Category Archives: Weed Control

Moving Day. Again.

As I settle into the house, I’m already thinking about what to do out of doors. If full-on gardening is limited (which it certainly will be, thank you Bambi), I can still have some of the more compact Rugosa roses, as well as hardy herbs like rosemary, sage, lavender, and thyme. I can see stinging nettle rising from soggy patches of ground, and I recall that their long, snaky roots are ripped up most readily in spring, so I’ll put on long gauntlet gloves and go after them before the grandkids get stung. We can make tea with the nettles, then replace them; blueberries might be happy, as well as hydrangeas (though some deer eat both sometimes). Continue reading

Posted in Garden Prep, Gardening With Children, Pets & Pests In The Garden, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living, Weed Control | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Beating The Winter Blues

As I weed and edit in my garden, I find myself leaving a lot of what definitely looks messy. Those battered, fallen logs often shelter slumbering bee larvae and sagging plants can be protecting butterfly cocoons. I’ve found dormant frogs nestled in heaps of old leaves and little bats hiding in deep cracks in leaning dead trees. However, while some kinds of mess looks naturalistic, others just look like crap. As I age, I’m experiencing the twin pulls of appreciating order and valuing the wild. I do get daily pleasure and satisfaction from Continue reading

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Summer Time Tricks For Treating Moss

Safe & Easy Ways To Get Moss Gone I like moss. When I first came to the Seattle area, I was delighted to see plush carpets of emerald mosses spreading under big, shady trees. My early taste in garden design … Continue reading

Posted in pests and pesticides, Pets & Pests In The Garden, Soil, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living, Weed Control | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Handy Homemade Weed Killers

Free or Cheap (And Safe) Herbicides As summer kicks in, weeds go into overdrive. Tiny seedlings that required tweezer removal last time you looked are suddenly a yard high and wide. The formerly pristine driveway gravel is turning a lovely … Continue reading

Posted in composting, Garden Prep, pests and pesticides, Soil, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living, Weed Control | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment