Create a beautiful space that makes our world a better place! The Easy Living Yards Podcast helps you have a beautiful ecological landscape. Landscape Designer and host Ben Hale discusses topics on native gardening, ecological landscaping, natural play areas, and more.
Today I have the pleasure to welcome Kara Maynard of Deeply Rooted Landscapes in Dayton Ohio. We’re chatting about “Your Yard is Habitat” – how your yard can make an impact and why you should care.
Scientists are learning that nature preserves and our fragmented habitats are not enough to support the little critters we love. And without biodiversity, we as a species will struggle to survive.
So without getting into doom and gloom, there are some easy solutions – starting with us and our yards. Our yards have the potential to save the human race. Crazy but true. Scientists are finding that if we convert even just a portion of the land in our yards, schools, churches, and businesses, we have the potential to provide life-saving habitat to a vast array of species crucial to the stability of ecosystems across our planet.
Today we cover:
Risks of no habitat and non-native plants
Why native plants are so important
How Kara’s passion for recycling turned into a career in native landscaping
How to find local resources like Wild Ones to help you with native landscaping
How to find local examples of beautiful native landscapes
Note: Some of the links on this page contain affiliate links. If you click on these links to make a purchase, I may obtain a small commission at no charge to you. All of these products are either products I own or have researched and would like to own. You can read my full affiliate disclosure here.
Why you already love rain containers but just didn’t know it yet…
Show Notes
Why you should consider rain containers
Whether you call them rain barrels, rain containers, or rain catchment systems, capturing the rain provides healthy water for your landscape and helps reduce our burden on stressed stormwater systems. Win-win-win! Here’s how to do your part in helping reduce your burden on our water systems, as simple or intricate as you like!
What’s your rain barrel style? Listen to learn more…
Why are rain containers awesome?
Healthy water for your garden and yard
Low cost water storage
Reduces runoff – help our stressed planet!
Reduces energy and demand on our water supply
Types of rain containers
Easy downspout rain barrels – quick and easy, great way to get started
Larger rain continers – more options, more water storage, some are pretty
Plastic modular systems
IBC Totes (Intermediate bulk containers) make great rain containers – get a food grade one!
(pssst we use these for our rain system – 550 gallons of storage fills in less than one inch of rain!)
Steel and concrete rain container systems
Expert & pro style, can look very beautiful
Key Factors to consider with rain containers
Make sure to empty your rain containers in freezing weather or you will be sad :(
Avoid “Dead legs” in your rain container system
These are places where water sits stagnant and doesn’t flow. Explained better in the podcast.
First flush diversion
This is a very helpful rain container addition because it reduces debris, bird poop, etc from getting into your continer.
A slightly more advanced element, but very helpful to improve quality and prevent stagnant (aka smelly) water in your rain containers
Rainwater downspout filters are also a great option, but only capture the larger debris.
Keep your rain containers covered and screened
Keeps out rodents and mosquitos
Keeps rain containers safe from curious children and sad accidents.
When you’re looking for eco friendly landscaping ideas, it can be difficult to come up with a design that looks good. We want easy DIY landscaping, right? These design basics will help you design low maintenance landscaping that will look great and require less work.
Topic Outline:
Goals for your landscaping
Functions in a good landscape design
Design Basics
Low maintenance plant selection
How most people design a garden: We usually want to start with the plants.
The wrong way to design a garden: wanting to start with the plants!
The right way to design a beautiful low maintenance landscape:
Landscape Design Goals
Start with your goals for your garden and entire property
What does your garden do?
What does your garden mean to you?
What do you want your garden to say about you?
Functions in a good landscape design
What functions does your landscape perform?
Providing access
Welcoming guests
Visual barrier
Bringing beauty to your life
Providing a relaxing space
Others
How to design a landscape like a pro – The basic essentials
Your landscape design should be:
an expression of your landscaping goals
an implementation of your landscape functions
Form in a landscape design
The structure or backbone of your design
You can see structure and form by looking at a landscape in black-and-white
You want variation in your form to not be monotonous
Texture in a landscape design
Texture is your differences in leaf patterns, lighting, shadows, branching, etc.
You also want varied texture to avoid dull landscapes
Color
You consider color after focusing on form, structure, and texture.
This is the last bit – like decorative icing on a cake
Color is usually a temporary, changing process in the landscape
Balance
How various elements across your design are distributed
In form, structure, texture, color
Symmetry
Provides some sense of intent
Does not need to be entirely symmetrical
Repetition
Use of similar elements across your design
Plants, colors, texture
Plant Selection (woo hoo finally!!!!)
Plants should
fulfill your goals and design intent
be adapted to site conditions
Moisture, sun, soil, etc
sometimes provide a funtion
foot traffic, sight lines
be available for you to find (duh – I promise you might get hung up on a plant and not be able to find it)
Meet design needs
Evergreen, bloom time/color, mature height/width
Good luck! Let me know how it goes!
You deserve a beautiful yard!
Easy Living Yards can help you create your beautiful eco-friendly yard.
See below to find the options right for you. Start today!
Note: Some of the links on this page contain affiliate links. If you click on these links to make a purchase, I may obtain a small commission at no charge to you. All of these products are either products I own or have researched and would like to own. You can read my full affiliate disclosure here.
Ecological Landscaping is important because what you do matters, and what you do does make a difference.
Making conscious choices for our environment can feel lonely. You are not alone.
Today’s episode helps you find a community of people living an eco friendly life to support you, and to reinforce that your conscious choices do make a difference in this busy noisy world.
Ecological Landscaping You can make a difference ELY108
00:00:00 – 00:05:00
Welcome to the easy living yards podcast. Here you’ll learn how to create a beautiful eco-friendly yard. So you can enjoy a beautiful space that makes our world a better place. I’m your host, Ben Hale and I’m an ecological landscape designer and Beautiful Cincinnati Ohio. My goal is to make as many beautiful chemical-free purposeful landscapes in our world. So we can live better while helping the world around us. We cover topics from native plants, permaculture and ecological landscaping to organic gardening kid-friendly playscapes, healthy outdoor play in living with purpose. Let’s jump in and create your beautiful space that makes our world a better. Welcome to episode one hundred eight of the easy living yards podcast today guys we’re GONNA be diving deep go through some soul searching I’m going to get their deep with you We’re going to be talking about what you do matters and that’s the truth. What you do really does matter and we’re GonNa talk about it today if you don’t like these kind of introspective shows or whatever deal with it right now. Really these these do serve a purpose if kind like one of those warm fuzzy people like I am you know sometimes it’s just really important. Especially given the you know the global situation we’re dealing with with a cove in nineteen right now is that this is a perfect time to really think in you know think about who we are, what we do what our impact is what our legacy is. You know some of those really deep questions which I have talked about in previous shows and I think it bears. Resurfacing right now. This is always really important to me. I probably overthink this too much but In reality it serves us all not just ourselves but everybody when we all take some time and make sure we carve out space not just to think but also just. You know listen to our heart and to reflect on what’s important in all those things all that warm and fuzzy stuff Oh that warm and fuzzy stuff is warm and fuzzy, and it’s great. Why do we get you know turn all weird and sideways when when we get inside and think about positive feelings and things that make us feel good. And things that make us feel fulfilled right. Why does what does that turn people off I don’t get that. All right. So so today we’re going to do that before we jump in today’s show. I do want to talk about some awesome services I’m opening up with easy living yards. I’m super excited about this guys. We are going to be getting boots on the ground and boots on the the digital world as well. I guess, right? What talking about is at easy living yards, which is Aka me Ben Hale that’s that’s the whole entity of easy living yards. I don’t have some giant team you know working all these sorts of magic backyards just me. And At easy living yards, we’re opening up a design service. That’s right. So I’m going to start I’ve kind of purposely pushed away doing too much design work just simply because this business is my side hustle right now, I don’t know if you knew that some of you who’ve listened for a long time they know that but this business is is my passion in. In the way I want to make a positive impact in this world I’ve decided to do it through helping you my dear friend and teammate, and in this world of of positive impact to to make a broader positive impact on our world through landscapes we live that’s what easy living yards to me is about right I’ve defined it in so many different ways into the Definition. and. So as part of that, I’ve had to make focused efforts on producing this podcast and also working on my digital membership which right now for you guys. Is still there You know it’s it’s a great way if you’re into diy landscaping and need kind of a coaching program, that’s what the DIY. Membership is four and. In. What I want to do now is kind of expand into doing some design work. So if you guys are interested, I offered. Some multiple services moving up here. So I if you live in the Greater Cincinnati region, which is where I live my hometown proud to call it home. It’s just such a beautiful region guys anyway. Let’s. Let’s get back on track here is I’m offering in Cincinnati region both landscape design services specifically ecologically focus landscape landscape design services. So I’ll define what that is in a moment here but I’m also on top of that offering a consultation to so if you just want to.
00:05:01 – 00:10:03
You know to have you know somebody come onsite and kind of look at it with a designer’s perspective and ecological perspective and to understand you know kind of the lay of the land in in maybe. Identify some issues or some opportunities that sort of thing that’s what the consulting services for. It so I offer that. Onsite in the Greater Cincinnati region both the design service, the premium design piece as well as the consultation piece And in addition, of course, the easy living yards membership, which is a digital format. So easy living yards membership is a global thing whether you live in a you know Australia or or the most of my businesses focused on the United States guys. But the reality is ecological design spans every geography of the world, right? So wherever you are. The easy living yards membership is an opportunity for you and likewise opening up digital consultation and digital design services as well. So for all of these services, let me talk about where we’re really focusing with regards. If this resonates with you, I wanNA help you so again. As kind of a tagline, my new tagline. I’m always trying out new ones but. Right, now we help your yard be a beautiful space that makes our world a better place. So. Basically. If if you really looking to create a positive impact, the year landscape, there’s a couple of buckets where I, I looked to do that. And I hope you do too. So if you’re looking to create a positive inspe- impact with your space beyond just looking pretty. That’s where I’m really interested because I believe that our landscapes are ever more important these days and we’re GonNa talk about that in today’s show as well. Are Ever Evermore important to to create that positive impact and so the bucket on talking about our of broken out into land life and health where easy living yards really wants to focus and I want to help you focus there too. So with the land we’re talking about ecological design, native landscaping, Rain Gardens, or rain water management runoff management, low maintenance lawns in organic landscaping. So those are kind of some of those buzzword topic areas that were really focusing on with life. We’re talking about you know a broader life beyond humanity. So pollinator Gardens, Butterfly Gardens, HABITAT, restoration bird, friendly landscapes, that sort of thing. Okay. And likewise with health. So this is where it kind of brings the human element into it. So we’re talking about permaculture systems if you’re familiar with permaculture So you know regenerative agriculture on home scale is really where I’m trying to focus on right now rainwater collection, healthy landscapes, healthy food production also really important piece that fits into here is healthy childhoods. And I and that’s Kinda deliberately broad thing. But basically making sure that our children have a beautiful interactive and safe place to play outdoors. Okay. That’s stimulating educational interactive and draws them outside. That’s those are the buckets of where I want to help you create a beautiful space that makes her world a better place. Okay. So going over basically, you just go over to easy living. Yards dot com slash services, and you see the whole array of services now that we’re offering. So I’m super excited to work with you guys I. Hope Likewise, you feel as excited as well. Basically, what I’m trying to do is provide a diverse palette of help for wherever you need it. So we have free tons of free resources rate. So the easy living yards podcast is. One of those right to free podcasts after tons of information when you’re ready to go deeper, of course, I have if you sign up to my email list. So any of the free downloads that I talk about on the shows you can always s when you asked me a question, you get on email list as well. I offer tons of free resources through my email lists. Those are ways if you know if you simply can’t afford to work with me on a deeper level, those are free resources that are. Also, provide immense value to help you move forward. Okay and when you’re ready to work with me I I’m trying to offer that diverse array of support. So from the DIY landscaper with easy living yards, membership consultation services to fool on design services and locally design and sometimes even install work. Okay. So that’s where we’re going with easy living yards. So wanted to get just. kind of lengthy but I wanted to share all of these resources with you guys since it’s brand new and go check it out. Easy living yards, dot com slash services. Okay. So let’s jump back into today’s show. Really today’s going to be well, I, always say this today I’m thinking it’s going to be kind of a short show. It’s really off the cuff sometimes deliberately do this where I don’t make much of a show outlined beforehand and just tried to leave it to. Speak from the heart somewhat. Okay. So that’s what I’m doing. Hampshire I’m trying to I. Know It doesn’t always sound is you know eloquent when I do that or whatever.
00:10:03 – 00:15:09
I don’t consider myself an elegant guy to begin with. So. Today’s show I just really WANNA I wanted to be as raw as possible. See you guys can feel as genuine about this show as possible into to really just you know I it makes me kind of feel vulnerable. When do shows like this and I hope it just helps you feel a little bit more vulnerable with yourself and to feel comfortable with yourself being a little bit vulnerable to really. Just, Kinda crack open that hardshell of our heart that we sometimes have to get to our sensitive space to open up and really think about these big picture questions because this stuff matters guys were trained with our conventional lifestyle. You know you know go to school you know study sit still You know pick job that that fits you that you know learn your math like all that stuff, right? Sounded like Pink Floyd here You know it kind of shuts us off from from listening to the heart in the creative side, and I’ve had to work over the past several years to try and open that. Up for me and that’s really where easy living yards was born from was this this this softer creative side of me that you know as outside of my formal education I’ve self educated just through intense passion in all this space of landscape design of of permaculture design of ecological systems, of native habitats. All of that stuff you know is all just passion driven self education and in personal drive to make a positive difference and I’ve been very fortunate for one that I have. You know some education practice of of self discovery that has helped and also I have a background is a kid I was home schooled for for quite a few years. So. It kind of gave me that kernel of of confidence that I can go and learn whatever I want to whenever I want to and I think you have some of that too because you’re listening to a podcast. All right. This is a form of digital media that didn’t exist twenty years ago that you know is I. Hope you find incredibly educational in a space that you’re trying to learn about right. So you’re doing the same thing too and I encourage you to continue to do. So that’s what today’s show is about is for us to really dig into what matters and do our actions. Our personal actions really matter especially in this this you know crazy. Society we live in right now where every issue is such a polarizing issue whether we’re talking about religion race ethics politics you know you name it it’s super polarizing in and it seems like there’s just a hotbed of of emotions you know everybody’s triggered. So easily with all these these hot button issues right and and do you know whether you feel one way or another? It seems like while there’s just as many people that feel opposite right and so do my actions really matter right? Are we just lost in the wash of all the noise of the crazy you know media drumming that goes on and so I wanNA, stop us and turn off that. TV. Turn off the Social Media Feed And you know turn off the radio, the news updates and to say, yes, what you do matters okay. What you do does matter if you choose to do it in a way that’s purposeful. Right. So, if you think about how I end each show rate. I talked about living with passion and making tomorrow better than today. That’s a deliberate sign off on my part because it you know it’s funny. It has nothing to do with landscaping, right but. I truly believe what we do with our landscapes should reflect how we feel about the world around us and how we feel about ourselves to, and that’s where ties completely back in full circle to really are landscapes had the opportunity to provide a positive impact for us and for the world around us in. Likewise, our actions in our thoughts have the opportunity to provide a positive impact for ourselves. The people we know and the world around us. Okay it might not you know. Meet some bottom line for some giant nameless faceless corporation or something. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter. That’s what we’re trained to believe as if it doesn’t help you know lead to some bottom line profit margin. We’re trained to believe, but the reality is. That’s not the stuff that matters. That’s not the stuff that lease positive legacy behind right and if we want to have a legacy to leave behind. What do we want it to be? Okay. This is why I’m here. Guys I. Hope it’s why year here’s will. Okay. It’s because I believe that. What we do matters in our own personal actions whether or not they make some you know lasting impact on whatever it’s we feel and how we act and what we believe in and the actions we take based on our beliefs that collectively.
00:15:10 – 00:20:05
You know speak right to other people. So they can convert people to the way we believe in. So passionately, and likewise by growing this grassroots movement of people that believe an act whether or not. It makes some apparent difference where they’re not. You know they get featured on the front page of the newspaper that nobody reads anymore. Sorry I couldn’t help myself you know. It’s not about the the You know the the the. Is What, where’s the word I’m trying to say like it’s not about the recognition of what you do. Okay. It’s about the action and the impact it has to you and to the people or the world you you intend that impact to be okay and what I’m talking about too is just leaving a legacy legacy of positivity, a legacy of positive impact in a legacy that will will last and may never get thanked by a human. But it may. Provide beneficial habitat for some endangered species of insect that’s trying to you know expand its range to some from some pocket prairie to you another. You know another grassland nearby or something. Right? We may never know our impact. Okay. But what matters is? That we believe, we can make an impact. Okay. I’m not trying to be incredibly redundant, but I’m trying to just you know kind of. Approaches from as many angles as I can to help make it clear that what we do actually does matter even though it seems like in this noisy noisy noisy distracting world that it’s so easy to get lost. Okay. The other pieces it feels so lonely, right it feels so lonely especially like. Again for my own experience here, right. We Made A. My wife and I, we made a dedicated decision that we’re going to stop synthetic chemical use on our property. One simple decision, right? You’d think it doesn’t really matter. But. Just that one simple decision has had a widespread effect on her relationship with our neighborhood. It’s crazy how much people fight you when you choose A. Decision that goes counter to mainstream decisions and it also. It you know it’s it’s counter to their perception of beauty and what’s right and the funny thing is they roenick thing is we made that decision because we felt it was right and it was safe. It was the safe decision for ourselves for our family or young children. Okay and so. It’s just so funny that people fight you when you make a decision and you act upon what you feel is right and so if feels incredibly lonely, it can be you know it can feel. So lonely if you choose to plant some native plant instead of some, you know exotic invasive that everybody else plants on the street. People, fight you but it’s your yard. It’s your landscape with the reality is unfortunately with the way our society is structured. We we somewhat need to integrate with our community in so many ways. That’s a great and wonderful thing right as we should want to integrate with our community, but it makes it difficult when we choose something that we feel is right and it goes against the grain of what is normal. Okay. And so I’m here especially in our hyper connected world to say, you are not alone if you WanNa make this choice or if you have made this choice. And you’re struggling with it and you’re feeling lonely you’re feeling you know like sticking out like a sore thumb. With your neighbors. I want to let you know that you are not alone. Okay and what I’m trying to do as best as I can with the easy living yards community is to do just that to develop a community. Okay. If it’s not very interactive listening to a PODCAST, right? So right now I’m recording this into dead space right I’m going to publish it on the Internet and you’re GonNa get to listen to it. You know fast forward to now right when I’m saying now it’s going to be in the future right so that’s just the reality right and so it’s not really an interactive. Platform, but I wanted to make this as interactive as possible, and so what I’ve done is trying to structure is best. So the the easy living yards membership. His built for that for example, where I’m trying to foster community and so if you’re interested in you know Doing this on your own to creating your own space it’s incredibly inexpensive to go and join the easy living membership and it’s really what it’s designed to provide. Support Network, a coaching program but also a community and interactive community where you don’t feel alone right I’m not intending to be a sales pitch and actually while I’m here I wanNA.
00:20:05 – 00:25:00
Shout out my so my membership is super small guys I. Don’t know if you know this or not but I wanNA. Thank. I WanNA thank Caitlin and Jen for being you know my all star members right now that’s right to have two members but what we’re doing is we’re providing community and we’re connecting with each other okay and if you want to join that that’s that’s awesome I want you to be part of that okay and You know if you don’t want that with the, you know the coaching program along with it. What I also have is my facebook page, the ECO friendly landscaping or facebook group read. There’s there’s easy living yards page please go over to facebook if your facebook follow easy living yards, you’ll get updates show every once in a while we do some promotional thing or whatever you sofala that. But the reality is withheld facebook works if I want to reach all of you have to pay a bunch of money to get a message to you, right. So would have done on the side of that because I want everybody to be as connected as possible as I’ve created a A. FACEBOOK group called ECO friendly landscaping. Okay. So if you go to my business page, you’ll see a link to it but also if you just search in facebook in the groups search eco-friendly landscaping, it should pop up at it pretty close to the top of the results so. Going back. The reason I’ve done that is I want to help provide community. Okay. You are not alone and that’s really what I WANNA make it clear is that when you’re struggling with some of this stuff, right, you could have the most beautiful landscape in the world. But if it’s different from your neighbors, they might hate it and they will fight you for it and that’s unfortunate right? It’s sad and And so I want you to feel supported in this process as we navigate to building a positive lasting impact through our landscapes and through the way we act and the way we live. Okay. So, go on over facebook. Join the eco-friendly landscaping group consider the membership if you want. But all in all if if you’re not interested in that stuff, you’re not on facebook you don’t WanNa join the membership. That’s fine. I’m not going to spite you for what I want you to do is to know that I care. Okay and there are plenty of other people here that listen to this show that care as well. Okay. That’s what matters you’re not alone. Keep up the good fight do what you believe in. Okay Right, now, our world needs good land stewards more than ever. Okay. More than ever. All right. We’ve altered the landscape. So much of the nation is growing so much I’m not making this into. You know some global population scheme thing here what I wanted to say though is that What we do with our landscape has so much more of an impact than we imagine because the more of us that make a detrimental impact it adds up in the more of us that make a positive impact also heads up too. So I WANNA, stand on top of my mountain right now and say do the best you can with your landscape in the best positive impact you can with your life. Because it does matter. Okay. Do what you feel is right. Our land cannot speak for itself. Right our trees cannot speak for themselves or flowers are are native insects cannot speak for themselves. Right? We have to speak for them. That’s what I’m trying to do here I. Hope You do the same. I hope you care that they are here to because we all need each other. Okay. Not just humans we. The entire biosphere we’re. Interconnected. As humans we’ve done our best to separate ourselves from that in in a way we’ve acted like the world’s most potent virus. Okay. Because we’ve caused so much destruction to landscapes around us, but we also have a wonderful wonderful positive capability. And that is the capability to heal and to cultivate into care and so that’s what I want to help you do today is to learn how to cultivate and to care into provide that positive impact that covers up some of the scars of of our human habits. Okay. The reality is we’ve scarred the land we scarred the earth we it’s just part of how we live. Okay. It’s it’s the reality right now. But we can try and do as best as we can to make it as as little of a scars possible or to heal some of the scars of the past. Okay. You can take small measurable steps to make a big measurable impact. Okay. Even if it seems small remember you’re not alone we’re in this together and and in our hyper connected world today with social media follow the right people follow the positive people, the people that inspire you. Okay. Not The people that make you feel bad about yourself or make you you know. you know tune into all the stressful stuff about these the world today. You know I have my own like private instagram feed.
00:25:01 – 00:30:01
All I do I don’t to be honest. Friends if you’re listening I’m sorry I don’t follow you. I follow just a few few very few people that. Provide. Very inspiring stuff because when I I hardly ever go on instagram but when I do. I go there to feel inspired. Okay. So do things surround yourself with the things that inspire you and keep them going to help you feel when when you’re feeling alone like like I do okay. Surround yourself with the things that inspire you to build. You help you continue to move forward because it’s in those moments where the where the weakest and we’re the most willing to give up. Okay. So there is a support network for you whether it’s eco-friendly landscaping facebook group or you know your favorite followers on instagram. Follow them. You know do whatever you gotTa do to feel supported in those moments in to keep moving forward to get inspired to give back into that positive vibe of making a difference in knowing that you can make a difference. Okay. And I you know on that kind of go along with that thought, I jotted down this this short sentence A. Long sentence. Okay. It doesn’t matter the length of the sentence I jotted down this thought and so I want to read it to you. Okay. It’s not about whether you’re single impact will change the world on its own. But whether. You. Do what you feel is right in your heart. Okay I’ll read it again. It’s not about whether you’re single impact will change the world on its own but whether you do what you feel is right in your heart I truly believe that that’s what I try to to work toward because there’s so many times where Action or some belief I have and you know I, I get the rebuttal that why does that matter because you know just you by yourself can’t really changed the world, right? That’s the that’s the belief that striven the widespread complacency and disconnection throughout our entire society I believe that okay. It’s disconnected us from the land disconnected us from each other. It’s driven the growth, the hyper growth of capitalism to the detriment of our world our society. Okay. I’m getting Al Political here right that’s that’s never my intent with this show but basically, let’s go back. Let’s real back in. Okay. Hold on Ben. Right. So. If we all just acted a little bit more. Toward what we felt as right in her heart, we would make small decisions that continually build up throughout our life to make a big positive impact. Take living yards, for example, guys. All right. So rewind back to fourth grade some of you that have listened to show a couple times of her this story I keep telling the story because for one it helps me remind myself of why do what I do? Okay. When I was in Fourth Grade I started this club we picked up litter in the playground. Okay. Doesn’t sound like much to up Ben Right now, but it’s a little bit and it was a big deal. All right. And to to show you to highlight how much of a big deal it is I called this club the I help save the Earth. Club. All right. In, the I help save the Earth. Club. Kept that playground super clean of cigarette butts and a bunch of my classmates into why well I believe it’s because we as fourth graders believed that. You know once I was able to convince my fellow fourth graders that you know what people need to care about this world because there’s not enough people that do anymore. I don’t know where I got that idea from or that thought from is probably from some childhood experience of somebody throwing trash out the car window or something which still drives me crazy. Okay. Anyway. But the truth is picking up litter in the playground didn’t really save the Earth Right? It didn’t. But. Our collective positive action and dedicated action to what we felt was right. Did help save the Earth because fast forward I kind of forgot about that little club and stuff and. I left that school basically after fourth grade and so kind of things died there and they fell asleep. But as you can tell now easy living yards was deeply rooted in that initial. You know that initial I helped save the Earth Club right? So you’re listening to this show. You’re an honorary member of the I help Save the club I’m grateful that you’re here because now what I’m doing a. Like I mentioned earlier. This is a side business for me right I. don’t even generate that much revenue with easy living yards. I’m a horrible businessmen guys I guess I don’t know. But what matters though is what I’m doing feels right in my heart and I hope why you’re here feels right in your heart to you too i. told you were getting warm and fuzzy today guys thanks for being here because there’s a reason you’re here.
00:30:01 – 00:35:01
Okay. So let’s talk the sentence again that I wrote down. It’s not about whether you’re single impact will change the world on its own but whether you do what you feel is right in your heart. Okay our heart is a wonderful beacon toward what makes us feel fulfilled, and that’s why I do I continue to do what I do here DC living yards, and I hope you enjoy being here with me and I. Hope You come along for the ride to okay. In whatever way you feel is appropriate to be involved with easy living yards to be a part of this community. Please do so okay. So. I’m going to end with a few thoughts in provoking questions. Very simple questions but there provoking. Why do you care? Okay. I’m assuming that you’re here because you do care about our world our environment in some way because that’s what the easy living yards podcast is about right. It’s providing beautiful spaces that make your world, our world a better place, right so You transform your landscape from this. You know soul-sucking resource draining landscape where we’re out there slaving away in the summer heat just a mow the grass or whatever, or to irrigate the grass or whatever that you know maybe shouldn’t be there in the first place instead trying to figure out how we can change that space and it’s something that’s beautiful and. And, also makes a positive impact. Plants have this amazing power to you know provide habitat to give his oxygen right there the generators of oxygen for our world. You know they’re amazing right? and. Humans have this amazing impact to to perceive. What is good or you know what? How can we make things better or how can we help nature you know? Re Heal itself. Right. Those are all things that you know you know A. A dear can’t do in the woods right they can only eat the plants that they’re used to eating and you know keep going in and raise their young right. But we as humans have that wonderful gift to be able to pause and to think about what feels right now hurt, right? And so. I ask you again why do you care? And when you think about that, reflect on that, I hesitate to use the word think actually because this isn’t a cognitive process. This is a heart driven process. Okay. So we gotta get a brain out of the way. Really focused on understanding from our heart. Why do we care because in that little kernel of an answer that you might find? That’s the driver for. What makes you originally want to care about this earth in the first place and it might be different for each of us. Right, but understanding that and in feeling that feeling in your heart what emotionally drives you to want to even think about what you’re landscape does. All right. Instead of it being the place that you you know traverse across in blink passed as you go on your way out your busy day. How can you know? Rest assured knowing that that place is a beautiful space that’s making a positive impact. How can rest assured that your actions in this world make a positive impact and legacy is something you can think that your you know your kids one day, it will be proud of you for. You can feel that one day hopefully, the natural world we’d be proud of maybe not even be perceptive, but you can rest assured knowing that you did your part, right? So why you care? What is your story right I’ve told you this little story I’ll I’ll tell it again about my fourth grade experience I can tell you many more stories like that. Okay. What’s your story? What? What’s your story that drives you that captivates you and? Makes you the hero on your own journey? You know we’re all on our our heroes journey. Until the day we stop breathing we’re still on that journey fighting and climbing and striving for something better. So so what’s that for you? What’s your Hero’s journey that brings you marching forward? You Know Waking Up to a new day inspired in Ray to fight for you know your your heroes heroes. I lost my train of that. You know you fighting in striving for your hero’s journey. Okay and to to that you know. Wonderful Climax of of your life. Right. Okay. So maybe you don’t have your story. What can your story be? So let’s end on those notes. Why do you care? Why do you care about the earth? Why do you care about making a positive legacy a positive impact? Okay. What’s your story? Or what can your story be? Maybe we need to rewrite the script, right? This is the time to think about that stuff.
00:35:01 – 00:35:48
Our guys again make sure you go over to easy living yards, dot com slash services there. I’m offering a wide array of services to help you wherever you are in your landscape, and of course, we always have the free easy living yards podcast subscribe to. So make sure you subscribe to the show if you haven’t left a review, make sure you do so if you’re ready to really transform. Your yard go over to easy living yards, dot com slash services. As always if you have a question, you can always go to go over to easy living yards, dot com slash ask and right there you can just ask me a question super easy to do and I’ll get back to you. That’s it will be me responding to you directly with your questions so I’m happy to help guys as. As always, thanks for tuning in. Make sure you live with passion and make tomorrow better than today.
You deserve a beautiful yard!
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A prairie garden, meadow garden, wildflower garden – whatever you want to call it – is a beautiful ecological landscaping to provide healthy native plant habitat in your yard in a beautiful low maintenance way. In this episode we discuss what is a prairie garden and how to install a prairie garden from start to finish.
A prairie garden is a beautiful low maintenance ecological landscape or native garden consisting of native grasses and native plants to provide beauty for humans and natural habitat for critters
Prairie gardens are a low maintenance way to fill in space in your yard
Prarie gardens provide beneficial habitat for native insects and birds
You could call a prairie garden a pollinator garden or gardening for birds – especially if your neighbors would like that better!
Beauty in a prairie garden
Depends on design style
Provides visual interest in color, texture, and structure
Translates wind into movement and sound
Common excuses about meadow gardens and prairie gardens
“My landscape is too small for a prairie garden”
“My HOA won’t allow a pollinator garden”
“Native gardens are too ugly”
Learn how to break through these myths!
How to install a prairie garden or pollinator garden
Remove existing space (see “How to start a new garden bed” episode)
Know your conditions
Select the right plants
Select your planting style
Determine design criteria
Install your prairie garden
Maintain your beautiful native garden
You deserve a beautiful yard!
Easy Living Yards can help you create your beautiful eco-friendly yard.
See below to find the options right for you. Start today!
Welcome to the easy living yards podcast here you’ll learn how to create a beautiful eco-friendly yard. You can enjoy a beautiful space that makes our world a better place. I’m your host Ben Hale and I’m an ecological landscape designer and Beautiful Cincinnati Ohio. My goal is to make as many beautiful chemical-free purposeful landscapes in our world. So we can live better while helping the world around us. We. Cover topics from native plants, permaculture and ecological landscaping to organic gardening kid-friendly playscapes healthy outdoor play in living with purpose. Let’s jump in and create your beautiful space that makes our world a better. Welcome to another episode of easy living yards podcast. Today’s episode one, hundred seven, and we’re going to be talking about creating a meadow. Hope you guys are having an awesome summer this year. It’s a little bit of a crazy year, right? That’s the reality. Right. But let’s get past that and let’s just talk about the good things. Okay. It’s good to focus on some good stuff with all this negativity floating around these days I hope you’re happy. I hope you’re healthy. I hope you’re getting some good time with family. and. You know connecting digitally taking advantage of the wonderful technology we have to connect digitally these days and. More importantly is well getting outside and join the beautiful nature around US I. Hope Amidst all this stuff with our global pandemic situation that you’ve at least been able to really kind of slow down a bit and enjoy the natural world around us. I. Think that’s the beauty out of all of this at least for me that it’s really helped me to focus on just those you know those important things that we kind of pushed to the side a lot of times. So anyway. Okay guys before we jump into today’s show, I wanNA. Let you know about some awesome new services offering easy living yards, dot com slash services where you can find more details. What about what I’m about to tell you about and I’m super excited if you can’t tell and that is that easy living yards is opening up the doors beyond just our membership coaching program to really kind of give you a wide array of opportunities to work with us and when I say us I really mean me. Okay it’s one man shop here. A easy living yards I want I really want to help you guys navy against. So that’s where I started with the easy living yards membership, which is basically your diy landscaping coaching program and if and when I wanNA do is kind of broaden out beyond that. So in the past I’ve offered some consultation services and that Kinda shut the doors on that for a while and now I’m opening it backup. Alright. So Wherever you live. I offer digital services where we can connect one on one talk intimately about your landscape and how we can create that positive beautiful lasting landscape that makes a lasting impression on the world around us in his beautiful in our is it’s well. Okay. So the consultation consultation services are when you need specific help or you don’t know where to start and you just want kind of that nudge or direction or clarification on some things, and there’s various options there to to work you know on a kind of a higher level with some. Consultation or some deeper level where we kind of work through project together. Okay. So check out the consultation services, I offer virtual consultation where we can. You know I’ll I’ll pull all the resources together. We talk over photos we do video. Conferencing where we can you actually physically walk through your landscape through your computer screen It’s it’s pretty cool stuff. So it’s awesome. The tools we have at our disposal these days to to stay connected wherever we live. Okay I’m also offering virtual design services to the cool thing about with our hyper connected world is I can basically almost all the resources we. Need to pull together pretty awesome. Design Capabilities straight through the computer screen. Okay. So this is where I am. You know I wanNA make wherever you are as accessible as possible to help you on your journey to create that beautiful space that makes a wrote a better place. Now, if you’re one of those super lucky people that lives in the Greater Cincinnati region. Like me Then I’m also offering a in person services as well, which is super cool I’m super excited about this guy’s to start working with you guys that live in the Greater Cincinnati region So wherever you live, if you think it’s close enough you might be you probably are so also offering a boots on the ground consultation services where we can walk through your landscape and get an intimate feel for it and discussing onsite and work through whatever challenges dealing with or whatever level of overwhelming you’re dealing with to get you started on your way I’m also offering. full-scale design services in the Greater Cincinnati region.
00:05:01 – 00:10:00
I’m super excited about this park guys. This has been part of my long-term vision. So I’m super excited to to start carving out that space to work on design It’s I’m super passionate about this and I can’t be more excited to start working with you. So if you’re interested definitely go over to easy living yards, dot com slash services to check out the various options there as always I’ll continue to keep the easy living yards membership open and will continue to be working in the easy living yards membership. Right now, I want to thank my members Jen Caitlin for their awesome work in the membership and. Guys I have to members, and so there’s plenty of room for more of you and the cool thing is with such a small membership I. Give I can give you guys super super detailed help. And maximize you know the time that we have together in the membership. It’s incredibly affordable guys So there’s also a link on that on the new services page now who is Who is who is the right person for working with easy living arts? Okay. Let’s get that out there. If if any of these areas feel right to you than you are the right connection because we’re not just your typical Moen blow, you know throwing a bunch of boxwoods type landscaper. I am super driven to provide a positive lasting impact on the world through the landscapes we live and I strongly believe this is the place where we can really make a positive lasting impact. Okay. and. So I’ve kind of broken out my focus areas into three buckets and you’ve heard me talk about him the shows here. So this is the land life and health. Okay. So when we’re talking about land, it’s basically this overarching bucket of land restoration in a beautiful manner. Okay. So whether it’s ecological design, native landscaping Rain Gardens or rain water management systems low maintenance, lawns, organic landscaping. These are my focus areas for for stewarding the land through beautiful landscapes. Okay. Life this is providing life in vibrance to our landscapes beyond the human aspect. So we’re talking about pollinator gardens, butterfly, gardens habitat restoration bird friendly landscaping. Okay. These are kind of just some examples of the types of. Work I really wanted to with you and then health very important. So this is kind of where we integrate the human element more directly and that’s permaculture systems and regenerative agriculture on the home scale. Healthy, food kinda ties into that right healthy food production, rainwater collection for for either irrigation or drinking water. Right and so I don’t do as much with the drinking water piece but rainwater collection is very important in our landscapes. Okay. Healthy playscapes as well as really important. So this is basically healthy fostering healthy childhood through our land. Okay. This is super important because childhood and healthy connections to the lands for children fosters people that care about the earth and appreciate the earth and and become the future stewards of our planet. So. Super important stuff and I care about all this stuff very deeply. So if you do to then consider working with easy living yards, go over to easy living yards, dot com slash services to to find out more okay. Enough about that. Let’s just talk about the topic of today’s show now. Today. We’re GONNA be talking about creating a meadow. Why are we talking about this right? Around here in southern Ohio at least. You know if you think about a meadow, you might just think of like an empty lot or something somebody’s overgrown lawn. Well, that’s not exactly what a meadow is. So we’re not going to be talking about that. All right. This isn’t just some you know abandoned space or talking about is creating a beautiful space that. For one takes up space. All right. It’s low maintenance. It’s a space filler but more importantly than that. This is a beautiful wonderful habitat for the creatures that that can potentially live in your landscape. These are good creatures to we want creatures in our landscape, things like butterflies, things like bees that won’t sting you and. Birds Beautiful Birds Gold finches. Stuff like this red wing blackbirds. Okay. This. Is Part of creating a beautiful maintenance landscape. Meadow. I use the term loosely. We could call it a wild ish space and naturalized space and nature inspired space. A prairie many prairie. There’s a kind of a buzzword right now called pocket prairies. This is like a pocket prairie. Okay. So We’re not going to get you know into semantics about what’s the difference student prairie and a meadow. Practically speaking, there’s not enough of a difference to worry about unless you’re botanist.
00:10:00 – 00:15:00
Okay. So Here, we’re talking about something that’s going to be a beautiful low maintenance landscape. It fills space it’s going to provide beneficial habitat. We want that rate we want our pollinators to be happy we want them in our space to enjoy. We want some birds coming around right to visit. Well, this is all stuff that these creatures enjoy. It provides visual and textual interests from an artistic standpoint. This is also valuable. Okay. One other really cool thing about this most garden features as well is this is an awesome way to translate. Wind into movement and sound, and that’s really important. Especially in those times of year when when you know the garden isn’t popping with color is not full of you know these these flamboyant colors of flowers and everything. Well, movement and sound are in texture are awesome elements to incorporate into your landscaping yard for artistic effect. Okay and into really bring interest into your landscape in those months where we don’t have the colors to carry us through so. This is what I’m talking about with when I’m talking about creating a meadow we want to bring this positive stuff into our landscape. Now, of course, we need to do this in a way. That integrates well with our landscape. As well as our neighborhood and the people that live around us. Quite often. Go. Forward and trying to create a naturalized space that isn’t well received. Their neighborhood and sometimes for good reason. All right. We don’t want just to scrubby. Scrap of land that we just live on Kemp and you know it might have some awesome beneficial features to from a wildlife standpoint. But the reality is we have to consider the human element and sometimes fortunately sometimes unfortunately, not only are our own human element but the element, the human element of those around us. Let’s spin this in a positive way think about if you’re really big on on Eko landscaping, right, you want to be an evangelist to help other people appreciate this as well. Well, what we WANNA do is to really factor in this human element to create a beautiful space that people admire and people love stop and enjoy. Okay. That’s the space we want to have in our yard. Okay, that’s how we help people. Embrace this new movement ecological landscaping and actually make this into just where eventually becomes just the word landscaping. All right, and then everything else becomes exotic or. Maintenance landscaping right. So that’s what we want here. Okay. So When it comes to creating meadow really what I’m talking about if I were to define it is what we’re doing is creating space that’s dominated by. herbaceous perennials. So wild flowers. As well as grasses. Okay. A lot of grasses and wildflowers or native plants to our region that can grow in a mixed habitat along with grass. Okay. So this is very similar to a prairie right prairie ecosystem. Okay, and the reason we’re doing this is this creates A. A landscape space that for one can look very beautiful if designed with intention and also provides this wonderful habitat we’ve been talking about. Okay. So this mixture of plants. Between grasses and herbaceous plants that went on talking about her beige. Basically these are plants that the top dies back each year to the ground in the colder months, and then re sprouts from the root base. Okay. Those were were basis perennials are. So we’re talking about beautiful things like like you’re you’re daisy family flowers like sunflowers. Not your annual sunflowers that you normally think of but but black-eyed Susan’s okay. There’s a good example. All sorts of wonderful beautiful plants that really provide a lot of habitat and benefit for the those incex and they they look amazing. So one, there are a couple approaches to when you’re designing this space. In order to make it attractive some of the things you can do. One is to instead of just simply broadcasting a mixture of wildflower or meadow season to your space. Planet out okay, Planet out where you’re going to have drifts and scattering in groupings of different plants throughout. Okay. This is kind of a a gardening style that’s really embraced in. Europe especially. called. The new perennial design. It’s not very new anymore but basically, what it is is it’s kind of. Taking nature and turning it in using it as an art form in the landscape. Basically, what we’re doing here is we’re artistically creating a wild space. Okay. And of course, I’m big on native plants right and so.
00:15:01 – 00:20:07
There were ton. There’s a wide Palette of native plants that you can use in your landscape if you’re living in the United States. And so selecting from those the ones that are you know appeal to you have the right bloom times. Actually, that’s a great segue to. See you want the right Bloom Times that you want and that sort of thing in the right color combos. and. So let’s talk about bloom. Times. If we’re looking to bride habitat, the more things you have blooming throughout the year. For a consistent duration throughout the year, the more insects you’ll be inviting into your landscape beneficial insects. So these are insects that are pollinators. These are predatory insects meaning that they they. Peres ties or eat the pests in your landscape. Okay. So that’s the good stuff right? So I want to talk about some common misconceptions or limitations were issues with creating meadow, and some of these I will be affront guys. Some of these, you may not be able to overcome in your space and this might not be the right design style for you. Okay. So we have to take a different approach in some situations. So let’s talk about that one. My landscape is too small. Unless you’re talking about a pot. On your patio if you have a little bit of space, you can make what’s called a pocket prairie. Right you get a grouping of small grouping of plants together and plants in your landscape. Now, of course, this might not be your typical wide expansive prairie or meadow you’re talking about. But you can bring a little bit and your landscape attract pollinators, beneficial insects, and have some joy and beauty in your landscape to. Okay. So. No sizes too small and the guess even in a pot you could. Technically. You know plant some of these plants and enjoy them for what they are two. Right. Now outside we have in our beautiful front landscape garden, we have some mountain meant in this is kind of. A warn you if you decide to plant mountain mid and like most. Named because it’s an air medic plant but also behaves like a lot of your typical mincy. You might consider if you’re familiar with mints, this’ll run through your garden and kind kinda take a lot of space but it’s beautiful. It’s a beautiful space filler. It’s good in those kind of like areas where they they’re okay to free a little bit right And along woodland edges or something like that. But Anyway, this mountain meant is it’s right now it’s just It’s literally buzzing with insects flying around his so active during the day and it’s beautiful and it has this beautiful they. They’re not really like true flowers. They’re just these silvery leaves on the top of the plant that service flowers for the plant and then, and then they have these much smaller flowers cluster right at the center it’s beautiful. And so something like that. You can bring in all this activity. You could plant something like a mountain mint in a pot and still enjoy this stuff. Okay. So next my Hoa won’t allow it. This is a tough one guy’s. Always issues that had whole episode on as before. And unfortunately with homeowners associations, it really depends on the people that are part of your homeowner’s association. So one, it’s extra work but I suggest if you don’t want to move and you still want to do this, get on the board of your Hoa, it might take time but you can slowly encourage and convince potentially change the minds of these people or better than trying to push for changing somebody. Else’s mind you can. You can kind of just open them up right expose them in good ways. Provide them beneficial opportunities to experience the joy of of this type of ecological landscaping and and knowing that logic landscaping can be beautiful. It’s not synonymous with scrubby dirty, right? Okay or or weedy. Working with your Hoa. Make sure you really really plan. Your Meadow Garden appropriately. So One of the big benefits of a meadow garden is it takes. It. Takes Lawn which is relatively dead space. It’s good at growing. Japanese beetle grubs but that’s about it. Okay and and so you’re lying you can convert that space into something beautiful and beneficial. Okay and so making. Sure incredibly. Careful about how you plan this space and maybe do it in a more traditional manner of what people might consider a mixed border rate. So you’re you’re providing clumps of plantings throughout grouped plantings that are scattered across the space. So you might have a group of sunflowers here and you might have group of. Bergamo here you might have and then over there as well. Right you might have some some. Baptism is scattered throughout and then you have, of course your your to camp this Dick I can never pronounce.
00:20:07 – 00:25:00
Discount the campsie grass. Okay. Different types of grasses. There we go. Different types of grasses scattered throughout his kind of. A lot of times people call them a matrix or a backbone. Okay. So You have this as your base template. You have these grasses scattered throughout you can have different types of grasses scattered and drifts right. So you have some taller missed year grass over here like Campsie, and then you have a lower growing very fine mounding grass like like prairie drop seed throughout over here, and you have implanted in mass, and so the drift from one type to another, and it has this beautiful flowing texture throughout the design. Again, this is a work of art rate. That’s what landscaping is. It’s an art process. Okay. And so. You have your Matrix of grasses than you have your group plantings interspersed throughout as well as your various perennials that Bloomberg different times, you might have some mountain men as well. You know scattered in different clumps arrangements groups right again having one type of plant here and there looks very much more naturalized naturalistic. Okay and so instead if you have just random plants scattered throughout like you might get with a seed makes you more deliberately planets you might be plant you might be buying. Individual see groups. Okay and spreading those in specific areas where you might have a plugs that you buy landscape plugs. Okay. I’ll provide some references for you guys so. Think about just how you design it and instead of it being a meadow, you have a garden. Okay. It’s the same concept guys but it’s a different approach. Okay. So it allows you to have what you want and to translate in a way that other people find it. Beautiful. Okay. So that’s the way to get around this whole. Hoa. Piece. And just about to ugly to. Okay. So that’s the other limitation or barrier as people think this is too ugly organ design it. In the way we just talked about being more specific, deliver it with the design piece upfront. Do it right? Up Front and then you’ll enjoy the outcome more fully your neighbors will enjoy it more to if it’s a more acceptable design or something that they don’t have to stretch their imagination so far to accept it as beautiful. Okay. So we’ve talked about what a meadow is right and and why we might want it in our space. And we talked about some limitations in how to overcome those or to work with those. and. Now. Let’s talk about actually installing a meadow. What are you actually do? Well? I I want you to well finish the episode I, but then go back to episode ten all the way back at the beginning when I first launched this podcast easy living yards episode ten was how to start a new garden bed. This process is wonderful for figuring out how to establish a garden space in your landscape and to do it in a way that’s appropriate for you. This is one of the few areas where I could be okay with the use of. Use of. GLYPHOSATE. Also known as roundup. That one of the main branded terms. For the establishment phase and then you never use it again. It’s not usually what I prefer to do, but sometimes with the the restart process especially, if you have space built with like a scrubby spades phone with some invasive plants, sometimes it’s the most effective process. However, I, go through several other alternative methods you can use. Implement without the use of chemicals and do it effectively start your new garden bed? Okay. So go check out that episode easy living yards, dot com slash episode ten. Of course I’ll have a link in the show notes as well. So I what we need to do is remove the existing space. Whatever it is. If it’s lawn, if it’s degraded landscape that you just had a contractor coming and build and it’s just bear bear dirt with weedy patches and stuff whenever it is, you got to remove that existing space I start with a clean slate. So that way you don’t have problems in the long-term. Okay. So go check out episode ten for those those details next week when know are conditions super important of talked about it. So often on the show and it’s super important. Okay. So we got to know our conditions we gotta know what Sun Exposure this space has gotta know what type of soil were dealing with. You know type of fertility if you have clay or sand or silt or whatever. We gotTA. Talk. About. We got to figure out what type of Ph you have we got to figure out. What type of moisture levels you have in your landscape those details you had to get ultra clear on, and of course, this differs between each. If you’re talking about a project, you did in your backyard and project he did in your front yard, you have to do this each one.
00:25:00 – 00:30:04
Okay. Because you’re micro-climate in those spaces may be very different specifically with sun exposure in water, but it could also factor into the types of soil you have for example, if one area was excavated when the construction was done on your home and the other area was left. Relatively intact okay. Can make a major difference. So no, your soil conditions get right the first time because then what we’re going to do is we’re going to select the types of plants that will thrive in that condition. The fewer amendments we have to make to our space to get started the better. Okay. So we want to select plants that will grow well in that space instead of trying to maintain the space to meet the conditions of the plants that we want to have in the space. If that makes sense guys this think about it from another. Perspective. So. It’s pretty much overwhelming when you’re thinking about how many plants there are in actual plans to select. Right. So this is a wonderful way to narrow that down. Okay. Knowing your conditions and say, I only want the plants that fifties conditions hopes choosing those plants much easier because you’re dealing with smaller list. Okay. I think about it from that perspective to it right the first time and you’ll be happy with the results. Okay. So we’ve selected our plants because we know the right conditions of our site. Now we’re going to select the type of planting we’re going to make. This can be done independent of the other pieces in fact, I. I probably wrote this in the wrong order you want to know your design I. Okay. How you’re going to design this space how naturalize is going to look how stylized is going to be are we gonNA use more scattered plantings or grouped plantings? Right how what’s the balance between grass and or basis plants use the beautiful thing about grass are used to kind of really not use them design, right but the beautiful thing about grass is there a year round thing? They provide beautiful seasonal interest when we don’t have Plants there. Okay. So throughout the winter specifically rate fall winter and early spring or when grasses shine. They more like. I guess because they’ll. They’ll reflect the for us. They’ll move in the breeze they provide activity. Okay. They bring critters into the landscape still. You leave your flowers up with their seat heads onto. You’ll be bringing in birds that will thank you for those plants that you’ve left on the landscape. Okay. So No your design style. then. Go through the processes of getting started. Right knowing your plants. And then getting started on. Getting started on the actual. Lawn repair removal process, right so sometimes, it depending upon the process you used this might not be an instant thing too. So there’s one type called solar radiation that is a chemical free process. We’re basically you’re putting down clear plastic and you’re creating super hot greenhouse for all those plants on your soil it’s going to kill them, but it takes a couple months. Okay. So No, the process you’re going to do I and planet appropriately. Okay. So really from there, it’s pretty. Pretty clear cut it’s not smooth sailing, but it’s clear and. Basically, we’ve got her designing place. Right we know are designed style plant sewer getting I would also see just trying to figure out what the best time to plant. These plans would be generally speaking fall is the best time, but really you can do it anytime. If you’re if you provide the appropriate level of care, the plant needs at that specific time of year. So for example, if you do your landscaping in spring instead of fall, you plant your plants in the spring just make sure they’re appropriately. Tended during those hot tough drought days otherwise, you might end up losing a significant investment of plants that you put in your landscape that die of drought because their root systems are not appropriately established yet. Through healthy watering habits. Okay. So Basically then we go to the install process. Okay. So install it, use a garden hose extension cords, spray paint, whatever you need to do to mark out your spaces figure out what you’re doing, what you’re planting wear and be super clear writing it down very important. Okay. Right down figure it out dude on paper I. so that way you’re not doing it the wrong way the landscape because you can’t really correct at once you install it. Okay. It’s a lot more work trust me. Okay. After that, you maintaining it right. The cool thing about these meadows systems once they’re established, they’re relatively easy to maintain your maybe going through they’re tending it every once in a while where you know you might have some for around us, for example. Canada thistle is an invasive. That can pop up and it’s pretty persistent. Once pops up or Goldenrod is a native plant that can be a bully.
00:30:04 – 00:35:05
So if we get Canada Goldenrod. Nothing against Canada here. It’s just a coincidence at promise. Okay. So Canada Golden Rod can be kind of a bully as well in the court more cultivated spaces if you like it just leave it. Okay. Especially, if you going for more of a naturalized look candidate, golden is a beautiful pollinator magnet in the late season when there’s a few other plants in bloom and it’s gorgeous but it does takeover spaces. So just be prepared for that. And make sure you’re okay with it. But depending upon the plant, you may need to go in there. Kind of you know Yankee couple things out here and there. Thank them for the ecosystem services they provide before doing so. And apologize for the. Having to pull them out for your. Interests said. I digress, right anyway. For maintenance. If you’re especially, if you’re in your first season, you WanNa make sure if it’s too dry that you keep those plants consistently watered. Once a week maybe with a deep watering just to make sure they can. They can do. Okay with that first season of course, it depends upon the size of your installation whether you can do this and. The time of year as well. But in general, just give the plant what it needs. Because it’s making a transition from nursery to year landscape. Now, if you’re planning Syed, you might not need to do this because those seeds there in the space they need to be they are going through transplant shock. They weren’t babied nursery first before going in a tougher landscape condition. So they’re hardier plants from the beginning. Okay. So it really depends on your type of insulation, but just maintain it. Care for those plants when they’re young and when they’re older, you pretty much need to do nothing except go in there and ten things if you have new plants moving in that are undesired or things are getting a little unruly. That’s it, and then of course As far as the old growth, leave it over the winter. It provides beautiful wonderful habitat of stem boring insects over winter in the stems of those plants. So if you chopping it down, you’re going to be losing those insects. These are good insects, two guys. And that includes. Same with all the stuff, the litter on the ground to you have tons of been sex over winter in that leaf litter or plant litter. Just. Leaving it until it starts to warm up in the spring. So kind of early spring ish. Maybe late winter but I try and just leave it until things are starting to. Peek through the soil So when you see new growth starting to come up, you’re GONNA go through cut that stuff down, leave it where it is okay and then just let it go let it grow. Okay. So there’s a couple maybe a month or so at the beginning of the year where it looks a little drab unsightly but whose landscape doesn’t guys okay. If people are complaining about that having looked at their landscape. Okay. If you really need to do something special, consider putting a you know a a border hedge around your beautiful meadow plenty. So if you want something that’s like A. Native plant to do with that are Cultivar of. Consider. Some of the Juniper or Cedar. CULTIVARS out there. You can plant some in place of boxwoods. And they’ll make a nice low short border. Formal par tear Type Square of. Of border around your plants, it might help make it more appealing more acceptable in this space that you live. If that’s an issue for you. Okay guys. So really can order just rattle through the idea of planting. In your landscape in, it can be beautiful and it can be amazing. It can be fine. It can be exciting. It’s something that the kids love kids love. CNB’s and butterflies and pollinators in general It brings activity vibrance. Enjoy into a landscape. Her right so. I wanted to keep the simple today. I have a few links and resources for you. So if you’re looking for supplants if you live in the Midwest I had a collaboration with. Several low maintenance designers throughout Ohio to create a low maintenance plants list for the Midwest. So that’s awesome list. It’s a huge list, but you can go over to I have a link for it in the show notes of Ohio maintenance or really midwest low maintenance plants. All. Sorts of plants that you can select from to put in an installation like this also Have a list, I’ll put that in the notes to So if you want the mega list, click on the link if you want to shortlist click on the shortlist okay Some links to how how to get these plants. All right. So I’m not endorsed by these companies, but the prairie nursery out of Wisconsin has some awesome plant resources.
00:35:05 – 00:36:17
You can buy plants and trays you combined buy seed. So go over to prairie nursery. Dot Com. I, have the Lincoln. The show. I can’t remember if it’s the prairie nursery, your prairie nursery, and then go to the pollination dot com, the pollen nation dot com links to both these in the show notes but the pollination dot com as a younger business that they’re partnered I, think with a wholesale nursery, but they sell directly to consumers so you can buy plugs are awesome. Wonderful Way to inexpensively by plants for a meadow installation, you’ll quickly realize if you go to the nursery to buy enough plants that you need to to fill in space in a meadow planting, you’re going to be spending thousands of dollars for a small space. So these are awesome ways to get started with much much smaller plants that will adapt better to your landscape. They’ll grow quickly and fill in this base much better and it will save you tons of money in. Our guys. I’M GONNA wrap up there. So I hope you’re having a wonderful summer go out considering whether or not you’re gonNA plant a meadow I strongly suggested. Thanks for tuning in make sure you live with passion and make tomorrow that are today.
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What’s up? I’m Ben Hale and this is the easy living yards podcast. Creating Beautiful Yard should be easy. Let’s jump in create the Dream Yard. You deserve so you can enjoy more time doing what you love. Welcome to episode one hundred six and the easy living yards podcast today. We’re going to talk about how to get started with ECO friendly landscaping. Guys. This is an awesome show today as usual of course right, but today we’re talking about how you can get started with your landscape you wherever you’re at right now. What can you do to be more? Eco Friendly with your landscape. Today more than ever. This is super important that our yards serve a greater purpose not just to look beautiful, not to just be a space to relax inner to play in, but also to provide a space for those other members of our world. That’s what today’s show is about. This has been a theme, and it will continue to be a theme with the direction of where easy living are going. I believe we should all have a beautiful eco-friendly landscape and eco-friendly landscape means something that were well. We’ll get into today of course, but in a nut show not to be a formal definition. This is something where we shouldn’t be using a ton of inputs whether that’s our time. Our Labor or synthetically produced amendments or fossil fuels whatever it is, we should reduce our inputs in our landscapes. In the outputs of our landscapes, the joy we get from them, and also the benefit to the natural world around us. That’s what ego friendly landscaping is to me, and that’s what I hope. You aspire to have with your landscape as well. So we’re going to go through a couple, things I’ll just break out the buckets right now. We’re going to talk about chemical. Use Water, use habitat, gas, emissions and reducing lawns and hard skate. Have a ton of awesome links for today’s show. I also want to share before we jump into this topic that I’m going to be offering a free. Webinar on July ninth twenty twenty, so this is Thursday July ninth. It’s coming up soon after this show airs, so if available a highly recommend you jump on and sign up to this webinar over to easy living yards dot com slash Eko webinar. We’re GONNA. Be Talking about five easy steps to eco-friendly yard. This is a perfect compliment to today’s show so today. We’re kind of talking about the. Overarching ways to get started and we’re going to get super specific on steps. You can take in this free. Webinar so if you WANNA go over to easy living yards dot com slash echo webinar sign up July ninth I think we’re planning. On Eight. Thirty PM eastern time might be nine PM. Eastern time stuff to lockdown the time, but it’s going to be in the evening eastern time. Easy living yards dot. COM SLASH ecowebinar. guys go over and check out. I look forward to talking with you guys. It’s going to be a live session with Acuna the end as well so any questions you have, you can ask me directly. We’re GONNA. Have a lot of fun chitchat about. ECO friendly landscaping all right. Let’s jump in today’s show. So I when it comes to getting started with EKO friendly landscaping. One of the first things I always talk about is chemical use. We’ve become so dependent on. Inputs chemical inputs into our landscapes. Guys are landscapes. They’re not a chemistry process. There at minimum of biochemistry process right and more importantly their giant habitat in ecosphere. Just because we’re giant macro organisms we. So easily gloss over the immense amount of activity that goes on. We can’t see in our landscapes. There’s an immense amount or minced potential for a huge amount of. Micro, Biota, and microbiological processes and I’m not just talking about bacteria, but I’m also talking about. Fungal Processes Protozoans, all sorts of these crazy alien, looking creatures that do very very per provide very very important functions in our landscapes in in a well-functioning Habitat. Are Chemical Use is actually a sign of disease. If you think about it. A perfect analogy is is the medical industry right? If you’re dependent on a lot of medications likely it’s a sign that your body is not working properly right, and yes, I get it. Sometimes, there’s very.
00:05:01 – 00:10:16
There things where you need to take medication right, but usually it’s a sign of a deeper problem right so so if we can fix the problem. In a healthier way than we don’t need that medicine while they’re landscape are very similar. Okay so often. We reached to bottle of Weed & feed to put around our landscape or Roundup to deal with a weed problem right or Some pesticides brandon insect. Or over entire area if we have an insect problem. To treat our whole lawn for grubs right? This is a problem. And we’re not dealing with it in the healthiest way. These chemicals have non-target effects. They. They affect basically other creatures that we don’t realize it might not even be in our immediate landscape. There’s a significant amount of what the environmental protection. Agency calls non point source pollution that comes from homeowners landscapes. Basically we apply these chemicals to our landscapes, and then it rains before these chemicals are fully degraded. Into, sometimes. Just is unhealthy components. And they’re washed down the drain into the sewer into our waterways where they can be very. Detrimental to aquatic habitats, they can also soak into aquifers. If. You don’t want Aquifer is. Take, a look at what’s coming out of your tap when you turn it on. A lot of our water comes from underground systems and. We’re contaminating with with all these chemicals that we use on our landscapes. So, there are a lot of non target effects both to humans and to a vast array of life around us when we use these chemicals. Yes, they’re convenient. Yes, they’re easier right when you’re talking about a specific problem, but if we can Weiner selves off of these chemicals, the long-term benefit is actually much greater. Both to ourselves and to the world around US sometimes. It means we do have to sacrifice a little bit. A perfect example is in our front landscape. It’s It’s looking beautiful this year by the way, so it’s about two years old now our front foundation landscape. We redid and. It’s mostly native plants. and. Four specific plans are these beautiful astor’s. It’s a it’s a cultivar called Purple Dome. And so it’s a Cultivar of native plant and these Purple Dome Astor’s. They look amazing in the fall. They’re Nice, compact shrub e. form of a herb Asia’s perennial, so they die back to the ground each year well this year they came up and they started to get infested with some sort of insect, and so I was looking into more about this insect in for more I can tell it’s the chrysanthemum lace bug. The Chrysanthemum Lace bug affects various related flowers and plants in the. Composite Family which is composite flowers, such as chrysanthemums and asters and so anyway. Trying to be true to my intent of reducing chemical use, and and also even furthermore being non interventionist. I wanted to experiment and see what happened. Well, it turns out. These plants go fully infested. They die back to the ground and two of them are completely dead to appear to be bouncing back so. I! Don’t necessarily mean work without intervention here. What I mean is to reduce our dependence on synthetic herbicides and pesticides. Okay, there are other interventions. So for example with these lace bugs a simple intervention, because the larva are not very mobile. is to simply spray off the plants when you see a larger infestation going on as long as a significant portion of the plant can survive after these insects complete their life cycles and move on You’ll be okay, but if you let it go completely as I, did with my front yard experiment You may be dealing with more disastrous consequences. Of course, a longer term thing is to also provide habitat for beneficial insects in predatory insects. We’ll get to that a little bit right, okay? So as far as chemical use goes right, let’s try and reduce it, and you can use other interventions so like this spring for water for for things like aphids, and all these soft bodied insects. These lace bugs that I was dealing with. Things like Japanese beetles. If they’re really bothering your plants I go around. We have some poetries in the back and. They for whatever reason these Japanese beetles seem to like the paltry surprisingly and so I’ll go around maybe about once a week in the peak of summer when they’re really getting bad and I just go around and find him in them into a couple of soapy water.
00:10:16 – 00:15:01
It takes care of him. I don’t have to spray anything. It’s very. Non. Doesn’t have a broad effect like spraying a chemical on the tree where the plants can eat it and die, because then any any use. Zebra swallowtail caterpillars that come on and use Paw Paws as a host plant, they might die as well and I don’t want that I. Don’t know about you guys but I like swallowtail butterflies I actually like a lot of insects. Yes, sometimes they can cause problems, but overall there good partner to have in the world, and let’s remember some of our favorite things. eat plants and insects. To. To grow into something that’s useful for humans to. All right, so I think we’ve talked enough about chemicals. The the biggest thing is whatever you’re doing now. See if you can do a little bit less okay. And just work toward the goal of eventually getting off of using synthetic chemicals in what maybe is a healthy natural alternative or practice. To what you currently do. Of course, there’s a lot of details here, but that’s the overarching thing for lawns. Think about what you can do for organic lawn care practice. With your plants think what you can do if you need to intervene. To to not you have to use chemicals to do so. All right, let’s move on. So we talked about reducing chemical use. Let’s talk about water use, and here is not necessarily just reducing water use, but being conscious of the water that affects our landscape and the water. We put into our landscape. Okay, so it’s more about conscious use of water. Here’s the reality. Guys, no matter where you live in the United States. We’re living unstressed water resources wherever you live in the world. You’re likely also living on stressed watery sources. Of course we think about water resources from the standpoint of freshwater use, and for the use of humans. So We also have to think about sharing it with the world around us. Of course, right? The water cycle is a whole freshwater systems for freshwater habitat. But then also sustainable freshwater use for human use okay. So when it comes to our landscapes, also think about what we use freshwater for right. We use it for drinking. We use it for agriculture very important things for sustaining of human life right so there are many more important things than watering rose bushes. That water needs to be used for. Also. It’s likely that potable water does not need to be used in your landscapes about that, too. I’m not going to get into grey water systems here, but you can always consider grey water reuse in your landscape is one way to consciously increase the usefulness of freshwater so grey water reuse in a nutshell if you’re not familiar with the concept is where you take water from your household that is been used once for something most commonly with laundry washing for example. And then it’s re purposed into a lower tier use. That does not need to be as purified such as landscape period. This is awesome way to repurpose water instead of just sending it down the train, and and using it for you know whether it’s rinsing off a plate and a bowl, and then going down the drain or something right or washing your dirty clothes, and then going down the drain. Think about how much water gets used their. Rates so these are practices. We can put in place things such as grey water reuse. Yes, this requires some work, but I want to put the bug in your ear now. Just in case you WANNA consider in the future. What else can we do well? Let’s talk about irrigation right if you irrigate your landscape. Are you doing it efficiently? Are you doing it properly? Can you change your habits just to be more conscious? So for example With irradiation system is it on a timer? Does it always need to operate when the timer going most likely not okay and also generally speaking, it’s better to water less frequently and more deeply. To help develop stronger more robust plants than it is to water more frequently and less deeply if that makes sense, so think about how you can change Your Era Gatien habits to also be more conscious with the water you’re using. What about the plans themselves? Perhaps we can change the plants we have in our landscape that aren’t as thirsty and don’t require as much water use, and then can be more conscious about the water.
00:15:01 – 00:20:06
We need to use now if you have a new landscape. Here’s reality a lot of plants especially after transplant. They need a little help. Getting started right. They need a little nursing to get going, and so you might need to do some short- term irrigation for that and that you know that’s a little bit more acceptable, because in the long term you developing a more robust system that’s going to be hardier and the long-term. Okay so I hope you guys get that. I want to highlight a couple. More things one is increasing absorption. So with increasing absorption, what I mean here is is. Most landscapes are designed to get water off them as quickly as possible to get them away from the foundation of the House, which is an important thing for the structural integrity of your home, but not only away from the house, but is off of your landscape as quickly as possible. But think about what you can do with that water right if you can let it sit in your landscape. A couple more days. What could they do for your landscape? I’m not necessarily talking about giant pools of water sitting here and there right. Maybe you have problems with that for one right. What I’m talking about, here’s how to design your landscape to retain water a little bit. Soak it into the ground where it’s held in the soil. And can then be used by plants and the critters in your soil that are important for healthy soil life. A great example is rain gardens for example. So of course I want to highlight I just talked about. Rain Gardens in episode seventy seven, so go over to easy living yards dot com slash episode seventy seven to learn more about rain garden design there. I’ll have a link to this. In many other resources in the show notes over it. Easy living yards dot com slash episode one zero six, so. For now, just keep listening for later. Check on all these awesome resources that I’ll be talking about. The next resource. Comes right after this, which is a I, didn’t episode on zero escaping and drought tolerant plants. So that’s easy. Living yards dot com slash episodes seventy four check that one out so basically drought tolerant lancers. Are Selecting drought. Tolerant plants is an awesome way to provide beauty in your landscape. You know not just to have a barren landscape provide beauty with plants that thrive in drought conditions. There are tons of plants that are well adapted to really tough conditions select those plants for the conditions you have. In order to have a better healthier lower maintenance landscape, the requires less work from you and less environmental inputs. So go on, check it out zero escaping episode seventy four over it easy living yards dot com slash episode seventy four. All right so next up. We’re going to talk about providing habitat. Providing Habitat. Will our homes our habitat right well? I’m talking about everything else in the world. Not You and your family hepatitis, really important guys at talked about in past shows how basically our backyards can become like the new National Park System, right? It’s necessary and funny enough. I’ve talked about this here. This this big guy called Doug. Ptolemy is saying basically the same thing with his latest book out, so he calls it I think homegrown national parks. Well, he’s onto a great idea here. Right and the reason. Doug talks about homegrown national parks, and I talk about the the new National Park System in our backyards is because. Having nature you know. Sheltered off in some fragmented piece of park preserve. Somewhere Isn’t good enough there. We’ve reduced the amount of natural habitat, not only United States, but across the world to such a small proportion that that the natural world is in a drastically disastrous state. It’s on the precipice of mass extinction. We’re in the middle of mass extinctions. Guys I don’t mean this show to be incredibly negative. or you know scary is probably a better word. I’m not trying to use scare tactics here, but the reality is. This is scary, guys. This is really scary. It scares me a lot. And so I really encourage you to read some of Doug’s books. He has to great books specifically that I want to highlight. So Doug Ptolemy rates the book bringing nature home, which provides an awesome case for why native plants are important. And his more recent book. Nature’s best hope just is awesome to all right, so so bringing nature home really talks about the importance of native plants and plants. You can select a new yards and ones that are super You know how much they support insect life, which is important for all other levels of life, basically to is his case.
00:20:07 – 00:25:00
And then nature’s best hope provides an incredibly compelling case as why our backyards are the place that this should happen, so I can’t agree with Doug more here I. Want you to check out his books. They’re awesome Maybe one day I’ll have doug on the show here. That would be awesome to to tell you in his own words where you don’t have to read them right. That’d be pretty cool too so. Check those out, but but basically our home. Should be healthy space, not only for us, and for our children and our pets, but also the world around us right. The greater landscape is I sometimes. Call it, too. So, what’s this new national park system will basically. We don’t have to be separate from nature. We can be integrated with nature and it can be beautiful. So you’re landscape can be designed in a way that’s as aesthetically pleasing to whatever kind of condition you know style, you have with the appropriate plants that can also provide habitat for insects, and for macro fauna, right so for rabbits, and and chipmunks in you know all. Peregrine Falcons, maybe you know. Maybe show up one day. Your landscape to whatever it is right. You’re providing a positive impact with your landscape instead of being a native impact. That’s the important thing is, and that’s what habitat does. That’s what all of these things I’m talking about today. Do all right. I can’t be more passionate about this. Okay, so our landscapes have to serve a positive purpose I believe that strongly and hope you believe that, too. So how can you provide that positive purpose with your? Your landscape well, we talk about a lot of things right. I’ve talked about saving time. That’s important because your time is valuable. That’s a limited resource of your life. Right so saving. Time’s really important. I’ve talked a lot about that will today’s not about that piece all right? Today is about providing a positive benefit to leave behind a positive legacy that you’re landscape can leave behind to the world around us. The reality is you’re landscape used to be a more healthy habitat than it is now. Right most of us that live east of the Mississippi I can. That’s the case. West of the Mississippi I can guarantee that you’re. Landscape is a higher resource drain than it ever was in the past before it was developed okay. Those are blanket statements. I would say they’re ninety nine percent true. So how can we reverse that right? How can we make up for the damage that we’ve done by being here on this earth by existing and by having a home right? Those are all important things because we wouldn’t be here without them right. So how can we make them the best possible? How can we make that postage-stamp? postage-stamp lot into a postage stamp national park right okay in something. That’s also beautiful. That’s something your neighbors admire and want to emulate right something that your kids can go out and experience their own National Park Right. They can experience the wild nature. Right in your backyard and your front yard. Okay, so that’s what habitat does so. How do you do that well I. WE WE WANNA start with that overarching goal. Make your home a home for other creatures right? And how do we do that? Well? Of course, one of the biggest things is turned in native plants. I okay. Turning to native plants. Native creatures are. Especially native urban mayors right are adapted to native plants right the. He, that’s what they’ve evolved to eat over millennia right, and even even native omnivores or native carnivores are adapted to native plants. Birds have been documented to nest. and to be able to evade predators better in specific native plants compared to non native plants all right in other parts of the world does not native plants are native right and they’re. They’re adapted to that local ecosystem, but here things are different all right so wherever you are. Wherever here is for you and wherever there is for their right? Think about what’s native to your landscape in the US, it’s it’s potentially a lot easier to do. Because the United States for better for worse was more recently developed than a lot of other parts of the world, and we still have a lot of native fragments left. They’re not necessarily untouched. They’re not necessarily pristine, but there are a lot of more pockets of native habitat, so let’s. Take that one step further backward as far as ecological damage goes. And provide a beautiful enjoyable native.
00:25:01 – 00:30:00
For the animals and plants around US okay. This is about species protection guys, not only the insects and the animals, but also the plants themselves. To protecting that genetic biodiversity that comes with native habitats. Okay so turns a native plants I right. That’s important for variety habitat. Leave areas that are. Less, frequently tended. They don’t have to be uglier scrubby, but just let them take care of themselves and don’t get in there and intervene so much right, so this means you know. Her flowerbed doesn’t have to be pulled at the end of the season, right? You don’t have to pull up all the plants all those routes and stuff if it’s an annual bed. Let them go over the winter, right. So a lot of insects over winter in dead plant, material and dead plant material can be very attractive in its own right to. Another piece here is. What you do with your lawn matters. Okay, and I’m talking about how much lawn you have and how you manage it, so this ties into the other points right chemical uses very important. Frequency of mowing is very important. So mowing less frequently, mowing higher actually provides better habitat for more insects in you landscape, and provides healthier grasses well okay, and then of course reducing one, which is a later point teasing into it right, but it’s also important and replacing some of that lawn with something more valuable. Right trees guys I. Don’t know about you, but I love trees. I think they’re beautiful. Selecting a few native trees that are also beautiful to go in your landscape are also very beneficial for your landscape. Okay, and not only for you, but for your habitat that you’re providing so do a good turn right? Do something good with your landscape plant. Some natives plants a beautiful plants, okay. Let’s talk about gas emissions all right. I. Don’t know about you, but almost every single day where we live, we hear the roar of two cycle engine and a four cycle engine not on a car. I’m talking about lawn mowers and weed eaters and blowers. They’re going all the time in the warmer months. Okay, it’s crazy. It’s hard for me to recording sometimes because they’re so loud even indoors. It’s hard to record. Okay, that’s how it is well. Reduce your emissions or less frequently. Raise your more bit higher. Your grass will go slower. Your routes were developed better on your grass. You’ll your grass will? So you’ll have to mow less often because you grass growing is growing slower. Yes, it’s a little bit taller, but it still looks pretty guys when you trim it, and all those blades are nice, and even just as even when your grass is taller and you Presley cut it as if you had your motor blades lower. Okay, so it looks beautiful. You know it still looks like a lawn. Okay, and you don’t have to Mos often. You’re reducing your gas emissions there. Of course, reducing lawn would also reduce your gas emissions just a little teaser here of course. Now, another option of course is going electric now. This is potentially controversial because if you using battery-powered. MOWER which is way more convenient than accorded more I will be hundred percent. Honest there, so if you’re using a battery powered more, there’s a huge environmental impact of lithium my. Lithium mining as well as other trace minerals required for for a lot of those electric battery powered instruments. So you know there’s a contentious debate there and rightfully so because there’s a huge environmental impact with that lithium mining. On the flipside. Greatly reduces gas emissions when you switch to electric, so it’s consider that at least and. We just gotTa get. A battery powered MOWER this past year and a really. We couldn’t be happier with it it. It lasts for essentially our whole landscape when we mow it. On one battery charge, and it’s super quiet or kids can talk to us while we’re mowing if they inevitably interrupt even if we ask them, you know to go stay out back while I cut the grass it’s it’s not the reality. Let’s face it right. But we don’t have to turn off the MOWER every time. It’s so quiet When our neighbors are mowing at the same time, they’re mowers lower wilder than the one right in front of us, so that’s. Very nice benefit as well. But we’re talking about gas emissions, so think of what you can do to reduce your gas, emissions, mowers and weed trimmers and blowers. Those small engines are more. I don’t have the statistics here. I purposely did not gather statistics for today’s show because there’s a lot of nuance there as well right, but.
00:30:01 – 00:35:00
But they’re more. Destructive in their emissions, then cars are. It’s crazy. Right so, but if you think about pretty much everybody with a lawn has lawnmower and. Those mowers, those tremors. This blowers belch out. All sorts of hydrocarbons into our atmosphere that causes all sorts of problems that’s well documented whether or not you agree with all the whatever sign of clients climate scientists you WanNa believe in. Or whatever it’s well documented. Hydrocarbons in the atmosphere are not good, and it happens a lot. Okay, so let’s leave it at that. So reduce your gas emissions. Let’s move onto the last piece. Reduce your lawns in heart scape okay. We’ve substantially increase the amount of impervious or not very pervious surfaces in the United States, and in the world as a whole. What’s pervious? It means permeable. Maybe that’s should use. Maybe I should use less fancy word okay out of the fancy, Word Club. Impermeable and semi permeable surfaces all right there. We go so basically surfaces where water if it falls on it, it’s sheets off instead of soaking it all right naturally. Water is supposed to soak into the landscape almost as much or more than it runs off the landscape. This is healthy for the soil. It’s healthy for the aquifer underneath it, which again is where we get our drinking water. Andy or Gatien water from for the most of the world all right so. Those systems aren’t being replenished as quickly as they’re being deplenished, is that a word deplenished diminished there? We go man. It’s fancy word day. Guys are all right. I didn’t know we were GONNA use many fancy words all right so basically by reducing your lawn handier hard scape right an increasing amount of surfaces that infiltrate water. Into permeable, they would go permeable services they help buffer climate, help sequester carbon they reduce. Run off again. Check out that Rain Garden Design Episode Episode Seventy seven over it. Easy living yards dot com slash episode seventy seven, and of course these things recharge aquifers, which is a big problem. I’ve talked about right so all of these measures. Really, that’s what they do buffering climate. What do I mean well? When you cover surfaces like like concrete or lawns that you know aren’t very good at buffering climate, you know. They get hot in summer cold in the Winter Wendy when it’s windy, right? That’s what I’m talking about. They get dry when the sun’s out and wet when the rains out, but not for long okay, so what we want is for them to stay white a lot longer as they soak in the water. We want them to not get as hot. When the sun’s out. When we went to knock it as cold when it’s winter and we went to not get as Wendy when it’s Wendy that’s buffering. So, so buffering climates really important all of these measures we’ve talked about today. Help with increasing habitat creating that backyard national park. What is Doug? Call it again. The homegrown national park right so I guess I need to start using his term because I think he’s bigger and more important than me, okay? Let’s face it. We’re going to stick with my term because I’m a punk. BUFFERING, climate! Increasing Habitat, all of these measures go to do that, and let’s face it from a selfish standpoint. It makes it feel good right. You’re making a difference. We all WanNa make a positive difference. That’s the reality right so why not make a positive difference with your landscape? These are ways you can do it again. If you guys want to get super detailed on ways, you can start today. I have that. Follow up, Webinar coming up. July ninth twenty, twenty eight thirty PM. That’s Thursday. Five easy steps eco-friendly yard. We’re going to get super granular on what to do now to get started and you I. I. Challenge you to pick one of these five steps talk about to. Commit to making a difference within the next week. Right so July ninth. Come join me, I’ll be live talking with you is face to face will. Digital face to face right. That’s Israel’s gets these days with covid life. Right so digital to face A. we’ll have a live Q. and at the end so you can ask me your questions. We can talk about stuff. Talk about stuff that’s fun so going over to easy living yards dot com slash ego Webinar to sign up today all right, get your spot on that Webinar. Make sure you have a spot. July ninth at eight thirty, PM Eastern. Okay all these all these guys. All these links had talked about today there. Let me spit it out I’m having trouble getting things out today I. Guess a little bit. Thanks for bearing with me. I hope are super psyched about this show. When I get excited. It’s pretty obvious I.
00:35:00 – 00:36:33
think so links for today’s show I didn’t talk about it, but just recently episode one zero four ahead. easy living yards, members Jenin Gary on. On to talk about their landscape and all the awesome work they’re doing because they’re rock starring it. Okay. They’re doing awesome stuff with their yard to create a beautiful yard that’s filled with eco-friendly habitat for all sorts of creatures. Okay, it’s awesome. It’s gone over. If you haven’t heard that show going over to easy living yards dot com slash episode one zero four. If you guys WanNa, hear me get even more passionate about stuff. And to join the club with me going over to, he’s living yards. Dot Com slash episode eighty-seven where I talk about. My Save the Earth Club all right. It’s a little tongue in cheek. There, it’s a club. I started in fourth grade. It was awesome. It’s still awesome and today’s show easy. Easy living yards is my manifestation of the Save the Earth Club so by you being a listener I think you’re kind of like. You know. You’re semi inaugurated into I. Help Save the Earth Club going over to that show and pledged to be a member with me there. You can be an honorary member. Now rain gardens, episodes, seventy, seven, zero, escaping episode seventy four. All these links in the show notes guys going over sign up to the Webinar. I look forward to talking with you. and. I think we’ll leave it at that right. Okay. Thanks for tuning in. Make sure you live with passion. Make tomorrow better than today.
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What’s up I’m Ben Hale and this is the easy living yards podcast. Creating Beautiful Yard should be easy. Let’s jump in create the Dream Yard. You deserve, so you can enjoy more time doing what you love. Welcome to episode one hundred and five of the easy living yards podcast today. We’re talking about organic gardening basics. If you’re looking to get into gardening, organic gardening is a beautiful way to do it to provide nutritious food for your family, and in a way that you can feel safe about it. That’s the whole idea, right and so today I wanNA, share with you. What I feel are the bare essentials to get started in organic gardening. There’s a ton of gardening resources out there, but there’s not a whole lot that talks about just. How do you even get started right? What just the bear simplest stuff to get started so I? WanNa give you that in a nutshell in today’s episode Hey. I’m recording today from a beautiful May. Actually his June June welcome to June. It’s so beautiful. Summer is getting here quickly. It’s hot. It’s beautiful at sunny. Plants are thriving and I hope you’re enjoying the beautiful weather around us. If you’re listening soon after this shows recorded, a you know that life is still on Cova. Lockdown and Slowly starting to open up around here in south, west Western Ohio and life. Is You know life is good? So this is a wonderful time to really just focus inward on what we can do with our landscapes. What we can how we can refocus our lives, so hope you’re taking this as an opportunity to help, do some of that refocusing and internal You know introspection I guess right. Anyway so let’s get into today’s show. I have a ton of resources to share with you today. just the show outline itself helps you run through the bare essentials of what you need and you know some of these things are. Are Not you know, and then I go a little bit beyond that, of course, because they can’t contain my excitement, I love gardening, I love the idea of producing food in our own landscapes. Whether you have a pot, a balcony, patio or twenty acres. You can produce some food for yourselves. Gardening is a wonderful way to do so to get started. And and you know to do it. In that old fashioned classical way, this is something. People have been doing for thousands of years right, and so it’s time for you to get it on his action to. This is not something that’s outdated. There’s tons of new ways to do things as well of course but. Gardening is a beautiful way to provide sufficiency for yourself and your family, good healthy nutrition, and to also stick it to the man right. So. Gardening is a way where you can become reliable on yourself is basically what I’m saying. And of course you’re not gonNA generate all food overnight for your whole family. It’s not something that we do. We actually don’t generate a lot of food for ourselves, even though I aspire to but we do work to garden and produce healthy food for. To teach our kids how to do so as well so that’s really important to me. So. Let’s just jump right in so today. Basically what I’m talking about is a couple of categories of things so i. where are the goals of gardening? And more specifically, what are your goals for gardening? What should you focus on? What types of plants, of course, of course you’re wondering what types of plant I go probably, so we’re GONNA talk about plants We’re GONNA. Talk about specific amendments for your soil materials. You might need tools. You might need as well and then of course a bunch of resources as well that I’d love to share with you. So for today’s show, you can always check out. The show notes in your podcast feed there. You can also go over to easy living. Yards dot com slash episode, one, zero, five, one, zero five, and that will get you. All the show notes for this. I also have an awesome video to share with you in those show notes of on how To To create a self watering planter, so this is a planter with a reservoir of water in the bottom, so you only have to water like once every two weeks, which is awesome if you’re doing any sort of patio, gardening or balcony gardening, it’s pretty much an essential unless you’re going to be out there at least once a day to water your plants. So okay, so let’s start with the role goals of what you should. What you really I recommend you focus on when it comes to gardening. In the first thing is to get a yield all right. We talked about this in our permaculture. Show a few episodes ago. It’s one of the focuses of permaculture as well one of the principals, and and so getting a yield.
00:05:01 – 00:10:09
Basically what what I mean is get something out of it right? You got to focus on at least getting one thing out of gardening. We’re not out there just to enjoy being outdoors right? We’re out there actually to cultivate the soil to utilize the soil in water and Sun Right. To to actually produce something to to cultivate life through plants that can then return to was in the form of food, right? That’s awesome so. What we want to do is create that magic that magic that happens to actually get harvest right so we want to focus on getting a yield. That’s the first thing so really. One of the biggest cautions here is don’t go too big too fast. All right focused on just getting a small win first and then building upon that small one figure out what works for you your time available that you have your space available that you have in the plants that work while in your space, and to build a cooperation to to create a beautiful home for your plants that then create beautiful nutritious. Nutritious yields for you. Okay, so that leads into the next one is start small. So this is another principal I recommend is start with what you can manage. Because then you can do a good job on a small scale in replicate it in the future. Okay, so while we all want to have you know a boatload of produce tomorrow afternoon. It just in reality cannot happen that way, right? So start small with a small garden space. Make it work. Make it work good, and then expand. Okay, get good at what you can do with a small space I and you’ll be amazed at the amount of production. You can get over a small space. Start easy start with plants. You know you can manage. Start with things you see you with that. You can manage with your time as well so a small enough space to manage with your time for example, don’t Overdo it. Start easy start small. And Start Close, okay? This is another kind of thing that comes over from my background and permaculture. Start where you can easily access your garden. Often, we took our gardens in the back corner of our property if The land. Because sometimes you know, gardens can look a little untidier, whatever right and so people generally stick him in the back corner. Well. Often. Do you walk in that space? Even if you didn’t have a garden, they’re not often probably right, so start close where you can just take us to a few steps out the back door and cultivate your plants. Take care of them to them. You can see them out your window, so you can assess them easily from inside your home to see. Oh, it looks like they maybe need some water or oh, we’re dealing with pest issue, or maybe it needs a little bit of fertility or something like that right, so you can cultivate in manager plants in a way. That’s easy all right. It’s not it’s not as much of a task or burden. Okay so those are the basic principles that I recommend you start with and focus on these around these core principles of getty yield. Start Small, start easy and start close, okay? So, let’s talk about the basics of what plants need all right. When you think about plant, right in thinking about gardening, we kind of already touched on this is accessibility is very very important, okay? So. Can you access your plants easily right, but also this goes farther can. Access right resources, so think about it from the plant perspective. Do they have good access to water to son to soil and to the the person that helps take care of that plan right so that would be you right so. You’re plants need these resources to grow properly. Okay so. Make sure you can provide for your plants in a way that they can live and produce a yield and a benefit for you as well. Now. Let’s touch quickly on goals as well right, so we talked about the overarching goals that I recommend you focus on the principles. Maybe we should say, but let’s talk about your personal goals. What do you want out of garden? Why are you thinking about a garden? Or. Why should you think about a garden if you’re not? So focused on what a garden can do for you and how it can best fit in your life is time. A priority is some time you have something so little of, and that’s the limitation for why you haven’t grown a garden yet, or is it just you have no idea what to do right so? Let’s focus on what our goals are. You WanNA learn basically what to do to get started. Okay well. This show is a great starting point, right? If time is limiting factor. How can you build a garden whatever that means for you, and it’s in the amount of time that you are willing or able to a a lot for it, okay? Maybe, it’s something else.
00:10:09 – 00:15:04
Maybe it’s you. Don’t you have the right space, right? So how can we fit a garden to the space? You have if it’s a shady balcony or a small patio or a giant acreage that you have no idea what to do with whatever it is. How can you get what you want from garden? And how can you fit it into your Space Space Okay and so that goes to the next pieces. What do you want out of a garden? Do you want a ton of produce? Do you want just a little bit to feed your family? Do you want it to be a resource to teach your kids? How to grow food or where food comes from or how this beautiful tomato is created? Whatever it is right? What are your goals? Because that will define how you create in line manager garden, so get clear on that. Okay so now. We got a couple other categories to go through for today’s show. Let’s talk about. Let’s see I’m looking at my my show outline here and I’m trying to figure out what’s next best. Okay, so let’s talk about maybe some. Maybe some tools, okay. Well actually before. Let’s just talk about the general process here. Maybe you have no idea what the general process of gardening and I think for a lot of gardening shows or TV shows, podcasts, articles, whatever is Kinda hard for the the person hosting that material to convey these very basics, and maybe myself included I grew up gardening. Okay, my family grew up. Growing a garden enough to. Hugely sustain a good bulk of of vegetables that we consumed throughout the year, so my family grew a garden in a old suburb of the Cincinnati area and. So you’d be surprised what you can do, just a small plot of land. We didn’t have huge acreage or anything, but we grew a ton of food. Mostly beans and tomatoes were huge bulk of our protest, but then we also had a lot of other stuff we did throughout the years to, and we can do a lot of that to preserve that produce to be used throughout the year so. I didn’t I didn’t even know what a store bought Ken of of. Spaghetti sauce ever tasted like until I was you know much older because we made all of our. Our own tomato based sauce is for the whole year enough to sustain ourselves throughout the year for a huge family and. And likewise for beans as well so green beans. I never fortunately I never knew what the taste of of commercially produced canned green beans tasted like or even frozen for that matter. Gras garden groomed produce is just tastes so much better? It’s amazingly better because those plants are happy, they’re healthy. They’re cared for in a way. That’s not just for the bottom line, but to actually produce healthy nutritious food. And, so how do you even just get started with the idea of doing this? This is a better way to start before we talk about tools. Of course, so let me take a step back. So once we’re clear on what you want from Your Garden. What are your goals? What’s your time available in what your space available all those things we really want to think about how to even get started right? So based on your spacer time. You might be considering doing a potted garden for for that. You definitely want to check out the the show. I the video I just made on how to make a self watering planter. I walked through step by step, the process, and actually create in front of you a very inexpensive self, watering plants, or where it has a reservoir in the bottom of water, and that water can wake up into a potting substrate, and you can grow healthy food. In that pot, and so you only have to water it like once a week, maybe once every two weeks depending on how quickly your plants growing, how quickly the water dried as those factors? But it’s super easy to do. It’s it’s. Super Inexpensive you can build a ton of these types of planters. There’s all sorts of different designs that you can modify this simple used a five gallon bucket in the video so you can modify it to fit whatever reservoir you need. People do this with giant plastic tubs. All sorts of containers you can do this. It’s easy to get started with something you have. Most people have a five gallon bucket, so check it out. It’s worth a watch. If you’re considering a container based garden to start with, so that’s great. If you have only a patio space, a balcony, whatever when my wife and I, soon after we got married, we lived in a Condo for a couple years and Had just had such an edge to to actually grow food I couldn’t help it.
00:15:04 – 00:20:06
I I grew a container garden on our balcony and it did awesome. Of course until we left for like two weeks, and I didn’t have self watering planters at the time, and of course, everything shriveled up and kind of died, but it was awesome you can. You can produce a ton of food on a balcony for for very inexpensive. I don’t know if I said that right, but something like that right. You get the gist rate, so it’s very inexpensive to get started as what I’m saying in very easy. Okay, this doesn’t have to be a complicated process. You don’t need tons of fancy new tools. You don’t need tons of fancy new equipment or fancy. You know soil, fertilizers and stuff. The basics are super, easy and super impactful, so start with the basics. Okay, so if you have a balcony patio, think of that container gardening. If you have a patio, you can even consider building a raised bed on your patio. I’m not going to get into the details of building a raised bed right now. That may be a resource for future show or video but for now basically what a raised bed is is a you build just an above ground frame. Usually out of you know landscaping, timbers or something, and you fill it with soil mix that you can usually line it with something I like a landscape fabric, and then you put some soil mix in and you can plant directly into that, so you don’t have to worry about what conditions are soil. How good is the drainage and all that stuff you know that can be pretty complex, sometimes depending upon your conditions so so something on a patio. That’s something you consider as can consider as well as you could even build a small raised bed directly on your patio. That’s all the space you have even a Two Two foot by two foot raised bed. Planter can yield one of produce for you. Okay, you can plant Greens in there. You can plant large vegetable plants in there you. Can you know it’s super accessible too? So you can be out there managing it and cultivating it looking for pests, insects, and just you know instead of buying a bunch of chemicals imagine you can just Kinda like you know you spray or flicked those insects off when they’re causing issues, and that’s it all right, so when we go beyond that. If you want to actually have in ground garden bed, it’s not too difficult. Okay, here’s the reality. Pretty much everybody you talk to. Complains about the soil that they have you know you talked to somebody out in Phoenix Arizona, or whatever and they’re like oh my. Bazeley don’t have soil. It’s all sand it, you know. The water just drains right through right away. is horrible. I can’t even hold anything you talk to somebody around where I live in southern Ohio, and they complain about all we have. Is this dense clay? You can hardly even dig through it in the middle of August it cracks up and everything it. It doesn’t train at all. It’s horrible you know in. You know the people in Phoenix the people in Southern Ohio. They’re jealous of the people that live in the middle and middle of Iowa whatever all those people have you know perfect loan, or whatever, and and and whatever, but the reality is most of us that live in a homeowner development have degraded soils depleted soils. The topsoil has been scraped off. The rest of the soil is being compacted through development. And then there’s turf grass. Put over it. It’s it’s. Bear. You know this turf grasses are barely surviving, barely clinging on and and we don’t really have soil. That’s the reality for most places we would all love to have a better condition well, it’s actually not too difficult. Not Too bad to create a space can work for you. So I I WANNA, refer you to an episode a recent episode healthy soil in why you should care all right. That’s episode ninety six go over to easy living yards dot com slash episode nine six, and that’ll take you right to that episode. Of course there’s Lincoln the show notes to. That covers all the basics of really how to create healthy soil, but the super super condensed version of that whole episode is organic. Matter pretty much Solves Solves everything, and what do I mean by organic matter? Well, that’s Lee. Plant material plant material the grades and feeds your soil. Okay that all that organic matter what it does is helps improve drainage for dense soils, it helps retain water for loose soils like sandy soils and everything in between plants love organic matter, especially, especially vegetable garden plants, so providing good healthy organic matter, a two year garden to build up a new garden bed is. His really a wonderful way to start okay, also another episode here a couple episodes here so. One. How to start a new garden bed? Okay that’s a throwback to to episode ten so easy living yards dot com slash episode.
00:20:06 – 00:25:01
Ten takes you to a whole episode where I go through the basics of how to start a new garden bed whether you have a lawn or a weedy patch or whatever how to that patch into a garden bed. That can grow you food. Okay now this works the same process works for landscaping beds as well. Okay, and so that’s an awesome way to go. Check out. Learn how to do that, so we don’t spend too much time talking about it today, but again the basics our cover up. The previous stuff smothered out. Get it dead. Somehow. I prefer organic process for that. Go over to the show to check that out episode ten and then build up nutritious layer of of food for plants above that okay. One of those things is compost. Of course to compost is super awesome stuff. Having access to good healthy compost is is an amazing resource so go over to easy living yards dot com slash episode ninety seven, so episode ninety seven talks about how to compost all right, and that’s another amazing tool to help your garden now. You don’t have to get started with composting right now. Are All that mess? But the reality is if you live any anywhere close to urban area. There’s probably a resource Either Either a municipality or some sort of program that either sells composts or gives it away, and here’s the trick. Just do the basic smell test to see if you have good compass, if you can grab a handful of it and put it to your nose and smell it, and it doesn’t smell rotten or nasty, and it smells kind of either like kinda sweet or Humzi like rich soil or like a kind of. earthy like a forest floor if it smells like any of that, your compost is good enough, and you should so basically if it’s a kind of pleasant or earthy smell good to go, if it’s a kind of rotten, smell or putrid smell, don’t use that stuff. Okay, you can find begged compost and a lot of homestore’s I like to use organic mechanics brand stuff I’m not. I’m not funded by them or anything. but organic mechanics is as available on the northeast coast of the US and the surrounding areas out toward the Midwest as well. And they’re sold through whole foods a lot, too, so check them out if you live in that region but basically. Adding some composts to your to your garden bed, goes a long way and also if you have access to warm castings, it sounds gross, but basically warm poop is like supercharged nutrition for plants. Okay, so that’s awesome stuff to. If you can’t get access to compost, it’s a lot more expensive. A little bit goes a long way. All right and you can even like basically take what you have. Soak it in some water and spray That That water out all over the garden bed is a good way to distribute that nutrition as well. Okay so our I don’t WanNa, get too detailed here I’m trying to keep this show simple, but basically the idea is build up organic matter. Compost is organic matter that’s accessible to the plants pretty much from day one, and then also you can talk about other more organic matter like adding chemical-free lawn, clippings, and chopped up leaves. From, trees you know in the fall or whatever? Whatever organic material have some of it breaks faster than others, but I bill beautiful beautiful garden soil where we live right now. In about two years just by layering on good healthy composts and leaf litter, and a long clippings to take what basically I dug down on this, if you. Dig Down that soil right when I started the garden bed, it was. Bare Clay. There is nothing there. There’s about maybe a half inch of of Kinda like Dark Brown. I guess you call it. Top soil right at the edge of the turf, and then as soon as beyond that half inch, it was like orangey clay is dense clay, and now I can dig down about twelve inches and get deep black garden bed material it’s it’s full of rich Humzi earthy organic material, and it’s awesome for plants, so you can do that, too. I will put in one word of caution here, which is be careful of manure it’s it’s a age-old tradition to spread manure. composted manure in your garden bed. Be Super careful, because now there’s a lot of Hey, fields that are sprayed with a An herbicide that is persistent, and it stays on the plants, and it gets digested in passed through livestock, and the manure still carries that urbicide, and then when you spread that on your garden, it basically kills everything you and your garden. Guys have made this mistake I’ve dealt with it.
00:25:01 – 00:30:00
It’s no fun are so. A. Persistent an persistent herbicides that’s causing problems with manure and. From a resource of beautiful wonderful stinky, resource Into something that’s just basically waste now and a huge problem so. Be careful with manure, if unless you can. One hundred percent confirm that the the hey, that’s being eaten by the horses is not treated or cattle, or whatever right usually horse manure is something I’ve dealt with more than than cattle manure both of them. You really have to make sure you let them sit hot, you know the pilots get hot killing pathogens, and that sort of thing you know so old. Manure is usually a good to go or if it’s still got you know manure smell, you can compass just by turning it about once a week for a couple of weeks. okay, so just be super careful with that stuff all right Eric talked about You know I jumped forward to my amendment section already. But. I want to get back to again if we’re starting with a garden bed. Use the resources already available go to how to start a new garden bed episode ten. Healthy soil, and why you should care episode ninety six, and how to compost episode ninety seven. Even if you don’t plan to compost, it’s super important to understand what compost is how to find. Good quality composts so I I kinda go through all that and that episode those three resources will get you started on putting a new garden bed in the ground and get started. Okay, so those are the basic processes, no matter where you live of how to get started with gardening. Okay now you wondering probably okay. What kind of plants do I use that sort of thing. How often do water that sort of thing? Basically the plants will tell you okay. When it comes to watering, you need to have of course the right. Conditions for your plant, so most plants like full sun or mostly sunny conditions. If you don’t have that, don’t worry a ton of Greens. We will greatly extend the season of of Salad Greens. Those types of plants anything that grows foliage. In in shady conditions, so those things were awesome in more shaded areas. Of people no matter what conditions you have, there’s something that’s not perfect about it. Everybody has a complaint about their space. The the real thing is to get out there and get started and get trying and and grow the plants that are adaptable to the space. You have okay. All right so so beyond that we do need a couple of tools. We need a couple of materials and will need a couple of amendments to get started and the water piece I forgot okay so water. You basically you know if you have, it depends on the conditions right, so if it basically you just gotTa. Go out there. See how drier soil is about half inch below the surface Check for wilting on your leaves. Things like that that are indications of low water. You WanNa water deeply more than late. Watering ‘s frequently so deep watering will help you. Roots grow stronger and deeper and be more resilient to to stressed. Drought Conditions and So, you’ll have better stronger plants with deeper watering ‘s the grow better, and and you have to water less frequently that way okay so. Tools the very very basic starting small like recommend. You don’t even need a shovel, guys. You can start with a trowel if you want. Okay of course, a garden spade shovel is super helpful, but I’m just trying to bear this down as as simply as possible start small invest small grow from there. Okay, so a Trowel, a good sturdy quality trowel. I’ll have links to all. These in the show notes guys. Geyser affiliate links to two products. I Do Do recommend either I’ve used them or You know know that they’re good quality products. Okay, but I just want to let you know an affiliate. Link is basically where it’s at no cost to you. Get a small commission. If you click on the link and by all right, but you can still click on the Lincoln. Check it out if you don’t WanNa do that whole process. That’s totally fine all right. So basically a trowel. Would you want to look for is a a solid shank all right, so that means you don’t WanNa. Find those ones where it’s like. A plate curved plate that’s welded to the handle because the weld breaks or bends right at the weld. Okay, so don’t get those ones. Get a fool solid one. There’s one I have by corona. That’s an awesome shovel or travel. It’s aluminum, so it’s super. Lightweight has a nice molded group to it as well so that’s a great trial. You can actually the like, so that one’s like twelve or thirteen bucks. You can also get like super cheap ones. They have like these plastic resin ones that are like ninety seven cents, usually or two bucks, or whatever at your local home store, fisker is used to make a really nice cheap one to I.
00:30:00 – 00:35:00
Don’t know if it’s still available anymore, but those little composite ones are super inexpensive and they’re. They’re wonderfully effective, so each of our kids has little one. None of them have broken. They’re great hard. They’ve gotten stepped on. They’ve gotten, and you can imagine what little kids can do with with stuff so so get a trial. You WanNA watering can. It doesn’t need to be amazing or anything I do like my super durable watering can. It’s made of galvanized steel by a company called Barons Super Nice. It’s like a three gallon cans, so we usually don’t fill it all the way up because it gets super heavy, but But that way you can kind of go around your garden and do a lot of watering with on just one fill. You definitely want some garden gloves. These don’t have to be anything. Fancy are amazing again, but I do like those nyc trial clouded fabric gloves. They’re super nice, because if it’s a little wet out or working in the early spring or late fall when it’s a little cold they help. Keep your fingertips from getting super wet if you’re still doing stuff and also. They have a really good dexterity, so you can do weeding with them and and sorts of stuff, and it keeps you know the your fingernails from getting nasty and stuff or just being brown all the time and stuff and covered with dirt. So Super Nice to have. You, you know if you. If you live. Where here’s a good design tip? Put Your Garden where you can access it with a hose. So if if your garden is near a hose, you might WanNa hose. You Might WanNa hose. Okay, so get a hose, decent quality sprayer of links to to those as well The Jose linked to is actually a a rather expensive hose by I think the brand is Gilmore. You can buy cheaper hoses They just don’t last as long so a good quality hose takes you a long way. lasts a lot of years, but if you’re looking just to get started, a Cheapo hose can do the job of course I always try to avoid waste, too, so if I can pay a little bit more for quality and have it lasts a lot longer know that it’s not going To To landfill sooner, I usually choose that, but again. If if if you really budget limited, you can go cheaper and it works. It just doesn’t last as long usually likewise, you probably WANNA sprayer for that hose to hose. Inspire linked to a good one there as well Check that out you know. There’s little multi sprayers are pretty Nice I’ve had mixed success though with the ones you find at your local. Walmart or whatever because a lot of times, they just end up the gaskets fail or whatever so I’ve been linked to a good one in the show notes with all this stuff. There’s a link so. so these are not must haves, but kind of Nice to have hose, a shovel and a garden rake okay. That’ll get you through most of your gardening. Guys those tools right there, so we’re not talking about a major major investment if you’re talking about again if we’re talking about pot. Gardening in pots. Let’s put it that way if you’re if you’re looking at gardening in pots. Watering planters I’m talking about you. Don’t even need a shovel. Rake You can get away with glows. Watering can trial and that’s it all right and your set so. Don’t go overboard on. This guy’s I’m trying to keep this as minimalist as possible here so next. Let’s talk about some materials that are helpful again. Not Not all of these are necessary, so think about your condition. Think about what you’re doing. Think about your goals with the time savings. You might want to have so that’s kind of why list some of these things, but they’re not bare essentials. Okay, we, we just talked about the bare essentials, little bit of compost, little bit topsoil some trial, a trial watering can gloves some pots. That’s it or a raised bed. That’s it that’s all you need. And of course some seeds right or some plants. That’s it. Okay so these guys are a little bit bonus stuff so self watering pots. We’ve talked about ready. Check out the link to the Youtube video super helpful to go through that super easy. You can build these. You can collect all the materials all the tools you need to build it. And to actually build it and get a plant in the pot in in less than an hour. So that’s how easy these are to build. Gate you. Laying around your house from various projects like me, you probably have all these materials on hand as well and if you don’t see if you have anything that can do the job. That’s not the same exact materials I’m using all right, so so check out that video if you’re looking to to some gardening pots, okay, next thing. If you’re doing gardening in a garden bed or somewhere you want to consider a hose timer with a you know a tiny little sprinkler on it or something. We don’t want to go overboard with a crazy irrigation system at this point, but something with a host timer.
00:35:01 – 00:40:03
That does water your plants maybe. You know maybe once. Every couple of days or something. If you’re in super, high or super, dry, super hot, climate, or period in your season Maybe you could do daily but again just think about that. Host Heimer. I’ve never used one guys so You have a very successful garden without a hose time. My parents have never used when they’ve garden for for about forty years that I remember. and. so. You don’t need them, but they can make your life easier if you’re looking to save time and effort. Okay, but they can also wastewater to write and remember that pretty much. All of the US is on strained water resources. Especially, if you live in the arid west of the Mississippi but even here in the eastern US where we get over forty inches of rain a year we’re still stressing our water systems so that just keep that in mind with what you’re doing. Okay so next. Borders you you might want some borders around your garden beds so this if you’re making a raised bed, of course, you need to build it out something or even your garden itself. You want to prevent stuff from creeping into your garden You know all the turf grass and things like that fencing If you live in a heavy pest area where there’s larger pests like deer, possums, raccoons, skunks rabbits. Chipmunks, those types of critters squirrels. They will get into your garden. I usually try to as long as they’re not decimating my whole garden I. Try to share a little bit with them and just let it be but we do have a fence around our garden takes some effort to do. for now start small start easy You know a temporary fence for This This year is totally fine, you know, get a win first rate, but protect your win to right, so you don’t. You don’t need to wage warfare on the critters, but it’s the same time. Keep your keep your hard work valuable to yourself and make sure you get a yield out of it so if you need to put some sort of barrier around your stuff, do so okay. Plant. Markers are helpful to I. Always Forget where the plants are, but especially when we’re new, and we’re not sure what the plants that were growing exactly look like through all their life. Stages can be really tough to tell what the weed, and what’s not so some plant markets are super helpful. These don’t have to be crazy. Fancy we just We We just put a bunch out me and my kids They mark them all with the they made their own out of popsicle sticks, okay and tongue oppressors, so you can do it with just whatever you have around We have tons and tons of for crafts and stuff, so we just use them. It’s a renewable resource which is Super Nice and. So you can, you can get some online as well. There’s plastic ones. There’s aluminum ones where you can kinda like at your whatever you’re doing and then kind of flatten it out next season and re use it again. There’s a lot of different types. That just use basic plant marker. I’m not even GONNA provide linked to those I’ve never I’ve never bought a plant marker so I can’t recommend one specifically in stakes, stakes are are good as well especially given certain plants They need staking to grow properly so like tomatoes you can grow them where you just let them sprawl, but if you’re trying to maximize your space they need some sort of staking Structure Structure some things need like a trellis. You can just use stakes entwine to build those for certain things. Remember remember here. We’re keeping it simple, so let’s use the basics of what we need to get the job done. Okay, so those are materials. None of these are absolutely necessary, especially in all conditions so kind of as you learn about what specifically you plan to grow. Get the stuff you. You need and start with that. And you can always go out and get stuff later right so Now our economy is so accessible that you can have something delivered to your door. In a day or two. And it’s super easy to get so none of this is stuff. You need to go out and just binge by right now. Okay, so now let’s talk about amendments. We already got into this, but amendments are things that you add to your soil to improve it. Okay, so if you’re starting with a new garden bed, you might actually put in something called. Topsoil, so topsoil is usually stuff that scraped off of a development as developers are developing the development and I just wanted to see how many times can use that word in a sense so and in basely then stored at a our landscaping wholesaler. You can buy it and put it in your space. Now it it works. It’s not always the most in Tristesse stuff but it works, and you can use it as sometimes. You can’t have some weed issues with it. You know because there is a seed bank in the top soil sometimes, but it’s it’s workable it can get you started.
00:40:03 – 00:45:02
Okay, secondly you might actually buy something called garden soil, which is usually a mixture of top soil and sand and compost, so it’s a little bit more. For the plants kind of ready to go in the sand helps improve drainage so you can get that stuff, too. You can use what you have and talk about the in. Do the layering process. I talked about just recently so plenty ways to get their guys. amendments are things at once. We have our garden bed in place. These are things we can add to it to aid in the nutrition throughout the growing season. The first and the absolute Goto I use if I use anything is compost. Compost is such a wonderful resource. It solves so many problems that really. I rarely have to go beyond that okay. Worm, castings already mentioned to. It’s basically think of it as like hyper compost, it’s full of both compost. Healthy compost and worm castings are fool of biological life, and also nutrition, and so they’re awesome. Awesome, awesome resources for plants. Beyond that. Of course I also mentioned grass and leaf clippings. These are also super resourceful not only in adding to the organic content of your garden, usually something that doesn’t help in the immediate future from that standpoint, but it’ll help next year as it starts to break down, okay, but it does help with the life and also as a march. If you put it, you know a mixture of grass and leaf clippings or Basically if you do too much grass by itself, it gets Kinda Funky and nasty, and it’s not great, but if you have some sort of dry material along with the grass, it works awesome. Basically what you’re doing is you’re adding a light mulch layer that prevents weeds from from Popping up in your garden. It also helps with moisture retention, and so it’s an amazing thing. for multiple levels all right, so think about that. Also if you need just a super super nutrient boost that still kind of like organic. And Natural Base you can consider a seaweed or kelp. the so you can find a bottle of this. It’s called like liquid seaweed liquid kelp. Kelp you can get as granular like a kelp meal to so these are helpful for. Providing good accessible nutrition to your plans while of a lot of different nutrients so all right? That’s a amendments in a nutshell. Are you really don’t go beyond that guys So sticks with simple stick with easy and your plans will take care of themselves. Plans have been growing for thousands or millions of years right? We gotta get with our global timelines here so anyway all right, so let’s talk about plants all right. This is the last segment here is plants. You’re probably wondering. Okay Ben this is great with all this garden stuff, but really I just wanted to like what plants to grow. Okay well. I can’t give you clear answer here. That’s the short net show. It depends of course on what you want. What conditions you have! And also Well. Let’s just get into it all right all right. Let’s just get it, so I we want to select the right plans for our space, so we talked about accessibility, right? What are plants need to be accessible to? Water Son Soil in you right. They need to be accessible to all those things you need to be able to cultivate it. The soil needs defeated. The son needs to feed it to. Get that whole photosynthesis thing going and water needs to help it drink, right. That’s it all right. That’s that’s what plants need. So make sure you have the right plant for your space where your space provides the appropriate conditions for the plant, okay? Next we went easy disease resistant plants, okay. This is really important. Guys something you already okay. You don’t WanNa. Go Out and buy a bunch of Kohlrabi because it sounds cool, and you’ve never heard of it, but you don’t know how the heck you’re going to actually eat this stuff. You don’t WanNa go Bhai turnips. If you never eat a turnip all right so by something, you actually eat. You know you’ll eat your family. Wait okay, start with that You You can always expand later and experiment later, but you want to start with the basics with things you know something that will provide you a yield right. We talked about that. Get a yield. If you grow Kohlrabi and you plant your your family decides US discussing you decided discussing. You have no idea how to prepare it I have no idea how to prepare it. You don’t get a yield right. You don’t get something from Your Garden. So that’s the whole idea here right, so stick with that. So. Let’s talk about some plants. The easiest the category that’s easiest to me is herbs. If you’re into herbs at all.
00:45:02 – 00:50:03
If you cook with herbs, consider growing these quick win one of the easiest. It’s an annual. Is Basil all right? Get some basil either already started from your local garden centre, or get some seed, and you’ll be amazed at how well gross same Cilantro. For some reason is when I first started planting Sondra I. Never get it to grow, but then it would pop up the next year. So for some reason I didn’t have the right conditions. The first year the seed survived through the winter and grew the next year, and they have salon everywhere and just pop the ball over the garden now all right so sometimes. What seems like a failure can turn into a huge success. So Basil is awesome for all these where you actually eat the foliage, guys, I really recommend trying organic getting organically grown plants. Most garden centers do not have organically grown produce plants, and you never know what you’re eating on those leaves. Okay. Some chemistries that are in herbicides and pesticides are incredibly incredibly persistent or break down into things that aren’t wonderful by the themselves either And And so you want to really be sure what you’re putting in your mouth. Okay, so if you’re getting pre started plants, not not starting with seeds. You WanNa get something healthy, so go organic. It’s really hard to find some organic stuff. the local whole foods around us does sell organic garden plants to start with so check there if you have like a health food store around you. Okay so herbs, Time Basil Rosemary Sage Oregano. Chives garlic. Let me go through it again time, Basil, Rosemary Sage Oregano, mints Chives and Garlic. All of these are super easy to grow. They do require slightly different conditions. So when you get the plant. Read the Little Plant Tag. Give it what it wants. All right or you know use that thing called the Internet look, which of these fits your conditions okay, get clear on what conditions you have first, so you can then narrow down what plants you can grow easily. Okay, that’s what we want to do here, so. Time Rosemary Sage Oregano, they all like pretty. They actually really thrive in pretty tough conditions, and that’s actually how they get their stronger flavor. Isn’t that those tougher conditions, so they do awesome in in a lot of situations. Mints I just want to warn you. Are notorious for running all over the garden, so so make sure they’re in a contain spot, or where a place where they can run wild and free once you get them establish, but there’s all sorts of wonderful mints out there. You can use for teas and all sorts of you know to. Bruce up your dishes salads that sort of thing, as well so check out all those herbs herbs are wonderful, easy way to get a yield and get a success out of your guard. Okay, Greens Greens are another awesome way. When it’s too hot, it can be tough for a lot of Greens. charges one. That does well all season round. If you like to eat Greens you’ll probably like something like charred to. So Lettuce Spinach Kale Chard and beets are the ones I listed as easy once, okay. Beets are awesome because you can eat the tops and the bottoms the whole plant. Basically so you see a lot of these red beets that people serve in whatever pickled beets. pickled beets are great. I never liked him growing up but the the Greens. Themselves are amazing as well. Okay so even if you don’t like the roots and you don’t Wanna eat the roots there a wonderful way to to enhance the drainage of your garden and De compactor garden soil, so even they even though you’re not getting a yield from the root if you don’t want to, you can still use them to build the nutrition of your soil and You You can still yield the Greens so beet Greens are really good. Chart is really good again. If you’re not gonNA eat them, don’t grow okay, but they’ll. They have a longer season. than say your lettuce, so lettuce is a good early season in late son like basically early to mid late spring, and then late summer through fall grow lettuce grow spinach. Kale is a good cool season crop. Some Kale’s especially depending on the climate you live, you can get a harvest of Kale all winter long. Okay, so check out the plants that you will eat that you can grow in your space. Greens are an awesome way to get a yield and get it quick all right you can. You can start harvesting lettuces if if you grow throughout the if you can get you know little starts and stuff. Or start the the doors transplant outside you can, you can get a yield of micro Greens lettuce all season long as well. Just harvest is super early when the leaves our young, and you’ll still get a harvest, and it’ll still be awesome.
00:50:03 – 00:55:11
Okay now, the downside with lettuces and spinach and stuff is in the heat. They they go to see because that’s their natural habit, and and that’s their life cycle. So that’s why they don’t do well in the heat. If you have a shady garden, the lasts a lot longer through the season there. Okay so Greens awesome. Herbs even awesome are. VEGGIES. Let’s talk about edges so super easy veggies radishes. You can spread the seat out pop up Just keep it moist to germinate, and you’ll get radishes growing your garden. They’re quick to harvest. is you’re taking care of the space though grow all right, so radishes only again only if these guys right, but radishes are easy, beans are are super easy guys, beans or something pretty much. Anybody can plant from seed as long as the garden state, a little bit moist while they’re germinating, and you keep the plants a little bit moist While While they’re growing You’re pretty much set i. mean you do have to manage for pests here and there and stuff but get some Bush beans. If you don’t have like a trellis instructor for them to climb on, get some Bush beans, and they can up a space and give you a ton of beans as a yield and it’s awesome, so if you eat green beans, check them out. If you eat other beans, check them out all right so gross and beans. They also help feed the soil which is awesome because they’re nitrogen fixers. They’re great plants. Zucchini is another one guys grow some. Zucchini. DOOKIE and grow couple plants. They’ll take a lot of space, but they give you a ton of yield for each plant. Okay, so Zucchinis awesome you can make. Out of them as keen lasagna, just eat them is like grilled, roasted Zucchinis or put them in. You know fresh dishes with like tomatoes and basaltic stuff I. Don’t WanNa get into recipes here. I’m not actually a great chef. But. But I wanted to just point out zucchinis pretty versatile stuff all right, and it’s healthy all right so so Zucchini or summer squash like your yellow squash as well those do pretty well also so just get him going. Keep them watered, and they’ll be happy all right. squashes in general also can grow very prolifically in could be very easy now. I WanNa say that Zucchini and squashes are tough to transplant so usually you wanna plant those from seed We’re talking about early June right now. This is the time to plant your squashes. It’s warm enough. They’ll be happy. Get them going. And you’ll get a yield. Excuse me and next I want to say for veggies. Another super easy one. If you like them, his sweet potatoes, so for each of these guys don’t rely on me right now. For All the details of the just because already. This episode is Super Long But go out if any of these plants sounds good to you, it’s something. Eat something. You like something your family likes. Research it learn how to grow it and grow it all right, guys. That’s what this episodes about. I wanted to give you the bare basics of how to start a garden all right so for. Let’s go through these plans again. I I miss perennials to I. Love Perennial Plants. Guys, so I can’t help. Highlight a couple of perennial plants, super easy ones. Blackberries make sure you get a thorn list and. Not A thorn list variety also not running variety. Okay, something that’s not going to go all over your garden, but the thorn ones are Super Nice. Blackberries are super nutritious, as well in their super easy to grow, so if that sounds something, delicious and wonderful to you gross some blackberries, though keep producing for you. They’re all awesome Strawberries likewise you’ll get yield out of strawberries for a couple years before you know, you can also look into how to keep them. Keep a bed going if you WANNA do that, but but just to start. Get some strawberries in the ground. You’ll get a couple. Years yield out of them with without doing anything except providing good quality soil for them in good moisture consistently. Rhubarb Rhubarb is something I’ve never grown, but I do know it’s super, easy or super easy. Perennial to grow comes back year after year. be careful because the leaves are poisonous. The stocks are not You still have to cook them, so be careful If you grow rhubarb, just be careful, but some people love it, and it’s a super easy perennial to grow okay. ASPARAGUS ASPARAGUS is also very easy once you get it established, this is not something you will get a yield until about two years in at least all right so basically you prepare a bed for asparagus you plant. The crowns these kinds of route groupings of your spare. Plant couple of crowns. You let it grow this year. Let it get happy next year. You let it grow, you let it get happy again. You might be able to harvest a few shoots in the spring, and then the following years when you really get a good harvest, and it will produce for years and years after that some people have sperry spreads that are Super Super Old and they love it so if you.
00:55:11 – 00:59:48
You love asparagus. It’s worth getting started once it started a super easy all right. You have to manage for pests here and there make sure it keeps enough for Tilleke, but other than that guys. ASPARAGUS is great stuff. Okay, so all right, so let’s run through this list again. So for plants make sure it’s the right plan for your space. They’re easy and disease, resistant, and very very importantly. Something you already eat and you like okay. So for herbs. Time Basil. Rosemary Sage Oregano mince chives garlic. For Greens Lettuce Spinach, Kale Chard and beats. For veggies, radishes, beans, Zucchini, squash, sweet potatoes for perennials. BLACKBERRIES STRAWBERRIES RHUBARB SPIRITUS GUYS I. Hope this is a great start for you I hope. You really are psyched to get something growing. There’s. you know this is the basics we can get more complex after this I’m always here to answer questions. You can always ask me a question. You just go over to easy living yards dot com slash. Ask and asked me a question. Guys and I’m helping happy to help you with the detailed question. You have okay. You notice that I did not list tomatoes today? Everybody wants to grow. Tomatoes seems a tomatoes are awesome I want to grow tomatoes. We have tons of tomatoes growing this year. I actually WANNA. Make sauce out of our tomatoes just like when we grew up This This year and the reason I didn’t is because tomatoes they they are. They are a little tougher. They’re not as easy alright. Celery is one of the toughest garden plants that I know of but tomatoes can be tough to to get started they require a lot of nutrition. They require a lot of moisture. They require a lot of Sun all right. That’s what tomatoes need. and it’s a little bit tougher to manage them into. Get them growing her, and I will say if you’re if you’re just dead. Set on tomatoes and you gotTA grow grow couple. See how they do also. What seems to always work are the little cherry tomatoes. So few loved his little solid cherry tomatoes, and that’s it and you’re happy with him. Grow those they always seem to produce. They produce in produce and produce produce all right. They’re awesome. Little plants so if you’re set on, tomatoes, consider that you can also just go one or two of the other ones and and see how they do, and you know you might. You might be successful with it right, so but just don’t go overboard. That’s that’s my biggest caution here. Don’t go overboard. Don’t burn yourself out this year. You want to get a win just like with landscaping. That’s what I talk about. Get a small win. I build off that win. That’s the same with gardening here. Okay so again, check out! I’m going to wrap up here finally. Right so this show is supposed to be your go to resource for getting started in gardening, so listen back to take notes. If you need to reach out to me if you have a specific question, easy living yards dot com slash, ask. You can also go guys every single episode. If you click on the link to go to my site, there’s a comment section. You can comment right there, too. I see those comments as well so you can always comment. They’re asked me a question. Guys all right so again. Run through all the resources for today’s show. a self watering planter video I just posted on Youtube If you’re looking for a Patio Gardner, balcony garden checkout that video for sure, super, helpful, resource, super, cheap and easy way to get started. With being low maintenance on your garden as well how to start a new garden bed episode ten. Gift ideas for guys actually didn’t talk about this one. During the show gift ideas for gardeners I just went through this whole awesome list of gift ideas for Gardeners and homeowners this past holiday season. These are tools. I use on a frequent basis that are. Tested, and they’re durable there they they do. They’re not cheap, basically, right? I don’t like cheap stuff. It’s just a waste. And waste of energy waste resources fills up the landfill waste of money guys so. Good resources. You’re looking to expand beyond the basic list I listened today. Go out and check out that show easy living yards episode ninety four also video there for that as well. If you WANNA, see them in person. How to build healthy soil, and why you should care episode ninety six how to compost episode ninety seven guys. All these resources in the show notes check him out. Of course, thanks for tuning in happy gardening. Make tomorrow better than today.
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Beautiful Eco-Friendly Landscaping-ELY104
May 08, 2020
Beautiful Eco-Friendly Landscaping with Jen & Gary – ELY 104 – Show Notes
Today I talk with Jen and Gary on a membership call about their eco landscaping plans and how to focus all of their cool ideas into a cohesive landscape design that works for them! Join us to hear about their cool ideas from growing fruit trees, christmas trees, native pollinator gardening, and butterfly gardening ideas.
What’s up I’m Ben Hale and this is the easy living yards podcast. Creating Beautiful Yard should be easy. Let’s jump in create the Dream Yard. You deserve so you can enjoy more time doing what you love. Welcome to episode one hundred and four of the easy living yards podcast. Hey guys. I’m super excited for today’s show. As usual I mean I’m pretty much excited for every show and pretty much. Say That for every show too. It’s kind of like my standard intro. Right well I am super excited because today I’m welcoming on two members of the easy living yards membership a husband and wife team who are committed to creating positive change in their landscape in a positive change in our world because of it so if you guys are super interested like me to hear what Jenning Gerry have to say a stay tuned Guys if you’re listening to audio version the podcast of this. I also recorded video. We had an awesome video chat together. So if you WANNA watch the video chat as well Lincoln the show notes to the Youtube Video. And if you guys are watching on Youtube comment for sure love to hear what you guys have to say about this show so today. We talk about a ton of different topics. But there are some overarching themes that come out as well so some of the topics. We talked about our native plants. Providing Wildlife Habitat Jen has this. Awesome background from an Like this environmental studies background. And so she kind of leaves that into a lot of her personal practice in her landscape. And so it’s really exciting to see Jen is one of my. She’s my founding member. She’s an all star member And so it’s been so fun to watch her journey as they’ve left the they basically did some quick tweaks when they first joined the membership to to transform their landscape that they were selling at their home in Florida and now they’ve moved to northeast. Ohio in they’re trying to create this beautiful space for their family. And so it’s really exciting to see that progress so yeah we talked about some themes like a wildlife gardening like I said pollinator habitat a butterfly. Gardening Fruit Trees Bonsai It’s it’s cool stuff. It’s it’s a merging of all these cool concepts into something that I hope it turns out to be really amazing and really fun as well. It’s incredibly unique to as as Jen and Gary tried to kind of combined. Some of their interests into a design that that overall helps fulfill some of their dreams of their landscape individually and brings together to something that really makes something that’s a wonderful expression of their relationship together so stay tuned for that Also I wanNA highlight that Jenin Gary are members of the. He’s living yards membership. And so this is one of the perks of being a member. Is they get to do this. Awesome one on one interaction with me to work through their landscape. If you want some help like that La- going over to the easy living yards membership at easy living yards dot com slash membership and and become a member. Today guys have dropped the price in the membership to ten bucks a month This year You know as we’re dealing with all this crazy corona virus stuff. I WANNA make my membership in. My help is accessible to you as possible. So this is my way of trying to Kinda help things along there and help us all make a positive difference so again themes we talk about ego landscaping food production of bonsai gardening and really the the over arching theme with all this stuff is taking all these combined interests in turning them into something that that can really Become cohesive because when you have a lot of different spaces or ideas that you’re talking about It’s it can be very difficult. Or there’s a huge risk of of creating a design. That’s really scattered in disjointed. And so the big focus here is to to help Jenin. Gary kind of bring that together into some sort of a cohesive design that has all these different elements to it but but has a good flow in connection between. So that’s one of the themes. The other is preventing overwhelm. They have all these awesome ideas tons of energy to make all these changes in their landscape and in the risk here is for one becoming burned out into becoming overwhelmed so it’s been so much time and effort money and energy on stuff that you can become burned out right. It can be a lot of work changing your landscape especially when you’re really trying to make it into something beautiful. And that provides a positive environmental impact. So secondly with that Becoming overwhelmed so many different projects across a huge space can really cause You to be overwhelmed. And so We talk about strategies and things that Jenin Gary can do to prevent over one and likewise in the membership.
00:05:04 – 00:10:02
I also talk about that too. I have course videos that talk about prioritizing projects and avoiding overwhelm and setting the right goals and vision for your landscape and so those are training videos that can really help Jenin Garin and and their process and can also help us well so we talk about those concepts in today’s videos so all right. Let’s transition over to our chat. Hey everybody welcome to easy living yards. Podcast excited to welcome Jen. Gary today to talk about their yard. They have exciting new place and so. Jena Gary Welcome to the show so tell me about your place. Tell me about yourselves. What part of what part of the states from wall as what? You’re looking to maybe get out of our discussion. We’re in northeast. Ohio in we moved into our house in the fall in so we’ve been eagerly waiting all winter to get to spring so we can actually start growing in previously. We lived in Florida so this is our first gardening season in Ohio. Congratulations on multiple fronts. Banks I also WANNA share with everybody that Jen is essentially our all star member. She’s the founding member of easy living yards membership. And she’s been a superstar. She is always asking questions in Has Been Super engaging from when they lived in Florida to now their new place in Ohio says just so fun to to watch you in your journey with your family. Is You guys? Move to new places in trying really make a positive impact in the space guys have so thanks for being part of easy living yards. It’s been great. Yeah thanks yeah and I appreciate. You always answer the questions. I’m glad I can be helpful. So you’ve taught me so much about a Florida ecosystems which is really cool. So thank you all right. So let’s hear about your space in kind of what you know. This is a speaking over audio. It’s Kinda tough to paint a picture. But if we kind of zoomed out and looked at your Google maps version of your property. What would it look like in? Kind of what? What are you thinking about your space? So we have Two lots and so the obviously the house sits on one Cited is is Bacon and And in the driveway Goes up the side of the house. So the garages behind the House. So on that That is empty right. Now it’s just a gist grass in the previous owner. Like most of the people on the street need mow the lawn and just kept it as as grass in. That’s it and we also have a grassy area in front of her house which is flat for a little while and then has a pretty steep drop down to the sidewalk and then we have the strip of land between the sidewalk and the street at that. As far as I know a lot to landscape that to okay the some people call that the the health and how large trees in front of some houses but ours is empty. And about the for the both lots than you’re talking about about. How much property size wise I I could look it up. I don’t recall a ton of my head is probably May Be Point. Three point. Four Acre thinks quite point. Four is probably point three acre. Okay but a pretty sizable piece of property. Yeah Yeah it feels like feels. It was like okay. That sounds really nice. So congratulations on your new space. Do you guys have any sort of goals as far as what you want with the space or are you still trying to figure that out ahead? Okay well my main goal is to create ecological habitat for the Allies so I- researching host plants that the caterpillars for the butterflies need and I’ve also been researching bees. Because I thought all along we need to garden for the butterflies so that they have their host plants in found out that there are specialist fees in. They can only eat all in from specific plans.
00:10:02 – 00:15:12
And that’s probably not as law known as the host plants for the butterflies. So I’ve been researching what specialist species would eat. And what also Bumblebees The bumblebee numbers are declining. So I’ve wanted make a large part of our property for Bumblebees in specialist fees. But then also those also benefit butterflies too because a lot of those plants are ones that the caterpillars eat in the butterfly. Get Nectar from right. Wow this is this is fascinating. So congratulations on your goals. Sounds alerts some goals. I might have so. That’s really cool. Though in that front yard in front of the House I WANNA do garden focused on Bumblebee plans mostly and then where I need. Other colors are mark plans to fill in than been looking at butterfly. Host plants in the in the the side lot is long narrow in the middle part. We want to do a prairie in Gary planted. Some trees there will him talk about what we want eventually. Turn that into a prayer with really tall. Plants like prairie dock at once ten feet tall thin world. Yeah and then in front of that next to the sidewalk. There’s a tree. Let Gary Talk about that. He’s it will probably do a little kind of foresty under story there and then in the back. I’m doing thicket though where we are in Ohio. It’s not naturally a prairie predicted ecosystem. But I know that those are helpful for the animals and those are also declining especially the tickets so I ordered nine plants and put those back in and they’re small. They’re probably at the tallest five feet tall right now. Except for the corollary. Those sucker sell. They’ll send up more trunks as they grow some of them so that should be pretty. Nice back okay okay. So now I’d love to hear what Gary has to say as far as your goals well mine. My goal started out I’m working on three things in the yard and my My first thing that I started out doing this when we bought the house there was a kind of a dilapidated Picnic like area is like a Picnic. Table is like a covered picnic table is essentially what it was with the brick. Foundations can stuff but it was definitely very very old while. That’s so yes so I got rid of the the pygmy table in the cut cover over it. I got rid of all of that and then I thought well what can I do this break area and so I decided to Pull up all the bricks and turn it into a bonsai garden in which What is essentially do there is? I start Trees in the ground in order to a get their trunks to a diameter aware they’re suitable material to Start Abon Zai with and so on all winter long. I’ve been just like every time we go to a park around sidewalk. Or whatever if I find seeds that have fallen from trees a scoop. Mops I’ve been throwing scenes by the H- I’ve probably throughout the winter of thrown a thousand seeds in there so on I’m waiting for it to really warm up and see what’s going to sprout WISCON- Germany Outfit amount is go. But in the meantime I was really interested since you know. This is our In my first time in a not tropical environment I thought wow. I’d really like to grow fruit trees so I found a place that has When they call them heirloom yeah heirloom fruit. So this isn’t like a type of stuff you buy at a grocery store So I I started out wanting to get An apple a pear in Cherry And so I was going through their online catalogue them. Most of the apple trees said that you have to buy a second apple tree of a different variety in order to get this win. So I’m my I now I gotta buy two of these in to those. And then it started the cost of his started really adding up very quickly and then I found one or two where that’s not required it can. It can pollinate its own self so I bought that so have an apple out there a single payer cherry and then it was only after that fact that it dawned on me that I could have started some apple trees in the bones I garden to go inside them and and utilize them as kind of a way to cross pollinate a tree.
00:15:12 – 00:20:01
But but I’m happy with the the tree I’ve got out there so I bought the apple two pair in the Cherian. They came bare root in in shipped in a box. And there maybe a four the three or four feet tall okay. So so. That’s exciting in looking forward to being able to pick some apples and that can stuff okay at the front When we first bought the house and I was looking at the at the yard. I had this this picture. In my mind of how cool it would be if in that big area on the side yard if we could have like at Christmas time if we had a huge Christmas tree right there that we could decorate and light up at Christmas time and all the people driving street would see this and so you know me being the person that I am. I love trees and so I would a couple of weeks ago. We had some severe weather and it knocked over a couple of streets over knocked over a blue spruce Across power lines knocked out power. To All these houses Alec Stop so a crew came with their chainsaws and cut it up. And meanwhile they left blue. Spruce counts all over the street side high. You know this person’s GonNa Christmas tree. I picked up all these blue spruce cones and took them home started pole. Nc Data on. I planted a bunch of seeds out there and obviously this is kind of a long haul objective. But you know I mean in four years. Maybe the be big enough to start hanging decorations on. So we’ll see. Okay wow so you. I’m almost overwhelmed by thinking about all the work. You guys have done as well as a plan to do so. This is amazing. I love your enthusiasm and I love the the various goals you guys have. That’s really cool. It’s clear that you guys love the idea of having her landscape at least to me. That’s what speak so so Kudos to you guys for that Unsupervised energize to see the progress. You guys make so I I wanna I wanNA thank you for that. I have a couple of thoughts and I’m going to. Actually you know what I should probably drop these down so I don’t forget them in in some questions too so I The stuff you were sharing areas freshest in my mind so maybe we’ll start there So the Bonsai Garden. That’s such a cool idea. I I noted out in eighth grade Gut like every bonsai book. I could imagine finding the Public Library because I thought it was going to be this. Bonsai all star at the time you know what every eighth grader about Jerem. And I don’t know about done. A single clipping formation of any sort of Work since but it’s such a cool idea. So yeah well really. I mean the the magic of making a small tree look large is really boils down to the trunk because the trunk if if you have just a little twig it just doesn’t doesn’t have those proportions as so the the way in which to make trunk big is to let it grow in the ground rather than in a pot and so he started in the ground until it gets to a size that is reasonable and then you transferred to the bones. Pie Okay. I’m here this opportunity is not only to allow it to allow these trees to start off in the ground but also By doing so I can also is starting to do some initial Shaping and bending and Adam it trunks have some curves and stuff like that so okay might just buy discounted throwing like handfuls of seeds into the ground. It also allows me to have a choice of what you know what like what trees healthiest and strongest than I can just stand out. The ones that are weak in won’t work. Well okay. So is the is the concept than you’ve kind of answered some questions were already then is your plan is to do. Transfer PROCESS WON’T BE IN GROUND BONSAI. It’ll down it’s like a nursery bed for selecting the ones you want correct. Yeah okay in. I guess than the concept.
00:20:01 – 00:25:09
You’re starting with this kind of wild and crazy scattering and you’ll become more and more focused on this specimen is actually okay. I- opinion is I don’t want to put a whole lot of work into trying to like scientifically germinate seeds. And whatever else I just want. Nature is take his course I just threat like literally just throw seeds on the ground on the inside. This is area okay. And so you’re not necessarily looking for like a like specific Like you said specific traits of a specific type of you’re just taking -ever’s available right. I don’t have specific traits but I do have specific trees like You know I’m very interested in conifers rather than Broadleaf trees although I have thrown seeds of both Into the garden but Once they start to germinate where there is an evergreen next to a deciduous. I would probably remove the situation in retain the air. Okay so that comes to my next thought in in. You may be more expert here than I am But specifically you were talking about that blue spruce up front As well as if you’re doing evergreens for your bonsai A lot of times require fire to Germany. The seeds ’cause they’re built on a That sort of forest ecosystem where there’s periodic fires that are supposed to happen to to bring about the young. So maybe you’re aware of this already I have. I was aware of that but I am not aware of which species require that. I know that there are some that becomes themselves will not open until they are heated by fire right but that that is That’s worked around by me. Manually opening cones with a pair needle nose pliers and whatnot okay. That’s a bet as far as which sees require fire for germination no and so you know if I’ve thrown those into the bones. I Garden in Germany. You know there’s some other species there that will and so I’ve probably thrown season air from probably ten or twelve different species of trees and I collect these collins like when we go to a park or or even in the neighborhood I have found even if you pick up a cone off the ground. There’s always at least two or three or four seeds that are still in the column that probably back the the the scales on the pine cone. You find this one started. I did so yeah so on the blue spruce ones I I watched a couple of youtube videos. I soaked them in water and one started Putting out a route So I mean it was tiny. I had to look at these. Seeds are like stand ready to look under under magnifying glass to see it but so then I went out there in the area. Okay great so it sounds like you guys may be done your homework. You’re already so that’s what I was gonNA suggest is. We might want to check for the for the ones you’ve collected. Those require some sort of special like kind of scarification type process to get started but it sounds like at least for the screws he sell. Some starting Germany’s let’s because he I don’t know off the top of my head which types of conifers require that in what form if it’s just opening the cone or if it’s some sort of heat or whatever so okay great okay. I have another thought in I don’t want to send critical and kind of being inquisitive. Is here the Christmas tree idea which I love by the way I’ve thought about? Like maybe we start little decorative. Christmas trees back can property. Hear the bone sidepiece which is kind of like a a a fortuitous little spark based on the picnic area that was already there right so utilize existing structure rights. It sounds like too too helpful to help along your entailed by the way let me just throw in for your audience. That makes them after. I tore down the picnic area. I then found out that We’re paying additional property taxes on that as being an improvement to the property caused me to realize that we probably were supposed to permit a permanent.
00:25:09 – 00:30:10
Jared down we probably have to go to the To the county auditors incur correct error. I don’t know if will have to pay some sort of fine or something. I have no idea but yet well for one. It’s it’s it’s awesome that you caught that but yet usually for those big projects. I’ve kind of come across this blunder on on our own work as well But yes is check to see if you have existing structures that are didn’t even occur to me until I was looking at like our tax statement. And it showed like that vacant lot on the side of our house and it showed that it had this Structural improvement and I was like. What’s on that Stetson Improvement? Right and Oh yeah like even to put a wooden Pergola up. You have to get a permit. A lot of those types of even for offense or something. A lot of times requires a permit. The Nice thing is that it’s usually not too expensive in my experience In than it really depends on the the municipality you’re in but also if you come across a blender in you talk to them they it depends upon the person right about who’s the auditor in that sort of thing but they might. They might be okay with it. It’s lousy look at remove this I realize now probably should have had a permit to do it I don’t know if you need to come. Assess it or whatever and they might just say okay You know we can will offer. I take out books and I’m sure to get forgiveness for tearing something gown building something something right now yes. I’m actually while we’re on that topic to since you brought it up. Another big thing to check is easy. It’s too when you’re building to make sure you fit within the required east because that’s where it really can get a little bit of a hassle if you do something in his fault that you’re not supposed to do so. Yeah okay so so. Yeah you have the the bonsai garden. The Christmas tree have the Orchard Than the thicket the prairie and the pollinator DART. Okay I just WanNa make sure I got it all into the. I think that is all amazing and I. I applaud your energy and enthusiasm. I hope you guys are able to make the Meet divisions that you guys have multiple business here The potential risk is with these varied visions. There’s there’s a couple of risks one that you guys might be in. This is why this is a blender. I’ve made continue to make on our own. Properties is with multiple different visions. That may not be incredibly cohesive at all points is that they can really strain your energy especially if outside of your landscaping your life gets a little A little stretch through whatever. So so that’s GonNa be a potential potential concern if you say like. You’re halfway through your prairie in Sleigh Shen and suddenly life happens and you don’t have the time or the energy or the funds to complete the installation and you have the weed problem that pops up or something or your same with like the bones or something like that so Trying to figure out a little bit of a structure to To which projects might come before the other which phases of the projects it or what spaces might get focused on. I might help Rain in that a little bit so you can say okay. Well maybe we’LL PUT AT MRS. Just an example. They we’ll put the The bumblebee space on. Hold for a little bit in order to focus on the prairie in the bone ciphers. And then maybe then we’ll stays in. Okay what’s the next priority? Maybe it’s the thicket or the Christmas Tree Orchard In the sounds like you guys already have some of the plants so the plants you have obviously are the the first Around them but that might be a suggestion. I have just to to to prepare for the potential distractions of ice in this involved with find out after we’ve invested a bunch of money into new plants. That were overwhelmed by the work. Yes exactly so yes. So that’s one thought on in so just take maybe time to digest that and see if that fits for you guys in in maybe how that especially with if you have house projects or whatever Which things may be can wait in which things are more pressing which are big desires that you have on your you can that you want to prioritize verse.
00:30:11 – 00:35:08
The second thought I have with all of these different goals is that it can Once you implement them it can appear haphazard if you have a lot of different things across your space that it doesn’t feel as cohesive potentially in so it’s just something to kind of keep in the back of your mind if you have. It’s okay to have multiple goals or have multiple add desired outcomes for your space but being conscious of that potential Mrs Moore Blake Artistic Design thing right is is like thinking of like the curb appeal thing right so it depends on how much you want out of that space but at the same time you want it also to not feel so disjointed that it feels It almost takes the energy out of you looking at all this different stuff in thinking about these different spaces you want to feel like this is our space this kind of combines or multiple interests right which is great in. This shows. A Nice cohesive way. It’s almost like an expression of of your relationship I hope I’m not going too far there. But it’s like it’s like an expression of as as you right as the Gary Jen space. We’ve brought all these things together in. It’s in a beautiful way. That really Jell together in and so just kind of thinking about that and being conscious about a front might help. That happened in. Maybe it’s not. You know maybe appear disjointed with the League as have that so not being critical of the spatial array of what you guys are thinking about right now but just something to think about as you put things together. We’ll look good and cohesive together. Is that Kinda makes sense. Yeah good point because I think what we tend to do is just get really excited about you. Know maybe maybe we read an article about pollinators. And we’re like Oh. Yeah let’s do that. And and so all of a sudden. We’re all these things going on. I know I want degree plant like we have to have every plant so he can help out. Every I know not possible end Then you tell me a while ago you thought I would like new perennial design so I looked up a little bit about that. Never really quite understood what it was but then I found out about something that grew out of new perennial design the naturalistic planting look and I found out about a minor. Who’s in and he makes. These amazing garden beds using Nigel. Dunnett found us. Have you heard Alex his website as much information on his nineteen in their beautiful and he said some are he does like all the time but in a lot of his planning he focuses on just two or three colors or like flowers. Coming out at a time so that It really just POPs out guess in it just really makes an impression because I’ve been looking at plan sin trying to plan you know. What would it look like if we did something like that in different parts in just like every time like every month when new flowers are blooming if we have a focus on maybe three different flowers in space? Yeah that’s great. I’m glad that resonated with you. It’s it’s more again. It depends on how much how much aesthetics you want out of the space versus the natural benefit right to the reality is. It’s a human space right in so planning for some of the human element is usually helpful rate especially for people that might be walking down your street as well it something that catches the eye an serves a natural benefit at habitat restoration or helping rare pollinators like those are awesome goals in in doing it away where. People WanNA stop and look at the plants to it’s. It’s a win win situation at least to me so so. I will say that when we were in Florida there was an organization in our town. That really did a lot with native plants. And they had this annual tour. Where what you would do is they would give you a map and you would drive to these various peoples homes. These people would be members in their club in and these individuals would have landscape their yards with native plants. And some of the people really made it look. Beautiful and like you’re describing. It’s a human space and so it’s like you can walk on some little stone steps and you can see.
00:35:08 – 00:40:28
The plants is really beautiful and then we would go across town to somebody else’s and the neighbors hated them. It looked like an abandoned house is like really early wild and and but but she was like all his native plants in Bursar. Yeah they can’t stand her. Yeah so we definitely do not want to be the person that the neighbors cannot stand. And since I’m so big into promoting native plants than I wanNA start some community projects here. I would like to eventually get native Plants Yours. Happening in our community in our house would be one location in so. I WanNa make sure it looks good when people come like oh I can see how this can be beautiful. Not a mess. The Not wild name that they would want great. I love your goals. You guys are. She doesn’t make me so happy right now. Okay then I think Jen. We’ve talked offline about this before is because looked up as their local wild ones chapter in your area. I have not looked of wild ones isn’t organization that supports native native homeowner landscapes in in various areas and so a lot of municipalities. Have a wild ones chapter. That’s kind of like a a regional municipal kind thing. You know the Greater Metro area of each pretty pretty sizable town. I can’t remember if there’s one in your area or not. You Might WanNA check that out but they usually have programs tours just like you guys are talking about That goes to different people’s homes Speakers in in that sort of thing so it might be something guys might interested in your area. Or if you don’t have one you guys might be able to get started start. We left starting. Maybe maybe let’s get your landscape started. I but yeah I mean the other thing too is This is something. I’m learning with with our spaces. While is you know it’s it’s just the two of you right now. You don’t have a giant construction company helping you as far as they know at least in a giant nursery next door giving you a free plants and so this is a time process. You guys probably know this. But it’s an investment right in in it takes time in investment not only only money but also time in energy and focus so I certainly Built the pain of overstretching myself with trying to do too many things at once with too many different goals for example on our landscape by one provide native habitat spaces for my kid things I talked about all the time on the show right in also edible landscaping in it would like perennial based food systems on my landscape plus a have to repair everything in my house in the greater landscape because it was damaging our foundation all that sort of stuff too so the reality is it’s a long term process as what I’m experiencing. I would imagine you guys might feel the same and so just know that. Don’t over pressure yourselves with my guidance. To say you guys like it burned out to see that that you know you become frustrated with the space that you have so much ambition for they WANNA start with getting the shrubs and trees in that we want in there. We’re getting three more trees tomorrow and the other. There’s that like six Martry I wanna get in then. I think he’ll be telling the story about the three burglary so our neighbors behind US had. They had a tree line at between our house in their house. Right at the edge of the fence. The trees were narrow. It didn’t give a lot of visuals block but it was a nice. I look out the window in German. I would see a tree line. Will they were growing up into the power lines and so that might be why they cut them down with the customer down yesterday the now and we look out the window. Instead of seeing trees. We see driveway in the garage in their house in their garbage. Can I want a nicer so I was like? We have to get trees so I looked through. My family tree book found out. Red Bud would be the best one to fit the small state and local our ten minutes away. I’m going to get three. Red Buds tomorrow will Was the book mentioned Sibley Findlay. I’ve never heard that. S I B. Ally -ociety L. E. Y. Okay I six North American trees okay. Yeah and he writes down. It’s so I WANNA get some flowering dogwoods and some service varies a beautiful trees Just because they take so long to establish I really wanted to get the treason soon but then the garden that I’m focusing now is we didn’t talk about it but it’s right next to the house on the side is edible garden or it’s well caterpillars at garden okay.
00:40:28 – 00:45:01
This is Biz on her and I’m putting in at one job and then some ferns and flowers do want to any of the For everybody listening you WANNA share any of the plans you’ve found in nyu yeah so It’s the smallest garden space so I decided to start with that one so I could complete that one sooner in. We’re only GONNA get maybe a quarter or a third of it done this year because of our budget spent on my birthday money. Happy Birthday. So I’m I’m trying. What’s called a matrix planting and you can use grasses or stages or ferns and you just make a random matrix with spaces. Between with that and then plant the perennials inbetween Do some scattered or grouped shrubs on one tribe which is called a Snow Berry and I picked that one because it has white berries in down really pretty. There is a Shrub in Florida. That Way Peiris that I liked a lot. You also called Snow Gary but a different plant and it also is a host for the clear. Winged Butterfly Mock. So maybe we’ll get those here too and then I picked out Sensitive fern because it can grow in full sun so I got three of those and then I picked out lower so that I’d have a focus on two to four of them throughout the growing season every time. New Ones they’re blooming. They’re fading away so the first ones to blame will be spider war which adds three Purple pedals on it. Down actually is edible. Spider was edible. Yeah those really an and then we’re getting I don’t know what order they bloom in getting bone set which is a cluster of small white flowers. Common milkweed which looking at the gram requirements for different milk. Wade’s which is the host Vermont. Butterflies I found out. That’s the only one from a grower I purchasing from that would actually grow in our soil awkward for Milkweed in. We’re getting Zigzag Goldenrod in then I can’t remember and I just deleted the list of local I didn’t mean to quiz you. I was just curious what you had in different heights. The plants in one thing I actually doing. I’m not just looking at plants that are native to the US native to my state actually going to the USDA website and looking at. What’s native to my county though. Not Everything planting his but a lot of what glancing is native to the county. You have your own mini National Park. Okay Great Yeah. I found that that point really really interesting because I’ve always just said. Oh is this you know native to Ohio. I mean their own could have a plant. That only grows in western Ohio. We’re all the way over here in Eastern Ohio. And maybe doesn’t grow here so it’s an interesting thought that that there could be native plants all the way down to the county level. Run-up up for me. Is that if the plant is native here than there are probably insects that use it in the plans not native here there may or may not be insects that can use it. The Snow Berry actually isn’t from this county. I don’t believe I could be wrong but I don’t believe it is but that moth is here so I figure he’s full gear. The those are I mean. That’s all great to share because it goes back to your goals your goals supporting local native pollinators insects. That might be struggling right and so going back to that in having a clear reason for what you’re selecting it’s great and like you said. Yeah. I mean it makes sense to like a lot of times. I default to its eastern. Us native right or something like that. But the reality is even from me in southwest Ohio to southeast South southwest. Yeah mixing stuff up. You guys are northeast Ohio right and so. I’m I’m below the glacial Moraine. That’s you know in Ohio in you. Guys were in a glaciated area.
00:45:02 – 00:50:12
Several thousand years million years. I can’t do my math. Apparently but yeah. There’s there’s huge differences and you guys get lake effects immature with your weather And so all of those differences factor into what plans do well in your area. So that’s great. I don’t WanNa take up too much time. I just looked at the clock here guys. I’m loving our discussion so I hope because they’re getting some value out of this. I had one thought about the plants. You mentioned Just one general caution is that common milkweed has a tendency to overrun other things. I had heard the same. Might need to just keep an eye on it. It’s it’s a beautiful plant in. Its smells wonderful when it’s in bloom in it’s just covered with insects that love to apparently But yet does have a tendency to KINDA SHOOT OUT. runners in Kind of takeover. In so just something you might want to look at in. You might have to Kinda tend that one a little bit. It just depends on what he went out of the space I. I’ve always felt that like with regards for the benefit of the of the monarchs that whoever named it really did a disservice that they named it a we’d the lay persons not wanted in their yards. Right you there’s so many beautiful plants that have the common name of weed in them. Okay well before we wrap up. I also wanted this year If there’s any kind of for one if you guys have any plants that aren’t yet in the ground that need to get planted So there’s one question in the other was I wanted to hear Gary about your your fruit trees and to understand if you had any questions about them or what kind of what you were planning on doing with them as well so I you guys have. Any plant said. Need emergency planting Not Emergency we have at our coming in. May the second week doesn’t the ones to the butterfly garden and I wanNA make a dense planting so I’ve been wondering Johnny to follow the spacing guidelines they gave or should I plant them closer together than the you can go little denser. You’ll fill in faster. Obviously he’ll you’ll reduce we’d pressure until you will of course also get more competition between the plants Generally speaking a lot of like you mentioned Nigel. Done it earlier A lot of these naturalistic plants. People they do would denser planting pattern for those reasons it reduces competition between unwanted plants versus the planes. He planted although there is increased competition between the desired plants. You some every once in a while you get a reduced mature size of the plants or some of them struggle a little bit but overall most of actually fair pretty well out. Because you have such varied species in denser setting in so if you think about spacing guidelines a lot of times that’s based on ornamental desires or just the mature size of the plant. It was planted by itself only or if you think about typical gardening right how to how to space your green being. Your Bush said they don’t compete with the same species within you know a giant row. But here we’re talking about like you said the Matrix planting in so when you have densely planted like that you have some that have tap roots in some that produce Kind of underground rising that shoot laterally out some with very fibrous roots instead of all these different in of course above to you like spider wort which has very slender leaves in. So it’s not really like densely out competing everything in that space. Then you have your firm that comes in with like deviled shave next to rate in something that has a bit of a Bushier appearance. Or something denser growth pattern and so all these different plants mixed together really actually usually do pretty well. Because even other densely planted they’re not directly competing with each other. That makes sense. Yes Oh thank. He said he basically almost plants. The plant on top of each other space is always filled. At No matter. What’s blooming right right and so yeah. It feels on a bit faster but of course it’s been more expensive too so it’s kind of interplay between your budget you new resources What’s mature size of the plants are in that sort of thing? So what about the orchard? Is that what you’re calling it or the fruit trees Yeah the I would love to have a big orchard. No these I guess my main Vision for these is just simply You know have my own fruit That’s something that you know.
00:50:12 – 00:55:05
In in Florida really the only a fruits are are citrus in coconuts. I mean that’s that’s about all you get so for me. It’s exciting to be able to Plant Apples Pears and cherries and whatever else so okay. Okay great and so. You’ve already planted several of these. I planted three one one apple one pair and one cherry in the fair has leaves in. We’re hoping the other ones okay so I do have here southern Ohio. I do have Right now it’s late April I at all I have a charity. You said cheery appear in apple rate All three of mine have lied down. So one thing you can check Is We also had a very warm late winter here? So I don’t know if it’s been the same for you guys up north a little bit So that could affect things in you. Said they were dormant to right. So that’s during in shoot route so Alabama Beirut to okay so yes that’s what I’m sharing. That is totally irrelevant. Because they have wake up from their cold storage basically on. I’m sure there’s probably going to be some shock from waking up from wherever they were shipped in all said Narran Ohio. They’re probably right so it might take some time. I wouldn’t be too worried in your last frost date. I’M GONNA GUESS AROUND PUT MID. May is that right generally speaking. I don’t know when it is. I just now The native plant nursery around here at our wilderness center. They start selling in. May so I think may a safe to plant. Yeah I would guess it down here. It’s early May and so I think you guys are zone five A. I’m not sure but yeah so it’s okay if you don’t know I’m just trying to get my head but yet you’re still probably not in a stage where you need to be concerned or worried about the trees I would say give him time and once they start to warm up they’ll probably wake up in it because you’re planting in spring generally speaking it’s actually best to plant Woody plants in the fall just because it gives them time to. The roots are still active as long as the grounds not frozen in in so it gives them time to establish before the crazy. You know Crazy spring growth happens in than the intense heat of the summer. In drought of the summer happens instead of the only. It’s not necessarily bad planted there now. It’s just more that. Make sure you guys keep an eye on them to make sure they’re not getting to stress and so it’s make sure for one they’re not over watered Saddam. Sit Out there and water more time but ensure they get a good deep watering. It’s been a little dry for example And if they need a top dressing of compost or something or or something similar Might be helpful if they’re looking a little stress And that’s that’s great at the other thing too. Generally speaking the of fruit trees Even though you picture in orchard in rows of Apple Trees these wide lanes you can drive your you know your your hayride downright to go pick your apples in. It’s it’s all grassy right. This orchard grass well a lot of fruit trees actually do best with without grass right underneath them within their zone because they actually generally compete with each other in so at because the grasses secrete chemicals that suppress tree growth in some trees. I don’t know if Fruit trees do some trees do the opposite secrete chemicals to reduce grass growth. In and so that stresses the plants both directions basically in so few under plan with Some deciduous or basis type plans. They they tend to do a little better and so we can talk more offline about if you guys are interested in what types of plants you might be interested in that area that we could put under. The trees grow better. I was GONNA put bigly stemming panic grass that I might not work now I mean. Let me read up on that more to but in general. That’s that’s the IT. It comes from the permaculture spaces like generally you. You plant mixture basis theses under the trees in partly for that reason. Yeah and how would the root systems go far outweighed need up through the trees? Yeah generally speaking again.
00:55:06 – 01:00:05
This is general but for most orchard. Tight trees you’re talking the plant the tree so if you’re talking about it Through quite a few years it’s GonNa be pretty small it as they mature. That’s that’s base is. GonNA GET BIGGER YEAR IN. Depends on if you’re putting them intending so yeah well. I guess before we wrap up. Is there any other questions you guys have that you talk about right now? I just had a question about soil because I know you know about it. And I’m kind of intimidated Now if we put our grass our soil it’s like complete. Klay like you could do an art project with an a lot of the spring ephemeral. ‘s need what kind of slowly finding a forest more rich soil. I’ve saw I saw that. Some will grow on clay but I know that Ohio to be adaptable to. I WANNA put some spring ephemeral back in again area at some point. Is the soil going to be a problem? Do I need to do something? So they grow cutter Are there certain types are? Are there specific ephemeral? You’re thinking of right now or are you just talking more? In general in general I think I could say for example. I don’t know if I’m gonNA PLANT THE SAMBA. Columbine I think that needs more of a sandy loamy soil is from the top of my head. That seems really direct. Yeah okay trillion. So those those do generally prefer Richer Humzi soil organic matter but So what we’ll do is Alright a few thoughts. Let’s talk also in the form about that. But the quick recommendation for something like trillium for example. That definitely requires a good healthy. Organic rich soil is is. You could do a layering of compost mulch. There basically of good good Good quality than not like the bad stuff that died at the store but some fresh In a dense layer that you might not be able to plant something like trillions in the first year in that but give it even just a year In in that layer of wood mall. Especially if you have or you can do wooden mock you could do Chopped leaves as well back there. If you guys get a lot of leaf drop in your area so my wife. Kinda roles are is every year but I. I picked up our little utility trailer. I drive around the neighborhood. Every all it took up people’s bag leads and I bring him back and run amok with us the lawnmower in the they they add tons of organic matter to the slow. So you could. You could build up that class. Or they’re pretty quick. That’s what I’d done. With our annual garden area a there was no topsoil there at all it is the same as you get soon as you put up the grass. It was it was super dense clay and by adding some some some of this chopped leaves there over the course of about two years in a bunch of Mulch. It turned into six inches of dark like really dark brown soil. That was great for for planting so takes a little time to to create or sure but if you put the raw materials they’re the microbes will do the job for you in it’s really great so before something like trillions which definitely requires it. You Might WanNa do that combines. I’ll have to look that up again but I don’t know if there is. They might be a bit more forgiving. So it depends on certainly depends on November on. You’re talking about. I read that Virginia bluebells will grow in Clay. Okay those can at least a Marnie jealous of your property you guys. It’s it’s so amazing so I love your energy yet. Let’s so I’m super excited to keep talking with you guys throughout the season so make sure you reach out with any questions and I’m happy to chat. We can always reconnect on a video. Chat like this or or in the forum or just shoot me an e mail whatever is most convenient to you all right so thank you guys so much for joining today. I really appreciate it. Thank you thanks. Ourika has I don’t know about you but that was awesome. I love talking with Jen and Gerry. I’m so energized energy. They have in the progress. They’ve made already is amazing Just Jennifer she’s like a great crazy knowledge base to of all this cool stuff. She so much. Passion for for native plants in for wildlife and stuff in the to see how she can bring that into her own landscape and to To create you know how driven she is to create positive space.
01:00:05 – 01:04:50
She’s teaching me stuff too. So it’s really cool and seeing Gary’s Pasha for all these you know more diverse interests is really cool to Boone size something. I had this. You know like five million hobbies or a desired hobbies reality is. I don’t have the time for it. Right we’ll bonsai was one of the things that just I’ve always found fascinating so It’s really cool to see what Gary is trying to do with that space. You know basically something. That was a problem. He’s turned into a really creative Outlet for for one of his hobbies which I think is super cool so anyway guys again the themes for this You know that I’ve I’m seeing emerging here is is one to to create a design that kind of merges everything together and I’ve already had some follow up discussion with Jen in the forum. The community form for the membership and Jen Is Weaving kind of between their front yard garden and their side guard in the Front Yard Garden. She’s calling the be garden. The side garden is The Butterfly Guard in so between those spaces. There’s some by merging some of the similar plants and similar blooms times and and Lay Out Like a style between the two spaces it kind of brings a cohesiveness to it. And so that’s a wave to you. Know take all these different elements but still bringing together from a design standpoint to make it feel fluid to make their feel like there’s flow between the spaces to make it feel like one cohesive property as opposed to a bunch of disjointed pieces that don’t necessarily flow together don’t necessarily marry well together and so this is a really big thing when people are you know we us. We are creating our landscapes his if we have different ideas How to how to bring it together in the same space to feel like a good quality design so that’s a key here Something that will continue to work on a I’ll continue to work on which Jennifer Gerry To make sure we’re continuing to do that. Secondly the other piece is with all these crazy ideas Crazy in a good way. All these crazy ideas and all these different ideas across the whole space of their landscape notes that entire transformation of landscape right. And so how do you do all that without becoming completely overwhelmed and that’s where you know? Taking pieces step-by-step finding the right priorities The right timing to do things the based on your time. Your budget resources. You have the urgency of each project. A really helps determine the prioritization of things. And how to get things done so again? If you’re transforming your landscape make sure you’re aware that stuff too also if you WanNa jump start your landscaping process. You want to help you know. Figure out how to have the right design like this out work through the process how to prevent becoming overwhelmed. That’s what the easy living yards. Membership is four how to select the right plants for your space as well. So if you’re considering a making this major transformation to create a positive change in your landscape head on over check out the easy living membership at easy living yards dot com slash membership become a member today just ten bucks a month. Super cheap super affordable. And that’s my purpose to help as many people like you to make positive change in your landscape so head on over. Check it out. I’ve got all the links in the show notes as well or in the notes below if you’re watching the video So check those out Awesome books I’ve referenced there as well so if you if you’re looking for some resources on there some great books bringing Nature Home Awesome Book on Perennial I’m sorry a perennial plants mostly But to sustain wildlife in to really support insects and birds that are beneficial for wildlife And for Habitat is will so secondly the no maintenance garden by Roy? Dib Lick awesome book for providing awesome templates of these perennial plans Native Plants Beautiful Native Gardens That you can do in your landscape so on another awesome book there Planting a new perspective is a great book by Noel Kingsbury and out of bunch of inspirational design photos that are throughout the book. It’s Kinda like halfway between a textbook in a coffee shop book. I find it super entertaining. I don’t know if you will but it’s also very informative and has a lot of inspirational photos. That are very helpful. Check out those books. Awesome books guys. Thanks for staying tuned in this show and I look forward to seeing you in the membership cheers and of course. Let’s sign out properly right. Thanks for tuning in. Make sure you live with passion and make tomorrow better than today.
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We talked about permaculture in Episode 101. But how does this thing called permaculture apply to real life? Today, we talk about how to apply permaculture in a way that it improves our life!
What is permaculture and why does it matter to you?
My definition of permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labor; and of looking at plants and animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single product system.”
Design perspective inspired by nature using purposeful interventions to create resilient systems that require minimal long-term inputs for maximum sufficiency and yield
Permaculture systems are designed to work along with land, ecosystems, and soil
Permaculture is more a mindset and design perspective rather than a set of prescribed tools or processes
The Permaculture Prime Directive:
“The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children” – Bill Mollison
Ethics of Permaculture
Care of Earth
Care of People
Return of Surplus
Practically applying permaculture design
What does all this stuff mean?
How do I apply this lofty stuff to my yard?
Begin by outlining what is important to you and your yard
What are your ethics?
How do you intend to live with purpose?
Food production
Habitat
Retreat from society
Native plants
Use design principles as a guideline for design
How to minimize inputs
How to maximize yield
Observe landscape and conditions
What connections can be enhanced?
How to catch and store energy or materials?
What can perform multiple functions?
Where do you interact most? How can this be enhanced?
What does succession look like in your landscape?
What renewable or biological resources can you utilize?
What are existing problems in your landscape?
What does a yield look like to you?
Are there more creative ways to reach your goals?
Where have you messed up? What can you learn from it?
Take Responsibility
Use of resources
Impact of landscape
Soil
Chemicals
Heat
What our yard used to be
How do we rectify previous scars?
We are about making tomorrow better than today.
We are about living with intent, purpose, and passion.
Permaculture serves as a tool to connect us to living with purpose and passion and making tomorrow better than today.
What’s up I’m Ben Hale and this is the easy living yards podcast. Creating Beautiful Yard should be easy. Let’s jump in create the Dream Yard. You deserve so you can enjoy more time doing what you love. Welcome TO EPISODE ONE HUNDRED. Three of the easy living yards podcast. Welcome back to another awesome episode guys. I’m happy to jump into today’s episode. It’s a continuation of episode one. Oh one if you guys didn’t listen to episode one. Oh one what is permaculture in? Why does it matter to you? I really suggest you go over to listen to that. I have linked to that in the show notes for today’s show. But you can also just go to easy living yards dot com slash episode one zero one and you can listen to that episode right there. Of course there’s always a link to itunes stitcher and other popular podcast feeds on my podcast page. So if you guys want to check out any previous episodes all of them are over at easy. Living yards dot com slash pod. That’s easy living yards dot com slash P. O. D. for those of you guys didn’t notice heaven gone to the website. It really suggests you guys check out easy living yards dot com. Hey let’s jump into today’s show. I don’t really want to spend too much time on announcements or things like that except for. Enjoy the weather guys. Hope you’re staying healthy. Enjoy the beautiful spring. That’s coming upon us here. And this is a perfect time to be talking about permaculture. I’m super enthused about permaculture. I love this topic this subject area this way of living and so. I really hope you guys kind of get some of that energy for yourselves and really try to apply some of these permaculture principles in your life and so- episode one. Oh one was was kind of an introduction to what is permaculture. Do have very very brief introduction here in case you guys want to refresh her or in case against in here that show again just you go listen to the show but it was a bit more of a you know like. I didn’t want it to make like lecture. You’re anything but I. It was kind of a heavier type of discussion. About what is permaculture and how it can really had its core changed the way we live in change our world. That’s really how powerful this permaculture concept is to me and how I perceive it to other people that are really into permaculture. Feel the same way about it. It’s kind of in a way. It takes all these ancient thoughts and ideas and combines them together into a more holistic approach in a more deliberate and pragmatic approach and takes all those ancient things and makes it this this path to the future of sustainable living in holistic living in low impact. Living in a way that’s really beneficial to us and our planet which is why I love it so again just a quick definition. Ish type thing as permaculture is a philosophy of working with rather than against nature. It’s a a protracted and thoughtful observation. Practice rather than protracted and thoughtless labor of looking at plants and animals in all their functions rather than treating any area is a single product system. Now I’m slightly prayer. Phrasing a quote from One of permaculture founders named Bill Mollison. Bill passed away a few years ago but one of his. Co Founders. David Holmgren Both Australian natives. He’s still around. Still Teaching permaculture in has a very productive working permaculture farm as demonstration as well now taking that kind of lofty definition in some ways maybe hard to digest hard to figure out how to apply concept in my own words that maybe a bit more digestible is. Permaculture is a design perspective inspired by nature using purposeful interventions to create resilient systems that minimize long-term inputs for maximum sufficiency in yield so to say that again. It’s a mouthful. But each word is important. Permaculture is designed perspective inspired by nature using purposeful interventions to create resilient systems that require minimal long-term inputs for maximum sufficiency yoed so these systems are designed to work along with land and ecosystems in soil and using basically really permaculture is a mindset in a design perspective rather than said of prescribed tools and processes. So that’s kind of I. Guess kind of spilling out stuff. That’s in my head of how I perceive this concept and hopefully You know having that overarching view in summary of episode one.
00:05:01 – 00:10:06
Oh one today. We can talk about practically applying permaculture design in our lives. This is really anywhere you live any life setting you’re in Life Stage This can really. You can apply these concepts in different ways to your life so this isn’t just about food production although that is most often what people think of in most often how permaculture is applied and so that’s kind of going to be our focus today but really think about how permaculture concepts can also be applied more broadly. So let’s think about practically applying permaculture design. What is all this stuff mean right so we talked about. I talked about these. These overarching ethics of permaculture the prime directive in the principal’s fourteen principles of permaculture. I’m not going to go into all those checkout episode one on one for those instead but I will at least highlight the prime directive in ethics. Because those are really the core principles and principles right. There’s fourteen of those. They’re the core founding I guess overarching concepts that define in steer all of permaculture practice so the prime directive is the only ethical decision is to take responsibility of our own existence and that of our children. Boom right okay. The ethics of permaculture there are three ethics care of Earth. Care of people in return of surplus. Okay at talked more deeply about each of these in last into episodes ago. So episode one. Oh one today. We’re going to take those principles. The principles end those founding directives in the ethic to really make it more granular and instead of having tons and tons of practical examples. It’s hard for me to pull all this together and it was. I figured this would be like a three hour episode. So I’m going to go a little bit a little bit glossy over some of this just so we can cover a lot of ideas and concepts for you so you can figure out how things can be best applied for you whether you live in apartment. An apartment with a balcony apartment with a small patio Thirty acres half an acre attentive acre. That actually me. I have some awesome resources to link to today’s wall. Two books one from my friend. Amy Strauss over at ten ACRE FARM DOT COM. She has an awesome book called the suburban Micro Farm. Wonderful Wonderful Book Just got reprinted in full color. Beautiful Book and so highly. Recommend you check it out if you’re interested in Applying these permaculture concept’s into productive small space so as her blog website might suggest she had a tenth Acre property and she turned into a very beautiful very productive space right in the middle of town here in southwest Ohio likewise the a book Guy Has Garden is another wonderful permaculture. Book that kind of distills out the permaculture principles and shows you how to practically apply a permaculture principles for suburban living essentially so. Check those out. Awesome books hold referred to at the shows. Well so for applying permaculture. How do we really apply this lofty stuff to our own yard right? Well let’s talk about how icy Justice Start. Begin by outlining. What is important to you and your yard. That’s what it really comes down to right. If if permaculture doesn’t give you a yield a yield doesn’t have to be bananas or tomatoes or whatever a he’ll just simply has to be something that returns value to you right. Thinking of it somewhat selfishly. But that’s really what has to be because if you don’t get value out of your space it’s a resource train right and so you need to determine what is value to you so by outlining what’s important to you and your yard you can start with figuring out what’s valuable to you and of course when. I say you make sure you think about your family as well right your family your pets yourself even your neighbors if you want your visitors depending on how often people show up to your property. So what are your ethics right so the ethics of permaculture defined? What about you do they resonate with you? How closely do they resonate with you? And maybe there’s something else that’s more important or not more necessarily but also important to you that you want to think about as you determine your permaculture vision for your property and of course touching closer to the easy living yards branding.
00:10:06 – 00:15:06
How do you intend to live with purpose right? I talk a lot about having landscapes with purpose whether it’s a native landscape to produce native habitat for local indigenous flora and fauna or. Maybe it’s food production so maybe it’s not so focused on natives but it’s focused on giving a yield in terms of food right. Maybe it’s a retreat from society. Maybe that’s the purpose of your landscape. You want to place that you can escape to write a retreat somewhere to bring your blood pressure back down right from this stressful life. Maybe IT IS PROVIDING HABITAT. More broadly right. Maybe you’re not so focused on native plants but you want habitat stuff for pollinators stuff that provides seeds right. Maybe you want something that provides a wonderful space for your kids to learn and grow. These are all things that are very important to me and I hope that at least one of them is important to you as well. That’s really what I like to focus on here. It easy living yards to help you design your landscape in a way that helps meet one of these purposeful goals. Maybe it’s something different and that’s okay too so let’s think about how we want to live with purpose as we go through this next step okay so in this next step. I actually had to pause there a little bit to just catch my breath. I’ve been going a million miles an hour on this because I love talking about permaculture guys I hope you enjoy listening about permaculture and really engrossed in learning about this concept But I ran out of breath so anyway back on track here so this next phase of this episode. What I want to do is walk you through turning the principles of permaculture into a series of questions that can help you focus in. Think more broadly on what you can do for your landscape. Okay in some of these will drop in a few examples. But I also don’t want to be restrictive by providing examples that steer you in a certain direction because the whole concept of design whether we’re talking `bout aesthetic design or permaculture inspired design. A lot of it is just about being open ended and not cry closing up things providing opportunities for for new ideas right. So let’s think about these I how do we minimize inputs? What are the inputs in your landscape right now? I would be willing to guess that in your landscape one of the major inputs is mowing the lawn trimming the edges of your lawn right blowing all the glorious clippings around those are a huge input for a lot of people. So what are the inputs in your landscape and if you think about all that stuff requires energy right so there’s a massive inputting gas right And there’s an environmental cross along with that too. If we want to put it bluntly all right I don’t want to get too off track but think about your inputs and how do you minimize If we think about gardening annual guarding there’s a ton of input that required an annual gardening. Right so how do we minimize? That are right next. How do we maximize yield first? Let’s define what yield is for you so when I’m talking about a yield. We can easily think about tomatoes and peppers tomatoes peppers bananas beans. Whatever it is right. If you’re actually gardening it’s easy to think about yields. Well you could. Also think of yields is being environmental health right if it all ties back to your goals. What are your goals for your landscape? Relaxation can be a yield peace of mind right. Just time could be yield as well. So how do we maximize whatever yields are most important to us and to what we care about so that could be our environment as well observe in lands all right? Let’s start over. How can you better observe your landscaping conditions? So a lot of us go through our landscape all the time when we’re actually commuting instead of being stuck at home for those of you who listen or listening to this right now. You may be quarantined due to the Cova. Nineteen Corona virus epidemic pandemic right. So when you’re actually commuting to work in back you at least pass through your front yard twice a day but do you ever observe it. Do you stop and just listen and feel and smell in here. What is your landscape speaking to you? So that’s about observing your landscaping your conditions. And what can I tell you? What do you notice about your landscape? What’s what’s maybe something you’ve never seen before. This can really provide information and inspiration to you to to move forward with some ideas sometimes.
00:15:06 – 00:20:06
It’s dangerous for me because when I observe my landscape and interact with it I actually come up with so many ideas that I wanNA do. A million things that I might not have time for. But it’s inspirational it’s energizing it’s connecting right at develops deeper connection with our landscape as Berbick segue into the next question. What connections can be enhanced? So maybe it’s her own personal connection with our landscape right but also think about it more. Broadly what are the things in our landscape that maybe could be better connected if you have your tool shed in the back corner property right and your garden and the opposite corner of your property? That’s not very practical. If you keep all your tools in your tool shed right. So how do we better enhance connections of things that are important for us? Maybe your patio is right out back but then you have your grill. Separated from your patio by a good fifty feet or so so when you’re cooking food all your friends are hanging out on the patio and you’re over in the corner cooking right. So what connections. Can you better enhance your landscape? How do you catch in store energy materials so this one might seem bit? Funky and and so some of this very focused on the permaculture concepts of food production but if you think about it in degraded landscapes for example organic matter is very lacking so you can set up wind catches to actually catch dust that carries nutrients in soil particles through the air to build up your soils. There’s some awesome awesome practices. That can really help. People with Degraded landscapes of food production. But more pertinently. I’m assuming most of you aren’t living in majorly degraded landscapes Trying to produce food to make a living but for you. What does this mean to you? How do you catch and store energy materials? Well it could be as simple as when you’re cutting the grass right. What do you do with grass clippings? Maybe you march them to re feed your lawn. Well that’s one helpful way to recycle the nutrients in the grass blades for future grass growth. What can also do at certain times of the year is begged that grass and compost it or beg it and use it as a healthy march for certain areas of your landscape right. You can catch in store those materials. You can use the energy that was utilized in producing those grasp blades to build fertility in certain areas. You’re landscape so that’s just one example right you can catch and store sunlight in different ways you can reflect it off of a building onto a plant to help warm it or help increase photosynthetic activity right so those are ways to catch in store energy or materials. Think about all the cool things you can do with water if you think about catching water. I’m just GONNA leave that one for you to think about what can perform multiple functions. I love this. One is the Swiss army knife right. So what parts of your landscape can do. More than just what are their. You normally purposed for. Maybe this could be your patio right. Maybe your patio could be your herb garden as well. So take all those pansies that you tend to put out or the petunias there. Whatever your decorative flowerpots maybe tournament a little herb pots right so they can be a productive space for your kitchen garden. So how can you this performing multiple functions a lot of times in permaculture they call it stacking? How can you stack functions right? Maybe the fence around your garden can serve as a Trellis for your climbing vining plants as well so instead of building troas maybe just use the fence and then it casts shade behind it right on the on the north side for the live in the northern hemisphere on the north side of that fence. There’s less sunlight so maybe some more shade tolerant plants can now grow there because of the lowest points so those are ways to stack functions or perform multiple functions which is used to be. A fence is now a multifunctional system. What just used to be a patio can now be a patio with kitchen garden on it too so those are examples. Where do you interact most? How can this be enhanced? Well we talked about our patio rate. Maybe you interact most on your patio so by turning into a kitchen garden you’ve just enhanced that space you’ve made it more valuable right and it’s also wonderful conversation piece rate. Think about your friends gathering around all your food your friends right and here you are cooking your meal and suddenly you go and you harvest a few pieces of time a little bit of Reagan. Oh and maybe some rosemary right to Spritz up your your whatever your grilling on your grill right.
00:20:06 – 00:25:02
How impressed will your friends be when they see that? You can’t get fresher food than that right. So where do you interact most than? How can this space enhanced think about other things you could do with a space you interact most what does succession look like in your landscape now. Succession is not synonymous with success. Succession is the natural tendency for Ecosystems to grow and develop into Was sometimes considered a climax ecosystem or a more stable ecosystem is the way. I look to look at it so succession is if you think about old farm field. That’s left fallow right. It’s left to basically renaturalise when that far viewed renaturalise is. I you get these emergent weeds right. These really hardy resilient weeds that come in and they’re usually considered invasive right so those things grow up what they’re doing is they’re anchoring that soil there rooting deeply and taking up as many resources. They can in the most resilient way possible. A lot of times they’re annuals with a few very resilient perennial plants as well. Then you’ve got your mid succession plans to come. In you get these shrubs that come in these gnarly shrubs out what a nitrogen fixing shrubs as well and they come in and they start building that soil and they’re again they’re stabilizing that soil to their gathering up as much sunlight as possible. They’re growing above those little weedy annuals perennials that first established there so they can get up a little higher. And then you have your pioneer trees and then beyond pioneer trees you start to get your mature trees. Those stress tolerant trees coming through and slowly growing to fill in the canopy in twenty five years. Later you’ve got a forest right of course that’s in the the areas of the US where you’ve got enough rainfall to have a climax forest right so half of the eastern US basically right when you’re talking about spaces that may be a little bit more water stressed you have different succession system. But it’s very similar right you different species in different Different canopy cover Different percentage of canopy cover but the process is very similar. You have these These early pioneering plants and that slowly succeed into mid succession and then into Into full succession. That’s what succession is all right. So now let’s get back to our question. What does succession look like in your landscape by embracing this principle in starting to do things in a way So here we are talking about specifically food production When you start to grow things in a way that is in tandem with this principle of succession and goes along with it. You can be a lot more successful and it takes a lot less effort to maintain the system. ’cause you’re embracing the process so if you think about maybe transitioning to more Fruit tree and nut producing trees systems. Maybe you don’t love nuts or whatever right but think about the perennials that you enjoy that would be the most mature version of what you can fit into your landscape and design around that using multiple layers. So you’re talking about a canopy. Vines shrubs low level plants per hour basis perennials. Ground covers Below surface tuber forming plants. All these layers can produce something for you. Provide some sort of benefit so that’s what succession is is using all those levels embracing the process to help it along and to do it. In a way that provides you yield. That might not apply to everyone of you. But it’s a good thought provoking exercise. Hokey next what renewable or biological resources? Can you utilize really important right to to start focusing on renewable processes biologically based processes? Why because biology is a productive system right so you take things that can capture sunlight and turn it into carbon that has trapped that is utilized by animals. And and other plants and microorganisms. Right and it basically took takes this sunlight in air right and water to to essentially create magic in energy for the world. So we when we can tap into that and tap into those renewable cycles. We are building long-term resilience for society and for ourselves as well.
00:25:02 – 00:30:07
So what renewable biological resources can you utilize? What our existing problems in your landscape. What you have right now. That’s causing problems. Maybe it’s causing extra work. Maybe it’s unsightly. Maybe it’s a physically causing damage Like you have run off. That’s causing problems. Your House those are things you need to address right. Extra work takes extra time which takes energy right which takes sanity. And so how do you adjust things to to From permaculture perspective to make the long term fix to that existing problem are. Here’s a big one. What does a yield look like to you? What does a yield look like to you? Remember we talk about creating a yield. You gotta get something out of your landscape right. Otherwise it’s just a giant resource drain. That’s what it is for most people right now. It’s keeping up with the Joneses right. It’s making your house. Look pretty because you feel like you have to well. That’s not good enough. That’s how I feel at least. So what does the yield look like to you? What do you want out of your landscape? Everything else can be defined around that but you gotTa have a yield. So what does it look like to you? Are there more creative ways to reach your goals a lot of times? We get stuck on one solution. I do it all the time. And if I’m bright enough sometimes every once in a while I step back I stop and say okay. Is there another way to address this problem? So are there more creative ways to reach your goals sometimes in the most restricted systems? You get the most creative and productive outcomes restriction leads to creativity so sometimes restricting yourself a little bit for the sake of creativity is very helpful so check it out. Try it out all right. Here’s a good one for me. Where have you messed up? What can you learn from it? I mess up a lot so I can learn a lot. That’s why I do it. Reich has a deliberately mess up just so I can learn. I’m pretty good at it. So really the most valuable thing. When you screw up when you mess up is to to try and learn from it figure out what you can learn so wherever you messed up in. What can you learn it all right? So that’s a rattle through of a ton of questions. I really suggest you. Guys maybe rewind back and go through this a few times think about it more deeply each question you know. This is an episode really. If you wanted to take some notes rates and things down and then spend some time thinking about it. It could be really really really valuable for you in your landscape as you’re thinking about approaching your landscape maybe for food production. Maybe for a better lifestyle. This can be really helpful for you. All right guys so. I’m not quite wrapped up yet. I WANNA stop with just one last little bit and that is this. Goes back to our ethics the permaculture ethics in the permaculture pro directive the only ethical decision is. I take responsibility for ourselves and our children. So how can you take responsibility when it comes to your use of resources are consumption? Consumption is how control right. I’m there too right so I’ve got to work on this. But how do we use our resources? We use them officially in wisely. Do we do we reframe. What waste means and take responsibility for the waste were generating? That’s where I think. A lot of people are missing out right. We don’t realize the overall cost of our waste footprint so start thinking about that. What about our impact of our landscape? What we’RE DOING TOUR SOIL. Are we building soil? Are we degrading soil most people degrade their soil? That’s a huge huge environmental costs. That takes nature ages to rebuild on. Its own we have the capacity to consciously rebuild our soil’s if deliberately tried to do so so what’s your impact on your landscape when it comes to your soil would about chemical usage. There’s a huge environmental costs. Attributed to chemical usage the energy required to produce and distribute them and the environmental impact of their use itself on the environment and also on our own health. What about heat? This might seem a little silly. But really what we’ve done with urban development across the world is we’ve decreased buffering capacity of the world right.
00:30:08 – 00:34:07
So what are we doing? On our own landscape to manage in buffer systems to reduce the impact of sun exposure on things. Have you ever stood on Hot? Blacktop surface barefoot. Have you ever stood on a hot forest floor? I haven’t so think about the impact of your landscape and also you know segue into the next point. Think about what our yard used to be before development. What was your yard like? I could imagine that it was probably better off. It’s just my guess. So what can you do? Maybe you didn’t drive the bulldozer. That came of your landscape to flatten it. You didn’t drive the excavator that Dugout your basement or crawlspace. You didn’t drive the crane that raised the IBM to support your house right. Probably not but you live in that house you have a partial responsibility in what was done to scar the land where you live. So how do we rectify those previous scars? That’s what I’m trying to do with my landscape. That’s what I hope I can teach you hear it easy living yards. That’s what I worked to teach through my membership is. How do we rectify the previous scars on our landscape to make our landscape purposeful in some way to produce a yield for us? So if this is important to you guys you have to commit to making a change here. It easy living yards in for you guys listening we are about to make. Let’s try this again as as trying to be all you know like fancy and stuff right. Let’s try this again. We are about making tomorrow better than today. We about living with intent with purpose and with passion. Permaculture serves as a tool to connect us to living with purpose and passion in making tomorrow better than today so really consider what permaculture can do for you learn more about permaculture in design process. It’s principles and make your life better than today are a guys so for today’s show. I’ve got some awesome links. Go and check out guys garden by Toby. Hemingway all these links. You can check out at easy living yards dot com slash episode one zero three episode one of the three so again guys garden by Toby. Hemingway the suburban micro farm by Amy Strauss modern solutions for busy people and of course her website tenth Acre Farm Dot Com. She has tons of awesome blog posts over there about producing food healthy food for you and your family in a small space and doing it away. that’s designed with permaculture principles in mind to reduce inputs maximize yields also. I have an awesome blog article. I wrote several years ago. Called how permaculture design could save California and it sounds a bit lofty but it can happen all right so check it out. If you’re interested as always guys if you a question about permaculture or any other topic we talked about on the show you can always reach out and get a hold of me. Just go over to easy living yards dot com slash. Ask and fill out a really short blurb about what your question is and I’ll get in touch with you. It’s absolutely free to just ask me a question guys. I love to help you out. So whatever you’re dealing without with with right now in your yard and your life in your landscape. I’d love to help out if I can. If you have any questions about this whole permaculture stuff and how amazing it is an love to hear about it as well all right guys. I’m going to wrap up there. So THANKS FOR TUNING IN MAKE. Sure you live with passion. Make tomorrow better than today.
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Let’s step away from life’s drudgery and stress and think about how we can make a positive change in our lives and world with some simple focus on the land around our house that we call a yard.
What are you jazzed about for your yard this year? How about adding some purpose to your yard?
Native plants?
Edible landscaping?
Veggie gardening?
Permaculture gardening?
Kid friendly landscaping?
Today, we highlight some sneak peeks at topics for this season and an awesome deal on the Easy Living Yards Membership!
What is permaculture? - Show Notes I love permaculture. But what is it? Today we cover what permaculture is and how it has the potential to change your worldview and life. Permaculture is a design concept has certainly changed my entire worldview and impacts everything I do. 100 episodes in, time to talk [...]
Snapshots-ELY100
Jan 17, 2020
ELY100 - Snapshots - Show Notes Today is cause for celebration! Reflecting on a journey of 100 episodes focused on positive change. Thanks to all of you who have helped to manifest my vision of creating beautiful, purposeful, eco friendly landscapes across the US and world! Together, our small changes in practice and [...]
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Dec 18, 2019
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How to Compost-ELY097
Dec 11, 2019
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Healthy Soil and Why You Should Care-ELY096
Dec 04, 2019
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Listener QA-ELY095
Nov 27, 2019
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Nov 20, 2019
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Nov 13, 2019
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Landscaping for unique circumstances – Special needs – ELY 092
Nov 06, 2019
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Oct 30, 2019
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Oct 23, 2019
Embracing energy and nature spirits - Show Notes Amanda Gates is an interior designer. But not just any interior designer. She’s an advanced feng shui practitioner! Amanda Gates from the Home Energy Design Podcast joins us today to discuss how our energy and the energy of our spaces can positively or negatively affect [...]
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Oct 16, 2019
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Oct 09, 2019
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Oct 02, 2019
Join the I Help Save The Earth Club! Today’s links: ely.how/episode87 Free guide: How to live with purpose and intent What my Grandma taught me about living a meaningful life Suzanne Simard - How trees talk to each other Ask Ben a Question for Free! Create the yard you deserve in the ELY [...]
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Sep 25, 2019
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Sep 18, 2019
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What to expect with easy DIY landscaping – ELY 084
Sep 11, 2019
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Sep 04, 2019
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Fungus Amongus – ELY 082
Aug 28, 2019
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How to overcome DIY overwhelm – ELY 081
Aug 21, 2019
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Aug 14, 2019
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Jul 31, 2019
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Rain Garden Design – ELY 077
Jul 24, 2019
How to build a rain garden - Show Notes Rain Garden Episode Links: ely.how/episode77 Free Rainwater Calculator Tool Free list of easy plants for your rain garden Five super cool ideas for a beautiful rain garden Create the yard you deserve in the ELY Membership! Ask a question Find me on Facebook, Instagram, [...]
Safe Mosquito Control – Part 2
Jul 17, 2019
Safe Mosquito Control for your Family - Part 2 - Show Notes Today we pick up from last last episode to discuss five ways to control mosquito problems in your yard, so you can better enjoy being outdoors with your family, and feel safe from mosquitos and harsh chemicals. If you missed last [...]
Safe Mosquito Control
Jul 10, 2019
Safe Mosquito Control for your Family - Show Notes Today we cover five ways to control mosquito problems in your yard, so you can better enjoy being outdoors with your family, and feel safe from mosquitos and harsh chemicals. Links for safe mosquito control: ely.how/mosquito BT dunks – safe mosquito control in water [...]
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Quick and Easy Low Maintenance Landscaping – ELY 073
Jun 26, 2019
Quick and Easy Low Maintenance Landscaping - Show Notes Today’s links: ely.how/episode73 Free Resources for Easy Low Maintenance Landscaping Landscaping with focus and vision – Episode 72 Easy lawn care – Episode 61 Garden edging made easy – Episode 28 How to start a new garden bed – Episode 10 Easy plants for [...]
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Jun 19, 2019
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Relax and Chill in your yard – ELY 071
Jun 12, 2019
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Invasive plants to avoid in your yard – ELY070
Jun 05, 2019
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Big Design Small Budget
May 29, 2019
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May 22, 2019
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Safe and Natural Weed Control – ELY 067
May 15, 2019
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May 08, 2019
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Epic Gardening Podcast 1 – ELY 065
May 01, 2019
Epic Gardening - Show Notes Today’s links: ely.how/episode65 Epic Gardening with Kevin Espiritu Epic Gardening Show giveaways Transform with confidence in the ELY Membership! Ask a question Find me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest Epic Gardening with Kevin Espiritu 1. Living with purpose through landscapes What we do matters Our time is valuable [...]
Express your home with these DIY landscaping tips
Apr 24, 2019
How to express your home through your landscape - Show Notes How do you make sure your landscape and your house pair well? I talk about two different ways to make your landscape and your home work together: Transitioning the built and natural environmnents, and accenting your home's architecture. Find out what works [...]
DIY Landscaping Mistakes
Apr 17, 2019
Avoid these DIY landscaping mistakes! - Show Notes Avoid these common DIY landscaping mistakes to save time, money, and stress in your landscaping! These DIY landscaping blunders are easy to avoid which will help make your yard look awesome and bring you more joy and relaxation! Who doesn't love that?!?! Today’s links: ely.how/episode63 [...]
Butterfly gardens and Pollinator Gardens
Apr 10, 2019
Butterfly Gardens and Pollinator Gardens - Show Notes Today’s links: ely.how/episode62 Pollinator Garden Plants for the Midwest Episode 10 – how to start a new garden bed Xerces Society Pollinator Garden Plants Xerces Society Books Gardening for Butterflies Attracting Native Pollinators Here are a bunch of other butterfly gardening resources in this post! [...]
Easy Lawn Care
Apr 03, 2019
Easy Lawn Care: Have a beautiful lawn without a bunch of work! Today’s links: ely.how/episode61 How to start a new garden bed Free downloads - Easy plant selector guide! ELY Membership: Transform your yard with confidence Ask a question Find me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest Easy Lawn Care Three ways for low [...]
Cost saving strategies for landscaping
Mar 27, 2019
Show Notes Cost saving strategies for diy landscaping on a budget Today’s links: ely.how/episode60 Low Maintenance Plants for the Midwest Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Plant Database Affordable landscaping plant plugs – The Pollennation Save time and money with the ELY Membership! Ask a question Find me on Facebook, [...]
Landscaping Ideas on a Budget – ELY 059
Mar 20, 2019
Landscaping Ideas on a Budget - Show Notes DIY landscaping on a budget Today’s links: ely.how/episode59 Do it right the first time with the ELY Membership! How to design like a pro – Episode 43 Design basics for your yard – Episode 5 What to do before starting a project – Episode 6 [...]
What is your story – ELY 058
Mar 11, 2019
What is your story? - Show Notes We're all the hero in our own story. Are you ready to fulfill your destiny? Today’s links: ely.how/episode58 Live your story with the ELY Membership! Ask a question Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest Today we explore how you are part of an epic [...]
Landscaping Ideas for Kids – ELY 057
Mar 06, 2019
Backyard ideas for kids - Show notes Kid friendly landscaping Today's Links: ely.how/episode57 Backyard ideas for kids - Episode 27 Pinterest - Natural Playscape inspiration Ask a question Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest How kids view, interact, and engage with their yards. Today's show covers how our kids enjoy our yard [...]
Front yard Landscaping with Confidence – ELY 056
Feb 27, 2019
Front Yard Landscaping Update - Show Notes Today’s links: ely.how/episode56 Today’s Plant: Prairie Dropseed Join the Easy Living Yards Membership Ask a question Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest Front Yard Landscaping Ideas Update on our front yard landscaping project Finished! Goals Enhance access Enhance beauty Increase value Reduce maintenance Increase [...]
DIY Shed Tips – ELY 055
Feb 20, 2019
DIY Shed Tips - Show Notes Today’s links: ely.how/episode55 Today’s Plant: Ozark Witch Hazel Roof pitch guidelines Join the membership Ask a question Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest DIY Shed Tips This is a big project – make sure you plant it well! Friends Specific ‘project days’ are very useful Do [...]
My DIY Landscaping Mistakes – ELY 054
Feb 13, 2019
My DIY Landscaping Mistakes - Show Notes Today’s links: ely.how/episode54 Join the Easy Living Yards Membership Today’s Plant: American Beautyberry, more on Beautyberry All about healthy soil How to design your yard like a pro Front yard vegetables Living with neighbors Free Stuff at ELY.how/free! Ask a question Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or [...]
Simple Landscaping Ideas for 2019 – ELY 053
Feb 06, 2019
Simple Landscaping Ideas - Show Notes Today’s links: ely.how/episode53 Today’s Plant: Creeping thyme Front Yard Curb Appeal Ideas DIY mailbox installation Easy Potted Plants Low maintenance lawn care Simple Landscaping Ideas on Pinterest Join the Easy Living Yards Membership Free Stuff at ELY.how/free! Ask a question Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest [...]
Outdoor Winter Activities for Kids – ELY 052
Jan 30, 2019
Show Notes Today’s links: ely.how/episode52 Today’s Plant: Eastern White Pine Leave a review in iTunes Epic Gardening interviews Backyard ideas for kids Free Stuff at ELY.how/free! Get 1-1 help with Ben Ask a question Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest Fun things to do in the winter outside Stuff you need Winter [...]
Yard Drainage Solutions – ELY 051
Jan 23, 2019
Yard Drainage Solutions - show notes Today’s links: ely.how/episode51 Today’s Plant: Fringed sedge Join the Easy Living Yards Membership! Free Stuff at ELY.how/free! Ask a question Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest Yard drainage tips Causes Compaction Dense soil – clay, low organic matter Shallow soil High water table Poor grading / [...]
DIY with Confidence – ELY 050
Jan 16, 2019
DIY Landscaping with confidence How to DIY your landscape with confidence Today’s links: ely.how/episode50 Become a founding member! Free Stuff at ELY.how/free! Get 1-1 help with Ben Ask a question Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest Today is the founding launch of the membership! Become a founding member! Why I [...]
Ultimate Mailbox Installation Guide – ELY 049
Jan 09, 2019
The Ultimate DIY Mailbox Installation Guide Today’s links: ely.how/episode49 Download The Ultimate DIY Mailbox Installation Guide My super cute mailbox installation helper USPS recommendations Post level Post hole digger Spud bar Today’s Plant: The revered, ephemeral tulip Free Stuff at ELY.how/free! Get Early Access to the upcoming Membership! Ask a question Find me [...]
ELY 048 – What are your DIY Landscaping goals for 2019?
Jan 02, 2019
Easy DIY Landscaping Ideas - Setting goals for a new year! Get inspired to improve your yard this year! Save time and effort from needless maintenance. Make DIY landscaping easy! Today’s links: ely.how/episode48 Today’s Plant: Switchgrass Membership Early Access Club Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest Starting the year with focus and [...]
ELY 047 – DIY Landscaping best from 2018
Dec 27, 2018
Best DIY Landscaping tips from 2018 - Show Notes Thank you for such an amazing year! I've had a blast with launching this podcast, and have enjoyed helping you to make a positive impact in your yard and life. As a reward to yourself, please take a moment to reflect on how you [...]
ELY 046 – Gardening gift ideas under $30
Dec 19, 2018
Last minute gardening gifts under $30 - Show Notes Best gardening gift ideas and DIY Landscaping gift ideas under $30 Today’s links: ely.how/episode46 Today’s Plant: American Holly Free Stuff at ELY.how/free! Get 1-1 help with Ben Ask a question Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest Merry Christmas! The Hale family wishes you [...]
ELY 045 – DIY Landscaping Gift Ideas
Dec 12, 2018
DIY Landscaping Gift Ideas - Show Notes Best gardening gift ideas and DIY Landscaping gift ideas Today’s links: ely.how/episode45 Today’s Plant: Aloe vera Free Stuff at ELY.how/free! Get 1-1 help with Ben Ask a question Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest Hand tools Garden spade Pointed shovel Flat shovel Mattock Sod lifter [...]
ELY 044 – How Easy Living Yards gives back
Dec 05, 2018
How Easy Living Yards gives back - Show Notes Links: ely.how/episode44 Today’s Plant: Sansevieria Express your gratitude - leave a review on iTunes! Learn how insignificant your lawn is Free Stuff at ELY.how/free! Get 1-1 help with Ben Ask a question Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest Our core business is built [...]
ELY 043 – How to design your yard like a pro
Nov 28, 2018
Design your DIY landscaping like a pro - Show Notes How to start designing a landscape Today’s links: ely.how/episode43 Style your landscape like a pro Design basics for your yard Today’s Plant: Moss Phlox Free Stuff at ELY.how/free! Get 1-1 help with Ben Ask a question Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest What [...]
ELY 042 – How to find your landscape design style
Nov 21, 2018
How to find your design style - Show Notes What is your design style? Today’s links: ely.how/episode42 DIY landscape design basics for your yard Find ideas on Pinterest Find ideas on Houzz Today’s Plant: Serviceberry Free Stuff at ELY.how/free! Get 1-1 help with Ben Ask a question Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or [...]
ELY 041 – Avoiding Overwhelm with DIY Landscaping
Nov 14, 2018
Avoid Overwhelm with DIY Landscaping - Show Notes How to avoid overwhelm with DIY landscaping Today’s links: ely.how/episode41 How to view your yard like a pro Today’s Plant: Allium ‘Millenium’ What course do you want about landscaping? Free Stuff at ELY.how/free! Get 1-1 help with Ben Ask a question Find me on Facebook, [...]
ELY 040 – DIY Landscaping at our house
Nov 07, 2018
DIY Landscaping Update at the Hale House - Show Notes What’s going on with the Hale's DIY Landscaping Today’s links: ely.how/episode40 How to view your yard like a pro Free Stuff at ELY.how/free! Get 1-1 help with Ben Ask a question Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest DIY Landscaping Update outline Shift [...]
ELY 039 – What to do in your yard each season?
Oct 31, 2018
What to do in your yard each season - Show Notes Today’s links: ely.how/episode39 Fall Maintenance Tips The Twice a Year Garden How to save 27 hours of work How to save time mowing your lawn Today’s Plant: Juniper ‘Compressa’ Free Stuff at ELY.how/free! Get 1-1 help with Ben Ask a question Find [...]
ELY 038 – Get more time with your family today!
Oct 24, 2018
Spending more time together as a family - Show Notes How to get more time for your family today Today’s links: ely.how/episode38 Living with purpose and passion What my Grandma taught me about our time here How to Train a Train Consultation special: Use code fall2018 at checkout! Today’s Plant: Hen & Chicks (Hen-widdies, [...]
ELY 037 – Outdoor Fall Activities for Kids
Oct 17, 2018
Outdoor fall activities for kids - Show Notes Today’s links: ely.how/episode37 The best time savers for easy landscaping Backyard Ideas for Kids Today’s Plant: Ninebark Free Stuff at ELY.how/free! Ask a question Need Help? Consult with Ben! Facebook Twitter Outdoor Fall Activities for Kids - Show Outline Raking leaves Leaf piles Mudpies & Outdoor [...]
ELY 036 – Fall Maintenance Tips
Oct 10, 2018
Show Notes Fall Maintenance Tips Today’s links: ely.how/episode36 Save 20% to Consult with Ben! Now through Oct 31, 2018. Use code fall2018 Healthy low maintenance lawn care Easy lawn care time savers Why compost is awesome Free Easy Plants List at ELY.how/free! Today’s Plant: Red Maple Ask a question Facebook Twitter Leaf removal [...]
Easy DIY Fall Decor
Oct 03, 2018
Easy DIY Fall Decor Outdoor Fall Decor really can be easy. We cover DIY Fall Decor that is super simple, fun for the whole family, and creates cherished memories. Today’s links: ely.how/episode35 Pinterest: Fall Decoration Ideas Pinterest: Awesome fall grasses Prairie Dropseed Little Bluestem Pink Muhly Grass, Muhly Grass ‘Autumn Embers’ Sedges Today’s [...]
ELY 034 – Easy Container Gardening
Sep 26, 2018
Show Notes Do you love outdoor planters but hate having to take care of them? Use these container gardening tips to find the right plants and easy beauty. Today’s links: ely.how/episode34 Self watering planter how to video Pinterest – Planter ideas TruDrop Self watering planter Today’s Plant: Christmas Fern Free Stuff at ELY.how/free! [...]
Easy front yard curb appeal ideas Today’s links: ely.how/episode33 ELY 028 - Garden Edging Made Easy Easy Curb Appeal ideas on Pinterest ELY 024 – Front Yard Landscaping Ideas Free Stuff at ELY.how/free! Today's Plant - Goldenrod Ask a question Need Help? Consult with Ben! How to spruce up your front entry Curb [...]
ELY 032 – Living a Meaningful Life
Sep 12, 2018
Today, we refocus on what is really important and remember to live with purpose. Show Notes Remembering Angie - my grandmotherWe don’t control how much time we have. We can control what we do with that precious time.What is your legacy?Today’s links: ely.how/episode32ELY 030 – Living with purpose and passionSubscribe to the showiTunes and [...]
ELY 031 – Front Yard Vegetables
Sep 05, 2018
Front Yard Gardening that your neighbors will love - Show Notes Today, we talk about Front Yard Vegetable Gardening. Do you live in an HOA where you're not allowed to have a vegetable garden? Perhaps you have pets that would trample your vegetables in the backyard. Or maybe a spouse that doesn't want a [...]
ELY 030 – Living a purpose driven life
Aug 29, 2018
Living with a purpose driven life - Show Notes Today, we talk about living with passion and having a purpose driven life Yes, I was bummed yesterday Case of Mondays Tendency to complexity My beliefs What we do matters having a purpose driven life is important Easy Living Yards purpose: 10% for people and [...]
ELY 029 – Best Landscape Trees 2018 Edition
Aug 22, 2018
Best Landscape Trees - Show Notes Today, we talk about my favorite landscape trees across the US Let's jump right in! Red Maple – Acer rubrum 40-60’ tall, 30-50’ wide Zones 3-9 Full sun to part shade Medium to wet soils Majestic form Bright fall color Red Orange Yellow Early spring flower buds [...]
ELY 028 – Garden Edging made Easy
Aug 15, 2018
Lawn Edging and Garden Edging Ideas - Show Notes Today, we talk about lawn edging and garden edging Ideas Benefits of garden edging Reduces maintenance Weeding Trimming Design Provides clean lines Clear borders benefit many designs Metal edging Benefits Durable Low visibility Cautions Steel can rust – may be appealing if thick steel Steel [...]
ELY 027 – Backyard Ideas for Kids
Aug 08, 2018
Show Notes Today's episode we chat about what makes the backyard fun for kids! What does a kid love about the backyard? Creating rooms Ambience Escape Imagination Backyard fun: Creating space your kids want A space to call their own Outdoor playhouse Makes a fun space for imagination Able to get dirty Able [...]
ELY 026 – Low Maintenance Landscaping Ideas
Aug 01, 2018
Show Notes: Low Maintenance Landscaping Ideas Take action in your yard with these low maintenance landscaping ideas! If you want easy landscaping and more time, use these simple landscaping ideas to transform your yard and life! Yes, it really makes a difference! Low maintenance landscaping can help you save time and enjoy more [...]
ELY 025 – Backyard Landscaping Ideas
Jul 25, 2018
Show Notes: Backyard Landscaping Ideas Today, learn how to create easy landscaping in your backyard with these backyard landscaping ideas! Create a backyard with fun for everyone - playspaces, relaxation, and entertainment! These easy landscaping ideas offer low maintenance landscaping that improve your lifestyle by saving time and increasing enjoyment in your yard! [...]
ELY 024 – Front Yard Landscaping Ideas
Jul 18, 2018
Show Notes: Easy Front Yard Landscaping Ideas Today, you find easy front yard landscaping ideas to make your front yard pop! Learn the primary focus areas that make the greatest impact on your front yard. Goal with most front yards Curb Appeal Welcoming Easy Property edge Mailbox Driveway Frame property edge Visual interest [...]
Find easy plants for easy landscaping Today, you'll learn how to find the best plants for low maintenance landscaping. If you're looking to have easy landscaping in your yard, these tips will help you find the right low maintenance plants for your yard. Show Notes: Low Maintenance Landscaping Plants These tools find the right [...]
ELY 022-I got busted! Property maintenance violations and what to do
Jul 04, 2018
Show Notes Today, you get to learn about how I got BUSTED! Getting a property maintenance violation can be frustrating when you are trying to convert to low maintenance landscaping. Here's what to do. Our story Violations can be emotional and stressful Frustrating Infuriating Embarrassing Difficult Want to retaliate How to deal with [...]
ELY 021-Don’t Get Busted! HOAs and Municipal Zoning Regulations
Jun 27, 2018
Show Notes Today, we talk about how to live in an HOA or municipal zoning area with regulations... without getting busted! We want to be able to enjoy our low maintenance landscaping without having to work on it all of the time. Here's how you can have an easy landscape and enjoy it [...]
ELY 020 – Surprise Episode!
Jun 20, 2018
Show Notes Today, Big change! Easylivingyards.com This is my Why I am driven by two things living a better life with my family, making tomorrow better than today Because of my why, I want to help you and your family live a better life About life Improving how you live Live with passion [...]
AE019 – Easy Plants – Annuals or Perennials?
Jun 14, 2018
Show Notes Today, we talk about easy plants for your yard. What are the best types of plants? I cover the topic of annual plants and perennial plants and why these categories are important for you when you want a low maintenance landscape. Show Notes: Today’s topic: what are annuals and perennials and [...]
AE 018 – How to save time mowing your lawn
Jun 06, 2018
Show Notes Today, we talk about how to save time mowing the lawn. From how often should you mow your lawn to how to save time mowing. Mowing time saving hacks Mowing - #1 time drain for maintenance Inflexible Takes away from what’s important Weather dependent #1 issue with neighbors Main piece to [...]
AE 017-Native plants and exotic plants
May 30, 2018
Show Notes Check out my high tech mobile recording studio! Hear me talk about it on the show today. Today, I weigh the pros and cons of native plants and exotic plants for your landscape and gardens. Does all this even matter for your landscape? Listen in to figure out where you [...]
AE 016-When to hire a Landscape Designer
May 23, 2018
Show Notes Today, we discuss when it is a good time to hire a landscape designer for your yard and garden, and when a project is manageable to do it yourself. Whether you are considering changes to lawn or garden, this episode is worth considering if you have a busy lifestyle and your [...]
AE 015-Neighbors and your yard
May 16, 2018
Show Notes Today, we discuss how have the best relationship with neighbors and also how to enjoy your landscape. How you don't have to toil in your lawn and garden to keep up with the Joneses and still have a good relationship. Life with neighbors How to work with your neighbors, and live [...]
AE 014-Compost and why it’s Awesome
May 09, 2018
Show Notes Today, we cover why compost is awesome for your lawn and garden! Why compost is awesome One of the safest and best fertility boosters of all time General elixir for soil and plant health Age-old fertility booster Composted manure What is it Degraded & digested organic matter Bacterial & fungal digestion [...]
AE 013-Healthy Low Maintenance Lawn Care
May 02, 2018
Show Notes In this episode, we talk about how to have a healthy lawn and a low maintenance lawn. Is it possible to have a low maintenance lawn that your neighbors envy? Topics: Grass: Love/hate relationship Aesthetics Work Maintenance Mowing/growth Feeding General grass health Weeds Health Chemical residues/exposure Exhaust Epa: 17 million gallons of [...]
AE 012-Dealing with Weed Problems
Apr 25, 2018
Show Notes In this episode, we discuss what to do with weeds. Why are weeds there? What can you do about weeds in your yard? Are there healthy ways to remove weeds? Topics: What is a weed? Wrong plant, wrong place Repairing the soil Taking advantage of unused resources Space, nutrients, sunlight, etc [...]
AE 011-Soil and why it matters
Apr 18, 2018
Show Notes Topics: Simple principle Good organic matter Support microbes Good moisture Good air What is soil Physical Texture Granular size of soil Sand Large particle sizes High permeability Benefits Well drained Risks High nutrient loss Erosion prone Drought prone Silt Medium particle sizes Permeable Benefits Generally higher nutrient availability Well drained Risks [...]
AE 010-How to start a new garden bed
Apr 11, 2018
Show Notes In this episode, we talk about how to start a garden bed project. What you need to do before planting! Topics: Overview Site selection Planning Preparation Planting Site selection Usually determined by architecture If multiple spaces possible Consider environmental features Functional features Access Appeal Value - make it worth it Planning [...]
AE 009-The right plants for your yard
Apr 04, 2018
Show Notes In this episode, we discuss how to find the right plants for your space. Are you overwhelmed with what to plant in your yard? Does the nursery always seem to let you down? Topics: Reason Right plant = less work Happier Fewer problems Better growth Better foliage & blooms Know your [...]
AE 008 – Disease problems and what to do
Mar 28, 2018
Show Notes In this episode we talk about how to deal with disease problems in your landscape. Are the plants in your yard healthy? Do your garden plants need help? Is your lawn diseased? Topics: Types of plant disease Mold, bacteria, protozoa, insect, etc. Diseases and pests are indicators of deeper issues Moles [...]
AE 007-Healthy Landscape, Healthy Family
Mar 21, 2018
Healthy Landscaping - Show Notes In this episode, we talk about what makes a healthy landscape. Do you want your landscape to be safe for you, your family, your pets, and your community? Use these ecological landscaping tips to create a healthy landscape for your family! Topics: My view Natural is better and [...]
Eco Landscaping-How to start a garden-AE 006
Mar 14, 2018
Show Notes In this episode we talk about what you need to do before starting a project. How to plan yard projects properly so you work less later! Topics: Design Principles Think big picture How project fits into greater landscape Better to plan first than to plant first Easier to correct planning mistakes [...]
AE 005-Design Basics for an attractive yard
Mar 11, 2018
Show Notes In this episode, we talk the basics of attractive design. Use these design basics to increase your curb appeal and make your yard pop! Topics: Visual Aesthetics Ensures pleasant experience Desirable place Sense of place, being Unity – cohesive design plan – not random use of elements Symmetry, asymmetry, form repetition [...]
AE 004-Time Saving Hacks for your Yard
Mar 11, 2018
Show Notes Today, we discuss how to save time in your yard with tactics and practices. Topics: Design and Establishment Right Plants “Low Maintenance” Plants Proper planting Plan for future Growth – roots, branches Plant gardens that only need work twice a year com/2xgarden Good fertility Dense planting Low maintenance plants Wide range [...]
AE 003-Low Maintenance Landscapes Part 2
Mar 11, 2018
Show Notes In today's episode, we talk further about how to make a low maintenance landscape. Topics: Low resource plants Full coverage Reduce lawn maintenance Low maintenance lawn Good transitions Maintenance plan Links for today's episode: Launch Party! Facebook Twitter How to save 27 hours of work Consult with Ben Paul Tukey Rolling [...]
AE 002-Low Maintenance Landscapes Part 1
Mar 11, 2018
Show Notes In this episode, we talk about what makes a low maintenance landscape. Mindset – Life > Yard Healthy plants Healthy Soil Right plant right place Natives, adapted Perennials Grouped plantings vs isolated Links for today's episode: Launch Partay! Facebook Twitter How to save 27 hours of work Consult with Ben Paul [...]
AE 001-The Right Mindset for your Yard and Life
Mar 11, 2018
Show Notes On today's episode, we discuss how your life is more important than your yard. how to focus on your life first how to adjust your maintenance routine how to reduce yard maintenance why prioritization is important Links for today's episode: Launch Partay! Facebook Twitter How to save 27 hours of work [...]
AE 000: About the Easy Living Yards Podcast
Mar 04, 2018
Episode 000: Sneak Preview! Today, a sneak peek at the Easy Living Yards Podcast and what it will be about. Saving time in your yard How to have an attractive yard without tons of work Increasing the health of your family through your landscape Launch Party!!! Links for today's episode: Launch Partay! Facebook [...]
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