Growing In My Garden

The Best Soil You Never Have to Buy

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Karen

It’s April. Time to cut back, pull the first of the weeds, rearrange, replant, dig and love every minute of finally being back outside after our very long winter.

So, today I was looking for great new soil for some pots, and guess where I found it? In last Fall’s leaf pile, of course!

Leaves from Fall 2013

Here’s the photo of one of my piles of leaves, all nicely mulched up. (Be sure to read my post, How (and why) to Use Your Leaves.)

5 months later – black gold

And here’s the photo when I stuck in the shovel.

Don’t waste time, money, and tons of effort bagging up leaves every Fall, only to turn around and spend time, money and effort buying soil for your gardening!

Next Fall, mulch up and keep those leaves in a back or side yard, or even pile them up in a garden area. The following Spring, turn the pile and you’ll find the Best Soil You Never Have to Buy!

Do you keep your leaves?

Posted in Soil and Mulch | Tagged leaves, soil | Comments Off

Ecofriendly Greywater Saves You Money and Grows Your Garden!

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Karen

Lets stop wasting all that wonderful water that runs back down our sinks and out our drains. Contact your local greywater system installers to learn how you can reduce the costs of watering your gardens. Greywater Action has a list of trained installers on its website.

Grow a Beautiful Garden With Ecofriendly Greywater

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January is For the Birds!

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Karen

Please, don’t forget them! When the water and ground are frozen, it can be hard for our feathery friends to find food and drink. Be sure to leave out seeds, nuts, berries, and water to protect these beautiful beings.

Happy January!

Traditional Landscape by Wheat Ridge Landscape Architects & Designers Jocelyn H. Chilvers

Posted in Creatures Great and Small, Tips & Suggestions, Weather & Climate conditions | Tagged Birds | Comments Off

How (and why) to Use Your Leaves

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Karen

It’s Fall!!!

And all that wonderful gold is falling from the trees, just as Mother Nature intended, to protect the ground and plantings from winter ice and to make amazing soil for Spring growth.

I ask the yard crew to never remove a leaf from the property. We have 2 wooded acres meaning we have plenty of leaves! The mower/mulcher chops up the leaves and grass which is then dumped into areas on the side yard from where I disburse it to all of my garden areas. Mulching the leaves, rather than keeping them whole, allows them to break down much faster into soil.

My plantings from the past season are well protected by this mulch and, in the Spring, I have tons of amazing black soil for new plantings. Black gold!

Keeping and using your own leaves is quite the time and money saver. Why have someone haul all this natural beauty away only to pay for compost in the Spring? Be grateful for every single leaf that falls in your yard and let nature recycle her own!

Posted in Fall plantings, Garden Organization, Soil and Mulch | Tagged leaves, mulch | Comments Off

Meyer Lemons – 8 Months from Flower to Fruit

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Karen

Well, we had our first harvested Meyer lemon about 2 weeks ago and it was fabulous. Very thin skin – very sweet and juicy.

I’m so happy with our tree! (have you noticed…?)

It’s been so fun to watch my baby go from flowers when it first arrived January 20, to tiny fruit “bumps”, to growing green fruit, and now watching the lemons turn yellow and ripe.

What an amazing plant!

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How to Grow Moss

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Karen

I love moss and am fortunate to have a lot of it growing naturally in my yard. Thrilled that I found this article describing how to grow and care for moss. Enjoy!

Moss: Nature’s Carpet for the Garden

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Meyer Lemon Tree – 8 month update

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Karen

I love my Meyer Lemon tree as I’ve shared over and over on this blog! My tree arrived to me the end of January and has been unending intrigue and joy ever since. Here’s the latest update:

The lemons are turning yellow!

Apparently I counted wrong in the last Meyer Lemon Tree post because today I counted 21 lemons. (unless I counted wrong today….)

Looks like we’ll have home grown lemons throughout the holidays.

If you don’t own a Meyer Lemon tree, get one!

Posted in Meyer Lemon Tree | 2 Comments

Why Plant a Lawn?

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Karen

Since the 1800s, Americans have been trying to emulate expansive aristocratic estates in Europe – but why???

Why do we now consider a flat, green lawn to be the most beautiful use of space? It certainly isn’t efficient when you consider all the time we spend laboring over it (or paying someone to do so). And it is terrible on the planet and her wildlife.

We’re destroying natural habitat and, along with that, the EPA says lawn equipment emits 11 times the pollution of cars! I would never have guessed it was that huge.

Take a moment to read this informational article. I, for one, have decided to let more of my yard go back to nature – saving time and money as well as loving the wildlife. How about you?

The Case for Losing the Traditional Lawn

Posted in Ground Cover, Lawns, Planting | Tagged lawn | Comments Off

Lavender

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Karen

Herb Garden Essentials: Grow Your Own Fragrant Lavender

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Posted in Herbs | Tagged lavender | Comments Off

My Rescue Garden

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Karen

So, what have I done in the yard over the last 5 months? Created what I lovingly refer to as my “rescue” garden. We buy houses for a living and I have started rescuing both plants and yard art from yards we plan to tear out and restore. Following are some of my start to this-is-where-it-is-so-far photos: