Consider Worm Composting
A great compost for your house plants, outdoor plants, and lawn too is made by worms! You could have your own worm bin in your home or garage in which worms turn your kitchen waste and newspaper into black gold for your plants. How To Make Your Own While it does take...
Overseeding for an Eco-Friendly lawn
Most Calgary lawns are mainly Kentucky bluegrass, which needs lots of watering in dry Calgary. Folks often use fertilizer to help it grow and chemical pesticides to kill the weeds that thrive in it. Chemicals kill micro-organisms in the soil that ensure your grass...
Spread Corn Gluten to Prevent Weeds
As I write this, the dandelions are beautifully puffing white and going to seed. This is the perfect time to spread corn gluten meal to prevent those seeds from germinating and becoming new dandelions in your yard. What is Corn Gluten? Processed from corn, corn gluten...
An Eco-friendly Gardener
Anne Darragh is a family physician who grew up in Calgary and has been an eco-friendly gardener here and in B.C’s Columbia Valley for 35 years. She has used companion planting, insecticidal soap, and mulches for weed control with great success. Anne is concerned about...
Should you power rake or aerate your lawn?
We are frequently asked if you should be power-raked or aerate lawns in spring. The Eco-Yards answer is no, probably not. Thatch is the build up of dead and decomposing grass plants. If managed properly, thatch can actually benefit your lawn by holding in moisture. In...
To water or not to water?
While we all love warm sunny weather, there is definitely a drawback. Many of our trees and lawns get dry and thirsty since there is little natural water feeding them.To maintain a healthy root system that is the basis for a healthy tree, this is the time to start...
Nematodes – Making Nitrogen Available to your Plants
Some nematodes have given the whole tribe a bad name. This is because they eat roots of plants and are harmful to the plants. Most, though, are beneficial to plants. They are tiny worms that are usually not visible ‐ the larger ones look like small hairs. They are the...
Making Minerals Available to your Plants
I’ve been writing the last few posts about the micro‐organisms which live in soil, mainly near the root zones of plants. These micro‐organisms cluster near the roots because the plants feed them by exuding sugars, starches, and proteins out of their root walls. Why do...
Leaf Compost Made Easy
Compost is the best thing you can add to your lawn, trees, shrubs, and flowers. It has the nutrients your plants need to grow well and stay healthy. It has organic matter and helps soil retain moisture. Perhaps most importantly, it has microorganisms - the bacteria,...
Restoring the Balance of Nature in Your Yard
Natural ecosystems have evolved to have thousands of different species in complex, dynamic balance. As humans take over natural ecosystems with agriculture and development, the richness, balance, and health of these ecosystems is being lost. Let's take a look at two...
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