Big Country Master Gardeners

By Audrey Gillespie

Maybe you want to save money on the products you buy to use in your landscape or garden without sacrificing quality. Maybe you want to spend less time on garden chores. Maybe you are concerned about environmental issues. Maybe you just want to know how to help your landscape survive the current drought. Enter Earth-Kind landscaping. (more…)

By Audrey Gillespie 

      This is a bittersweet time of the year for gardeners as most of our garden and landscape plants get ready to sleep until spring.  Leaves fall, foliage turns brown, blooms disappear.  Then again, pollen counts go down and we have more leisure time.  After the nightmare year we have just experienced, both we and our yards need some time to rest and rejuvenate for what is predicted to be a repeat of this year.  (more…)

By Audrey Gillespie

“Low-maintenance” is usually at the top of most homeowners’ wish list for their landscapes. Typically only needing one good hair-cut a year, ornamental grasses fit the bill nicely. Fall is the time of year for most of them to shine, too. Drive around and see how beautiful ornamental grasses can be. The bank on the corner of S. 14^th and S. Willis is a great example of the beauty, grace, and movement grasses can lend a garden bed.

Drive around to see for yourself how others are using grasses to beautify their landscapes. Unlike most other perennial plants, spring is the best time for planting. You can use the time now to plan and to prepare the soil for planting. Tilling in three inches of organic compost will improve any kind of soil, as will adding a three-inch layer of mulch as a top dressing.

Ornamental grasses come in a variety of sizes and shapes and an impressive array of colors. Let me introduce you to a few: (more…)