Marie Iannotti grew tired of losing spring bulbs to pests. "So now I toss a handful of gravel into the planting holes to deter the voles, keep the tulips in sheltered pots and focus on deer resistant varieties," writes About.com's Gardening Guide. The spring bulbs that deer won't eat include:

• daffodils
• alliums
• snowdrops
• Scilla siberica
• grape hyacinth
• crocus

Deer may not like crocus, but squirrels love them! Spreading blood meal around the planting bed will help deter the pests (and green up the grass considerably, if you're planting these spring bulbs in a lawn area), but a surer squirrel-control method is to lay chicken wire on top of the ground where you have just planted your crocus.

The nice thing about protecting crocus in this way is that, since most crocus plants are relatively small, there's often no rush to remove the chicken wire later, unless it's an area you'll need to mow (for spring bulbs that grow bigger, you'd have to remove the chicken wire before they push up in spring, lest the foliage be cut on the sharp wire).

What do you think of when you hear mention of beech trees? For some of you, their famous beechnuts may come to mind. Others may recall a beech tree from their childhood filled with such engravings as "Bill + Mary 1967," the smooth, light-colored bark of beech trees being a prime target for sylvan graffiti mongers.

But neither of those two things come to mind for me, first and foremost, when I think about beech trees. What I love about them is the way they extend the fall foliage season. Like oak trees, beech trees retain their leaves for a much longer time than do most trees here in New England.

A grove of beech trees in the forest can be an enchanting sight in fall. Eventually, their golden fall foliage fades to a tan color -- but it's still better than what most other trees are offering at the same time! Better suited to be specimens on typical lawns are the smaller tricolor beech trees.

Read article: Beech Trees

"Think of tree care as an investment," states Steve Nix. About.com's Forestry Guide lists the following as some of the dividends you'll earn on your tree care investment:

1. Increasing property values
2. Beautifying your surroundings
3. Purifying your air
4. Saving energy by providing cooling shade from summer's heat and protection from winter's wind

But what tree care tips does Steve cover to help you achieve these goals? He recommends taking his Tree Wellness Quiz first. Along with good old common sense, the quiz will help you assess your basic tree care needs. At that point, you can dip into Steve's other resources, which include tips on:

• Staking trees
• Mulching trees
• Fertilizing trees
• Pruning trees

Related resource: Ornamental Tree Care

During the winter, many of us northern gardeners go through withdrawal symptoms, cruelly deprived of many of the plants we came to know and love during the spring, summer and fall. For some, the cure for the wintertime blues lies in drawing up landscape plans for next year -- whether formally or informally. Others take solace in gardening indoors.

Fortunately, we needn't restrict ourselves when gardening indoors to the typical potting soil in which people grow houseplants, nor must we use chemical fertilizers. Composting through vermiculture provides an alternative on both scores. "Vermiculture is a way of composting using earthworms to speed up the process," writes Amy Jeanroy. "It is easily done inside the home as it takes only a small amount of room and creates no odor." About's Guide to Herb Gardens supplies more information in this article on vermiculture.