Walking Through Wildflower Gardens
A few years ago I took one of my sons camping in the Wasatch Mountains near our home. It was early in the spring and after hiking until dark, we set up camp in a small meadow. In the morning we realized the opposite end of our small meadow was covered with wildflowers. As we ate breakfast and the sun lit up our camp, the wildflower colors really came alive. I decided the difference in …
How to Stop Your Dog from Digging Up Your Garden
Let’s face it. If your lovable little furry friend is creating craters in your yard, he’s only doing what comes naturally. Digging is a natural part of puppy hood and some adult dogs dig because it is part of their genetic make up.
So Is It The Dog or The Garden?
If your furry friend is digging his way to China it is possible you will never stop his digging completely. But many people have dogs and …
Raised Garden Beds-An Indispensible Method in the Organic Garden
While it would be wonderful to have garden soil with the perfect balance of clay and sand resulting in a wonderful loam that all plants enjoy, there are not very many people who can boast that this is the condition of their soil, even after years of building and conditioning. Raised garden beds are a great way to make up for this deficit in the organic garden.
Building raised beds may seem a daunting task at …
Vertical Gardening. Great Spaces in Small Places.
Not every gardener has the luxury of expanses of land to till for their gardens. In fact, some great gardeners have produced beautiful gardens on a patio or balcony. They were able to do this as a result of smart use of vertical gardening.
There are many uses and applications of upward space in any size garden. Most plants can be adapted to this method, even if it is not their natural tendency. This method can …
What I Can’t Live Without
I’ll turn 30 on April 24th. I’ve been gardening since I was three years old. I remember picking green beans with my parents at their first house. I remember calling Asiatic lilies “bubblegum flowers” because I thought they smelled like gum. I remember dumping sand from my sandbox in my mom’s flower bed, telling her it “improved drainage.”
I had my very …
Building a Water Garden Pond
[caption id="attachment_225" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="On Garden Pond"][/caption]Building a water garden pond in your own backyard is something many dream about, but few accomplish. Many factors work together and help to put people off starting the process, and yet others are daunted when they are faced with a choice of pond kits and don’t know how to start choosing which one will be right for them.
Price …
Organic Gardening Book Reviews: The Gardener’s A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food
With my new vegetable gardening project this spring, I have been reading a bunch of gardening books. You name it, I have it or have read it. I personally helped Chris select the books for the Organic Gardening Bookstore. They are all good ones. It is my mission to eventually review them all. This …
Go With me on my Gardening Journey
Yesterday, I talked to Chris. It is always interesting, because he lives in the freezing cold wasteland of Canada (just kidding, Chris. Love ya!) and I live in the (generally) warm and toasty North Carolina. He gardens in the temperate plain region, and I garden in the coastal, humid south. He …
Should I get a Compost Tumbler?
[caption id="attachment_932" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="A nice, basic but effective compost tumbler"][/caption]I am back from the compost hiatus. Last Sunday, we (and when I say “we,” I mean “my husband”) cleaned out the gutters. There was some serious composting already happening in there. My fellow garden tweeters let me know that gutter compost is good stuff. It sure looked it! We …
Top Tips for Fall Gardening
In the last post, we gave you all kinds of advice about what NOT to do to put your garden to bed in the fall. I figured that it was only fair to follow that post with a list of things you SHOULD do at this time of year to tuck your garden in for the winter. If you follow this advice, …
