Gardening with Allen

I planted my first vegetable garden from seeds this year. I am surprised about how thick the plants are growing. Do I need to remove or replant some of them […]

I have a flowering crabapple tree that has many shoots at the base of the tree trunk.  I trim them, but they grow right back.  They are unsightly and they […]

I thinned out lots of branches in my apple tree in March. Now I have lots of little branches growing straight up. Should they be pruned off now? Those little branches […]

I am writing this on Memorial Day and was inspired to write about some of my family traditions centered around gardening. Some of my fondest memories are working together with my […]

Mulch Reduces Weeds My neighbor has a lot fewer weed problems than I do. He tells me it is because he uses mulch. Is mulch really that effective in reducing weed […]

I would like to prevent damage from various insects on my fruits and vegetables this year. Are there organic or natural pesticides which I can use safely? Nowadays we have several […]

The leaves of my daffodils and tulips are sprawled all over the ground and look messy. Can I remove leaves now without harming next year’s bulbs? There are several ways to […]

There are many factors which will insure good success with container flower plantings.First, larger containers work better than smaller ones because they have more room for roots and do not […]

Is it safe to plant my tender flowers and vegetables like impatiens and tomatoes now? When I first moved to Vancouver 12 years ago I checked the average last frost date […]

I have a lot of different kinds of plants to prune. Could you share some basic pruning principles that would apply to all kinds of plants? Yes, there are some basic […]