What better way to enjoy the romance of the garden than by growing roses? Rose gardening has gotten a bad rap in recent years. Growing roses doesn’t have to be a challenge. Choose the right plant for your garden and you’re halfway to having a spectacular rose garden. Learn the basics of caring for … [Read more...] about Tips for Choosing and Growing Local Roses
Lain
The Secret Garden: Living Christmas Trees Planted as a Natural Screen
As the autumn colors drop the last of their leaves, the gardens can feel naked. Without strategically placed evergreens in the yard, it easily feels like prying eyes look right through your home. Not only does your own privacy seemingly disappear, but that neighbor’s debris pile can be witnessed … [Read more...] about The Secret Garden: Living Christmas Trees Planted as a Natural Screen
Boxwoods Make A Garden Look Better
Thanks to its versatility, boxwood can fit into any landscape, whether a formal or casual design. In winter's sparse garden, this shrub’s strong shape, rich green color and air of old-world formality can dominate the scene. In summer, when the garden is in full bloom, it blends into the lushness, … [Read more...] about Boxwoods Make A Garden Look Better
Eight Gardening Tasks You Must Complete This Month
October is a critical month in landscape maintenance and should not be ignored. As we transition into autumn and the first frosts in November, these key steps keep our landscapes healthy, weed-free and ready for their long slumber through winter. These strategic steps also will provide a rich … [Read more...] about Eight Gardening Tasks You Must Complete This Month
Design a Rose Garden in Five Steps or Less By Ken Lain
Ah, roses. From bud to bloom to falling petals, no garden, from cottage to contemporary, is complete without at least a few of these dreamy flowering shrubs. Their broad variety of growth habits, sizes, colors and textures can fill any niche in the home landscape, and as breeders have made … [Read more...] about Design a Rose Garden in Five Steps or Less By Ken Lain
Ten Foolproof Plants Fun to Grow with Kids
Some of our fondest memories are gardening together, collecting worms from under the tree pots at the nursery, picking a basket full of flowers and the summer harvest. When my kids were small, they worked with me, and instead of money we would visit the pet shop, buy a goldfish and release them into … [Read more...] about Ten Foolproof Plants Fun to Grow with Kids
Nine Steps to an Easy Garden
A good garden results in coffee time with your thoughts, watching a sunrise, the majesty of a butterfly or the buzzing of hummingbirds. “Gardener” is a label proudly worn, but there are some unpleasant tasks that can be eliminated. Weeds are my nemesis, watering is a bane, and chemicals must be … [Read more...] about Nine Steps to an Easy Garden
Ladybugs: Do they Really Work in the Garden?
There are many reasons to love ladybugs. This little red beetle started as a legend during the middle ages. European farmers, about 1000 A.D., struggled with insects that would eat and destroy their crops. At the first sign of crop damage, farmers would pray to “Our Lady the Virgin Mary” for help. … [Read more...] about Ladybugs: Do they Really Work in the Garden?
Preparing Garden Soils for Spring Planting
We know that the better the soil, the larger the harvest, the brighter the flowers, the easier the gardening. Once you've tried digging the first planting hole in a mountain garden, you learn that our native soils are HARD! That’s why successful mountain gardening has always come down to soil … [Read more...] about Preparing Garden Soils for Spring Planting
Holiday Evergreens are Ready for Planting
During the coldest months of the year, evergreens are the anchors that hold together our landscapes. Up to 25 percent of any mountain landscape should be allotted to evergreens. Get this ratio wrong and that winter landscape will appear bare, especially if neighboring yards have evergreens galore. … [Read more...] about Holiday Evergreens are Ready for Planting
