Gardening
Below are links to articles posted in Gardening.
The Best Type of Pot for Container Gardening
Garden planters can be made of a wide variety of materials, do you know which is best, do you know the pros and cons of each? Ceramic Ceramic or clay pots from plain terra cotta to fancy glazed colorful examples, are some of the most widely recognized and used garden containers, probably because they’re old […]
Three Simple Tips for a Beautiful Ornamental Garden Bed
My garden beds are looking wonderful right about now, and, not to toot my own horn, but nothing else in the neighborhood comes close. I was pondering my success today, and decided that there was probably just a few key principles I follow in the design process to achieve the looks I’ve gotten. I know […]
Introducing: Wildcrafting
When I’m not gardening I’m running websites and I have a new one I want to tell you about. It isn’t strictly about gardening, it is more about living off the land, but topically those two things are very close, and I think many of you will be interested in this. Wildcrafting.net is an advanced […]
Purslane, Weed or Feed?
Purslane (portulaca oleracea), also called verdolaga, pigweed, little hogweed, or pusley, is a weed, or is it? It is naturalized the world over and is a very very successful plant. It can grow in cold northern areas, it is succulent so it can withstand droughts (not unlike sedum actually), it can handle poor soils, and […]
Caterpillars on a Pine Tree
The other day, well, almost 4 weeks ago (we’ve got a new baby, and so I’ve been too busy to blog), on my way to the hospital to see said baby I noticed large clumps of something on my Tanyosho pine. The pine hadn’t been looking too hot this Spring but I hadn’t looked too […]
Recycle Nursery Pots, Grow Potatoes
What do you do with the big mammajamma containers that trees or large shrubs are delivered in from the nursery? Well you could recycle them if they’re made of #2 plastic, but many are made of #5 or something and unable to be recycled (at least at our recycling center) and in anycase reuse is […]
How to Stake a Tree
Short answer, don’t. Most trees that are staked do not need to be. In fact I would venture that most trees you, the individual homeowner, plant do not need to be staked. Yes, any tree small enough to be handled by one person really doesn’t need to be staked. Trees only need to be staked […]
Video: How to Build a Raised Island Bed with Retaining Wall Bricks
I’m doing videos now, this is the first one I’ve posted (though the fourth I’ve filmed). Some notes. 1. Expect to spend around $5 a linear foot for a 2 brick above ground (3 rows total) retaining wall as in the video. This assumes $1.50 per brick. 2. Use high quality soil for back filling. […]
How to Protect Plants from Frost, and Building Microclimates
So, bad knews. I thought last weekend was the end. I allowed myself to say “Wow, no late frosts this year, awesome!” Boy was that stupid. Now, tonight, they’re predicting a late frost. I bought some hardy kiwi vines in 2004 and they have grown quite a bit. Had I known in advance I would […]
Carpet Phlox, a great groundcover
When this blog started I really liked Ice Plant and it was my favorite groundcover. Not anymore. As much as I liked ice plant for it’s drought invulnerability and it’s nonstop all summer long flowers, it is only marginally hardy here and I had problems keeping it coming back. I planted some carpet phlox way […]