TRAVERSE CITY -- Next Wednesday 7&4 News will be launching the first in a weekly series of gardening segments called "In The Garden." The idea of this new segment is to help answer some of the questions you might have about gardening here in Northern Michigan. For the first "In The Garden" segment, I will be providing tips and information on preparing your garden for the new growing season. From cutting back plants to encourage new healthy growth, to carefully cleaning away dead leaf and plant matter that accumulates around the base of woody plants and puts them at risk of trunk rot, to many other topics.

Each week I will also be introducing you to a new "Plant of the Week," something cool and not what you might ordinarily be familiar with, but something you should have no trouble growing right here in Northern Michigan.

The other important part of our new segment "In The Garden" is that we want you to get involved and leave your comments, ideas and concerns. If you've ever spent much time talking to experienced gardeners you'll notice one very interesting thing, that everyone has their own techniques, and finding the ones that work the best for you is a combination of experimentation and patience. So the more information we can share with one another the better chance we all have of making our gardens grow to their full potential.

"In The Garden" will air in the 5 p.m. Newscast each Wednesday and in the Morning Show every Thursday.

Please leave comments and questions on my blog and who knows, one of your ideas might be featured on an up coming segment.