Category Archives: General

Looks like lawn, doesn’t it?

I was reading about herbivores. Large animals that graze in meadows. They typically chomp everything down, then move on. The meadow regrows; it’s adapted to that kind of treatment. In fact, grazing is supposed to stimulate side growth, otherwise known as vegetative reproduction, since it does tend to eliminate flowering parts that stick up. IContinue reading “Looks like lawn, doesn’t it?”

Transforming outdoor spaces with lighting

One of the best things about landscapes is that with a bit of lighting, you can have two for the price of a bit more than one. All it takes is lighting. This applies to interiors, too – but that’s another subject. The niches shown below are darker than the wall during the day. It’sContinue reading “Transforming outdoor spaces with lighting”

Pemphredon! Aphids despair!

I noticed a lot of sawdust coming out of the wood stumps propped up and drilled to make habitat for mason bees. A stakeout with camera should solve the mystery. After several minutes, a tiny iridescent black wasp zipped into a hole in the stump. Definitely not a mason bee! Getting a photo was likeContinue reading “Pemphredon! Aphids despair!”

Bad irrigation

We see this a lot: all kinds of different heads stuck almost randomly on the same lateral line. I guess some people think that installing irrigation heads is just like plugging things into a socket. As long as the circuit breaker doesn’t blow, everything is good. Well, they’re not. Instead of something shutting everything off,Continue reading “Bad irrigation”

Planting Irises

Irises are inconvenient. They bloom in spring, but should be planted in fall. With bearded iris, this means ordering after strolling though fields of blooming plants, ordering, and waiting until late August to get your plants and put them in the ground. For native iris, we purchased in spring, planted the pots, then removed theContinue reading “Planting Irises”

To Remove or not to Remove, that is the question

Sometimes a design hinges on one decision, in this case to remove a tree or keep it. The tree is healthy, but leaning ominously toward the house. It’s also a species that we know first hand can come crashing down without warning in a storm. Yet, it’s beautiful, provides a wonderful view from the secondContinue reading “To Remove or not to Remove, that is the question”