"Help" yards, pictures, and ideas...
Thought About Adding a Water Garden?
Have you been toiling over problems with soil? Have a shady region of the yard where you just can’t keep plants alive? Are you enticed by the possibility of having frogs, fish, and lily pads as part of your garden? A water garden might be just what you need....
Landscaping with a Living Roof
A living or “green” roof is becoming an eco-status symbol with corporations across the U.S. A soil and plant-based roof minimizes water runoff, reduces the urban “heat island” effect, and helps protect against soil erosion. Some homeowners are taking the trend residential as well....
What is Mulch?
Mulching is one of the easiest and most beneficial gardening practices. Mulching can help you conserve water, prevent weed growth, and return nutrients to your soil. It can also serve as a nice landscaping tool....
Blend Wheelchair Ramps Into Your Landscape Design
As the Baby Boomer generation ages, it’s possible that we’ll see a shift in how residential areas are made accessible. It’s not hard to imagine McMansions with wide, elaborately decorated granite wheel chair ramps....
Feed the Earth! A Guide to Composting
If you’ve ever tried to grow a lush, productive vegetable or flower garden in your yard—which you hoped would be the envy of your neighbors—only to have pale, lifeless plants emerge from the earth and struggle to hang on, then you may need to practice composting. ...
What Is Integrated Pest Management?
Integrated pest management – sometimes called IPM or integrated gardening – is not nearly as complicated as it sounds. Simply put, it is an environmentally friendly approach to pest management that uses minimal amounts of chemical pesticides....
Old Roses: The Ultimate Antique
The old rose is a living testament to history and to man’s quest for beauty. The term, “old rose” means a rose with ancient ancestors, one that has not been hybridized but has been vegetatively propagated—passed down through history by obtaining “cuttings” from the plant....
Five More Tips for Terrific Tomatoes
Okay, so now you know to heat your soil, pluck suckers, prune, bury deep, and fan your stems. What else could there be? Here are five more tips. ...
Five Foolproof Tomato Growing Tips
Growing tomatoes is easy, but growing the picture-perfect tomatoes we all want isn’t. I remember when I began growing vegetables; I had visions of big, shiny, juicy, red tomatoes. Unfortunately, the tomatoes I grew didn’t measure up to this ideal....
Pros and Cons of Trees Near Your Outdoor Kitchen
One of the most pleasant aspects of having an outdoor kitchen is being able to spend time in the fresh air. On cool days, it’s also nice to have the sun shining down on you. But most people want some shade over their cooking area to help beat the heat during the prime BBQ season of summer....
