Spring gardens are beginning to mature very nicely now, but this doesn't mean local growers can sit back and pat themselves on their backs over their accomplishments.

In 1674, a Colonial gardener wrote: "There is also a dark, dunnish Worm that in the Spring lye at the Root of Corn and Garden plants all day, and in the night creep out and devour them." Veteran gardeners of today know the culprit: Cutworms! The leaf-chewing, plant-destroying belly-draggers are a fiend for the ages!

Time to get serious about garden work. But where should you begin?

Ready to get the garden into the swing of spring? Can't do it without a shovel. Consider this Shovels 101. Shovels fall into two categories: Good and crummy. A good shovel is not hard to find if you know what to look for. A crummy shovel is pretty easy to find, too, especially if you are looking for a bargain.

For camellia growers, 'tis the best of times and possibly the worst of times.

Now that we are all well entrenched as third millennium gardeners, the thought of planting the garden by the phases of the moon probably seems like ancient superstition more suited for simple peasantry.

If you are in a rush to get your spring vegetable garden up and growing, a pack of radish seeds will TCOB (take care of business). Radishes are just about the quickest growing vegetables around! Of course, growing radishes because they mature fast is not really a good reason to plant them in the garden. There are some nutritional benefits to consider: calcium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and Vitamin C -- to name a few. Obviously, it's best to grow radishes because you like them.

After a cold, wet, crummy winter, March 20 -- the beginning of another spring -- can't get here fast enough.

Watch out! The sedentary lifestyle adopted during the winter hibernation might catch up to you.

Tired of winter yet? Well, no matter what you think of the cold, icy weather we have had so far, the plants in your garden have been having a worse time. Of course, most plants are pretty tough and can stand typical winters around here. However, you, being the gardener and thus guardian over all that is green and growing in your landscape, can do a few extra things to help them through any more chilling trials and tribulations that might be ahead.

There's still a chill in the air, but balmy days are ahead. And you want to be ready for the growing season that is right around the corner.

Wintertime is prime time for getting the garden prepared for the new growing season.

Now is usually an anxious time for gardeners wanting to do something -- anything -- in the garden.

It's a new year in the garden, but there are some old cold-season chores that can to be done this month.