Garden Maintenance

The Evolution of a Gardener: Finding the Middle Ground Between Neat and Natural

October 20, 2010 24 comments
Thumbnail image for The Evolution of a Gardener: Finding the Middle Ground Between Neat and Natural

Debbie’s post over at Garden of Possibilities was a catalyst for me to really think over an issue I’ve been having a lot lately – the Neat VS Natural debate. It’s not a debate I’ve been having with anyone else, it’s more been an internal struggle. You see, the more I learn about gardening, the [...]

Click here to continue reading →

Low-Maintenance Landscaping: How to Tim Ferriss Your Garden Routine

September 16, 2010 9 comments
Thumbnail image for Low-Maintenance Landscaping: How to Tim Ferriss Your Garden Routine

Do you have more garden than time? Even people who love, LOVE to garden sometimes find their landscape a source of guilt rather than joy. So many times when I’m visiting a garden, I’m making enthusiastic exclamations over the abundance and beauty of it all, the owner of the garden is saying things like, “well, [...]

Click here to continue reading →

Honeybee Love: Keeping Honeybees Safe While Using Pesticides

May 16, 2010 12 comments
Thumbnail image for Honeybee Love: Keeping Honeybees Safe While Using Pesticides

We’ve all heard about the plight of the honeybees by now – pesticides, hive infections, and other causes are combining to make it a very hard time to be a honeybee. If you’re thinking to yourself that it’s not the worst thing in the world to have one less type of stinging insect around – [...]

Click here to continue reading →

Vinegar Weed Control that Actually Works

March 4, 2010 14 comments
Thumbnail image for Vinegar Weed Control that Actually Works

When I was in horticulture school, the old-skool dudes teaching pest control were all about the chemicals – they just didn’t believe organics could be as effective as the lethal stuff. Yet every so often, a hint of doubt would creep into their voices about safety. I’d hear, “well, this one’s actually pretty bad” or  [...]

Click here to continue reading →

How to Kill Dandelions in Lawn Organically

February 11, 2010 13 comments
Thumbnail image for How to Kill Dandelions in Lawn Organically

I just got a nifty tip on how to kill dandelions organically when they are growing in your lawn or in the center of another plant: injection with vinegar-based organic weed killer. You may have found that if you spray non-selective herbicide, organic or otherwise, on your dandelion that you end up with a dead [...]

Click here to continue reading →

Pruning Miscanthus Grass: How to Cut Back Big Ornamental Grasses

January 27, 2010 10 comments
Thumbnail image for Pruning Miscanthus Grass: How to Cut Back Big Ornamental Grasses

Ready to prune your Miscanthus Grass? This is the time of year to do it! Ornamental grasses start shedding little grass bits everywhere in January, and with every windy storm they become increasingly messy until in early March you have a bunch of grass sticks still upright and grass leaves piled up everywhere in your [...]

Click here to continue reading →

Brrr! What NOT to Prune in Winter

January 17, 2010 7 comments
Thumbnail image for Brrr! What NOT to Prune in Winter

Right now it’s major big time pruning season here in Northern Cali. I’m cutting back hardy perennials, roses, fruit and other dormant trees and ornamental grasses. But there are a few things I’m leaving alone for the time being. A lot of my favorite plants are frost-tender and can be killed by a stern frost [...]

Click here to continue reading →

How to Prune Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ (Video Tutorial)

November 30, 2009 15 comments
Thumbnail image for How to Prune Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ (Video Tutorial)

Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ is a true garden classic, especially paired with ornamental grasses, lavenders and colorful sages. It’s particularly great because during the summer when everything else is blooming, its greenish-white buds are getting bigger and bigger, creating a subtly beautiful show, then as everything else slows for the fall, ‘Autumn Joy’ bursts into bloom [...]

Click here to continue reading →

How to Summer-Prune a Floppy Miscanthus Grass (Video Tutorial)

September 26, 2009 9 comments
Thumbnail image for How to Summer-Prune a Floppy Miscanthus Grass (Video Tutorial)

I’m a big fan of ornamental grasses because they add so much motion and life to a garden. If you use multiples, they’re an easy way of bringing a sense of continuity to a busy or scattered-feeling garden, because the effect of their foliage is so soothing. Miscanthus is a favorite because it grows so [...]

Click here to continue reading →

How to Prune Hydrangeas (Video Tutorial)

September 12, 2009 8 comments
Thumbnail image for How to Prune Hydrangeas (Video Tutorial)

I love Bigleaf Hydrangeas (H. macrophylla), the traditional garden Hydrangea with either big mophead flowers or the subtler lacecap flowerheads. Most gardens have a Hydrangea or two tucked in, and why not? As long as they have composty soil and get watered regularly, they make a fantastic show of blooms with very little effort on [...]

Click here to continue reading →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →