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beginning gardening

A Basic Guide To Essential Garden Tools For Beginners

Ilona Erwin

Essential garden tools are those which a gardener needs to safely and efficiently accomplish the many tasks of creating and maintaining their landscape.

garden basics+ reviewing garden tools Ilona Erwin

Looking Back: The Renter’s Garden

Ilona Erwin

my old house forty years later

I’ve been thinking back over my “garden career” and waxing nostalgic. Thought of recording some of the evolution of past experiences in gardening. For me, the gardens and the entire viewpoint of it have slowly changed over time. At its peak, my obsession with gardening ruled my year… what I did, what I bought, my daily […]

Garden Stories and Memories Ilona Erwin

Making Your First Garden Plan

Ilona Erwin

 I’ve been holed up at home because I don’t like to go out in the cold when I don’t have to, and I made my first infographic. One of the benefits of spending a little time on Twitter was the link to this site where I could try out a program that promises a good […]

Landscape Design Know-How Ilona Erwin

Answering more of your questions

Ilona Erwin

In the interest of how people find my gardening pages I occasionally see certain questions pop up. If I were the searcher I would like those answered. After you garden for awhile you sometimes forget how many things were a mystery at first. So to the person who asked,”What is peat moss used for in […]

gardening tips Ilona Erwin

when should i start my garden

Ilona Erwin

I ran across this search in my stats. Figured it was a pretty important question for most gardeners just starting out. If you live up North, in the Midwestern area, you can start certain things any time now (early March). You can prune trees, and I would say you can plant trees and shrubs, although […]

garden basics+ gardening tips Ilona Erwin

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Oh, hi there!

I was a garden blog pioneer, and began writing on this blog in 2003. Before that I had begun a garden website that has been at its own domain since 2006, Ilona's Garden.

I still love writing, gardening, and art after all these years, although travel and grandchildren have become a big part of my life, now.

Ilona Erwin: View My Blog Posts

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Finding your way home via the garden path


Portrait of a Gardener

gardener musings
Musings

What’s Wrong With Today’s Gardening?

Modern gardening
What Is Wrong?

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fine garden journal
Journal, Planner and Log Book

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Visit Ilona's Garden Flavor, a shop that features my lifestyle picks and recommendations.
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from Ilona's Garden, the details of my rural garden.
Garden information you can trust. Written from a Midwestern perspective.
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What are your ten top choices for perennial plantings?

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