Gardening With Sal

Why These Heat‑Loving Vines Thrive in Gulf South Gardens 🫘 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.

 The Conventional and Not-So-Conventional Way 🥔 Plant Talk | by Guy Saldiveri | March 2, 2026 Sweet Potato Who doesn’t love a good sweet potato? I know I do. 

Setups That Adapt to Changing Weather, Simplify Soil Care, and Support Year‑Round Growing 🌿 Garden Talk | by Guy Saldiveri | March 1, 2026 Over the years, I’ve had to modify how and where I grow things. For this reason, I prefer to use containers or grow bags for most of the vegetables, and fixed beds for things that I use for permanent crops like garlic and onions. The fixed beds also serve well for some other plants such as okra, corn, and sometimes squash. 

 A Cheapskate’s Way to Use Things You Normally Throw Away 🌿 Garden Talk | by Guy Saldiveri | February 27, 2026 Being the cheapskate that I am, I try to repurpose as many things as possible instead of throwing them away.

 March Madness Coming Up 🌿 Garden Talk | by Guy Saldiveri | February 25, 2026 Earlier this month I posted about Why I Don’t Start Seeds in February . I spent the month getting everything cleaned up and prepped for spring.

 The Answer Might Surprise You 🌿 Garden Talk | by Guy Saldiveri | February 24, 2026 You just finished watching some DIY video on YouTube. There are 5 pallets rotting away in your backyard, and you're just itching to build a raised bed for your strawberries. 

But It Doesn’t Have to Be a War Drum 📝 Opinion | by Guy Saldiveri | February 23, 2026 Sonny Bono was definitely onto something when he wrote the lyrics to that song. While some of the meaning has shifted, I can still see it applying to the garden forums we have today.

 The Myths, the Facts, and the Legends They Inspire 🐜 Garden Pests | by Guy Saldiveri | Updated: 03/01/2026 Fire ant Mound Fire ants are the bane of every garden south of the Mason‑Dixon—from the Atlantic to the Pacific and everywhere in between. What's worse is they’re adapting to colder climates and creeping steadily northward.

 Delicious, Dangerous, and Completely Misunderstood 🍅 Plant Talk | by Guy Saldiveri | 02/18/2026 Yep, that title probably got your attention. Is it accurate? Actually, it is—well, mostly.

When Your Brain is in Hyper-drive 😄 Humor | by Guy Saldiveri | 02/16/2026 Lying in bed, awake at hours that birds are still huddled together—and me just thinking. Yeah, that's probably not the best thing to be doing at that time. Wide awake, brain in high gear, throttle wide open, thoughts come streaming through.

 Good, Bad, or Who Cares? 🪲 Garden Pests| by Guy Saldiveri | 02/15/2026 We’ve all seen them. We’ve all played with them. But what exactly are they? Well, they’re actually land-based crustaceans.  Believe it or not, they belong to the same extended family—well, they’re more like cousins to shrimp, crabs, and lobsters—although I don’t think I would want to host a boil for them.

How to Cut Back Drastically Without Killing the Plant  🔨 How‑To Garden Guide | by Guy Saldiveri | 02/13/2026 I remember the first time someone recommended this for one of my plants—I looked at them like they had completely lost their mind.

 The Nuisance That Should Provide a Raincoat 🪲 Garden Pests| by Guy Saldiveri | 02/12/2026 Glassy winged sharpshooter Glassy-winged sharpshooters are a pest that I for one place in the nuisance category. They are sucking insects that feed on sap. They show up in abundant numbers in the latter part of the season, and have a nasty habit of—let’s call it “spitting” at you.

 How Much N P K Your Garden Really Needs 🔨 How‑To Garden Guide | By Guy Saldiveri | Updated: February 25, 2026 Gardeners run into the same problem every spring: fertilizer labels are confusing, recommendations vary wildly, and every product has a different density. One bag says “apply 1 cup per plant,” another says “3 pounds per 100 square feet,” and your soil test tells you something else entirely.

What Really Happens When Temperatures Drop  🌿 Plant Talk | by Guy Saldiveri | February 05, 2026 I love to propagate my plants—especially my roses. I do it as much as I can. Sometimes I wonder why, since I give most of them away. 

This Southern Gardener’s Take on Seed Starting 📝 Opinion | by Guy Saldiveri | February 04, 2026 So you got your new seed catalog in December or January and all your seeds have been ordered. All your gardening friends are champing at the bit, wanting to get started. YouTube channels are pushing you to get it in gear.

And Would We Want to Know What They Said? 😄 Garden Humor | by Guy Saldiveri | February 02, 2026 I have to say, if they talked to me the way I talk to them, there’d probably be several armored tank divisions ready to roll across my property!

Multiply Your Plants Through Division, Layering, and Cuttings 🔨 How‑To Garden Guide | by Guy Saldiveri | February 01, 2026 Propagation is one of the more interesting and enjoyable things I do in the garden. It allows me to purchase one or two plants and then make as many as I want. 

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.