Showing results by author "Mike McGrath" in All Categories

Not sure what kind of Christmas tree to pick? Professor Mark Vodak of Rutgers University joins us to help you choose the perfect tree for your family's needs.

Are little road maps appearing in the leaves of your poor plants? This week on You Bet Your Garden, host Mike McGrath will reveal the surprising cure for leaf miners! And of course, we'll have chemical-free answers to all your gardening questions.

Do you want to replace your dying summer container plants with something beautiful that will survive the winter? Jeff Jabco, director of grounds and coordinator of horticulture for the Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College in Philadelphia, has been teaching workshops on winter container gardening. He will suggest plants that can survive the winter from the frozen North to the milder South and give advice on what kind of soil mixture and containers to use.

Are multi-legged crawly things creeping into your bedrooms, and all over your house? Mike McGrath will explain how to tell if you have pestiferous millipedes or highly beneficial centipedes and what to do about them. Plus, learn how tomatoes protect themselves against pests with signals that travel an inch a minute through the plant.

We usually think of orchids as gorgeous and fickle indoor plants. But there's a whole world of hardy, perennial outdoor orchids! They grow anywhere from Alabama to Alaska.

The terrible taste of store-bought tomatoes is enough to get even non-gardeners to put a few plants in the ground. Luckily, growing tomatoes is fun and easy, if you give them a few things they crave and require at planting time. Mike McGrath will help you achieve "love apple success" with his Top Ten Tips for Terrific Tomatoes!

Garden author Ellen Zachos reveals how to make a big splash with minimal effort with easy-to-achieve, novice-friendly, small-scale garden projects. Her new book is called Down and Dirty: 43 Fun and Funky First-Time Projects and Activities to Get you Gardening. During the Question of the Week, Mike McGrath will tackle the problem of fungus gnats that live in houseplant soil. He'll name five reliable ways to get rid of them, without chemicals, of course!

Are you looking to add a little homegrown fruit into your life? This week on You Bet Your Garden, host Mike McGrath will share with you the three big things you have to do to put some strawberries on your plate. Plus: chemical free answers to all your garden questions.

When it comes to producing flowers, wisteria is often the vine of disappointment. On the next episode of You Bet Your Garden, host Mike McGrath will reveal what you can do NOW to coax this rampant runner into spectacular bloom next spring.

It used to be that only Japanese beetle grubs savaged lawns, and only in the Northeast, but now other beetle babies are learning to terrorize turf all over this land. Mike McGrath will begin a two-part series on grub damage control with a close look at milky spore disease; can it really grub-proof your turf? Plus: More bad news from the world of science for people who still use lawn chemicals.

Has your lawn carried a lot of extra weight over the years? Host Mike McGrath reveals how to ease the compaction this can cause with soil aeration and other weighty issues on this week's You Bet Your Garden. As always, fabulous phone calls and chemical free answers to garden questions.

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and on this week's episode of You Bet Your Garden, host Mike McGrath will tell you how to keep those expensive cut roses looking good twice as long in a vase - and also how to turn them into live rose bushes that will bloom year after year in your own garden!

Are indoor moth pests eating the clothes in your closet as well as the snacks in your scullery? This week on You Bet Your Garden, host Mike McGrath will share a "sexy" way to end the problem-without poisons of course! Plus, Mike talks about the secret of American gardening with author Andrea Wulf. And of course, chemical free answers to all your garden questions.

Have you ever wondered how they get all those Spring bulbs, flowering trees, shrubs and other plants to burst into bloom weeks and even months ahead of schedule for Springtime Flower Shows?

Are you worried about aggressive wasps swarming around your garden and building nests? We'll discuss how to handle yellowjackets and other dangerous hornets with "Norman the Conqueror" Norman Patterson. He defeats these aggressive beasts and sells them to medical companies, where they are used to protect people with severe bee-sting allergies.

This is the time of year when many people hear the tap-tap-tapping of woodpeckers on their chamber wall. What are they doing there? "Probably not eating bugs" says woodpecker expert Dr. Jerry Jackson, biology professor at the Florida Gulf University in Fort Myers, Florida.

Are you ready to start your seeds? Howard Shapiro from Seeds of Change joins us to discuss the all-organic offerings their new catalog. During the Question of the Week, Mike tackles a potentially stinky topic: Skunks can tear up lawns in their search for food, and they're very fond of sub-letting spaces underneath unsuspecting homeowners. Mike will explain how to safely evict them without unwanted incident; and how to erase that smell if you or your pets do get sprayed.

Do you want to grow tomatoes, but have no actual land to do that growing in? This week on You Bet Your Garden, host Mike McGrath reveals the secrets of getting those home-grown favorites to flourish in containers. Plus: chemical-free answers to all your garden questions.

Many gardeners mulch badly; using the wrong materials in the wrong way. Bad mulch can harm or kill plants and even ruin the paint job on a house or car! Mike McGrath will discuss the downsides of wood and rubber mulches, and reveal the best options for preventing weeds and improving the look of your landscape. Plus: How Australians are turning toads into beer!

Once again, it's time for the You Bet Your Garden Christmas show! This week, host Mike McGrath and friends look back on the highlights of holiday gardening tips and tricks, such as how to care for your Christmas cactus, poinsettia, mistletoe and more. Plus, musical numbers from You Bet Your Garden Christmas shows past - and a new song as well.