Overwatering has ended more plant collections than neglect ever has, and the sooner a new plant parent knows this, the better their odds. The guilt is familiar: you brought home a cheerful pothos or a sculptural snake plant, watered it faithfully, and watched it slowly yellow and collapse anyway. The natural conclusion is that you …
Gardening
Your garden is full of plants you deliberately chose, carefully planted, and genuinely love. That’s exactly what makes this so hard to say: some of the most beautiful, most beloved cottage garden staples — the ones in every nursery, on every Pinterest board, in your grandmother’s backyard — are genuinely dangerous to dogs. Not mildly …
Many moons before bags of store-bought soil and glossy seed catalogs were readily available, your great-grandparents toiled the earth with gardening wisdom that had been passed down through generations. Just a half a decade ago, gardens were places to connect with each other, where families grew nourishing food, healing herbs, and flowers that added beauty …
Spring is right around the corner, and that means hills, meadows, and green spaces will soon be bursting to life with all sorts of stunning wildflowers! From majestic bluebonnets painting the Texas countryside to golden sunflowers swaying under the California Sun, there will be beauty pretty much everywhere you look! Of course, these stunning blooms …
Most gardeners walk right past the best garden décor they’ll ever own. It’s sitting on a thrift store shelf right now, mislabeled as kitchen surplus or old camping equipment, waiting for someone with a little imagination to take it home. Summer is in full swing, and so is the annual temptation to blow your budget …
If your garden has been underperforming despite amending with compost, fertilizer, and careful watering, the issue may not be effort; it may be information. Soil testing garden beds gives you clarity about what your plants actually need before you invest another dollar in amendments. By providing a snapshot of your soil’s current nutrient levels, soil …
Most gardeners pick flowers they love and hope for the best. Garden designers pick by the color wheel, and the difference is visible from the street. The good news? Color theory for gardens isn’t complicated. It boils down to one principle: colors that sit opposite each other on the color wheel create the most electric …
Pollinators are small creatures with a big impact. In fact, they are responsible for about one of every three bites of food we eat! Most of the flowering plants on earth–including the ones we depend upon for food–rely on bees, birds, butterflies, bats, and other animals in order to reproduce. Unfortunately, many of these important …
Starting a garden can feel overwhelming. There are things to buy, seeds to plant, things to keep watered and alive. Isn’t it easier to buy cucumbers at the grocery store? Not necessarily. When done right, access to fresh produce right in your backyard (or patio) is easier and cheaper than you think. There’s no need …
Lettuce is one of the easiest crops to grow in a backyard garden. Most gardeners spend weeks nurturing it from seed, only to harvest it once and pull the whole plant. That single mistake cuts a potentially long harvest short. The issue is that many home growers learned to harvest lettuce from a quick online …