FULL ARTICLE ARCHIVE
Below you will find our growing collection of articles. Browse all the stories, or select a category from the dropdown menu. Enjoy!
TIE THE KNOT
How to design and plant a knot garden Story and Photography by Karen Atkins Formal knot gardens have been popular for hundreds of years. They are beautiful, but also practical because they require very little maintenance. If you think knot gardens are too much trouble, trust us, they’re “knot”! Since Tudor times, gardeners have created …
JUST RIGHT
Tools and techniques to help in the garden when life throws you a curve By Margeaux Emery Injury, illness, arthritis, and other health conditions can bring the need to change how one gardens. A stroke, for example, can result in loss of strength in hands and arms. Arthritis causes pain in movement. Whatever difficulty life …
SPOTTED HORSEMINT MONARDA
Story and Photography by Yvonne Lelong Bordelon Native spotted horsemint (Monarda punctata), one of the remarkable members of the mint family, is a beautiful short-lived perennial herb that is a must-have for the pollinator garden. Butterflies, bees, solitary wasps, and other beneficial insects flock to the gorgeous, nectar-rich flowers. It is also deer resistant and …
FEW AND FAR BETWEEN
Keep and eye out for these native, yet rarely-seen insects Story and Photos by Dr. Blake Layton Have you gotten to spend a lot of time outside in the yard and garden so far this year? If so, you have probably seen a lot of insects. Most of these were probably pest insects, but you …
TRANSPLANTING TREES
Make sure you do it correctly from the beginning to avoid problems later By Dr. Garry V. McDonald I live in a town that professes to be a tree city. Citizens and businesses are encouraged to plant trees and tree ordinances abound. While I am all for tree planting and a self-confessed tree-hugger, it frustrates …
PLANTS NEED THEIR REST TOO
What is dormancy and why is it so crucial? Story and Photos by Garry V. McDonald This is about the time of year I start getting inquiries from local media about why leaves turn colors in the fall. What they really want to know is the exact week of peak color to inform the leaf-peepers. …
HUMBLE EARTH GARDEN
By Leslie Leonpacher Humble Earth garden … the name doesn’t quite do this place justice. If by being humble you mean that this garden provides a sustainable, renewable environment then perhaps it is aptly named, but it is so much more. Sanctuary, nurturing environment … however you label it, for some creatures these places are …
LOVELY & GREEN IN BATON ROUGE
Story and Photos by Yvonne Lelong Bordelon Green is a many faceted word – it can indicate a color, a feeling, or in recent decades, a way of life. The spectacular Baton Rouge home and landscape of Tricia Day and Joe Simmons incorporates all three of these meanings. The modern house is said to be …
GARDENING IS FOR THE BIRDS
Keeping helpful birds around your garden is the best organic pest control Story and Photos by Kristi Cook Patience is a virtue, especially in the gardening world. I learned this lesson in a profound way one season while on a morning walk through the garden. As I scouted for disease and pests and checked the …