Nature, wildlife, and how gardening affects the environment.
The Path Forward: The Perfectly Imperfect Lawn
My perfectly imperfect lawn is remarkably vigorous, healthy, very green, and yet has quite a bit of diversity to it. Why does it have to be any better than that?
Connecting kids with nature—a continuing struggle
Guest post by Doris Settles “What could our lives and our children’s lives be like if our days and nights were as immersed in nature as they are in technology?”—Richard [...]
Winter Fear Porn Brings Out The Rant in Me
There is nothing quite so tender as the sight of a grey, ice-locked landscape melting into warm browns during a winter respite. I am struck by the beauty of it [...]
Leaf Blower News from California and Some Lawn-Bashing in the NYTimes
Did you hear about the GREAT news from California? The legislature passed and the governor signed a law banning gas-powered leaf-blowers and lawn-mowers! (Also chain saws, weed-trimmers and golf carts.) [...]
Halloween in the garden
The word “hallow” derives from the Old English halig, meaning holy. All Hallows Eve, the evening before the holiness of All Saints Day (November 1st) is the night when the [...]
Gauging Horticulture’s Place in the General Public’s Consciousness: A Letter From The Midwest.
One of the challenges horticulture faces in proving its importance is that it does most of its best work at the subconscious level.
When Gardening to Save The Planet, The Argument Isn’t Aesthetics vs. Ecosystems
William Cocke joins us this week to discuss Doug Tallamy's 2019 book Nature's Best Hope, oft quoted (and misquoted!) on the web and in Master Gardener circles nationwide. Cocke is [...]
The plastic garden
On the label of an old painting, I came across a word we rarely see: “stooks,” meaning erect bindings of wheat or other sheaves dotting a field, ready for transport [...]
Bringing zero-waste to the garden
One of the major cornerstones of the modern environmental movement is that all of us (individuals, businesses, governments) must reduce what we throw away. Natural historian David Attenborough, in his [...]
Gertrude and the whale
By guest blogger S. B. Julian Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1933) is credited as one of the founders of England's lush, flower-rich, painterly cottage garden style of horticulture (she was a painter [...]
My 15 Years of Ranting about Lawn Replacement and Lawn Care
My (former) back yard in 2006. The Unlawning Begins It didn't take much research through my 15 years of posts here on GardenRant to confirm that my number [...]