A patio is like an extra room of your house, serving as an outdoor living room, dining room, kitchen, and playroom. If you live in a townhouse, it may even serve as your “yard”! And just like any other part of your home, you’ll want to make the patio comfortable, beautiful, and functional. I’ve compiled …
Serena Manickam
Invasive plants are one of the most significant threats to biodiversity in parts of the country. These species proliferate and spread aggressively, competing against native plants for space, sunlight, water, and nutrients. In addition to degrading ecosystems, invasive plants can negatively affect the economy as they impact agriculture, outdoor recreation, and other sectors. The good …
I love planting a row of sunflowers along my vegetable garden fence. Their tall stalks add another level to the garden, and their large, yellow flowers bring sunny cheer. More than visual interest, though, sunflowers provide other benefits to the garden. They attract bees and other pollinators, which are essential for crops like squash and …
There’s something timeless about an old oak tree. Maybe it’s the swing that hangs from one of its branches, the cool shade it casts on summer afternoons, or the way it’s quietly witnessed years of backyard memories. But when it comes to landscaping beneath one, things get tricky. You might picture a lush, green lawn …
It’s thin and tall and almost never comes out by the root. Instead, it breaks off just below the soil surface and releases a pungent oniony odor that lingers on your hand. It’s onion grass. Tufts of onion grass grow taller than the rest of the lawn, and strands of it poke up through the …
Ground covers are infinitely useful plants when it comes to landscaping and gardening. They can fill in any empty spaces, provide a low-maintenance solution for hard-to-reach places, and even replace grass as a sustainable lawn alternative. For example, evergreen ground covers provide winter color, while flowering types offer a pop of springtime excitement to your …
I have discovered that garlic is a wonderfully easy and enormously satisfying crop to grow. After planting and mulching my softneck garlic cloves in early November, I mostly ignore that section of the garden until the summer harvest time. And then the fun begins: loosening the soil with a digging fork, giving each stalk a …
Here we are at the end of the alphabet! There are so many fun and unique flowers for every letter in the alphabet. Many of the zesty flowers that start with Z come from tropical areas, yet nearly all of them can find a home in your garden with the proper care. Let’s dive in …
What if, instead of being the source of a groan-inducing, time-consuming chore (mowing), your lawn became a food source? Imagine ditching the mower for fresh fruits, veggies, nuts, and even eggs. There are many reasons to grow food, not lawns, and the transition from grass to greens can be relatively simple. No matter how big …
When asked to name a word that starts with the letter X, many of us will think first of xylophone or X-ray. If asked to name a flower that starts with X, we’ll probably just scratch our heads. But such plants do exist! From exotic tropical blooms to hardy ornamentals with surprising origins, these X-named …