To many of us, fall means mums on the porch. I didn't want mine to be like everyone else's though so I tried something a bit different. Check it out:

 

All I needed was potting soil, a cute pot and a mum!  How're you decorating for fall?

~…

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Help, dear gardening friends! I received 2 lovely violets at a tradeshow recently. I brought them home and potted them both in a double-wide planter. The planter sits inside my kitchen window. One is thriving and blooming. The other? Well I officially called time of death on it this last weekend. MyViolet, the company I got the violets from, has a plant diagnosis tool on their website but my plant doesn't have a lot of symptoms at this…

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I get a nasty case of hay fever every year. Why, at this very moment my head feels like it may explode and I'd rather be dozing. The culprit of my misery? Ragweed. That lovely-to-look-at-yellow adoring much of the midwest's roadsides and fields. The plant that, if what I've read is correct, can each individually produce a BILLION grains of pollen a season. So take a stab at how I feel when I see…

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Check out this table.

You could sit at a meal and pluck an herb growing from your table legs as part of your dinner!

 

It's a Plantable table from JAILmake.

 

I'm guessing the inventors don't have kids or pets.

I can only imagine how much fun my dogs would have…

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I think the constant cicada serenade is a key part to late summer/early fall.

I love hearing the buzz and consider it part of the soundtrack to the season! I also think their molted shells are pretty cool to find here & there among my trees.

Cicadas can actually do quite a bit of damage to trees, young…

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If you are experiencing sandy or rocky soil you may be losing valuable nutrients that would otherwise be available to your plants through excess leaching. Because of the high water filtration rates in sandy and/or rocky soils, these areas can be flushed of nutrients and minerals, making it difficult for grass and plants to thrive. Generally these areas are also lacking organic matter, the good stuff that makes healthy soil so dark and rich. Over time, given the proper methods, it is possible to… Continue

With the exception of coastal areas or the southwestern desert, most people who live in North America have to deal with clay in their soils.

 

Clay has a tendency to become compacted, reduce water infiltration rates and lock up key nutrients in the soil.

 

 

Don't…

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Do you have too much shade in your lawn or garden area? I do!



Shade problems have more to do with what is growing above ground than in the ground. Grass and other vegetation depend on a few key items to grow and be healthy: proper soil structure, nutrition, water and sunlight. Eliminating one of these key items can be devastating to your lawn or garden. If your lawn… Continue

We're on the road again! Just when we were settling back in at home in Iowa, we're packing up again. This time we're traveling to Indianapolis for the Garden Writers Association (GWA) symposium. We'll be in booth #77 in the exhibit hall but we're also looking forward to the conference sessions. Please stop by and see us if you're attending.



We got great feedback from the Independent Garden… Continue

Most bare spots on lawns, or spots that aren't flourishing, are caused by compaction and crusting within the top few inches of the soil. Water and oxygen are not able to pass through the hardened soil and get to the grass roots, so the lawn suffers.

 

The best prevention for bare or brown areas is to create an environment for the roots to grow.

 

Tips For Improving Lawn Health

• Create a favorable soil structure by using a soil…

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I recently had the opportunity to tour a great community garden.

It's a 39-plot garden created by GuideOne for their employees, right on their corporate property.

 

The 55 gardeners work on their plots over lunch or after work and they're a mix of veggies and flowers.

 

There was a nice…

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