Dry Streams – Adding Functionality to the Garden
Dry streams are a way to hide or transform water using locations within the garden. These areas are not rain gardens, but low and sloped spots that water runs through quickly after a rain. It might be the location of the downspout outflow, a sloped spot in a level lawn, or a drainage swale used […]
A Look Through My Garden in 2021
My garden. Each year, I open up my garden to all of you, via the internet. 2021 was an interesting year, both in the garden and elsewhere. In my garden, the heat of summer played a big part in the amount (or lack thereof) of maintenance which I did. I am already changing some of […]
Preparing the Garden for Winter
If you are like me, you have a large chore sheet for the garden, before winter sets in. Besides my 70 some maintenance customers, I have a large 1 acre (so far) garden to prepare for the cold months. And only about 6 to 8 weeks to do it all. Read on for helpful hints […]
5 Easy to Grow Perennials that are Underused
There are 5 easy to grow perennials that are vastly underused in our landscapes. As a landscape maintenance foreman, I travel across Northeast Kansas and Southeast Nebraska. While doing so, I observe multiple landscapes and their plantings. What I have found is that most landscapes use the same plant pallette, though different cultivars. It is […]
Bleeding Hearts – April Plant of the Month
The bleeding hearts are our 2021 Plant of the Month for April. I love these plants in my garden, as well as the native ones growing in the woods nearby. Each spring I look forward to their fern-like foliage, topped with pink, red, or white “hearts”. There are two separate genuses that the bleeding hearts […]
Lenten Rose – March Plant of the Month
The Lenten rose is not a rose at all, but rather a member of the buttercup family. This family also includes such plants as anemones, clematis, and delphiniums. Native to southern and central Europe, Lenten roses have long been a part of traditions around the Lenten period. Lent is the period of 40 days from […]
Vegetable Pests of the Central Great Plains
Vegetable pests range from caterpillars to beetles to slugs and snails. How can we gardeners combat the barrage of insect and animal pests that fight for control of our gardens each year? What is the best way of managing these issues? Well, I am here to tell you that we can only do this together. […]
Shade Gardening: Creation and Maintenance
Shade gardening is more than just an idea, it is a way of life for those living among the trees. When I first moved east from central Kansas, I had no idea that shade gardening would become such a big part of my everyday life. But after moving from town to town, my wife and […]
Houseplants Easy to Grow – Top 10
If there is one thing that refuses to grow in my own house, it is houseplants. Because I live in a wooded landscape, with large roof eaves (4 foot), houseplants do not like me. And I will not change out the lighting in my home to grow them. But I have cared for them at […]
