Lifestyle

It’s a brand new day; I’m still blinking the sleep from my eyes. In a thousand guesses, you’d probably still be guessing what alarm clock I had this morning again. Perhaps you never have heard the likes, but guess what, I didn’t either until this spring!

Out-of-control landscapes are unfortunately very common, and they began with poor design (or no design). Low maintenance landscaping starts with good design. Good landscapes get better and better over time, and bad ones get worse. In 25 years of doing landscape “makeovers”, we’ve had the opportunity to see many landscape errors up close, and here for your consideration are our “Top 10”:

The following births were reported by Grady Memorial Hospital:

Vegetable plants can be either “heirloom” or “hybrid.” During the gardening season, we often hear about “heirloom” vegetables, and many of the tomatoes and peppers we personally buy are “heirloom” varieties. But what exactly is an heirloom vegetable, and why is it more desirable than a “hybrid” plant?

I sighed a slight sigh when I decided what I’ll be telling you about this week. We all like good stories with good endings, right? Well, you know how it is; the time that lapses before a good ending can be stressful.

The following births were reported by Grady Memorial Hospital:

How about trading your “necklace” for a new den? Sounds silly, and maybe you don’t even own a necklace. But we’ll bet you’ve gone to a lot of trouble adorning your house with a “necklace” of foundation shrubs so it’ll look good to the neighbors. We’d like to suggest using plants to expand your living area as well.

Most home gardeners agree that perennials are less trouble than annual bedding plants, because “they come back every year so you don’t have to plant them again and again.” We agree with this sentiment, however very few perennials provide all-season color, so the best flower gardens have both annuals and perennials.

We rounded the corner and started up the long, winding lane. We had arrived at our destination. The usual six to seven-hour trip to Danville, Ohio, was done in less than six hours. I smiled as the children cheered all the way up to the top of the driveway. Rounding the last corner, we were in full view of the cabin, which would be called home for a couple of weeks.

As I write this it’s Mother’s Day Sunday, and this morning I was delighted to see some fat asparagus stalks ready for harvest in our asparagus patch! Many years ago we built a raised bed specifically for asparagus, and now we’re getting a dependable crop. Our bed is circular, with two dozen asparagus plants spaced around the perimeter. This allows us to harvest, without compacting the soil in the bed, just enough spears each day for our family’s dinner. We planted daylilies and Black-eyed Susan in the center of our bed, so it’s showy after harvest time.