What Should the Kansas State Fruit be?
Kansas is well-known for a number of representative symbols, but we have no state fruit. Other states have a state fruit, but not us. Why is that? Well, for one thing, state symbols are not pressing business within the branches of our government. Just like the Kansas state insect, the honeybee, it is up to […]
How To Attract Insect Pollinators to Your Garden
Welcome to the new year! Last season was one of the busiest gardening seasons for many across the country, with many new gardeners. With all those new gardeners, came a plethora of questions about a wide range of gardening topics. I am going to kick off the new year with one of the most important […]
12 Things Every Gardener Should Know
You know the song… “and a partridge in a pear tree”. Well, I do not know about the partridge, but I would take the pear tree. Anyways, as 2020 comes to a close, I was thinking about all the gardening questions I answered through the year. And I have a list of the 12 most […]
Growing Fruit – Problems of Apples and Pears
Just as soon as I get one thing done in the orchard, more work suddenly springs upon me. When growing fruit trees with as few chemical inputs as possible, there can never be too much time in the orchard. While I am still learning, there is much that I can teach. Let us look at […]
The Care of Trees – Major Diseases of Trees
As we head into autumn we need to start preparing for next season’s round of diseases. Some of these diseases of trees will affect us now and into winter, while others pop up during spring and summer. Knowing which disease is most likely to be a problem for our trees is important to preventing major […]
The Care of Trees – Planting Trees
“Life is a shade better under a tree”. I mentioned this quote used by Grimm’s Gardens founder Doug Grimm in last week’s post on trees for autumn. Trees are amazing things; they provide us with shade, shelter, lumber, food, and much more. Planting and growing trees has been at the foundation of Grimm’s Gardens, and […]
What is a Landscape?
Definition of a landscape The definition of a landscape is as follows: An area of land that has a particular quality or appearance. Landscape designers, horticulturalists, Master gardeners and the like go further, we define a landscape as a series of outdoor spaces, or rooms, that provide health and well-being benefits to those who encounter […]
Edible Plants You Didn’t Know You Had
In this time of uncertainty, and the worry over possible food shortages, people are gardening more and more. In you own already landscaped yard, have you wondered what plants might be edible? There are a variety of edible plants you didn’t know you had, already growing in almost every landscape. Learning what plants grow in […]
Attracting Birds – Part 1
I was recently discussing attracting birds with a church member. She was disappointed by the lack of diversity in bird species that visited her yard on a yearly basis. She lives in the country, away from large populations of people, surrounded mostly by crop ground, with a few narrowly wooded ravines and ponds. Even though […]
