Seasonal
Ecological Gardening Tips for Spring
As spring begins in earnest, pause for a moment before rushing off to the nursery or garden center to shop for plants. First, consider how the steps you take and the choices you make can increase the health of your landscape and the environment around you. Here are some tips to get you started: 1) Do a soil test before you…
Read MorePut Down that Rake! What Leaves Can Do for You and Your Landscape
It’s that time of year when leaves seem to blanket everything in sight in much of the U.S., at least in locales where there is an abundance of deciduous trees and shrubs. For years, homeowners have taken great care to remove every dead leaf from their landscapes as if those leaves were coated with toxic waste. An army of rakes…
Read MoreMy Brugmansia: A Native Plant Geek Goes AWOL
It started innocently enough. While volunteering at a plant sale held by Lasdon Park, a local arboretum, I spotted a dozen or so lanky, young Brugmansias for sale. The plant-loving staff, had scored these tropical wonders, offering them for sale amid a treasure trove of native and ornamental trees and shrubs. But the Brugmansias stood out, calling like a siren to…
Read MoreGoing Beyond Sustainability: The Essentials of EcoBeneficial Gardening
Spring is just around the corner. A late season snowstorm might sneak in, or perhaps we’ll jump right into to a string of unseasonably warm days. With climate change, the timing of spring is increasingly hard to predict. Don’t let the growing season catch you by surprise this year. Start planning your goals for your landscape or your clients’ landscapes.…
Read MoreWelcoming Birds Back to the Garden this Spring
As the weather warms, neo-tropical migrating birds start to reappear in our landscapes. Are you ready to offer a proper welcome? Resources can be slim at this time of year in our landscapes, both for overwintering birds and returning migrants. Now more than ever, we need to provide welcoming habitats for birds. According to the National Audubon Society, 20 of…
Read More20 Resolutions for the EcoBeneficial Landscape
It’s that time of year to make your resolutions for 2015. Don’t forget to include your landscape! Here are 20 resolutions to get you started toward a healthier ecosystem: 1) Reduce or eliminate the “Green Desert” (turf/lawn). Exotic turf grass is an ecological wasteland. When replacing lawn, don’t replace one monoculture with another. Plant diversely using regionally appropriate native plants.…
Read MoreSpring Wildflowers With Carol Gracie part 1
After a long, cold, seemingly never-ending winter, what a treat it was to go on a spring wildflower hike with author, photographer and naturalist Carol Gracie. Gracie is the author of two excellent books on wildflowers. Her first book, Wildflowers in the Field and Forest: A Field Guide to the Northeastern United States, was co-authored with Steven Clemants and published…
Read MoreA Bakers Dozen of EcoBeneficial Ideas for Earth Day
Give your ecosystem a gift this Earth Day with these 13 ideas that are sure to please the environment: 1) Select at least 25% of your lawn that you don’t really use. Make a commitment to turn that area into a habitat garden by the end of spring (pollinators, butterflies, birds, etc.). 2) Comb your garage and garden shed for…
Read MoreGardening Tips for April 1
Here are some helpful gardening tips for April 1: – Increase your lawn. – Plant more invasive exotic plants. – Plant in monocultures. – Use more pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. – Put the wrong plant in the wrong place. – Ignore the above and download: “Top 20 Ways to Create an EcoBeneficial Landscape” https://www.ecobeneficial.com/top-20-tips Happy April Fool’s Day! from Kim…
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