Moss: The Lawn With No Mower
October 2, 2008
Some people pay good money trying to get rid of moss in their grass, but it just keeps coming back. A better idea might be to go with the flow and let the moss grow. Because of shade, some places are just better suited to moss than to grass. And especially with water restrictions in place, a moss lawn needs less maintenance than a grass lawn. Which isn’t to say that moss beds are “no maintenance.” There is, after all, no garden without a gardener. Yes, random patches of moss can survive unaided, but keeping a lawn of moss looking good does take some investment. Fallen leaves will smother mosses as easily as they will grass, so regular, gentle leaf management with a blower set on “low” helps. And they are not the best weed suppressors, so grooming with some “therapeutic” hand weeding is necessary. But no matter how much time you spend grooming your moss lawn, you can remind yourself with a smile how much time you did not spend mowing each and every week.
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1st Choice Goes Green
October 2, 2008
I spoke with John Wilson, one of the owners of 1st Choice Cabinetry, to learn how they’re turning this 16 year old business green. 1st Choice is rapidly shifting its cabinetry business toward green products. They’re doing this because John and his team believe it’s the right thing to do – for their customers, their community and themselves. Read more
How Much Lawn Does One Household Need?
August 6, 2008
How much lawn does one household need? A couple of years ago I prepared to do without a lawn entirely. As I transformed our weedy patch of a front yard into a Whitman’s Sampler of gardens, my wife asked: “Can we keep some grass?” I replied with a frown. “Just a little? A lawnlet?”, she asked. At this, I brightened and said, “Well, when you put it that way…”
Big fat juicy ones, small skinny slimy ones …
June 12, 2008
Despite a lifelong, shuddering aversion to worms, I’ve been oddly inspired to farm them. Why? Because by learning to make worms my friends, I can make the best compost there is, give my garden a treat and recycle up to 50% of my kitchen waste.
Harvesting Rain
June 9, 2008
A Look at Available Solutions
You have a lot of options if you want to harvest rain these days. The basic concept is to collect the rain coming off your roof through the downspout and store it for later use. Which ever option you chose for your home, harvesting rain water will reduce your use of municipal or well water and help our local environment.
Kicking Up A Stink
April 30, 2008
In a supermarket recently, the vast number of products devoted to making our homes smell better stunned me. Television tirelessly promotes artificial air fresheners with ever more sophisticated ‘convenience’ features. And, many consumers fall for it!
It seems ironic that as our home environments become more toxic with off gassing from carpets, vinyl and plastics, we seek to mask these poisons with still more toxins.
