With the average sized home lot getting smaller and smaller, it’s becoming more difficult for people to grow their own seasonal garden. But did you know that someone with a condo, with nothing more than a small patio or walkout deck, can easily grow a substantial garden by planting in containers? Container Gardening Every garden…
Over time your home’s yard can come out of grade. Numerous things are factors in this, including settling and erosion. But it’s not a difficult fix; it’s a job you can perform easily on your own, in one afternoon (depending upon the size of the yard on which you intend to reset the grade). The…
Hopefully your summertime garden is planted by now; we’ve had a wetter, colder spring this year which may have inhibited your garden’s growth, or maybe even your enthusiasm for planting one. But, Memorial Day marks the annual growing season on many a gardener’s calendar here in Montana, for all warm-soil plants. And, for those of…
Wintertime is the perfect time to plan for next year’s gardening and yard projects. This is the time to take stock of your supplies and to plan your projects for when the first greenery of spring arrives. If you have never planted a garden or have never taken on any landscaping projects, you are going…
So often we hear the saying “well-drained soil”, but what exactly does this mean? You can buy a gardening manual, read the back of a package of seeds, and there it is: “well-drained soil”. Basically, it refers to the quality of your soil. Soil should have good structure, meaning that it should be able to…
Weeds are a natural and recurring problem in any outdoor space. Weeds can sprout in virtually any soil; weeds can grow with or without quality soil conditions. Weeds can easily find their way through cracks in cement sidewalks and the very best weed barrier will eventually break down enough that those pesky weeds find a…
It’s Spring…finally. And the springtime is the perfect time laying down a new lawn. Here’s a few tip sand tricks—including the importance of adding a layer of compost beneath the sod—to getting the job done right. Prep the Yard Laying down the sod is simple and quick, but the trick to having sod roots take…
Hail is a natural phenomenon here in Montana. Every year or so it seems the Billings area is struck with a rough weather event that leaves absolute destruction in its wake. Even small hail, stones barely the size of a pea, can easily damage and ruin a garden or a potted plant (on a large-scale,…
Oftentimes in gardens we think to plant flowers with other flowers and shrubbery and we plant vegetables with other vegetables. But when you plant the two together you get both beautiful natural aesthetics and a healthier garden. Here’s why… Attract Beneficial Insects Bees are a gardener’s best friend; you could almost say that the bee…
Sometimes our vegetable plants, backyard trees and shrubs, and even potted flowers can suffer from what appears to be disease or other type of similar affliction, but the real problem can be a PH imbalance in the soil itself. Every plant in the world has its own preferred range of soil acidity, and that acidity…