Too much or not enough water and never when your garden needs it. This is a common complaint of gardeners no matter where they live. Make a few changes in your plant selection and garden care to help manage water use while growing healthy plants. All plants need sufficient moisture after planting and for several months to a year or two to develop a robust root system.

Rabbits are year-round and frequent visitors to gardens and landscapes. As children, we read about and adored these furry critters. This love of rabbits often faded as we grew older and experienced damage to our gardens and landscapes.

That first full day in the garden may find you tired, sunburned and stiff. Whether you are a young or young-at-heart gardener, include some strategies to help extend your enjoyment and reduce fatigue and muscle strain so you can keep gardening longer each day and for years to come. No matter your age, it’s important to protect your joints when gardening. Use a kneeler pad or knee pads to protect your knees.

Fresh on your pizza, added to your favorite Italian and Southeastern Asian dishes or made into pesto, it’s not surprising basil is often called the king of herbs. Look for opportunities to include basil in gardens, containers and ornamental plantings. Purple varieties add color and combine nicely with other flowers and vegetables.

Dahlias come in various colors, shapes and sizes, making them easy to include in any garden, container or bouquet. Grow them in their own dedicated space, mix them with other flowers or plant a few at the end of the vegetable garden. Consider including different varieties of dahlias for added interest and beauty in the garden and your arrangements. Select colors that you imagine will look great together in a vase.

Each gardening season seems to offer new growing challenges. Our gardens are exposed to more drastic and variable weather with changing weather patterns. Floods, droughts, wind, temperature extremes and unseasonable weather episodes can have immediate and long-term impacts on our plants. Monitoring and noting these occurrences will help you diagnose immediate and future plant and garden problems.