses in the kitchen and for the skin

Health
List of plants that are toxic for cats

10 cat-killing plants in house and garden

Special reports
Lunaria annua

Honesty, a beautiful plant that shines in fall

Annuals and biennials
How to landscape a mound or berm

Ugly mound in the garden? Wonderful ideas to landscape it!

Special reports
Should you use plastic sheeting for growing beds

Our take on plastic cheating –oops– sheeting, sorry

Special reports
Easy care flowerbeds

Flowerbeds that are easy to care for

Garden Flowers
Vegetable growing in high acidity soils

Best vegetables for growing in acidic soil

The Vegetable Patch
Rainwater collection systems

Rainwater systems: determine the size and design you need

Special reports
Caring for houseplants when away

Going away for a while? Tips for plant care when absent

Indoor plants
Dangers of ticks for dogs

Tick, a host of dangerous diseases for dogs

Animal care
Dog tick

Tick on dog? Act before the clock runs out!

Animal care
Urine, excellent garden fertilizer

Urine for fertilizer, go from pissing poor to liquid gold!

Special reports
What is a shield bug

Shield bugs and stink bugs, not so welcome in the garden!

Treating diseases and pests
Incarvillea

Incarvillea, a hardy flower for ornamental beds and pots

Perennials
Hoeing, why hoe and how

A run of the hoe saves two of the hose! Why and how to hoe

Special reports
Bioindicator plants soil pH

Test your soil pH with plants

Special reports
Weeds to keep because they're useful

5 weeds people hate but gardeners love

Gardening
Wormwood weedy tea

Wormwood weedy tea, ferment Artemisia against fungus and pests

Treating diseases and pests
Irrigation systems for garden

Garden water systems to make life easier… and plants happier!

Special reports
What to plant in often flooded gardens

Oft-flooded garden? Plant these water lovers!

Special reports
Plants to soothe pain during menstruation

Six plants traditionally used for period comfort

Health
Artemisia vulgaris, mugwort

Artemisia vulgaris, how to grow the mugwort herb

Herbs and spices
Astrantia, masterwort

Astrantia, how to care for masterwort

Perennials
Plants that love limestone soil

Plants that love that most dreaded of soils – limestone

Special reports
Grow vegetables in alkaline, limestone soil

Grow vegetables on a patch of limestone soil

The Vegetable Patch
Using sulfur in the garden

Sulfur, organic fungus control, but use with caution

Gardening
earthworm

Worms, welcome wonderful wrigglers!

Special reports
Horse manure

Horse manure, why gardeners love this sh*t over all others

Special reports
Use manure in the garden

Manure, give this sh*t a thought… it’s great for plants!

Special reports
Flea beetle

Flea beetle, tiny jumping beetles that gnaw holes in leaves

Treating diseases and pests
Ants, useful in the garden

Ants, life in the garden and life of the party!

Special reports