Nursery Customers From Hell

April 19, 2013

...d to spending a month “paying professors to analyze our soil.” As to “EVERYONE” growing a garden in Los Angeles, I suspect this Yelper is referring to the mowed weeds and Home Depot topiary that accounts for most of the residential landscaping in this city?...

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Decomposed Granite as Mulch: A very bad idea

Mr. Homegrown

April 30, 2014

Gardening, Native Plants

36 Comments

...nd does not build new soil. And eventually, the plastic will fail, and the weeds will come through (some come through even when the plastic is new), and whoever is left holding the bag a couple of years down the road will be pulling decaying bits of plastic out of their garden for evermore. What’s a better approach? Wood chips. Pile it on thick. Skip the plastic liner. Eventually your new plantings will cover any bare areas if you space them corre...

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Piet Oudolf’s Enhanced Nature

Mr. Homegrown

May 13, 2013

Garden Design, Gardening

5 Comments

...ion there are problems–such as maintenance workers confusing plantings for weeds. Kelly and I also debated how much this book can be used to understand small residential spaces–I found the ideas helpful, but most of the photographs are of large public gardens. And the plant lists are of no help for those of us in Mediterranean or tropical climates. Oudolf’s garden in Hummelo, the Netherlands. Conclusion But these are minor criticisms–Planting is p...

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087 Foraging Controversy with Lisa Novick

Mr. Homegrown

June 15, 2016

Food, Foraging, Gardening, Native Plants, Podcasts

...iples we discuss apply to other regions. During the podcast Lisa mentions: Weeds of the West Telling a new story about our urban and suburban landscapes Talking to the neighbors Impact of the drought Design tips from the 2016 Theodore Payne garden tour Theodore Payne plant list Native gardening mistakes Edible California natives California natives in pots Hooker’s Evening Primrose in bloom. Photo: Lisa Novick. If you’d like to leave a question for...

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Are Rubber Mulches or Tires in the Garden a Good Idea?

Mr. Homegrown

April 14, 2015

Gardening

8 Comments

...er mulch is not as effective as other organic mulch choices in controlling weeds. Furthermore, rubber mulches can attract insects (e.g., cockroaches), and they are highly flammable. In the long term, decomposing rubber mulch releases heavy metals and organic chemicals with unknown effects on human and environmental health. Other organic mulch choices, especially wood chips, are better performers and pose none of the environmental risks attributed...

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