Starter Vegetable Garden

A different design- A small vegetable patch is one of the first gardens I made when I was a twenty-something. I hadn’t really gardened on my own, but I knew what a delicious treat a fresh homegrown tomato was… I had enjoyed them from my mother’s garden. And my mother’s vegetable gardens never changed very much from what is essentially an easy starter vegetable garden. So this little...

The Xeriscape Solution

What is a xeriscape? Xeriscaping is the art of taking plants that need little water and using them in your landscape. That is the best worded definition I have found. The dictionary says, “environmental design of residential and park land using various methods for minimizing the need for water use.” Don’t you hate hauling that hose all over the garden when it gets dry? That is one of the most...

Three Garden Questions

Many know of the garden author Christopher Lloyd and his famous ‘Great Dixter‘. Christopher Lloyd passed on from this earthly garden in 2006, but his achievement in creating one of the great gardens of the world continues. An interview with its head gardener, Fergus Garrett, presents some history and insights into how the garden was made, and from this comes three questions for our home...

Steps To Making An Herb Garden

An herb garden is one of the easiest to begin. Herbs grow quickly and often need little care. After awhile they may become a bit ungainly in habit, then it will be time to clip and divide, but that might be one of the most pleasurable tasks you undertake in any garden- the fragrance of cut herbs is a delight to the senses. Let’s get started with our new herb garden!Pick a sunny spot Make a geometric planting...

5 Tips to Improve Clay Soil

soil amendmentsEvery type of soil has its good and bad characteristics, and like every woman knows, it is a matter of playing up the good features that creates the beauty of the whole. Clay soil has some features that given the right treatment repay you with a garden to be envied.Treat it right. Try to preserve good tilth (crumbliness) by not compacting the soil with foot traffic. Use a board to distribute...