BHG Editors' Favorite Finds: Gardening Essentials We Love

We might be in the final weeks of summer, but that doesn’t mean all the perks of your summer vegetable garden are over. In fact, there are a ton of amazing ways you can prolong the use of your veggie patch—and keep enjoying the literal fruits of your labor—well into autumn. That’s why we turned to Ashley Nussman-Berry, founder of the Black Planters, and a few other amazing members of the Facebook Group, to ask for their advice. 

Today we’re visiting Yvette Pearson.

Functional foods are topping the health trend charts these days. And while you may have heard of the term before, perhaps just assuming that they were good for your health, what are they really, and where can you find them? Here's all the information you need in order to add more fortified foods to your diet.

Today, frequent GPOD contributor Cherry Ong is taking us along on a garden tour she was able to go on in June. The tour was part of a four-day plant-study weekend organized by the Vancouver Hardy Plant Group, and the tour visited some beautiful gardens near Vancouver, Canada.

In their original environments, invasive plants are restrained by their natural adversaries, with whom they co-evolved. However, when they are introduced to a new environment without these natural enemies, some plants can flourish and spread uncontrollably, ultimately becoming invasive.

We’re visiting with Lilli Hazard today in southern Indiana.

Features to Expect in a Japanese Garden

Despite my garden being full to overflowing after the spring rain I have decided to create a new area for a Japanese Garden. When starting a new project I was advised to have a name that may colour the end result. I opted for the grand title of ‘Japan Land’  This will be a long term project and I won’t rush it as I have on other projects in the past.

Mesclun is a name for a traditional melange of salad leaves. The name mesclun doesn’t feature in any of my gardening reference books before 1980 so old gardeners may not recognise the term.

Lilacs are members of the Syringia family and are named for the colour. There are deep lilacs verging on violet and light pinkish lilacs even some pretty floriferous white flowering Lilacs.

London Holland Park’s water feature in Kyoto Garden.

Holland Park has some Zen like features but fails my Zen test. The classic elements of a successful Zen are stone, sand or gravel, water, plants and space. Then there is a question of balance between yin and yang. Cramped or cluttered gardens inhibit the flow of spirit so space is potentially the key ingredient of a Zen garden.