Tag Archives: landscaping

Do It Yourself Woods Management

There is a treasure trove out there in the yard, if one only stops to look for it. We live on two acres of wooded property. Some of it is overgrown. Okay, a lot of it is overgrown. When you live in the woods, you tend to live and let live. Even the poison ivy feels comfortable here. It tells its friends, and we get some new crops spouting up each year. Still, there is only so much of this overgrown plant stuff that a former city girl can take. And so, with my limited skills (hey, I can smack … Continue reading →

My Yard Goes Disney

Many of my friends are addicted to Home and Garden Television, or HG-TV. I don’t know if any of them are Disney fans, and that’s a shame. Disney website Stitch Kingdom reveals that beginning on June 6, HG-TV will air the new show “My Yard Goes Disney.” For the show Orlando-area families can sign up in hopes to win an outdoor makeover for their home by Disney designers. Yard decor will be inspired by Walt Disney World and the theme of “family memories.” That last bit clicked in my mind. It wouldn’t be too difficult to extrapolate why Disney might … Continue reading →

Hiring Help When You’re a Single Parent

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My most recent blog post was really more of a vent about the frustrations that sometimes come with the territory of being a single parent, mainly because we are left to do most everything ourselves. I have recently been considering hiring someone to mow my yard for me. It’s a job that I really don’t enjoy, and also one that doesn’t get done nearly often enough due to my number one obligation: my children. There are a few chores you could hire someone to help with: yard work, housekeeping, and childcare. Yard Work: This could include gardening, mowing, shoveling, and … Continue reading →

The Groovy Gardener: Headboards as Garden Decor

Now, I know that my gardening habits are a little eccentric at the best of times, but you know that these habits have gotten to seriously silly proportions when your four-year-old begins to find you amusing. This weekend I spent an inordinately large amount of time in the garden, and this was a wonderful thing. I spent some time cat-proofing it (fingers crossed) and a lot of time moving my perennials. I discovered that I am the proud owner of sixteen berry bushes, which is pretty good for someone who counts her garden space in meters instead of acres. My … Continue reading →

Save Money on Landscaping

The nice weather may have you looking at your yard with a critical eye. Do you need to make some improvements to your landscape? How can you do this inexpensively? Here are some ideas. Free materials All sorts of free materials can be had if you look around an ask. You can find plants, trees and bulbs through freecycle or through your neighbors. You can even ask your town if you can harvest some volunteer plants and flowers from town woods or fields. Also, check with garden centers at the end of the season. If you have a green thumb, … Continue reading →

Fall Planting

Now that the temperatures are bringing crisp mornings and gentle breezes, it is time to start thinking about incorporating fall colors into your home landscaping through flowers. There are a few reasons why fall plantings of flowers are important. First off, planting tender flowers that give a lot of color and curb appeal, but will fade by winter, is the true mark of a landscaping enthusiast. Second, newly planted fall flowers will enhance and play off of your existing landscaping, as your trees begin their wonderful display of fall foliage and berries in the bushes. Third, if your yard is … Continue reading →

Putting in A New Front Walk

This weekend we took on the project of repairing our front walk. It was made up of 18-inch square flagstone that acted as stepping stones from the long driveway to the front porch of the house. It traveled straight for most of the walk and then turned in to the left to the house. We had a few issues with the walk. The first was the fact that the stepping stones had shifted out of place, and some of them even started to rise and tip in places. This was a hazard, and more than one person in our family … Continue reading →

Two Solutions for a Wet Yard

Does your yard suffer from water runoff? If you have a pool in your yard or find your mulch heading down the street every time it rains then you’ll need to fix the problem. Here are two solutions for when you have to take care of your yard’s water problems. Grading in your yard can funnel water down toward your house or wash away your lawn or garden. It can cause soil erosion, as well as an unappealing curb view. Our house sits down at the bottom of a hill, so we know about this problem first hand. One very … Continue reading →

Killing Jack

It looks like we have killed Jack. At the end of the day, this may have been a good thing, although the kids are still saddened by Jack’s passing. But it really wasn’t our fault. Or at least we can claim ignorance and self defense rather than outright murder. Please don’t hate us. Here is how it happened. First, let me reassure you that Jack is not a person. Nor is Jack an animal or any mammal or rodent or bird. Jack is plant, well many plants, and therefore many Jacks. He emerged one day (along with his doplegangers) this … Continue reading →

Forsythia Bushes

There are few things that herald in spring like the forsythia bush. Its bright yellow flowers announce to the world that warmer temperatures are here and on their way. What a nice way to wake up to spring. And that is just what forsythia does. One day, the landscape is still gray and brown, and the next day, it shows a profusion of bright color. Forsythia bushes have many uses in a landscape. Very often, they are used to mark property borders. In the spring, summer and fall, forsythia bushes can be used as a privacy fence, especially when the … Continue reading →