136 Garden Fundamentals with Robert Pavlis

On this 136th episode of the Root Simple podcast we talk to author and gardening expert Robert Pavlis about how to improve your soil, how to start seedlings in the winter, how to take care of houseplants and much more. Robert Pavlis lives on 6 acres of land that he has developed into a large private garden he calls Aspen Grove Gardens that contains around 3,000 perennials, grasses, shrubs and trees in southern Ontario, Canada. He is a Master Gard...

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Saturday Tweets: Garden Shows, Floppy Discs and an Auto-Wicking Garden

Ten things we learned from #RHSChelsea, by gardening ed @janeperrone https://t.co/tKA9T61zQm pic.twitter.com/pi2tXCHIgX — Guardian gardening (@guardiangardens) May 27, 2016 Los Angeles braces for possible coyote wars in response to bid to change city policy https://t.co/OdRWbQnRxU via @DailyBreezeNews — Root Simple (@rootsimple) May 28, 2016 Shopping for Annuals and Perennials | Garden Rant https://t.co/rOsy9wwGF5 — Root Simple (@rootsimple) May...

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Root Simple Reader Survey Results

...uch or too little. There’s a paradoxical problem with a DIY blog. If we’re gardening or in the garage making something we’re not writing and vice versa. It’s been difficult to find the right balance. Looks like you’re all good with where we are. When we first began this blog ten years ago the standard advice was along the lines of, “people are distracted so make your posts short.” Lately, the common wisdom is that blog posts should be long and foo...

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Baker Creek Invites and Un-invites Cliven Bundy to Speak

...announcement for Bundy’s appearance. This week the sedate world of edible gardening saw an unusual burst of controversy not related to either double digging or the use of Miracle Grow. Baker Creek Seeds found themselves at the center of a social medial firestorm after inviting Cliven Bundy to speak at their Spring Planting Festival on May 5th and 6th at their headquarters in Mansfield, Missouri. Bundy is the patriarch of a family at the center of...

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Our new front yard, part 5: Constructing a meadow community

...the furthest from the street and stairs. (As one of my aunts once said of gardening, “I finally have gardening figured out: tall stuff goes in back!”) This way it doesn’t block other plants, and it will be pretty when backlit by afternoon sun. It also serves to hide the retaining walls and other ugly bits of infrastructure. It falls under the structural category because it is striking, more of a diva than a backgrounder. The second is Aristida pu...

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