How To’s

The first time I strung a slackline between our backyard maple and the neighbor’s oak, Mrs. Lopez peered over the fence like I’d parked a circus in the cul-de-sac. “You’re really going to walk on that?” she said, eyebrows trying to escape her forehead. I nodded, bounced once, and promptly launched myself into the hydrangeas. […]

I bought my little brick fixer‑upper for its big maples and squeaky porch swing, not for its lawn. In the realtor photos, the grass looked flawless—a Photoshop meadow in emerald. Two months later I rolled up the driveway and found a crunchy, splotchy mess: a three‑day beard of crabgrass, ant mounds, and weird bare craters

Every April I drag our patio furniture out of the garage and promise myself I’ll keep the cushions spotless. Every August I’m staring at salsa splatters, mystery paw prints, and—my personal favorite—a faint outline of the neighbor kid’s popsicle stick. Two summers ago I almost tossed the whole lot and started over. Instead, I spent

It’s mid-August, the tomato vines look tired, and seed packets sit accusingly in a drawer. Good news: the growing season isn’t over. With the sun still high and soil toasty warm, late summer is prime time to sow quick-maturing vegetables that shrug off heat and finish before first frost. This late-summer vegetable planting guide spotlights

Patio containers are the divas of the garden world: gorgeous on camera, but demanding backstage. A single midsummer weekend without water can send them from show-stopper to crispy brown. If a getaway is looming, don’t consign your coleus and mandevillas to fate. The checklist below shows how to keep your patio plants alive while you’re

My Fence‑to‑Forest Backstory When we bought our 1950s bungalow, 60 ft of sagging chain‑link separated us from the alley. Every time I sipped coffee on the patio, that silver lattice glared back. I priced new privacy panels—cue budget panic—then remembered Gardenary’s “garden problems are just design opportunities” ethos. One spring later, morning glory blossoms, scarlet runner

Why I Ditched the Plastic Three winters ago, I wrapped my cedar beds in shiny greenhouse plastic, smugly certain the soil would stay “toasty.” By March the plastic was in tatters, the wind having shredded it like tissue, and I’d unknowingly trapped moisture that turned my rich loam into a slimy funk. Worst of all,

A Quick Personal Note Two summers ago my “pick‑your‑own” tomato patch became an open buffet for Norway rats. Half‑eaten fruit, chewed drip lines, and tell‑tale droppings pushed me from mild annoyance to full‑blown battle mode. I spent four weeks researching extension‑service science, interviewing a licensed wildlife‑control operator, and testing every trap I could buy at

Introduction Last June a hungry groundhog mowed my lettuce patch to stumps overnight. The next morning, armed with caffeine and mild rage, I vowed to build a diy garden fence that weekend—no contractors, no fancy blueprints, just common tools and stubbornness. Forty‑eight hours, fifteen fence posts, and one heroic neighbor’s post‑hole digger later, I had

A Quick Personal Note I didn’t set out to become “that neighbor with the tomato jungle.”In April 2022 my backyard was a sun-baked rectangle of neglected lawn and a single, heroic dandelion. Then grocery prices spiked, my back rebelled against lifting supermarket produce crates at my part-time job, and I thought, “Could I—city kid, zero