Home & Garden Tips

Western Massachusetts Home Improvement & Decorating, Gardening Tips & Ideas and More

• Lee Reich: Before planting grass, consider the options
Does your lawn need a makeover? Are you putting in a new lawn? You're now in the one month window of best times to do it. But wait! Before you scatter handfuls of seed on bare soil, check that you have, first, chosen the right kind of grass seed, and, second, prepared the soil correctly.

• Miscellaneous tasks keep garden in order
My garden is chugging along now like a well-oiled machine. All I have to do is a few miscellaneous tasks on a regular basis, mostly as I stroll through the garden. But "tasks" may be too strong a word, hardly the word for a casual activity like straightening up a flopped-over pepper plant or pushing a wandering nasturtium stem off a path and tucking it back into the flower border.

• August heat tough on plants
Pity plants this time of year! In hot weather, we humans can jump into some cool water, sit in front of a fan, or duck into the shade. Our plants, though, are tethered in place no matter what the weather.

• Innovative ideas from a truly great garden
Iseek inspiration whenever I visit our nation's capital, but the beeline I make is neither to the White House nor to the halls of Congress.

• Not all lily species difficult to grow
Lilies flourish either in full sun or partial shade. The flowers last longer in partial shade, which also highlights the pale color of the flowers.