Michelle Mastro

6 days ago | marthastewart.com | Michelle Mastro

Credit: Getty / Alter_photo There are many benefits of self-seeding fruits. They grow back every year without being replanted, and they flourish and spread naturally—plus, their seeds can help support native bird populations. Many of these fruits also have greater variety and ground coverage, and can improve soil structure and attract beneficial bugs. Here, we reached out to gardening experts and asked them all about their favorite self-seeding fruits.

1 week ago | marthastewart.com | Michelle Mastro

Credit: Crispy photo Growing vegetables in the garden has its perks. They make great, healthy snacks and meals, but they also look beautiful in flower beds. In fact, some make for very attractive garden displays—so much so that you might even forget they’re there to be harvested. Here, we've rounded up some of the prettiest vegetables—according to experts—and share why you’ll want them in your garden. Read on to learn more about technicolor peppers, flowering squash, and many others.

1 week ago | yahoo.com | Michelle Mastro

Growing vegetables in the garden has its perks. They make great, healthy snacks and meals, but they also look beautiful in flower beds. In fact, some make for very attractive garden displays—so much so that you might even forget they’re there to be harvested. Here, we've rounded up some of the prettiest vegetables—according to experts—and share why you’ll want them in your garden. Read on to learn more about technicolor peppers, flowering squash, and many others.

1 week ago | architecturaldigest.com | Michelle Mastro

Invasive plants and native species, a plant that appears naturally in a specific region, don’t make good “garden bedfellows.” What might have started as an exotic groundcover can quickly metastasize into an aggressive intruder, spreading fast and choking out native flora that local wildlife like birds, pollinators, and small mammals rely on.

1 week ago | yahoo.com | Michelle Mastro

The burning bush (Euonymus alatus) is a commonly planted shrub and is now wild-growing in the eastern United States. You can identify it by its bright red foliage in fall, corky “winged” bark, and small green flowers in spring, says Orbegoso. As an invasive, it is hard to control, Heberling adds. This is because birds and other animals eat the berries and thus spread the seeds far and wide. To remove this plant, you can pull out seedlings by hand or dig out entire bushes by the roots.