Mediterranean-type shrubs such as cistus, lavender and phlomis are best confined to banks and raised beds in clay gardens.

Clay soil is found in many American gardens, but it isn't a hospitable home for all plants. If you're preparing your garden for summer, or want to grow flowers or vegetables, you might struggle. There ...

What is 'no-till' gardening? Is it better for my garden than traditional digging and tilling every year or not? What are the advantages of this method and how can I start using it? This method of ...

It can be hard to resist on a sunny spring day, but don’t start digging in the garden too soon. “You can prevent a lot of problems from compacted soil if you wait a while,” said Spencer Campbell, ...

As days become warmer, gardeners get ready to dig. But digging too soon can be a mistake, according to experts at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle. “There’s a danger that you will compact the soil by ...

Q: The soil in my community garden plot is heavy clay. A neighboring gardener suggested adding leaf mulch and sand to improve its texture. How much sand and leaves should I add to attain a plot that ...

I was one of only two kids in my Singapore state school to join the gardening club. Yes, I was deeply uncool from a very early age. After lessons each day, we had to move around great sacks of sand ...

The UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension system, serving our ...

It used to be an article of faith in gardening that you must begin the whole enterprise by turning the soil, either with a shovel, spade or the frenzied paddling of the rototiller. The rationale was ...

Once winter rains set in, clay soils become saturated and hard to handle. They won’t dry out until mid-spring, when they can bake hard. This sounds dire – but clay soils have the advantage of being ...