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The Impatient Gardener blog was started in 2009 and its library of posts includes practical how-tos, plant guides, favorite garden gear, successes and failures and much more. If you’re looking for something specific, the search function at the top of the page can help.

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Garden

THE INVASIVE SPECIES THAT HAS ME FREAKING

I used to dig in my garden, unearth a worm and be delighted. I took it as a pat on the back for my hard work in making good soil that earthworms would want to be in doing their good work. But for the past year or so that delight has been gone. It has been replaced with dread. Dread ...

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GardenPlants

IT’S TIME TO TALK BULBS + SOME FOR YOU TOO

Longtime readers will know that I’m not one to rush the seasons (other than winter, which I’m happy to mentally check out of sometime around January 5), but we need to talk about autumn. And maybe a little bit about spring. Because even though my garden is currently enjoying a very summerlike couple of weeks, the autumnal equinox is Friday, ...

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Friday Finds

FRIDAY FINDS

It’s been a busy late summer so I haven’t spent as much time on the internet as I might have otherwise and therefore there wasn’t a lot of finds to share with you, but this week there’s some can’t miss stuff I want to share. First off, don’t miss the most charming little garden and plant show in Belgium, compliments ...

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Garden

IN DEFIANCE OF A TRENDY GARDEN

Two things happened on the same day earlier this week that once again reinforced my “garden for yourself” school of thought. First, I read Garden Media Group’s analysis of the gardening trends they see for 2018. One of the things it seems to show is that the trend toward a less cultivated style of gardening is growing. I think we ...

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Garden

WHY YOU SHOULD BUY LESS-THAN-PERFECT PLANTS

You know how annuals at nurseries can look when things start getting picked over? Generally sad. It’s hard for nurseries to keep up on the watering, it’s getting hotter out making that even more difficult, and they might all be bunched up growing together.    That’s how you get plants like this Supertunia Indigo Charm. It’s a favorite of mine ...

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GardenPlants

A GARDEN MOMENT TO NOTE

Like most gardeners, for me this time of year is as much about late season chores like dividing and moving as it is about making notes of what worked and what didn’t. It’s always amazing to me how different the garden looks in September compared to what it looked like in June. Back in June I wouldn’t have noticed this ...

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GardenPlants

SCREENING PLANTS FOR SHADIER SPOTS

I’ve been considering the entrance to our house lately. It’s not pretty. We have a longish driveway so landscaping the areas that we don’t regularly look at ourselves has not been high on the priority list. We also live on a private road shared with our neighbors so curb appeal is not a high priority. But not making the entrance ...

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Garden

THE GOOD AND THE NOT-SO-GOOD OF A NEW GARDEN

 It’s a good time for reflecting on the gardening year, and I’ve learned to be a little tougher on the gardener (me) and the gardens when it comes to analyzing what worked and what didn’t. There are no perfect gardening seasons, so I try not to allow myself to make excuses because of the weather. Every year it will be ...

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