Backyard Stories

Every garden has a story, and that's why we created Backyard Stories. Explore our collection of real-life gardening tales told from the backyards of gardeners we know and love, featuring all the ups and downs, trials and errors, hits and misses, and more.

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  • Tough As Clay
    A lettuce plant grows out of red clay soil
    Long before I lived here, glaciers spread across the land. These geological events shaped the surface of the earth and deposited various types of rock . . .
  • Annuals Make A Comeback
    Pea seedlings sprouting out of the soil
    Annual plants always seem to be a waste of money to me, since they die every fall. But that doesn’t stop me from planting self . . .
  • Random Planting Brings Many Surprises
    A healthy looking seedling growing out of the soil
    Some gardeners mark the planting location of every bulb and garden seed. Others keep a garden journal with the plantings duly recorded in dated entries. . . .
  • A Years-Long Battle With Barren Peonies
    Closeup of a bright pink peony blossom
    When I moved into my current house, I was thrilled to find three large, healthy, and flowering peonies in one of the beds. I had . . .
  • Never New, But Never Boring
    Paper cutout illustration of a child playing on a recycling logo, with leaves
    Sustainability has become very trendy, with people of all walks of life indulging in the concept. It is quite easy to dip one’s toe into . . .
  • A Sign That Spring Has Arrived
    Close up of a white daffodil with an orange center
    Some of our strongest memories are directly tied to scent. From the rich smell of freshly worked soil to sweet honeysuckle blossoms, the same is . . .
  • My First Philodendron
    A philodendron in a white vase
    I have a lot of early failures in my horticultural timeline. There was the bare crown of thorns I kept alive, and probably shouldn’t have, . . .
  • Passionate For Penstemon
    Bright pink penstemon flowers
    For those of us who love plants, a difficult question to answer would be which one is your favorite? I certainly can’t answer that question . . .
  • My Favorite Gardening Book
    A woman in green nail polish reads a book in the grass
    When it comes to reading, I like to look at the pictures. Which is why The Ultimate Visual Guide – Flowering Plants has become my . . .
  • Going Nature-al
    A view straight up to the tree canopy
    In this age of global crises – including ongoing conflicts, rising populations, and climate change – it’s hard not to fear for the future. There . . .
  • Sickly Lawn Into Healthy Turf
    A healthy green lawn
    Growing perfect turf grass is a skill people master in university horticultural programs. It’s both an art and a science, and the end goal can . . .
  • Roses Are Red, Violets Are…
    Wild violets growing outdoors
    Some plants bear the name of a color… or is it vice versa? It’s a bit like what came first, the chicken or the egg. . . .
  • Not Pruning Is A Mistake
    Pruners cutting a small branch off of a tree
    Pruning can be confusing for a new gardener. When do you do it? How much do you remove? Which stems or branches should you prune? . . .
  • A Healthy Harvest
    Upturned hands holding soil in the shape of a heart, surrounded by fresh vegetables
    Being outdoors and enjoying all that mother nature has to offer is always good for the body and soul. But working in a garden multiplies . . .
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