During the winter when you’re aching for a garden project to keep you busy, garden stepping stones for a path fit the bill. You can buy a garden stone kit like the one shown below, but you don’t get many thick stones out of these kits. It’s less expensive to make a bunch of garden stones yourself then to go with a store bought DIY kit and it’s pretty easy too – the only major tool needed is a small jigsaw and if you use molds, not even that.

Gather:

Small jigsaw
Measuring tape + pencil
Concrete form tube
Mortar
Some sort of mortar drop …read more

Providing winter plant protection is necessary for some perennial plants and some climates, but not others. To figure out if your personal garden plants need winter protection first check in your garden books for a hardiness zone – or look at an online hardiness zone map. Then look up the recommended zones of the plants in your garden.

IF the hardiness level of a perennial plant you’re growing falls below your local hardiness zone, you will need to protect that plant for the winter. If you don’t protect your plants they could be pushed out of the soil during winter. You …read more

Look how cute this gardening book is – set up as a deck of cards rather than an actual book, P. Allen Smith’s Container Gardens Deck: 50 Recipes for Year-Round Gardening, allows you to browse easy-to-follow container garden recipes.

Each card includes plant lists, step-by-step instructions, and a diagram showing you how to design your garden. Like cooking recipie cards these garden recipes are printed on tabbed cards. I like the idea of cards vs. pages. You can easily take them to the nursery or to a community garden with you vs. carrying around a hefty book.  Plus if there’s a …read more

Lightning safety may seem like one of those kooky, half-baked ideas, but according to the National Weather Service (NWS), lightning is actually a major cause of storm related deaths in the U.S.. In fact lightning is a bigger danger to people (on average) than hurricane or tornado. The NWS notes that, “A lightning strike can result in a cardiac arrest (heart stopping) at the time of the injury, although some victims may appear to have a delayed death a few days later if they are resuscitated but have suffered irreversible brain damage.”

Storm Data, a National Weather Service publication, reports that …read more

Consumer Reports has an interesting post up right now about childproofing your garden. They’ve got some good tips, but there are some other year round ones to consider as well.

Consumer Reports notes the following:
Store unsafe gardening items inside. Hopefully you’re using non-toxic gardening methods, which is safer for the planet, your child, and even your own health, but if not you need to store fertilizers, chemicals, and plant food up and out of reach. Other items to keep locked away include sharp garden tools, heavy garden tools, and cleaners you may use for pots.
Check your backyard for poisonous plants. Many …read more

Daisies are one of those flowers loved by many. They’re cute and pretty at the same time, come in excellent color choices, and are a popular theme of weddings, fashion, books, parties, kids toys and more. I have a feeling that daisies will never be totally out of style. If you agree and adore them, here’s a little guide to all things daisy.

How to grow: Tips for growing daisy flowers.
About the species: Daisies are part of the Asteraceae family which is also known as the aster, daisy, or sunflower family. Daisy is general, in reality there’s over 20,000-23,000 different species …read more

When you buy someone a Gift of Green plantable holiday ornament it serves multiple purposes…
First of all for every plantable holiday ornament sold, BeGreen, a division of Green Mountain Energy will plant one native tree in an ecosystem restoration project in the United States.

Secondly, as noted by Green Mountain Energy, “An average tree will absorb more than 650 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) over its lifetime — that’s equal to the amount produced by driving about 740 miles.” So the planet is pretty darn thrilled when you plant a tree, or in this case have someone do it for you.
The …read more

If you’ve got the pre-winter blahs and are missing all those cheerful flowers that used to be blooming in your outdoor garden, you can try your hand at coaxing bulbs into flowering indoors. Two common bulbs that are perfect for the holidays are paperwhites and amaryllis. These can both be planted in a non-draining container.

Grab some containers. Clear glass containers will make it easy to check water levels, but you don’t have to use glass. I think these both look amazing in wood boxes.
Grab some potting mix or pebbles. Never use soil from your yard for indoor bulbs. Get a …read more

If you’ve got a gardening buddy who also likes to keep it eco-friendly, then these recycled tire plant pots are the perfect holiday gift. Stylish, bold, and best of all these pots take reuse to unique level.

Cute right, and great for green advocates because tires are one of those hard to recycle items. Reusing tires for new goods isn’t the perfect option but it’s better than doing nothing with all the excess tires in the world. Recycled tire pots come in sizes perfect for flowers or herbs.

The pots above are from Biome Lifestyle, a shop across the pond. If like …read more

We recently looked at one homemade gardening gift you can make for the holidays – a reusable garden tote. However, there are plenty of homemade gifts you can make for friends or family. Before it gets too late to plan we’ll be looking at some more, starting today with a small roundup of gifts that can be used for growing plants.

Large tin cans look surprisingly professional and modern with a fresh coat of paint. Remember to drill a few drainage holes in the bottom. If you’re giving these as a gift, make it nicer by filling the can with seed …read more