David's Landscaping Blog

Ponds and waterfalls are popular water features in a landscape. But you might wish to take it a step further and add a garden stream to your pond. Why? "The ... Read More

Your lawn sleeps under a blanket of snow. Your annual landscape plants rest snugly in the compost bin, waiting to pass on the torch of life. Oh sure, your flowering ... Read More

You may not be thinking much about your landscape's watering needs at this time. But those scorching summer days will be back before you know it. The frugal can save ... Read More

"What makes one garden statue look like it belongs there and another look completely out of place?" asks Marie Iannotti. As you'll see in this article on how to choose ... Read More

Of chinkapin trees, Steve Nix notes that they "may well be our most ignored and undervalued, native North American nut tree." The nuts of chinkapin trees, adds About's Forestry Guide, ... Read More

Now that we've passed Christmas on the calendar, it's time to begin looking ahead to January 1 and making New Year's resolutions. The themes running through my Top 10 New ... Read More

"Originally celebrated as a simple mass, Christmas has come to replace a number of other holidays in many countries, and a large number of traditions have become a cherished part ... Read More

I usually smile favorably upon the presence of evergreens, such as eastern white pine trees, in the landscape. Especially during northern winters, when I'm desperate for some landscape color. Recently, ... Read More

Steve Jones recently answered a reader's email concerning tree choices. The reader, wishing to replace old specimens with something new, had asked the Plant Man for some tree choices from ... Read More

The "Festive Fanatics Contest" held by KFC that I blogged about earlier this month has a winner: the Holdman family now officially has bragging rights for the "best" holiday yard ... Read More

Seeds as gifts? It may sound like a strange idea, at first. And plant seeds certainly wouldn't satisfy the Christmas cravings of the hard-core materialists on your shopping list. However, ... Read More

Of Sabal palm trees, Steve Nix says that they are "an American favorite tropical tree and used extensively in the landscape throughout the Southwest and Southeast." About's Forestry Guide notes ... Read More

If you don't have too long a driveway, electric snowblowers provide an alternative to clumsy, heavy, high-maintenance gas snowblowers. True, you'll spend a bit more time snow blowing with electric ... Read More

I've said it before but, since talk is cheap, I'll say it again: I love being frugal almost as much as I love my garden. Put the two passions of ... Read More

One of the most common questions about poinsettia plants regards whether or not they are toxic (see yesterday's blog post). But after viewing my article on poinsettia plants, reader, Rebecca ... Read More

Are poinsettia plants poisonous? Well, Steve Jones cites a poll indicating that "50% of respondents believed Poinsettias are poisonous and 34% said they didn't know." To get to the bottom ... Read More

So-called "Christmas rose" is not really a rose, at all. Nor will it necessarily bloom at Christmas, as Marie Iannotti explains: "Helleborus niger is called the Christmas rose more for its ... Read More

Many people have become interested in buying live Xmas trees for their holiday decor and recycling them afterwards as landscape trees. Steve Nix notes that most live Xmas trees "are ... Read More

A reader recently asked Steve Jones a question about Christmas cactus care. It seems that his Christmas cactus plants "have started to turn yellow and are withering from the ends". ... Read More

Do you still rely on snow shovels, those trusty old snow-removal tools? If snow shovels are your choice for snow-removal equipment, you'll certainly want to read about the snow shovelling ... Read More

The winter solstice means different things to different people. For me, feeling light-deprived in late autumn, the winter solstice is an important milepost, a bottoming out. I'm always initially ambivalent ... Read More

Planting live (not cut) Christmas trees in the yard and decorating them is a great way to enjoy landscaping and holiday celebrations simultaneously. But many people are unaware of the ... Read More

I believe in giving the devil his due and, in this case, the "devil" is Bradford pear trees. The experts warn that it's a mistake to plant Bradford pear trees, ... Read More

What landscaping tasks should you be performing in December? Well, that depends on what region you inhabit. That's the beauty of regional calendars. Consult these landscaping tips by region to ... Read More

"Unless you want the Grinch to steal your Christmas (or at least send you to the hospital), read these Christmas decorating tips to safely show your Christmas spirit and get ... Read More

Despite the increasing popularity of airblown inflatables, many folks absolutely detest them. For instance, in reading the savagery with which they are attacked in this blog post on airblown inflatables, ... Read More

Mistletoe plants are nothing if not enigmatic, which helps account for the Christmas tradition surrounding these holiday plants: kissing under the mistletoe. But what else would you expect from a ... Read More

Do you know someone who takes their holiday yard decorations really seriously? You know, a show-off who'd be likely to say, "I bet my holiday yard decorations are the best ... Read More

Isn't dreary winter weather reason enough to decorate your lawn or patio with outdoor holiday decorations? With the short days and long nights we're now enduring in the Northern Hemisphere, ... Read More

As landscaping enthusiasts, we know that holly and ivy aren't especially closely related, right? So in the Christmas carol, "The Holly and the Ivy," why are they paired off in ... Read More