Gardening With Sal

What to Do and What to Worry About 🌿 Garden Talk | by Guy Saldiveri | January 30, 2026 Unfortunately, this is something that happens quite often and it can lead to much frustration.  Everyone is delighted about how easy it is to train a cat to use an indoor litter box. They gravitate towards them naturally. A nice new flower or vegetable bed, filled with fresh, soft soil is just as attractive and a magnet to cats—especially feral cats. 

Invasive Series – Part 1 📝 Opinion  | By Guy Saldiveri | Updated January 27, 2026 Native, Non-Native, Aggressive, and Invasive This is by far the most divisive hot-button, third-rail topic anyone can bring up in the gardening world. It certainly won’t win me any brownie points for bringing it up here. 

Invasive Series – Part 2 📝 Opinion  | By Guy Saldiveri | January 27, 2026 Author’s Note: If this article challenges your perspective, take it as an invitation to look closer at the plants around you. Nature is complicated, adaptable, and rarely as black‑and‑white as we make it. 

 Invasive Series - Part 3 📝 Opinion  | By Guy Saldiveri | January 27, 2026 Our ecosystem is dynamic, living, and constantly changing.  Assigning a single point in time to justify whether a species should be considered native or non-native, to me, is just unacceptable. 

Concrete blocks: A great choice for a raised bed 🔨  How‑To Garden Guide | by Guy Saldiveri |  Updated July 06, 2026 I've tried various setups for my gardens: in-ground, wooden boxes, and various raised-bed configurations.  Most have performed admirably, but when it comes to ease of setup, overall cost, and functional longevity, only one material really shines—concrete blocks!

An Explanation of What This Weird Stuff Really Is 🌿 Plant Talk | by Guy Saldiveri | January 24, 2026 | Updated: February 21, 2026 We’ve all seen it, and we’ve all wondered—what is it, and where did it come from? More importantly, what is it doing on my tree or shrub?

The Quiet Magic Behind Every Garden 📝  Opinion | By Guy Saldiveri | January 23, 2026   And to think, I started out looking to debunk the need for the birds and the bees, only to end up making the case for keeping them around—go figure.

Vegetables taste great, but they won’t land you on the cover of Southern Living 📝 Opinion | by Guy Saldiveri | January 22, 2026 Why does it seem like the bulk of gardeners, even more experienced ones, just want to talk about the "pretty flowers"?

A Brush Pile or Stumpery Can Support Birds, Bugs, and Critters   🌿 Garden Talk | by Guy Saldiveri | January 20, 2026 When it comes to upkeep in my yard, I’ll admit it — I fall squarely into the “I like it manicured” camp. I grow a bit of everything: natives, non-natives, edibles, ornamentals, and the occasional plant that just shows up and dares me to move it.

A Practical Look at USDA Zones, Heat Zones, and Frost Dates  🔨 How‑To Garden Guide | by Guy Saldiveri | January 20, 202 6 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/ The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map is the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine which perennial plants are most likely to thrive at a location.

A humorous Look At the "How" but Not the "Why" 😂 Garden Humor | by Guy Saldiveri | January 18, 2026 I've come across many interesting things in online forums.  One of the most intriguing is how differently people answer what seems like a fairly straightforward question.

What to Use, and How to Use It   🌿 Garden Talk | by Guy Saldiveri | January 15, 2026 Most online forums are filled with new gardeners with limited experience who ask a lot of questions. Many of the questions are about mulch. Specifically, which kind to use, how much to apply, and whether they should work it in or just layer it on top.

There’s a Right Way, and a Wrong Way 🔨 How‑To Garden Guide | by Guy Saldiveri | Updated May 21, 2026 Have you ever pruned a branch from a tree, only to be left with a ragged edge and three feet of torn bark? Trust me, you aren't the first and you won't be the last.

Was that pepper hot, or did I just swallow a blowtorch? 🌿 Plant Talk | by Guy Saldiveri | January 12, 2026 Here’s a fun one for all of you who grow—and especially eat—peppers. Did you know that capsaicin, the compound that makes peppers “hot,” isn’t actually hot at all?

Why Some Seeds Need a Little Winter First   🔨 How‑To Garden Guide | by Guy Saldiveri | January 12, 2026 Stratification and scarification: a lot of gardeners have heard these words, but many don’t really understand what they mean or why they matter. I sure didn’t at first.

A full guide for beginning to intermediate gardeners. 🛠️ How‑To Garden Guide | by Guy Saldiveri | January 12, 2026 A Walk Around My Yard

Soil is complicated... or is it? 🔨 How To Garden Guide | by Guy Saldiveri | Updated: February 22, 2026 This is another one of those gardening topics that just seems to drive wedges between people faster than that native/non-native debate. Everyone has their own ideas, their own mixes, and most of all their own confusion. Let's see if we can clear up a little of that right now.

I’m a retired jack-of-all-trades with 30 years of yard work under my belt — the last six or eight of which have been a deep dive into vegetable gardening. While I don’t have a formal horticulture degree, I did make it through the State University Master Gardener program — certificate and all. I even came out with more questions than I went in with. That’s not a bad thing. My philosophy is simple: the more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know. Once I do figure something out though, I like to send it on down the row so somebody else can benefit. I’m perfectly fine being the one who makes the mistake first. I’ll admit it — I’m as stubborn as an old pickax. Once something gets in my craw, it tends to stay there until I sort it out. Some days that helps. Some days it just makes the dirt fight back harder. Most of what I write comes from doing, watching, and trying things. Occasionally convincing myself something “should work this time,” and then finding out nature had other plans. I’m n...