Easy ways to revamp your garden for summer entertaining

One of the great benefits to living in a more rural area is watching wildlife. As charming as deer and elk might be, plant damage from elk is no joke. Yes, an elk needs to eat, but most gardeners would prefer it not to occur within their landscape. So, the question becomes how to keep elk from eating plants, and out of your yard. An elk fence and deer and elk resistant plants are the place to start.

Our easy hanging bird bath couldn’t be simpler to make. As a bonus, it also doubles as a bug hotel providing lots of natural materials for insects to hibernate in.

A garden is a living entity that needs year-round attention, but the month of July is particularly crucial. With the weather at its hottest and plants at their most active, there's plenty to do to keep your garden thriving. Whether you're an experienced gardener or a novice green thumb, these top tips for the garden in July will help you prepare for summer's peak.

One problem I have is seeing a potential project in just about anything and everything--I'm a self proclaimed crafting hoarder and I'm trying to be better about what I keep so as not to drive Rob completely bonkers. Something that I have a ton of that I know can be used in so many ways is a bin of wine bottles. Whether we've popped open a bottle for dinner with friends or my many friends keeping theirs for me, I've collected them over the years and have actually gotten rid of a lot of them when trying to purge the basement. However, I still have several and thought I'd finally do something with them.

The gardens at Great Dixter.

Summer is near, and everything seems to be growing so abundantly that overnight, the garden changes and looks lusher and fuller. Summer brings many great things to a garden. But summer can also bring some challenges. 

Rosa ‘Boscobel’ in a walled garden in east London

This article is part of our new 8-week, limited edition newsletter series, The Low-Water Gardening Guide, where we’ll walk you through what it takes to create a sustainable garden, from swapping in the appropriate plants to new irrigation methods to the tools you’ll need and more. Sign up here to get each installment straight to your inbox.

When we talk about native plants, we’re often referring to landscaping, but what about growing your own edible native plant garden? Native plants have adapted to where you live, after all, and unlike, say, your usual tomatoes and strawberries, native edibles have new flavors and scents to try. Meanwhile, planting edible native plants helps to forge a connection between the way we live now, and the way communities in the West have existed for thousands of years. “Just growing these plants is a way to tap into the continuum of time,” says Evan Meyer, the executive director of the Theodore Payne Foundation. “By growing edible plants, your garden can become a much more meaningful place.”   

We’ve all been there, the premature demise of our cilantro bolting into bitterness and a head full of seeds after an unexpected heat spike. But what if we started thinking about these “failures” as new flavor opportunities? One gardener’s flop is another’s feast after all. I’m talking seed-turned-spice drawer—yes, that downed cilantro is now your own hefty supply of gourmet coriander. 

Start preparing for the spring season in advance by doing the necessary changes in your garden in late winter. Read on the article to follow these essential measures for Preparing your Garden for Spring.

By <a target="_blank" rel=«nofollow' href=» https:>Will Armstrong