Stop senseless shearing. Now, when mutilated forsythia are in full, shameful display, it's time for a primer in pruning responsibly. Free your landscape from yellow lollipops and gumdrops. When your forsythia has finished blooming, crawl under the bush with a handsaw. Look fo......

Smoke from a burning truck spread through a storage building at the Agway Farm & Home store along Route 322 near Ephrata early today, but the blaze did not spread into the store. Total damage from the 3 a.m. fire was about $28,000. There were no injuries. Dozens of northern Lancaster C......

Lawmakers in Harrisburg will try to figure out this week how to keep municipalities from being bankrupted by the cost of cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay.Under a federal mandate, municipalities in the bay's watershed, which includes the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, have just tw......

For more than a hundred years, the borough of Lititz has been known for its abundance of water, with visitors coming to admire the springs bubbling in the middle of town.But Lititz also has struggled to maintain the safety of its water supply, which has high nitrate levels, and borough cou......

We always suspected our readers are avid gardeners.Now we have proof.Sorting through the entries to the Intelligencer Journal's garden tips contest was a delight. Readers — 124 of them — took the time to enter our contest seeking the best gardening tips, in hopes of ......

Gentlemen, (and ladies), start your engines. It's lawn mower season! As the grass begins growing in earnest, it's time start mowing frequently — maybe even a twice-a-week cut.Try not to take off more than a third of the grass height at a time to keep your law......

While they are a member of the lily family (as are onions and hyacinths), these little beauties are a different genus than the standard lily, which provides them the uncanny ability to be one-day blooms that are both lovely and easy to care for.

Coveted in China a thousand years ago as food a...

“When we bought our home in Millersville, the previous owner suggested that we hire Lazer Cut Lawn Care in Conestoga,” says Dr. Daniel Good. “The owner, Clayton Gantz not only mows but keeps an eye on our property whether we are at home or away. He picks up branches and is alert to any infestation s...

Increasingly, home gardeners, even those who aren’t organically inclined, are eschewing chemical fertilizers in favor of the all-natural varieties. While store-bought chemical fertilizers tend to be less expensive than the organic versions that share shelf space with them, avid gardeners and pros sa...

Winter pruning should be confined to summer flowering plants. Plants that bloom in the spring, such as lilacs, rhododendrons and azaleas, should be pruned immediately after they’ve bloomed. Remember that it’s better to do some pruning every year rather than destroy the shape of a plant or tree with ...

Not only will Lancaster City’s new $50 million microfiltration water system be safer, but the water will taste better. “Good,’’ says city Utilities Manager Ralph Johnson. “People can stop buying bottled water. The water will be noticeably better, crisp and clean.” About 160,000 people in Lanca......

Most food allergies are a result of the pesticide residues that remain on foods prior to consumption. Canada has banned the use of pesticides utilized solely for aesthetic purposes. It values human life and health above the perfectly manicured lawn. Manheim Township residents who are "weed-phobic" m...

As a result of recent legislation, local farmers will be permitted this winter to plant burley tobacco seeds for the first time in 70 years, giving them access to a potentially more lucrative market.

As many as 20 cigarette manufacturers in the United States use burley, while j......

The multibillion-dollar proposal by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is likely to affect some 368 large sewage plants located in Pennsylvania and other states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The cost of upgrades that would be required to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus coming from sewage ......

Residents speak their peace
As leaves fall, spirits rise


W hat is it with the leaves this year? Here it is November, and they're only beginning to fall.
The conventional wisdom is the drought is to blame. But I think the leaves are worried about falling in......