A master gardener explaines how to figure out the perfect soil temperature for planting, and why you need to know it for successful gardening. If you have to dig through a foot of snow, it’s not the ...

Avoid testing near pavement, buildings, or other heat sources that create artificial temperature variations. These microclimates don't represent the broader lawn conditions where you'll be planting ...

Plastic mulch will help the soil warm more quickly. Thicker plastic, or double layers of plastic, retain heat longer at night. Remove the plastic mulch just before planting, and reuse it again next ...

Many people contacted me about whether they could plant seeds or put transplants into the ground because of this unusually cold weather. My answer was the same to them as it is here. It depends. Soil ...

It takes only a glance to see drought's signature in the parched stubble and powdery soil. Now it takes only a computer to see drought 30 inches below, where the grasshoppers march. Several Montana ...