Category Archives: Garden Design

Nourishing Native Pollinators

Posted on May 20, 2019 by Ann Lovejoy
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Nectar is not the only attraction in a well stocked garden, so don’t get bugged by bugs. Having a haze of insects hovering over your beds will just about guarantee you a host of birds (even hummers need protein as well as sweet desserts) as well as butterflies. Housing helps too; many grasses (especially stipas) are butterfly friendly host plants, while roses offer building material to leaf cutter bees along with their pollen and nectar. That’s a large part of why I tidy the garden in late winter and early spring rather than in autumn; putting off the work protect and supports native pollinators and when I finally get around to it, there’s a lot less to do, since so much as self-composted in place. Continue reading →

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Filling A Tiny Garden

Posted on April 22, 2019 by Ann Lovejoy
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Though the old wood fence is sagging and rotting, I love the weathered look. Indeed, I’m considering lifting the panels off the ground and hanging them in sturdy frames like artwork, so they help screen our space from the neighbors but aren’t rotting from soil contact. One section is already gone; when I was discussing ideas with my clever house contractor (the uncle of my long-time garden guy), my neighbor popped her head over the fence and said her elderly mother loved to grow tomatoes but this section of fence blocked her light. In response, Jorge simply lifted the 8-foot panel away. Poof! We’ll replace that section with stockade wire and build out a bed to hold my three-way espalier apple tree, which I’ll train on the wire. Continue reading →

Posted in Annual Color, Drainage, Garden Design, Health & Wellbeing, Pets & Pests In The Garden, Pollinators, Soil, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living, Tomatoes | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Tax On Plants

Posted on April 15, 2019 by Ann Lovejoy
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Manipulating Deer Today is tax day and the local deer seem to have figured that out. The deer tax is paid in foliage and flowers, sometimes fruit, but as with all taxes, it would be easier to bear if we … Continue reading →

Posted in Garden Design, Health & Wellbeing, Pets & Pests In The Garden, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Joyful Garden Design

Posted on March 5, 2019 by Ann Lovejoy
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The Gift Of Creativity As I’m preparing for the upcoming remodel of my vintage mobile home, there are lots of logistics to juggle. Which comes first, painting or roofing or flooring or kitchen? The order largely depends on the schedules … Continue reading →

Posted in Garden Design, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living | Tagged , | 6 Comments