Before you dispose of your household hazardous waste, check your product labels. If a container has the words caution, warning, flammable, combustible, danger, toxic or poison and still has product inside, it doesn’t belong in the garbage, recycling or down a drain. But that doesn’t mean you need to keep it forever. Removing unwanted chemicals improves […]
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Posted inGardeners Corner
Fall Landscape Care to Keep Plants and Pollinators Healthy
As the weather and gardens transition from summer to fall, it’s time to adjust your maintenance practices to ensure the health, longevity and beauty of your landscape. Proper fall care will increase winter survival, support pollinators and reduce your future workload. Continue watering as needed. This is especially important for new plantings and moisture-loving plants. Don’t […]
Posted inGardeners Corner
Low-Maintenance Lawn Substitutes for Grass
Editor’s note: This post is brought to you by the experts at Angi, who specialize in connecting consumers with vetted pros, verified reviews and fair pricing for home projects and services. A well-kept lawn is one of the marks of successful homeownership; however, for some, grass lawns just aren’t worth the time and resources. Bright-green […]
Posted inGarden
The Garden for All Seasons
Transplanting themselves from the Bay Area to the Pacific Northwest, Barbara McFarren and Stan Noel found their lovely Gig Harbor view home in 2008, completing the move a year later. The couple was attracted in part by the “good bones” of the garden areas surrounding the house — colorful, mature maples and large shrubs filled […]
Posted inHome
The Fruit of Their Labor
Dana Boys had a problem. His expensive, two-year-old wine cooler broke, leaving costly bottles at risk. Brenda, his wife, had had a kitchen crisis for years. Their teeny-tiny kitchen allowed no more than one person to operate in it at a time. They had talked about remodeling, but hadn’t quite taken steps in that direction […]
Posted inGarden
Trees of Merit
Nothing enhances home and garden quite like well-grown trees. They provide an anchor for the landscape and shelter for birds. Trees outlive their owners and see generations of people pass under their boughs. Gardens come and go, yet a tree remains as a legacy to the ones who planted them. With so many trees to […]
Posted inGarden
Growing Culinary Herbs
Growing culinary herbs gives you a little bit of everything you garden for: beauty, scent, a pantry filled with your own fine seasonings and a connection to the history of gardening. Throughout history, people all over the world knew the value of herbs for health and delight. Cooks through the ages also found that herbs […]
Posted inGardeners Corner
Nine Noble Purples to Add to Your Garden
Whether you choose perennials or bulbs, annuals or vegetables, there are sure to be many hues and shades of purple you can use to delight the senses. With its origins tied to royalty, purple flowers represent dignity, pride and success. In a bouquet, either alone or mixed with other colors, purple blooms represent accomplishment and […]
Posted inGarden
Moss — To Grow or Not to Grow?
Moss is one of those plants that can be both beautiful and problematic, depending on where it grows. Although that’s potentially true of most plants, few besides moss will grow on a roof, a sidewalk or even a car. The key to why moss grows equally well in gardens and barren rooftops is rooted (pun […]