Making A Raised-Bed Garden
Making permanent beds. Use rot-resistant wood such as cedar, or bricks, rocks, or cement blocks to create a bed that is at least 1 foot deep, no more than 3 to 4 feet wide, and as long as you like. If the beds are ... [... more]
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Planting A Child-Friendly Garden
Since many other plants -- even something as familiar as rhubarb leaves -- are toxic, teach your child to consult with you before anything into his or her mouth. Only a few are so toxic they should not be used around ... [... more]
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Establishing A Wildflower Meadow
Sow seeds. Sowing in mid- to late summer eliminates many of the sprouting weeds that often plague spring plantings, but is useful only for grasses and perennial flowers. If you choose a mix containing many annual ... [... more]
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Drawing A Landscape Map
Establish accurate locations. Using stakes and string, mark a straight line along a property boundary, starting at one corner. Keeping the tape measure at a 90? angle from the boundary, measure the distance from the ... [... more]
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Coping With Pest Deer
Repellents. There are quite a few products with flavors and odors offensive to deer that gardeners can spray on plants or spread on the soil. Some (fermented egg yolks) offend deer's sense of smell; others (predator ... [... more]
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Planning A Low-Maintenance Landscape
Choose timesaving systems and surfaces. Consider lower-maintenance alternatives to solve landscape problems, such as an automatic irrigation system for watering the lawn and garden; a deck, paved patio, or ground ... [... more]
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Planting Hedges And Screens
Assess your needs. Are you looking for living fence for year-round privacy, or just for seasonal screening? How much maintenance can you manage? Do you want a mixture of plants with multiseason interest (flowers, ... [... more]
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Preparing A New Garden Plot
Eliminate the competition. Remove existing lawn by slicing under the sod with a spade and cutting it into manageable pieces. Add the pieces to your compost or use it to patch bare spots elsewhere. Kill weeds with ... [... more]
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Fertilizing Lawns
To avoid lawn damage, apply only 1/2 to 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000-sq. ft. at a time, making several small applications throughout the growing season. For example, if your lawn needs 2 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 ... [... more]
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Planting Trees
Buy trees and shrubs bare-root, in containers, or with roots and soil wrapped in burlap. Bare-root plants are the most economical. There's no heavy soil to manage or containers to plant. But bare-root plants, which ... [... more]
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Improving Clay Soil
Add organic matter. This helps improve drainage and lighten heavy soil. It also provides nutrients for beneficial soil microorganisms which will, in turn, also help improve the soil. Before planting in spring, add ... [... more]
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Plugging And Sprigging A Lawn
Make a planting grid. Use stakes and string to mark out rows. Space plug rows 6 to 12 inches apart, depending the grass. Along each row, use a trowel or bulb planter to make sufficiently deep (usually 1 to 2 inches ... [... more]
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