Good news! As our spring bulbs begin to awaken, we have new choices for a healthier, more lovely and lively garden this year. We are learning that our gardens, plants, and pollinators need exactly what we thought we were supposed to “clean” every year. Surprisingly,...
Less Lawn - More Habitat: Take 2 We're in my 'Alternative Backyard Demonstration Area'. The backyard is framed by native plantings but still had a lawn in its center. For two years I have mown only an outside edge and a spiral through the grass leaving a...
Yes, the beautiful leaves of many perennials, shrubs and trees have passed. Are you feeling like Old Man Winter is about to pounce? Well not quite yet. Let’s take a look at some of my favorite November leaves in the HHH demonstration gardens, still gracing our...
Do you ever tire of pulling the baby Oak trees that sprout up in your landscapes every season? They are, as I’m sure you know, courtesy of our forgetful squirrels that bury them to eat later, and then forget them. They are also nature’s way of reminding us that we...
The morning air is cooler now. You know it’s getting to be late summer, and we’re beginning to think about, don’t say it, Fall. You’ve mowed the lawn, picked vegetables, cut flowers to bring inside all season, or not. Now is a great time to think about what went...
How is it that I've never posted about this amazing and challenging adventure; the renovation of an older home to be efficient in so many ways? This house is now two homes instead of one; with as much solar power as could be fit on an unusual roof; with heat/AC pumps...
What are your options when your family has one or more very active, large dogs that "need to REALLY PLAY in the yard, preferably unobstructed"? Be happy. You’re thinking ahead, acknowledging a design constraint that can reduce future frustration with dog/landscape...
A new client called to say "We're starting from scratch with our retirement home and we want our landscape to be ecologically-friendly this time!" I was so delighted to receive the call. They have two, large, very playful dogs so no fussy planting beds in midst of the...
Yay! I bet someone else notes this day annually too? There must be a term for it. From this day forward the Healthy Home Habitats house catches up to what we used last winter and now starts saving kWH to use next winter for heat and household electricity. It costs us...