Brighten your winter days by inviting birds into your landscape. Their beauty and motion help enliven the garden and lighten your spirit. Not only do they provide entertainment, but also an opportunity for all ages to stay involved with nature year-round. Increase the number of visitors to your yard by including all the essentials these… Continue reading Bring in the Birds for Winter Beauty and Entertainment
Category: Hobbies
Four Easy Care Gardening Trends for the Holiday Season
Dress up the holidays or give gifts that continue giving throughout the year with these low maintenance gardening trends. Just add a little fun, classic beauty or style to make it even more memorable now and throughout the year. Terrariums. These mini greenhouses continue to grow in popularity and are perfect for new or timid… Continue reading Four Easy Care Gardening Trends for the Holiday Season
Add Some Eye Candy to Your Garden This Fall
Shorten the winter season with the help of spring flowering bulbs that you plant in fall. These beauties often provide the first bit of color, fragrance and winter relief each year. Look for new and unique ways to incorporate bulbs into your landscape. Create a seasonal water feature with a river of blue scillas and… Continue reading Add Some Eye Candy to Your Garden This Fall
Turn Yard Waste into Gardener’s Gold: Compost
Save time and money by turning landscape trimmings into a valuable soil amendment. The idea is simple, just collect disease- and insect-free plant debris into a heap and let it decompose into a fine, nutrient rich material that helps improve the soil. Don’t add meat, dairy, invasive plants, weeds that have gone to seed or… Continue reading Turn Yard Waste into Gardener’s Gold: Compost
Fall Care for a Healthier, Better Looking Lawn
As summer fades into fall it is time to help lawns recover from summer stress and prepare for the winter ahead. Continue to mow your lawn as long as it continues to grow. Grow cool season grasses like bluegrass, fescue and ryegrass 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 inches tall. Warm season grasses like bermudagrass, carpetgrass, centipedegrass and… Continue reading Fall Care for a Healthier, Better Looking Lawn
Five Ways to Protect Your Garden from the Deer
Don’t let your vegetable and fall flower gardens succumb to hungry deer. Even if you’re lucky enough to be deer-free now, be vigilant and prepared to prevent damage as these beautiful creatures move into your landscape to dine. Here are five tactics to help you in the battle against these hungry animals. Fencing is the… Continue reading Five Ways to Protect Your Garden from the Deer
Keep Your Rose Bushes Blooming All Summer Long
It’s summertime, and roses are blooming in gardens all over America. When other flowers falter and fizzle out from the heat, the queens of the garden keep blooming. “Most people don’t realize that the major commercial rose production in the US is centered in the Central Valley of California and outside of the Phoenix area… Continue reading Keep Your Rose Bushes Blooming All Summer Long
Save Money and Water While Still Enjoying a Beautiful Garden
Too much or not enough water and never when you need it seems to be a common lament of gardeners. Reduce the impact of these weather challenges while conserving water, saving money on water and sewer bills, and growing beautiful gardens with the help of rain barrels. These century old devices are making a comeback… Continue reading Save Money and Water While Still Enjoying a Beautiful Garden
Manage Mosquitoes While Enjoying the Great Outdoors
Don’t let disease-carrying mosquitoes keep you indoors this summer. Instead, employ these eight tips to protect yourself and manage these pests in your yard. Do a bit of yard and garden clean up. Remove weeds, manage neglected gardens and keep the lawn properly mowed to reduce resting spaces for adult mosquitoes. Eliminate standing water where… Continue reading Manage Mosquitoes While Enjoying the Great Outdoors
Extend the Garden Season with Spring Planted Bulbs
Keeping your garden looking its best throughout the growing season and into fall is possible with the help of low maintenance spring planted bulbs. Plant them in spring among other annuals or perennials and watch as these bulbs brighten the garden, adding new life to your late season gardens. Whether your gardens and containers are… Continue reading Extend the Garden Season with Spring Planted Bulbs
The Truth about Hot Peppers
Don’t be afraid to add a little spicy heat to your meals this season by growing a few hot peppers in the garden or containers. It’s easier than you think and many of the hot pepper myths floating around the garden are simply not true. Don’t worry about your hot peppers heating up your sweet… Continue reading The Truth about Hot Peppers
Add Sparkle to Your Landscape with Unique Containers and Elevated Gardens
Include an elevated garden to increase planting space and make planting, weeding and harvesting easier on the back and knees. Liven things up with a robin egg blue VegTrug™ or washtubs elevated on a support for a bit of rustic charm. Add wheels to make it easier to move planters around the patio or deck. This allows… Continue reading Add Sparkle to Your Landscape with Unique Containers and Elevated Gardens
Back to Basics – Low Maintenance Flower Garden Care
Grow a beautiful flower garden with minimal care by investing a bit of time at the start of the season to reduce on-going care. Always match flowers to the growing conditions and the care you are willing to provide. Low maintenance plants need minimal or no deadheading and staking. This means you’ll be growing good-looking… Continue reading Back to Basics – Low Maintenance Flower Garden Care
Low Maintenance Vegetable Gardening for a Bountiful Harvest
Increase your harvest without increasing the size of your garden or workload. All you need is a bit of intensive planting, along with some low maintenance techniques. Invest some time upfront to prepare the garden soil. This will save you time throughout the growing season. Add several inches of organic matter and a slow release… Continue reading Low Maintenance Vegetable Gardening for a Bountiful Harvest
Ease into Gardening with a Raised Bed
Raise your garden to new heights for easier access and greater productivity. Raised beds allow you to overcome poor soil by creating the ideal growing mix, plus make gardening time more comfortable thanks to less bending and kneeling. Whether you purchase a kit or build your own, there are a few things to consider when… Continue reading Ease into Gardening with a Raised Bed
Create a Garden Anywhere with Straw Bales
Add productive garden space and raise your planting bed with straw bale gardening. This technique allows gardeners to create raised bed gardens on a patio, lawn or any area with poor compacted soil. Straw bale gardening has been around for centuries, but thanks to Joel Karsten’s book “Straw Bale Gardens” it has gained new popularity.… Continue reading Create a Garden Anywhere with Straw Bales
Plant a Pollinator Garden and Enjoy the Many Benefits
Whether planting a garden, enjoying the beauty of your landscape or sitting down to a delicious meal, you have bees, butterflies and other pollinators to thank. These essential members of our ecosystem are responsible for much of the food and beauty we enjoy each day. Unfortunately pesticides and habitat loss are threatening their existence. There… Continue reading Plant a Pollinator Garden and Enjoy the Many Benefits
Conserve Water While Growing Beautiful Gardens
Reduce your workload, increase productivity and be water wise, whether you are planning, planting or already harvesting produce or enjoying beautiful floral displays from your garden. Container gardeners may want to invest in self-watering pots. These containers have built-in reservoirs to reduce watering frequency. Commercial and homemade self-watering devices can also reduce watering frequency. Just… Continue reading Conserve Water While Growing Beautiful Gardens