Season-Extending Techniques
Few gardeners are content with the length of their growing season. In the far North, there's barely enough time to ripen tomatoes or melons. In the South, drought and intense heat limit gardening activity to the spring and fall months.
The good news is that by using a few simple season-extending techniques and plant-protection devices, you can shield your plants from extremes of weather, and stretch your gardening season by two, three or even six months.
Container Gardening
Growing in containers saves space, but it's also a smart alternative if you're restricted by shade, poor soil, time, mobility, or climate. Container gardens can be more productive than a regular garden, while allowing you to avoid most pest and disease problems. Best of all, they bring your garden up close, creating a sense of intimacy that you may not otherwise get.
Edging Buyer's Guide
Most landscapes include a variety of areas with different purposes. There may be a lawn, a border garden, trees of different species and sizes, and a patio. Each may have a different surface — grass, bark mulch, pine straw, and crushed stone, for example. Edging helps create a tidy landscape by creating distinct borders around each area and surface material.