Category: Landscapes
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Failures and Victories, Part 3: Living Mulch
This is the third post in a series on landscaping failures and victories at home. Earlier posts covered hardscapes and beds, berms, and swales. I’m a huge fan of landscape designer Benjamin Vogt. I encourage you to check out his website and to peruse his book Prairie Up. In a nutshell, Vogt’s aesthetic is about…
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Failures and Victories, Part 2: Beds, Berms, Swales
Last week, I started a series on gardening failures and victories in our own yard, starting with hardscape. I hesitated a bit writing this week’s, because it goes against what seems to be conventional wisdom about how to garden. But here it goes. And be aware… this is very much written for my context: dry,…
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Failures and Victories, Part 1: Hardscape
In reflecting on my home landscape, I think about some things I am glad I’ve done as well as some choices I regret. I’ll start a little series on my thoughts. The first is hardscaping. Our victories: ribbon driveway, permeable reused paver patio, reused bench. Our failures: boulders and decomposed granite pathways. The first thing…
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What are all those leaf bags about? Part 4: making leaf mold.
I will have more to say later about leaves, leaf mold, and composting, but let’s end this little series with a post I wrote for Cool Boulder about a year ago. Skip the Yard Bag and Give Leaf Mold a Go—It’s Worth the Effort! Many City of Boulder residents are befuddled by the change in…
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What’s with all those leaf bags? Part 3: soil health.
I said in the last Pollinator Post that the main point of amending with compost isn’t to add nutrients for plants; it’s to support soil health, water infiltration, soil texture, and soil structure. Let’s get into that. Soil health is “the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants,…
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What are all those leaf bags about? Part 2: quality.
This is the second post in a series explaining why I have 50 leaf bags in front of my house. If you missed the first post about the financial angle, check it out here. The costs that I gave for compost last week were for the cheapest stuff out there. If you’re growing things, you…
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What are all those leaf bags about? Part 1: show me the money.
Anyone walking by our home can see a stacked row of kraft yard waste bags against the north side. Recently, an entrepreneurial fellow stopped by to ask if we would like to pay him to haul them away. Maybe now is a good time to start to explain. I am a master composter. I studied…
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The Problem with Landscape Fabric
Weeds are a problem. (Clearly I know this–I have visible weeds and am often visibly weeding.) However, landscape fabric is not the solution. This “fabric” as used in the residential landscape is usually spun polypropylene, a petroleum product which will never decompose. It is often laid over bare soil or over undesired landscaping treated with…
Climate Resilient Landscapes 