Soil Health - Fine Gardening
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Design
A Sophisticated Garden Designed with Native Plants for Pollinators
As a landscape designer, I’m well accustomed to a challenge. So I wasn’t too worried when the homeowner of a property in Aldie, Virginia, gave me a seemingly straightforward mandate:…
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How-To
Root Rot Identification and Treatment
Roots are the foundation of a plant, vital organs that anchor it in the soil, absorbing water and nutrients. Unfortunately, because roots are rarely seen in full, the problems that…
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Design
Top Native Shrubs to Replace Boxwood in Your Landscape
Throw a stone in any neighborhood, and more likely than not, you'll hit a boxwood tree. Boxwood (Buxus spp. and cvs., Zones 4–9) is the most popular evergreen shrub sold…
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How-To
The Science of Garden Soil Health: What You Need to Know to Keep Your Garden Growing
Beneath our feet lies a vibrant yet under-appreciated ecosystem. Far more complex than mere dirt, soil is a matrix of mineral particles, organic matter, living organisms, water, and air. Scientists…
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Design
Garden Tour of a Sustainable Native Plant Oasis Bursting with Fall Color
When Jeff Lorenz and Kayla Fell purchased this property in the Philadelphia suburbs, they knew they had their work cut out for them. A front and back yard of mostly…
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Design
How an Eco-Friendly Redesign Turned this Uninspired Landscape into a Sustainable Haven
Narberth is one of many neighborhoods on the historic Main Line in Philadelphia’s western suburbs. Known as America’s Garden Capital, this area is home to a variety of public gardens,…
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Design
Why to Stop Tilling and Grow Your Garden Like a Prairie
In graduate school my research involved comparing the health of soils in remnant native tallgrass prairies to adjacent farmlands. One of the lessons I learned is that we’d all be…
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How-To
3 Ways Fallen Leaves Can Improve Your Garden
Green leaves are the energy engines that fuel our gardens. Without them there would be no flowers, no sugars for summer tomatoes, and no cooling or oxygenating the air while…
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How-To
How to Use Compost in the Garden to Combat Intense Heat and Drought
There is no way to sugarcoat the challenges many of us in the Mid-Atlantic region have faced this summer. The inconsistency of rainfall and the extreme high temperatures have greatly…
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How-To
Setting Up a Three-Bin Compost System
The value of having compost available for use in the home garden is immeasurable, and the convenience of creating that compost on-site for instant availability adds to the reward. Of…