Lawn & Garden

Cultivate Comfy Beds

Gardening enthusiasts may have been thinking about their landscape plans throughout the winter, eager to once again get their hands dirty with soil. Whether a home gardener is making preparations for edible crops or beautiful flowers, he or she must take time to make the soil amenable to planting. To establish hearty, durable plants, gardeners can focus on three main areas: addressing soil composition, cultivating and adding nutrients. ∫ Soil composition: Many gardeners prefer growing a variety of plants in their gardens. Such an approach requires taking inventory of the type of ...

Plan Your Planter Like a Pro

(AP) — A flower planter or hanging basket bought ready-made at a nursery: lush with showy, vibrant blooms, providing an instant splash for your porch, stoop or deck. Your DIY flower container: sparse-looking for weeks, with one plant that dies, and scraggly stems, small blooms or yellowing leaves as the season goes on. Still, many gardeners keep trying. “The benefits of doing it yourself would be choosing your own color scheme, choosing plants that are going to work best for your area, and getting to see it grow in,” says Jamie Gulley of Gulley Greenhouse in Fort Collins, ...

Grow a Smorgasbord of Flowers

Cultivating beautiful blooms is a popular pastime for gardeners near and far. While gazing at a yard full of vibrant colors or enjoying the aroma of freshly cut blooms is enough for many gardeners, others may want to embrace a long-enduring tradition — growing edible flowers. Cooking with edible flowers is a trend that has endured for centuries. According to Fleurs Gourmandes, the first recorded history of edible flowers occurred in 140 B.C. Use of calendula in salads dates back to the ancient Greeks and Romans. Victorian-era candied flowers and flower-encrusted sweets took edible ...

Hole-y Mole-y!

Soft, spongy lawns may be indicative of various problems underfoot that occur relatively sight unseen. Barring a septic system backup or considerable flooding, insects or animals may be to blame. In many areas, burrowing wildlife can wreak havoc on landscapes. Identifying which critter is causing the damage helps homeowners develop the most effective solutions to issues involving wildlife. ∫ Moles — Moles will spend much of their lives underground, rarely coming up to the surface. They spend their days digging long tunnels from their dens in search of grubs, earthworms and tuber ...

  • 1
  • 2