Gardening With Sal

  A Versatile, Prolific, and Easy-to-Grow Annual That Acts Like a Perennial 🌱 Plant Talk | by Guy Saldiveri | April 18, 2026 Basil is a member of the mint family and one of the most popular culinary herbs.  All parts of the basil plant—including the leaves, flowers, and stems—are edible. The leaves are the most commonly used, but the flowers and stems can add a stronger or slightly different flavor to dishes. It’s a warm-weather annual that can be planted outdoors once temperatures are consistently above 50°F. Basil grows best in a location that gets 6 to 8 hours of full sun daily, though it can perform well in partial sun.  Most folks don't start basil by direct sowing into the soil; typically, gardeners transplant small starter plants purchased at a nursery or start the seeds themselves indoors under grow lights. I'm not most folks ;)  I love my basil, but I hate the price of starter plants at big box stores. Last time I checked, they were pushing almost $6 for ...

 The Ant That Isn't an Ant 🐜 Garden Pests| by Guy Saldiveri | Friday, April 10, 2026 I wish I could count how many times I've had run-ins with this little [insert expletive].  The first time I had ever seen one, it took me by surprise. I was actually lying on the couch, watching TV.  Feeling something crawling on me, I naturally just reached over and rubbed it against my arm with my thumb. Then, that slow motion "oh NO" moment of realization. The result of this lazy, unknowing reaction: a sharp, intense burning, almost as if a match were being held to my skin. A pain I can't recall ever feeling before or since.  The worst thing? I didn't even slow it down. It just kept on going and I think I even made it mad. Of course I didn't let it get away—but it did take a small hammer to get it to stop moving. It sounded like I smashed a piece of plastic too. I had no idea what this was or what it was made out of, but it was fast, armored, and in possession of a wea...

  Causes & Differences 🦠 Plant Diseases| by Guy Saldiveri | April 9, 2026 You have a thriving tomato or pepper plant. Leaves vibrant green, stems full of flowers and fruit, everything looking nice and healthy—until you notice that spot.  It could be on the very bottom of the fruit, or on the side. Similar in appearance—blanched white and spreading outward—it looks like a sore that should be oozing, but it's hard and scaly—at least initially. You stare, scratch your head, and wonder just what is going on here. You've done everything right, your plants look healthier than they have ever looked, well-watered, well-fed, but this… There are two possibilities, caused by two very distinct issues. You are most likely dealing with either Sunscald or Blossom End Rot. Both are very common issues that, believe it or not, are not classified as actual diseases. Both, however, affect just about every gardener that's ever grown these types of vegetables.  So if they aren't actual ...

 It Really Works 🌱 How-To Garden Guide | by Guy Saldiveri | April 8, 2026 Back in mid-February, I made a post about rejuvenation pruning and its merits.  Today, I want to double down on that idea and show a real‑world example—when to do it, how it works, and what happens afterward. I love my roses, and the hedge along my front porch can be absolutely beautiful when it’s full and in bloom. Before: A full, healthy hedge in peak bloom. Unfortunately, over the last few years, goats and wild pigs have done their best to turn that hedge into a buffet. The goats stripped the canes bare; the pigs rooted around the crowns and tore up the soil.  After damage: Browsing left the roses leggy and stressed. The roses still grew, but not like they used to. Lichen began creeping across the stems—a sure sign of stress. That earlier post called rejuvenation pruning a hard reset for a reason. This rose hedge is the perfect example—strong roots, tired top growth, and a plant that just need...

Watering Plants—Maybe Not as Cut and Dry as It’s Made Out to Be  🌿 Garden Talk| by Guy Saldiveri | April 3, 2026 Ever get in the middle of a gardening group and ask about watering? Be prepared for fifty different answers. What seems like an easy question brings up a barrage of different answers. Water only in the morning, never let the leaves get wet, only water from the bottom, let the soil dry out, NEVER let the soil dry out… This seems like it should be one of the most simple—if not the most simple things—we actually do in the garden. Even for me, the problem comes in when we overreact to something nature usually takes care of just fine.  You go out and notice your tomato plant is wilting or turning yellow. You have it fertilized, well-watered, well-tended, but it's still struggling. Then you look at the volunteer that's coming up in the crack in the driveway. It's never been touched, you never even knew it was there—and it's doing great!  You stand there scratching...

 I’m Choosing My Plants Over the Noise Invasive Series – Part 4 - The Final Plunge 📝 Opinion| by Guy Saldiveri | March 18, 2026 This installment is a little more rant‑flavored than the others, and it may come across sharper than I usually write. I’m not trying to pick a fight—I’m just out of patience with the dogma that gets tossed around like gospel and repeated as if it were carved in stone. For years—decades, really—gardeners, horticulturists, ecologists, and foresters have been arguing about native vs. non‑native vs. invasive. Not just in the U.S., but across continents. People are passionate about this topic, and their heels are dug in deeper than a pine tree’s taproot. And here’s the thing: the native/non‑native designation doesn’t just shift from country to country. It shifts locally. Sometimes dramatically. As it turns out, the “Granite List” we treat as sacred might have been written by a guy who simply didn’t walk down your riverbank in 1815. The Definition Problem (Agai...

Dino Sized Caterpillars, Beautiful Moths, Total Destruction 🦋 Garden Pests | by Guy Saldiveri | March 14, 2026 I remember the first time seeing a hummingbird moth. I was stunned. I honestly hadn't known things like that existed. I stared at it for as long as I could, completely mesmerized. Was it a moth or something else? It looked like a moth, but I swear it looked—and acted—more like a weird type of hummingbird.  Time for some research! Yep, it was a Sphinx Moth. Exactly which one though, I have no clue. There are a few in the family, and all are amazing to look at.  Sphinx moths belong to the family Sphingidae (hawk moths), which is composed of over 1,400 species.  The ones most commonly found here are the: • Carolina Sphinx (Tobacco Hornworm) • Five-spotted Hawkmoth (Tomato Hornworm) • White-lined Sphinx • Hummingbird moths (Clearwing Moth) Most folks call all of them hummingbird moths, and to be honest, that's just fine by me. I don't know any entomologists,...

 Tough, Destructive… and Some of Your Best Pollinators 🐝 Garden Pests | by Guy Saldiveri | March 10, 2026 The B‑52’s of the bee world! Carpenter Bees: Tough, Destructive… and Some of Your Best Pollinators  Carpenter bees are a tough one. They’re very prevalent and VERY destructive, but they’re also some of the best pollinators you have in your garden.  I used to hang traps, but I found killing them was too detrimental—the pollination loss wasn’t worth it. And besides, they aren't harmful to anything but some old untreated wood. I know, I know—if that wood is a beam on your porch, it’s not just some old untreated lumber… Depending on how bad they are, I either let them be or use a non‑lethal way to stop them. Over time I’ve learned what actually works and what doesn’t. 🎨 Paint the Undersides Painting or sealing the undersides of the wood they like to burrow into helps a lot. They strongly prefer raw or weathered wood. A good coat of paint makes the surface feel “wron...

 Why This Benchmark Belongs in the Compost Pile 📝 Opinion | by Guy Saldiveri |  Updated: March 11, 2026 This is another opinion that will probably ruffle a few leaves. That’s not the goal. My goal—as always—is to give you the most accurate and reliable information I can, even when it bumps up against tradition.   I've said before: I don’t sow seeds or set out starts in February. I usually treat February and March as cleanup months: clearing beds, prepping soil, getting everything ready for the year. And most years, I stick to that. The times I don’t? Those are the times when science says it’s safe to take the chance. I don’t follow folklore. I don’t follow “grandma said.” And I definitely don’t follow the Farmer's Almanac, which—let’s be honest—is just folklore with better marketing. What do I use? Let's take a closer look. It's not Easter, and it's not Good Friday. It's not any holiday or tradition that has absolutely nothing to do with meteorology. I use loca...

Love It or Hate It—If You Have It, You Know It Loved by some. Loathed by others 🌱 Plant Talk | by Guy Saldiveri | March 6, 2026 This is one plant I find myself at odds with when it comes to my stance on invasive species and allowing nature full control to do as she sees fit.  I love having it in the yard. I think it makes the lawn soft and a pleasure to walk on barefoot. I absolutely hate it when it comes to my raised beds and hardscaped flower beds. In the gardening world, it's called pennywort. You can even find it in some stores as a health supplement (although I think that may be a slightly different cultivar). In the backyard, though, most will simply refer to it as a WEED. Yep—dollarweed. Without a doubt, one of the most prolific weeds, plants, things-that-grow (or whatever else you call it)—you can ever have in the yard. This stuff grows so fast you'd swear it was being mass-produced on Ford's assembly line. One day there is one, the next day you have 300—and that w...

  Two Very Determined & Very Serious Pests 🪲 Garden Pests | by Guy Saldiveri | March 4, 2026 These are without a doubt the most serious foes I deal with in my garden. The squash bug and the squash vine borer deliver more damage pound-for-pound—or is that ounce-per-ounce—than any other pest I have ever dealt with. The vine borer is by far the worst of the two.  Some of my favorite things to grow are winter squash, zucchini, and pumpkins. These two pests just love to wait—or it seems so—until the plants are full, healthy, and producing fruit.  They’ll attack and can kill a plant within three or four days—at least the SVB can—if you’re not on your toes. These two pests are both serious, but they attack in very different ways. The squash bug will pierce the vine stem and suck the sap. While there are many other bugs that do the same, squash bugs are usually present in high numbers, and they’re much more voracious. They can easily cause an entire vine to wilt quickly an...

 The Longest Beans You’ve Ever Grown 🫘 Plant Talk:| by Guy Saldiveri | March 3, 2026 Asparagus beans—my all-time favorite crop. They're also called yard‑long beans and Chinese long beans. They have an edible pod and are technically a type of cowpea in the legume family. Their long, slender pods taste very similar to regular green beans but with a slightly nutty flavor. While they thrive in hot, humid southern climates, I've found that they do better in my area (Gulf South) if I keep them in partial shade or dappled sun. If left in full midsummer sun, they can suffer sun scorch and slow or stop production. They are very prolific from April until the first frost. This is one crop that benefits from picking—the more you harvest, the more they produce. Seeds should be sown about a week after the last expected frost date. They will require a trellis for support as they are true vining plants and cannot stand on their own. A trellis around six feet tall has worked very well for me....