Category Archives: Pollination Gardens

Safer Slug Solutions

Posted on May 4, 2020 by Ann Lovejoy
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

This has been a banner year for slugs; yesterday I counted over 40 babies and moms in a single flat of 4-inch pots. I’m more laissez faire than I used to be and won’t kill slugs or bugs unless they’re doing obvious damage, but this little herd was mowing down my veggie starts before they could get started. Sorry, critters. It’s doom time for you. So what’s the best way to off a slug without cruelty? Ecologically speaking, it’s the oldest; predators. Toads, frogs, moles, shrews, and songbirds are all slug eaters, as are ducks and chickens. In an organic garden, predators can safely feed on slugs and bugs, and the balance of nature rarely gets out of hand. Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening With Children, Health & Wellbeing, pests and pesticides, Pets & Pests In The Garden, Pollination Gardens, Pollinators, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living, Teaching Gardening | Tagged , , | 15 Comments

Forming A Future

Posted on April 27, 2020 by Ann Lovejoy
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

What’s a working plant? Trees clean the air, capture carbon, and offer homes and larders for lots of critters, so if they’re healthy and well placed, they stay. Native shrubs are also habitat for native creatures, and many are beautiful to boot, so for the most part, they stay, as do most native annuals, perennials and bulbs. Hardy herbs are useful in the kitchen, as traditional medicinals, and are terrific pollinator pleasers, so they stay. Edibles stay unless they require more space or more fussing than I can provide. Ornamentals stay if they are utterly enchanting for more than two weeks a year. That seems fair, right? In return, I supply balance; I provide good soil, compost and other soil conditioners, and adequate water. I also control weeds and keep rapid spreaders from taking over. If the garden gets out of balance, my work load goes up and the pleasure factor goes down. That’s how good governance works. Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Garden Design, Health & Wellbeing, pests and pesticides, Pollination Gardens, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Designing A Dream Garden

Posted on February 10, 2020 by Ann Lovejoy
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Dream assignment time! I’ve recently been asked to design an herb garden to surround a small craft cafe, a place where visitors can drink herbal teas, taste herb salts, herb butters, and herbed breads. The menu will change often but will always offer fresh herb omelets as well as daily soups and salads. In the crafting classes, people can make lavender wands and herbal sachets, bath salts, hand lotions, shampoos and body wash. What’s not to love? I’m already angling for a day job when it opens, assuming it ever does; this delicious idea is the dream child of a very busy woman. That’s so healthy! There have been several studies showing that accumulating the materials for crafting can be every bit as satisfying as actually making the whatever. If the cafe part of this dream project turns out to be just a hope for the future, the owner will still have a marvelous garden, filled with beautiful, fragrant and edible plants. Oh, and a beautiful gazebo, of course. Right?
Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking Schools, Edible Flowers, Garden Design, Health & Wellbeing, Native Plants, Pollination Gardens, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Making A New Year

Posted on January 7, 2020 by Ann Lovejoy
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Rejoice in our differences We Need To Talk. And Listen I don’t know about you but I am ready for a new year and a new way to connect with others. A few weeks ago I watched the Fabulous Fungi … Continue reading →

Posted in Health & Wellbeing, pests and pesticides, Pollination Gardens, Soil, Sustainable Living | Tagged | 5 Comments