Have you ever enjoyed a piece of art, wreath or bath salts that incorporated dried flowers and thought about drying your own? It’s an easy way to extend the use of the flowers and plants from your garden and bring nature inside. Let’s take a look at some types of plants you could be growing
Let’s face it—if you are going to grow a garden, eventually you are going to encounter insects. After all, they are a natural part of a living ecosystem. Birds rely on insects to feed their young, and in fact, many beneficial insects rely on other insects for survival. Most are completely harmless and don’t warrant
If you enjoyed some blueberries in your cereal this morning or a thick slice of tomato on your BLT sandwich, you have a bee to thank. Native bees, of which there are approximately 4,000 species in North America, are the primary pollinator of many of our agricultural crops. They are generally far more efficient at
Some plants are just better together—a concept that has given rise to the idea of companion planting. If you grow vegetables, you may be familiar with this term. There, companion planting is more about one plant attracting or deterring insects from the other or about plants creating physical support for one another. When it comes
#1 – The Entertainer’s Garden If you love to entertain outdoors, focus your energy on sprucing up your outdoor living and dining spaces. A little hardscaping, like the pergola you see here, helps to define livable “rooms” in the yard while providing filtered shade above the patio table. Surround the area with vibrant red, yellow,
At Garden Crossings, we are in the business of helping people beautify their world with flowers and plants. We’re part of what’s known as the “green industry” which is made up of growers and garden centers that produce and sell live plants. But there’s another reason we are so “green”—our sustainable way of doing business.
If one of your goals is to garden more sustainably, consider incorporating a rain garden into your landscape. These gardens can look a lot like a perennial garden to help them blend in well with your other garden beds, but they serve a unique ecological purpose. The primary function of a rain garden is to
As with most things in life, gardening is more fun when you are faced with fewer challenges like clay soil, hungry deer or full shade—that is, until you know how to meet and defeat those challenges. It takes some practice, but in time, you will learn which kinds of plants you can grow without any
If you are like many people across the country this year, your area may be experiencing drought. While extreme drought tends to end the gardening season due to severe watering restrictions, it’s possible to keep your garden going in areas that are experiencing mild drought by growing plants that can adapt to drier soils. Even
When designing your garden, it’s important to consider elements like color, texture and shape, but don’t forget fragrance too. The sweet perfume of fragrant plants will enhance the way you experience your garden by engaging more of your senses, evoking memories tied to certain scents, and causing you to interact with your flowers more closely.