Green Living Home

I had to take the day off yesterday.  I came home from vacation to a horrific garden mess and I spent the entirety of yesterday in the garden fixing things up.  At least, when I drive up my driveway I need to gain of sense of peace rather than agitation.   I also spent much of that time pondering ideas for making all of it more simple so I can be more settled.   Here is what I came up with for my garden but I am hoping you can share some of your simplifying tips too.

1) I HATE hosta flowers.  And, I have a garden full of hostas….mind you I have never purchased a hosta, they are all the sad cast offs of clients, so I have shoved them every where I can think of.  Many of the places are just right, but the row of them in front of the front wall is just wrong.  They are getting too much sun, and the hideous hosta flowers greet me daily.   They are going.  I think I am going to replace them with a short lavender hedge to match the one on the other side of the driveway. Much easier a

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I shared this garden last week over at Apartment therapy, but I just love it so much I wanted to make sure you all saw it here too.   It speaks to me on so many levels.  I love it’s thriftiness and creative use of flea market finds.  I love that it is perfect for its place and isn’t trying to be something that it can’t or shouldn’t be. I love its Read more text…

When a garden has this kind of backstory….

“In 1915, the pioneer settler known as Cougar Annie arrived on the west coast in Hesquiat Harbour and homesteaded on this wilderness property. She bore 8 of her 11 children here, outlasted 4 husbands and carved a magnificent, magical garden out of a thick and foreboding rainforest. The remoteness of the area brought inherent risks to Annie and her family; cougars prowled endlessly nearby, sensing easy prey. Ada Annie Rae-Arthur shot and trapped dozens of the animals and thus emerged the legend of Cougar Annie.

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I love a garden with a good back story.  And this one, with it’s tale of grandeur and notoriety in the 20′s, 30′s and 40′s, decades of decline and neglect to be followed by nearly being forgotten completely is hitting close to home.   As you know I have been involved in the re-discovering of an extraordinary historic garden and the path to restoring it is in no way clear or even completely probable. Restoring

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Knowing which bugs are beneficial, and which ones are pests, goes hand-in-hand with natural, non-toxic gardening.  Whether you have a fruit and vegetable garden or a flower garden, a little knowledge about the creepy crawlies and flying insects that kill pests will keep your garden blooming without the use of harsh chemicals.

Synthetic yard and garden chemicals can’t tell the difference between pests and beneficial insects, and therefore kill both.  Plus, pesticides are dangerous for you, your kids and pets, other animals and the environment.  Read on to learn more about organic gardening and the natural enemies of pests.

Beneficial insects that control pests can be classified into the following groups:

1. Parasitoids attach themselves to a pest and ultimately kill it.  Some “female parasitoids may also kill many pests by direct feeding on the pest eggs and immatures”.  Many are wasps or flies.
2. Pathogens carry diseases that kill pests and are labeled in spray form as microbial insecticides, biorational or bio-insecticides.  Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), is a common pathogen.  Pathogens typically target specific pests.
3. Predators include lady beetles, true bugs, lacewings, flies, midges, spiders, wasps, and predatory mites which kill pests.
4. Weed Feeders consume exotic and invasive weeds that choke out native plant species.

Simply planting specific types of flowers in your garden will attract beneficial insects, such as lady bugs, lacewings, minute pirate bugs, stink bugs (some species, such as the Spined Soldier Bug and the Two-spotted Stink Bug), assassin bugs, hover flies, paper wasps and many kinds of parasitic wasps.  Flowers to include are: coriader (cilantro), dill (especially ‘Bouquet’ variety), fennel, caraway, alyssum, flowering buckwheat, black-eyed susans, dwarf sunflowers and yarrow.

To learn

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