Soil and Compost

Cheap Soil Testing: How and Why To Do It

January 19, 2011 12 comments
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One of the best things about writing for this site is that occasionally, other gardeners will write in with their excellent garden tips. This was the case with Kathy Ormiston, a landscape designer and landscape gardener in the San Francisco Bay Area (south bay region). Kathy was kind enough to share a tip about an [...]

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Worm Compost: A Fictional FAQ for Vermicomposting

June 17, 2010 9 comments
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I’ve gotten a few questions lately about vermicomposting -composting in a small bin using worms. Folks seem to know that worm castings rock, and they are really expensive to buy. Other folks want worms for fishing. And still others just want a simple way of keeping their veggie scraps out of the landfill. So I [...]

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The GroundHog Rake: A Video Review, and Why I Love it for Mulching

May 6, 2010 4 comments
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This time of year, I’m adding a fresh layer of bark mulch to many of my gardens to hold moisture in and keep the weeds down. Right now it’s especially easy to do because the plants are still small from winter dormancy, so I can spread it out without having to bend and wiggle to [...]

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Your Gardening Body: How to Scoop Mulch and Use a Wheelbarrow Without Strain or Pain

December 31, 2009 4 comments
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Anne Asher, a movement specialist from The MOVE! Blog, has been kind enough to answer some common questions about how professional and/or passionate gardeners can reduce the strain that comes from repetitive gardening tasks. Check out her new product – great for winter time – called Clear the Blear. Here’s this month’s installment: Dear Anne, [...]

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Fall Leaves: Leave ‘Em and Weep

December 5, 2009 4 comments
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Once upon a time some newbie garden writer thought it’d be a great idea to encourage people to leave their fall leaves on the ground. Hey, it’s got all the qualities of a great article for the masses; it tells folks what they want to hear (stay in your jammies on Saturday and don’t bother [...]

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Calculating How Much Mulch or Compost You Need

November 21, 2009 2 comments
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So your garden’s mulch is getting thin, and you’ve decided that you want to add 2 inches of wood chips to top it up. Great! But how much mulch do you need to buy to make that happen? You can do this using math (yuck!), or you can use these great calculators I’ve found online. [...]

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Rubber Mulch: Where the Rubber Meets the – Soil?

October 2, 2009 13 comments
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At Costco recently, I was happy to see some acquaintances coming out of the garden section, until… what in the WORLD was in their cart? It looked like bags of mulch, but… wrong somehow. They patiently explained to this landscaper that recycled rubber mulch is the newest thing and would look very pretty in their [...]

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For All You Pros: How to Lift a Wheelbarrow Into Your Truck Even if You’re a Wimpy Girl Like Me (An Article in Pictures)

June 17, 2009 7 comments
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Since we’ve been discussing mulching, I thought this tip might be helpful for those of you who are mulching for other people, like me! I don’t know about ya’ll, but for a long time there, I was risking life and limb getting my dratted wheelbarrow up into my truck to take to clients’ homes on [...]

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Gardening Basics: How to Apply Mulch

June 16, 2009 11 comments
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We’ve talked about why a thick layer of mulch, composty soil, and good watering habits are important if you want to garden more organically; it’s all about giving your plants a foundation of good health so that pest problems will be few and far between. Today we’ll talk specifically about mulch: what it is, what [...]

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Gardening Basics: How to Amend Soil

June 15, 2009 7 comments

We’ve talked about why composty soil, good watering habits, and a thick layer of mulch are important if you want to garden more organically; it’s all about giving your plants a foundation of good health so that pest problems will be few and far between. Today we’ll talk about how to know whether you need [...]

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