mental health

The Best Plants for Mental Health Benefits

May 26, 2023 by Kathryn Vercillo Leave a Comment

My two biggest passions in life are art and mental health. Gardening is an art form. Also, gardening has many mental health benefits. I was curious to do some research into the best plants for mental health benefits. Of course, this will vary from person to person. Nevertheless, there are some plants commonly considered beneficial…

5 Ways Depression Costs Me In the Garden

June 14, 2022 by Kathryn Vercillo Leave a Comment

I struggle with chronic, recurring depression. While it’s well-managed, the symptoms do creep up from time to time. Depression is an expensive mental health condition, in ways that might surprise you. In fact, during bouts of depression, I find that it costs me in the garden. This does mitigate the many mental health benefits of…

How To Get Free Seeds From The Government by Amanda Blankenship Seeds might seem like a small expense, but any seasoned…
Should I Use Enviro Ice On My Plants? by Kathryn Vercillo Every week, I receive food from Hungryroot. It's a great…
From Trash to Treasure: Transform Shredded Paper Into Garden Gold by Amanda Blankenship Should you use shredded paper as garden mulch? It might…
What Happens to Plants If You Use Enviro Ice on Them? by Amanda Blankenship About a year ago, I wrote our first article about…

What Happens If You Plant Spring Bulbs Upside Down?

You spent an afternoon planting tulips, daffodils, or crocuses, cleaned the dirt from your hands, and then suddenly had a terrible thought: Were some of those bulbs upside down? Garden instructions usually tell you to put the pointed end up and the flatter root end down, so realizing you may have reversed a few can…

7 Garden Cleanup Jobs That Can Actually Wait Until Spring

The first chilly weekend of fall can make gardeners feel like they’re racing a deadline: cut everything down, rake every leaf, clear every bed, and leave the yard spotless before winter arrives. But that traditional approach can create unnecessary work while removing winter habitat that birds, bees, butterflies, moths, and other beneficial creatures use until…

Don’t Store Garden Soil Like This Over Winter — You Could Ruin the Whole Bag

That half-used bag of potting mix left over from summer may represent $10, $15, or even $20 you won’t have to spend again next spring. But tossing an open bag behind the shed, leaving it where rain can reach it, or forgetting it beside your containers for several months can turn perfectly usable growing media…

What Happens If You Never Rake the Leaves in Your Yard?

Every fall, millions of homeowners repeat the same ritual: rake the leaves, stuff them into bags, drag them to the curb, and wonder how another pile appeared overnight. But what if you simply stopped? The answer is more complicated than the popular advice to either “leave the leaves” or remove every last one, because leaving…