Posts Tagged ‘Landscaping’
A Greener View: Lawn Weeds, Everyone Has Them – Jeff Rugg
Lawn Weeds: Everyone Has Them Q: My lawn is being overtaken by wild strawberry, which is spreading. The only thing that I have been told to do is to wait until it rains and pull the plants out by hand. Do you have any other organic suggestions to get rid of these plants? I am…
Read MoreA Greener View: The No-Prune Landscape – Jeff Rugg
by Jeff Rugg, contributing writer No-Prune Landscape Q: I am in the process of having a home built. The builder will be supplying grass, a street tree and some shrubs across the front of the house. I can pick the shrubs from a list. I am not a gardener and don’t have any interest in…
Read MoreA Greener View: Cures for Lumpy Lawns – Jeff Rugg
by Jeff Rugg, contributing writer Q: My lawn is getting lumpy, for lack of a better word. It is mostly shady, but I don’t think it is tree roots. There are grass plants and bare spots plus little worm dirt piles. What would be a good way to smooth it out? It is getting hard…
Read MoreA Greener View: Garden Tools – Jeff Rugg
by Jeff Rugg, contributing writer In November, most of us will see our transition into winter, although many northern and high-altitude areas have already experienced their first – and second – snow. November is a cleanup month. It is a good time to fix up, clean up and put away tools and get out the…
Read MoreA Greener View: Glyphosate, one of the most commonly used chemicals – Jeff Rugg
By Jeff Rugg, contributing writer I recently wrote an article about two property owners sharing a fence line who needed to have their common weeds dealt with. The first thing I told them to do was to pull or cut the weeds down and then pull them. Next, I explained that the EPA regulates pesticide…
Read MoreA Greener View: DIY compost saves money – Jeff Rugg
By Jeff Rugg, contributing writer Instead of spending money to have your yard waste picked up and hauled off to a composting facility and then turning around and buying organic matter for the garden and flower beds, why not just do it yourself? Compost has many sources and many uses. It is mostly decayed organic…
Read MoreA Greener View: Poisonous plants pose special risk to children, pets – Jeff Rugg
by Jeff Rugg, contributing writer, A Greener View I would like to describe an incident in hopes that it will protect some children. A young lady and her two boys came in the door carrying a branch. This is a common occurrence because bringing in a branch is the best way for us to identify…
Read MoreA Greener View: Trees for wet-then-dry soil – Jeff Rugg
By Jeff Rugg, contributing writer Q: There is a surface storm drain in the back corner of our property. Water comes from several neighbors’ yards, so this area near the drain gets flooded and the soil is soggy. Later in summer, the same area will be dried out and cracked. A willow tree planted at…
Read MoreA Greener View: Summer Gardening To-Do List – Jeff Rugg
By Jeff Rugg, contributing writer With the hot weather of summer, there may not be much to do in your landscape, but there are a few things that need to be watched for so that the landscape stays healthy. Rain in summer across North America usually comes in a few heavy thunderstorms with many hot,…
Read MoreThe Greener View: Azalea Care – Jeff Rugg
by Jeff Rugg, contributing writer Q: What do you need to do to prepare a flower bed to plant azaleas? A: Azaleas are members of the rhododendron family. There are over 900 species and hundreds more natural and man-made varieties. Some are native to swamps and some to dry woodlands. Others are naturally found and…
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