Spring season is always a matter of logistics when you live in a cold climate. In temperate Ohio we go from cold-can’t-do-anything conditions to hot-don’t-want-to-do-anything weather with only a fleeting spring in between. We can count on two months to get soil prepared and everything planted. Some years there may be some earlier breaks and…
garden chores
A Basic Guide To Essential Garden Tools For Beginners
What, When, How To Use Garden Tools Just starting out as a new homeowner? Get the garden tools you need. Tips on which essentials a newbie gardener should buy. Hint: if it decorates a wall, you aren’t using it. | What Essential Tools Do I Need to Garden? There are an array of tools in…
More for me than you, Garden Planning
I haven’t surfed garden blogs in forever, it seems. But today was different and I garnered some great ideas that I hope to put to work for me this year. We’ll see. It all depends on both how diligent I am and how much traveling I need to do. (Since I am the sole gardener,…
Late Winter Is Time To Prune
Best Time To Prune Visualizing how to cut tree branches If we get a break in the weather (which we will, eventually), it will be ideal time to get the pruning tools out and clean up winter damage, trim out fruit trees, and cut back many clematis vines. Those that bloom on new wood are…
Winter Arrived Early
Blustery Day, Past Year’s Losses Today is briefly warmer and blustery with high winds and rain, but it is more like a January thaw than the beige autumn Indian summer that we might normally expect. I don’t know that there is a clear sense of “normal” in our gardens anymore. Still, the patterns of the…
The Down And Dirty Weeding Tool List
The Bare Essentials Some essentials when brand new I’ve done a lot of tweeting and writing about weeding this season. There are a couple of reasons for that including the unusually wonderful weather (from my perspective, anyway), and my desire to have my yard look like I actually garden, despite many trips to visit the…
What I’m Weeding Out
Catching Up With Summer Working Away At the Frontline I swore to myself I wouldn’t do this, but I miscalculated how much I wanted to spend time with grandkids (even though it meant numerous 9 hr. trips). I am now playing catch up with the garden weeds, long grass, and a veritable jungle out there….
Posted, A Short Garden Tip Video
Mini-tutorial when you only have a minute On Care Of Ornamental Grass I wanted to add to the videos made for Ilona’s Garden Youtube channel. I like short tips videos, so I made one while showing my son how to cut down the leftovers from last season. I have so many chores that I am…
Garden Chores For March, No Digging Yet
Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn‘ buds on ice No real attempts at garden chores yet, but not everyone is like Ohio, still in the throes of winter. There were some blue skies, yesterday, however! I will likely remember this winter for a long time to come. On Ilona’s Garden some new pages were posted (1) a chores reminder…
The Ailing Weeder
That is me. I went on a marathon binge of weeding last week – the weather was so lovely and I was feeling full of zip and determination. I had missed the garden… it seemed that I was spending more time on the road and in the house and needed some of the rejuvenation of…