How to garden sustainably | House & Garden

Happy Friday GPODers!

Asters, rudbeckias and heleniums can be glimpsed behind the giant oat grass, Stipa gigantea

Rock gardens are an attractive way of displaying a variety of small plants including alpines, dwarf shrubs and low-growing perennials. They can be adapted to suit any space – an alpine trough, old stone wall or sunny border can all be used to create a form of rock garden. One of the first rock gardens was built at the Chelsea Physic Garden in London in the late 1770s, and they became a popular feature in Victorian and Edwardian gardens, providing a way to display alpine plants from around the world.

You've likely heard that burying banana peels in your garden is a good way to add important nutrients to the soil to grow healthy plants. Banana peels do contain nutrients, but not as many as you may think. Plus, it's not as simple as placing them in the soil and skipping fertilizer or compost.

Hi GPODers!

Is there anything more delightful than the scent of fresh flowers in your garden or on your balcony? With summer just around the corner, it's the perfect time to embrace outdoor living. From warm sunshine to vibrant blooms and the gentle hum of bees, nature is coming alive once more. By introducing fragrant plants into your garden, patio, or balcony, you can create a serene holiday retreat right at home.

How Can I Get a Stump to Rot Quickly? If you've got a stump to remove in a hard-to-reach spot, we have tips to help it decompose quickly. How to rot a stump quickly

“I've always wanted to be outside and I feel happiest when I am in nature," says Alfie Nickerson of Burnt Fen Flowers. «Growing things from seed was always my favourite part, realising what can come from something so small.» It seems he's not alone in this yearning, with a recent study indicating that more than 70 per cent of 18 to 35-year-olds are interested in gardening, and 83% of young people describing gardening as ‘cool.’ Far from the stereotype of being a hobby for the retired generation, millennials and Gen Zs are now heading outdoors come rain or shine, large homestead or urban balcony. With a reputation for being firmly on their phones and indoors, what's caused this sudden shift in a generation?

Interior designer Veere Grenney's garden in Tangier

A Goldfinch perching on teasel

“Uncontrollable changes in a garden are inevitable and wonderful opportunities,” says Donald Pell, a landscape designer in Chester County, Pennsylvania. To prove this is true, Donald and his associates created an incredible series ofnaturalistic gardens around their studio. This landscape has become an invaluable laboratory where Donald and his team learn from failures and from the many years of watching this landscape design evolve. “Establishing a garden based on an initial plan (perhaps one even scribbled on paper) is a great place to start, but as plants, the setting, conditions, our knowledge, and our tastes change, so should our designs,” Donald says.

There is no way to sugarcoat the challenges many of us in the Mid-Atlantic region have faced this summer. The inconsistency of rainfall and the extreme high temperatures have greatly impacted our efforts to garden successfully. Even with valiant efforts to apply supplemental irrigation, I have witnessed a wide range of plant material showing signs of drought stress that I have rarely witnessed in my 15-plus years of gardening in this region. To say it is cause for concern would be an understatement. As a result, in the last few months I have been repeatedly asked how we can prepare our beloved gardens to reduce heat and moisture stress for future growing seasons. One answer to this conundrum is to add organic matter to the soil in the form of compost.