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50 Beautiful Deer-Resistant Plants
EDIT: Patrick is the winner of the giveaway! You all remember my excitement recently to have discovered this lovely new book from Timber Press. Ruth Rogers Clausen shows off 50 top picks for deer-resistant gardens, and gives about two pages of in-depth information about how to design with each plant, what other plants look best…
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The Fiskars StaySharp Max Reel Mower
This review is of the premium StaySharp Max reel mower. There are also two budget models available that have different features. Read a comparison of the three mowers in the Fiskars StaySharp line here. Lately, I’ve been realizing just how much I hate mowing my lawn with my old gas mower. It’s stinky, it’s noisy,…
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Deer Resistant Gardening Made Easy: a Book Review
Ruth Rogers Clausen, author of 50 Beautiful Deer-Resistant Plants, has some straightforward advice for dealing with deer, and selecting beautiful plants that will go well together in deer country. I share some of her advice for dealing with deer over at the Christian Science Monitor, and give an in-depth review of her new book there…
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Great Deal on Bahco Pruners
You all know how much I love my Bahco pruners. I usually recommend you buy from Amazon, which has the Bahcos without replaceable parts for only $17 before shipping ($22 with shipping). But an alert reader who is handy with the Google skills discovered a fantastic deal over at the Harry Epstein company. The Bahcos…
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Planting in Tight Spaces with Smart Pots
Recently I had a client who wanted some plants tucked behind her waterfall. The waterfall had been built right up against her fence, so there was no real planting area – you can’t just pile up soil against a fence, of course. Enter the Smart Pots. Because the spaces were so cramped and oddly-shaped, there…
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Wicked Bugs: Video Interview with Amy Stewart
I am adoring Wicked Bugs, the latest from author Amy Stewart. She’s back with more deliciously morbid musings, this time about the insects, spiders, and squirmy things that have us so outnumbered that for each one of us, there are two hundred million of them. Eeep! While Amy’s a huge fan of bugs, she didn’t…
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Understanding Garden Design book – Interview on Kirkus Reviews
…in which I tease Amy Stewart about her garden, and get to say “hell” on Kirkus Reviews. I am sure I can die happy now. Read it here: Garden Rant: A Conversation about ‘Understanding Garden Design’
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Greenland Gardener Wall Garden Kit
If you’ve read Susan Morrison and Rebecca Sweet’s book Garden Up! about vertical gardening, you’ve seen the drool-worthy photos of succulent walls. You might have even thought about getting one of those flat wooden frames to make one of your own. The problem with so many of those succulent wall frames is they require patience,…
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Eartheasy Raised Beds
When I got an email from Eartheasy offering a cool wooden raised bed kit to try out, I was suspicious of their claims. Takes less than five minutes to put together? Easy to assemble? Um, not for me. I’m, like, DIY-challenged or something. I can’t even hit a nail properly. So Amy Stewart of Garden…
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Top Landscape Plants (Excerpts from Experts)
When the Garden Designers Roundtable chose Top Landscape Plants as this month’s topic, I thought to myself, “Hey, no problem, I can write that in my sleep.” I mean, enthusing about plants is kind of my thing, you know? But given that this is book excerpt week here at North Coast Gardening, I thought it’d…
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Book Excerpt: Energy-Wise Landscape Design
Energy-Wise Landscape Design should be a required read for anyone going into the landscaping field. In this book, Sue Reed outlines a number of steps you can take to green your landscape. Some steps are easy and can be done right away; others take more time, energy, thought or care. When I reviewed this book…