Articles tagged “Lawn Care”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Use Less Water in Your Garden By Collin Dunn IN Home & Garden Jun 6 2008 Having a garden can be a fun, rewarding, green experience, especially in the summer, when everything blooms and all your hard work brings beauty (and maybe even some food). If you want it to stay green, though, almost every garden is going to require some watering, but it doesn't have to send your water meter spinning out of control and your water bill skyrocketing. + READ MORE

Today on TreeHugger By Jessica Root IN Travel & Outdoors Jun 6 2008 Freshen up your abode with J.R. Watkins' new line of natural home products. Cultivate a healthy (Reel Mower) addiction like Mike has. Tell us; are you a packrat or minimalist? All this and more, today on TreeHugger! + READ MORE

Green Beef Mantra: All Graze, No Grain By Leslie Billera IN Food & Health Jun 2 2008 When we learned on The G Word that 20% of all greenhouse gas come from cow-made methane in the form of burps, feces and flatulence, my initial reaction was to sign off on sirloin forever. It turns out you don?t have to go vegan to green up your meat. + READ MORE

Minimize the Water You Use on Your Lawn By Collin Dunn IN Home & Garden May 5 2008 If having a lush, green lawn fits in your vision of a green lifestyle, but you don't want to needlessly bankrupt your local water supply (and run up your water bill), there are some strategies you can use to keep your grass green and reduce your water use. + READ MORE

Protect Your Family From Pesticides By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Apr 29 2008 Even seemingly innocuous lawn-care pesticides post unacceptable health hazards for your family. Find out why the tiniest members of our family are also the most vulnerable, and how you can protect them. + READ MORE

Do the Math to See if Rainwater Harvesting is For You By Collin Dunn IN Home & Garden Apr 28 2008 One-third of all residential water use in the United States is devoted to irrigation, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (and that's an awful lot). Here's how to figure out if you can replace that with rooftop rainwater harvesting. + READ MORE

Reuse, Repurpose Easter Decorations By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Mar 19 2008 When the Easter Bunny's come and gone, all the dyed eggs have been found, and every piece of candy liberated from their baskets, those holiday trimmings could still come in handy, as the editors at Real Simple demonstrate. You can clean hard-to-reach places in vases and bottles, for instance, by dropping in some... + READ MORE

Prep Your Garden Bed with Newspapers By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Feb 27 2008 If you need to create a new garden bed, but don't want to resort to harsh chemicals, try this technique from the March 2008 issue of Martha Stewart Living. Lay stacks of four to six sheets of newsprint side by side on the grass, overlapping edges, to mark the desired shape of the bed. + READ MORE

Win Against Weeds, Naturally By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Feb 26 2008 Ah, weeds-the bane of every gardener. Give your plants some space: If your soil fertility allows, and you don't have problems with fungal disease, you can prevent weed growth by spacing plantings so that the mature crops will completely shade the spaces between rows, denying weeds the sunlight they need. + READ MORE

Raise Chickens in Your Backyard By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Jan 29 2008 If you have a backyard (and oh, do I envy you)-and the blessing of your city's zoning laws and ordinances-you can raise chickens. But once they grow into full-sized hens, the cats will know that they've met their match and will negotiate a truce.If this feathery situation sounds like a hoot and a half, Mother Earth... + READ MORE

Tend to Your Garden in Winter By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Jan 16 2008 Although many of the perennials grown in the garden slumber through the winter months, the gardener is far from inactive, according to Stephen and Val Bradley, authors of Fragrant Gardening (2003, Laurel Glen). Remove any dead flower heads, yellowing leaves, and other plant debris before mold starts to form, to cut the + READ MORE

Certify Your Backyard as a Wildlife Sanctuary By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Jan 10 2008 Host a healthy and sustainable nature sanctuary, right in your own backyard. Already adapted to local conditions, native plants are easy to grow and maintain, generally requiring less fertilizer and water, as well as less effort to rein in pests.Besides tending to the needs of native birds, you should also extend some... + READ MORE

Build a Green Library: The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan By Collin Dunn IN Food & Health Dec 5 2007 This is the second post in a series-read the first post here-about recommended reading, for building a green library in your home. Unfortunately, they are limited to that farm's locale; you can n't eat like this at Whole Foods, and, though "big organic" is far better than your run-of-the-mill conventional food, while... + READ MORE

Take it Easy: Sloth is Green. By Lloyd Alter IN Home & Garden Nov 15 2007 Art credit: Hieronymus Bosch: The Seven Deadly Sins, Sloth Who knew that putting off today what you can do tomorrow, that being slothful and lazy was so good for the environment. Cut down on your shopping trips: You willn't have to get in your car, find a parking space, deal with the crowds, pull your wallet out, carry + READ MORE

Composting Basics: Make Your Own Fertilizer By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Nov 12 2007 Instead of watching your vegetable cuttings get trucked off to some distant landfill for all perpetuity, give your garden soil a zero-cost shot of high-powered, plant-loving nutrients by letting your kitchen waste degrade into rich, earthy compost. transferred back to other plants Fats, grease, lard, or oils-create... + READ MORE

Use Electric, Human-Powered Yard Tools By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Nov 5 2007 A significant way of reducing global-warming pollution in your backyard is to avoid using gas-powered motorized yard tools such as lawnmowers and leaf blowers. Meanwhile, mowing an average 1 1/4-acre lawn produces more air pollution than driving a 1995 pickup truck from Washington D.C. to New York and back again.Small... + READ MORE

Discover, Find, Use Compostable Bags and Packaging By Collin Dunn IN Home & Garden Nov 2 2007 Composting your organic waste (once you've built your compost spinner) is a great way to cut back on your contribution to the waste stream, and extend the usefulness of your used jack-o-lanterns, orange peels, grass clippings, raked leaves and coffee grounds. No problem; the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) has... + READ MORE

Build a Rain Barrel By Jasmin Malik Chua IN Home & Garden Oct 25 2007 While 70 percent of the Earth's surface is covered in water, only 3 percent of that amount is considered drinkable-a mere thimbleful in comparison. Conserve water and reduce storm runoff by hammering together a basic rain barrel to collect what falls freely from the heavens for washing your car or watering your lawn... + READ MORE