Lawns

A lawn, as long as it is not pointlessly large, is a kind of surface upon which to look. If a garden with an open center of grass is considered old-fashioned, well, does it really matter? – Stephen Anderton, Rejuvenating a Garden

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In Defense of the Lawn

Today, many of us feel lawns are environmentally wasteful green deserts in which no creatures live. To some extent that is true. But in a moister climate, grass grows in open spaces where trees have no chance to grow. It is the vernacular groundcover in such a climate, where gravels or hard landscaping look less [...]

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Everything at Once

Badly neglected gardens are difficult to handle because so much needs attention all at once. Emergency injections of time and energy, and sometimes money, are needed. The only way to manage it is to prioritize the work, so you don’t feel that you have to tackle everything at once. Start with those things that matter [...]

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English Ivy

English ivy (Hedera helix) loves an old garden. It would like a whole garden to itself. You will find it on the ground in shade, climbing up walls and trees, and wound deep into hedges. Most of the work required by ivy in an old garden is removal, to put it within useful limits. In [...]

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