Frost formation is likely early today in eastern Essex and Union counties, Hudson County and portions of Nassau County, with advisories in effect until 9 a.m. EDT. Most neighborhoods inside the five boroughs should only see patchy frost, but suburban gardens and community plots are more exposed and easier to damage.
Crushed clean, dry eggshells, when scattered over the soil, are intended to stop adult gnats from laying eggs and potentially add natural fertilizer. However, they merely sit on the surface, collecting dust, while the gnats remain attracted to the damp compost.
Around a third of UK gardeners use pesticides, and our studies found that house sparrow numbers, for example, were nearly 40% lower in gardens where the pesticide metaldehyde was used. By reducing pesticide use, you can actively encourage birds back into your outdoor spaces, as they rely on invertebrates such as slugs and snails as natural prey.
I killed seven houseplants before I discovered the secret: I was literally loving them to death. Every morning, I'd check on them with my watering can in hand, convinced that more water meant more love. Turns out, some plants thrive when you basically ignore them. In fact, there's one particular plant that actually prefers when you forget it exists for weeks at a time.
As an adult, my relationship with snow has changed. I find great beauty in an expanse of unbroken snow, the way drifts reflect wind patterns, the stems and seedheads of last year's perennials still standing proud, and the dampened silence that accompanies a snowstorm. I delight in seeing the intrepid and ever cheerful black-capped chickadee out and about during and immediately after snowfall, determined not to let the flakes affect its outlook.
Enter the LeafyPod, a self-watering smart planter that utilizes AI to understand your leafy companions, and keep them well cared for. The system is simple: a connected app monitors hydration and nutrient levels, noting what's best for that specific type of plant. Recently named one of TIME's Best Inventions of 2025, the hydroponic system allows users to grow herbs, greens, or flowers all year long. LeafyPod is adaptive, responding to plant health and to changes in environment.
It was previously thought that tropical regions where temperatures fluctuate less over the course of the year would not be so affected by the climate crisis in terms of the timing of flowering. This hypothesis has been proved wrong, said the lead researcher Skylar Graves from the University of Colorado Boulder, who added that nowhere on Earth is unaffected by climate change.
Garden angelica, Angelica archangelica, belongs to the Apiaceae family, the same botanical group as carrots, celery, fennel, and parsley. Like its relatives, it produces a large, distinctively umbrella-shaped inflorescence, or flower cluster, called umbels. In its first year, the plant forms a lower mound of bright green leaves. In the second, a thick, hollow stem shoots upward and unfurls the broad green flower heads that resemble wild carrot or Queen Anne's Lace.
You are not alone: social media is full of claims that soaking banana skins in water makes a fertiliser that will give you bigger leaves and better blooms. The hack Put banana peels in a jar of water, leave them to sit, then pour the liquid on your plants. Bananas do contain potassium and small amounts of other nutrients. The snag is you have no idea how strong it is or what's missing.
To an unimaginable eye, a seed looks inert. Yet they are packed with genetic information and biological processes poised to unfold. All it takes is the right configuration of signals and stimuli from the environment to let them know it's time to dare to grow.
Late winter is when keen gardeners can get a little restless. The weather is still cold, and spring still feels far away. Thankfully, you don't need to wait until the weather warms to start your growing season. There are plenty of fruits and vegetables that can be started in the late winter, ready for a bountiful harvest in the coming months. Each of these plants needs unique care in order to thrive, but thankfully, I can guide you through exactly the right steps.
The term "soil fatigue" or exhaustion refers to the condition that soil profiles take on when they've been heavily monocropped and untended. This soil is devoid of the microbial content that offers plants bioavailable food. It lacks the fungal and bacterial organisms that interact with plant nutrients.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture published the Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which breaks the country into 13 zones that help determine the best time of year to get started on various fruits and vegetables, such as peppers. Each zone varies by 10 degrees, and each subzone varies by five degrees, even if a single state can technically be broken into several zones.
