The Need For SPEED(y) Organic Weed Control

"How do I get rid of weeds in my garden?" This is probably the most common question I get on my blog, website, and Facebook page, usually coming from someone wanting to garden organically and frustrated there's not a fast, easy recipe for weed elimination. It's sort of like my inability to lose a few pounds.…

Oh, deer, not tonight, please

Help! We bought a house in the suburbs that needed new landscaping, but every time I put out plants, the deer come during the night and eat them. What can I do? Ask folks planning a move into the countryside how they feel about nature and they’ll express devotion. A year and hundreds of landscaping…

WHEN to plant WHAT

My confession that rules were blatantly disregarded when I planted shrubs during  July brought sorrowful bent heads and looks of disapproval.  And those were just from Gus the Wonder Cat..... I can imagine what your thoughts on the subject might be. As a designer, I often myself tempted to The Dark Side, putting FORM before…

FREE FRIDAY! and Summer is NOT the time to plant

To celebrate August, the end-of- summer (since schools start ever-earlier), I'll have a FREE FRIDAY tomorrow. Go to my author FaceBook page and pick which one of my children's books you want and I'll pick you. Or Gus the Wonder Cat will pick for me. IF he's in the mood for that kind of thing.…

Living with Low Spots

After it rains, our back yard takes forever to drain. It's so discouraging to plant things and they drown. How can we get rid of the water without flooding our neighbors? Drainage dilemmas plague many folks, either with seasonal sinkholes where water collects after a rain or a spot that's always spongy and nothing grows…