Simple ways to save money while you garden
Spending $25 at the grocery store doesn’t buy much produce anymore, but could the same $25 planted in the backyard turn into $100 worth of vegetables? It’s possible, although the viral-sounding four-times-your-money return requires something many garden-budget calculations conveniently ignore: you need to already have a little infrastructure. If you own basic tools, have usable…
You’re harvesting the last tomatoes, picking up fallen apples, or taking a quick drink while cleaning up the garden when suddenly several yellow-and-black insects seem determined to join you. Yellowjackets can become particularly noticeable in late summer and fall, precisely when gardeners are spending hours harvesting produce and preparing beds for winter. The change isn’t…
Spot a tiny fuzzy caterpillar crawling across an oak leaf and your first instinct might be to take a closer look—or even pick it up. With its thick coat of silky hair, the puss caterpillar can look more like a miniature toupee than an insect capable of delivering an intensely painful sting. Hidden underneath that…
Pulling weeds or spreading mulch can produce an unwelcome surprise when something underneath suddenly starts moving. A snake tucked beneath mulch, leaves, landscape fabric, a flowerpot, or a piece of wood may have been resting there long before you disturbed its hiding place. Your first instinct might be to grab a shovel, move closer for…
The instinct to clean up the yard every fall is hard to resist: rake every leaf, cut every brown stem, remove every dead flower head, and make the garden look tidy before winter arrives. Your neighbors may appreciate the neat landscaping, but the bees, butterflies, moths, and other beneficial insects that spent summer in your…
A packet of unusual flower or vegetable seeds for $2 can look like one of the easiest gardening bargains you’ll find online. But if the seller is shipping those seeds from another country, you’re not simply ordering inexpensive garden supplies—you may legally be importing plant material into the United States. The USDA’s Animal and Plant…
Fall cleanup can leave you staring at a pile of vines, weeds, branches, and dead plants that seems perfect for the backyard fire pit. Before striking a match, though, take a much closer look at what’s actually in that pile. Certain plants you should never burn contain oils or toxins that can become part of…
Your lawn turns brown during a drought, you cut back on irrigation to conserve water, and then an HOA violation letter arrives telling you to restore the grass. It sounds absurd, but conflicts over HOA drought rules are real enough that states have passed laws specifically addressing what associations can demand from homeowners. The answer…
Bringing houseplants indoors before cold weather sounds simple enough: pick up the pot, carry it inside, and find a sunny window. But before that planter crosses the threshold, flip it over and inspect an area that’s easy to forget—the plant drainage holes. Months outdoors can leave pots harboring insects, roots, debris, and other surprises around…