SPRING GARDEN NOTEBOOK
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Weed before they Seed
Weeds will emerge in a newly installed garden the first few years, even if you weeded your garden beforehand or applied mulch, guaranteed. There are several reasons for...
Your yard is a salad bowl
One of the most common questions I receive is "How do I get rid of the rabbits or voles in my yard? If I had an answer or solution, I'd be a millionaire but at the same...
Dark Skies Matter
Light pollution problems and some suggestions for preventing/reducing light pollution.
A Living Mulch – Allowing Plants to spread as Nature intended
We humans, including myself, were taught to maintain our gardens unnaturally by growing plants spaced apart ,separated by wood mulch around each plant. If we want a natured based, environmentally friendly garden we must allow plants to spread and fill in all the bare areas of a garden as a living mulch. This is the way nature has been gardening for thousands of years!
4 W’s of Basic Garden Maintenance: Water, Weed, Watch and Wait
A native garden is like traditional gardens in some ways, but different in other ways. Now we’re welcoming local ecology, natural processes and plants which naturally grow together. Below are a few basic garden maintenance tips everyone should follow.
Treating Water as a Precious Resource, Not a Waste Product
Here is a summary of my presentation from Chicago Wilderness Wild Things Conference on February 2, 2013 Many of us think of run-off from rain fall, snow melt or...
Plant Profile: Indigo Bush, A little known Beauty
Indigo Bush or False Indigo (Amorpha fruiticosa) is one of my favorite late spring blooming shrubs/small trees. Its deep purple blooms, bright orange stamens and fine textured leaves are a welcoming contrast to the many white blooming, larger leaved native shrubs that bloom about the same time.
Composting Tips – Harvesting & Using (Nature’s) Gold
By making my own compost, I am adding only pesticide and herbicide free material to my pile, I am recycling what would be considered a waste product with associated costs, I’m generating a resource valuable to my garden and other living organisms, and I’m protecting wildlife which may be present on plant material I cut back.
Spring Cleanup – not so fast!
Just think about what happens in the natural world each spring before starting your spring cleanup.
Dead Wood and Rocks
Many folks understand the importance of protecting and supporting nature in our yards. Snags, brush & rock piles, are features sometimes overlooked, but can easily be incorporated into our yards to benefit wildlife.
Why Can’t Weed be Friends?
My husband and I maintain all areas of our landscape organically, especially our lawn, because we believe it is an environmentally responsible and safer choice. Now we have a few weeds in our lawn, but we learned many are beneficial to wildlife.