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EARTHeim News: Visiting the Wallis House
Last week I was a guest at the Wallis House, which is the home of The Garden Club of Kentucky. I got to speak with a lovely group of ladies on how to attract birds to your landscape. Hopefully I inspired them to plant some new plants in their gardens that the birds will appreciate.…
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Free Virtual Garden Tours
2020 was a tough year to get out and do anything, and it looks like the beginning of 2021 (at least) is going to be about the same. I know many parks and hiking trails have been closed, which has made it difficult to enjoy the outdoors beyond the backyard. Thankfully, many gardens have created…
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Product Review: The 6 basic gardening tools you need
These are the basic 6 gardening tools I couldn’t live without. I’ve tested a lot of tools out there, and as a professional landscaper and avid home gardener, these are the ones that I recommend. Buying quality items up front will save money in the long run and reduce the amount of waste going into…
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Fertilize Spring Flowering Bulbs
Here in my area of Kentucky, daffodils, crocus, and spring Iris are flowering! Tulips and hyacinths are also on the rise. Spring flowering bulbs are hungry harbingers of spring. They will benefit from being fertilized in the spring while the green is emerging or when they just start to flower. Tulips in particular can be…
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Book Review: New Small Garden by Noel Kingsbury
New Small Garden by Noel Kingsbury published in 2016 published by Frances Lincoln. This is one of my favorite garden design books. I’ve checked it out several times from my local library. Noel Kingsbury is a famous British garden designer and has written quite a few books. He is largely known for his naturalistic planting…
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Book Review: Gardenista
Gardenista, written by Michelle Slatalla. Published 2016 by Artisan. Gardenista is a catchy name. This self titled book is a physical publication written by the editors of the Gardenista blog, a website all about stylish outdoor spaces. It is a sister site to Remodelista, which has a physical book too. This photo centric hardback book…
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Restore Your Land with a Pocket Prairie
Take a moment to look outside your window, or take a stroll in your backyard. Imagine what that very land used to look like before it was ever settled on or used for agriculture or development. The land may have been any type of landscape such as; a meadow/prairie full of grasses, a wetland with…
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EARTHeim on Lexington Community Radio
Live Green Lexington has as weekly radio show on the Lexington Community Radio 93.9FM at Mondays 11am. The show is about different environmental issues and events occurring in Lexington. Past episodes can be listened to on SoundCloud. Listen to two episodes with EARTHeim. Ep. 19.3 Green Check EARTHeim speaks about its experience becoming Silver certified…
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What is Ecologically Conscious Landscaping?
Ecological landscaping is the design, build, and maintenance of landscaped spaces while considering the natural ecology of an area. Ecological landscape designers create gardens that enhance the surrounding environment for the benefit of humans and all other life forms within the ecosystem too. Ecological landscape designers may concentrate on rain gardens, pollinator and wildlife gardens,…
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EARTHeim News: 2019 Accomplishments
2019 was a busy year for EARTHeim! Here are some things EARTHeim was a part of this past year. OLLI ‘Gardening for the Living Landscape’ Since 2015, I’ve taught a 6 week gardening course for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute which is a senior’s community education program through the University of Kentucky. I plan to…
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Book Review: Terrain
“Terrain: Ideas and Inspiration for Decorating the Home and Garden”. Edited by Greg Lehmkuhl and the gardeners of TERRAIN Terrain is a beautiful book. Aptly named, it’s named after a garden nursery located in southeastern Pennsylvania. The Terrain nursery took root in 2008, but its location is at a historical nursery once called Styer’s, which…
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Book Review: Garden Design by Heidi Howcroft & Marianne Majerus
Garden Design by Heidi Howcroft & Marianne Majerus, is a substantial book that qualifies as a coffee table book. The cover caught my eye with its colors and a close up shot of Joe Pye, one of my favorite native plants! There are six chapters in the book, and each one breaks down garden design…
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Book Review: Creating Sanctuary by Jessi Bloom
I really like this book, Creating Sanctuary: Sacred Garden Spaces, Plant Based Medicine, and Daily Practices to Achieve Happiness and Well-Being by Jessie Bloom. Not only do I think the format and its colorful cover is really nice, but the contents is fun to read as well. The book is broken down into many categories…
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EARTHeim News: Creating the ‘Tree Care Video Guide’ for Lexington with the Citizen’s Environmental Academy
This past May, I was a part of the Lexington’s 2019 Citizen’s Environmental Academy. The 2019 was the second class to graduate from this program that is offered by the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government Division of Environmental Services. The program is a year long venture. The first half of the program involves meeting once…
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EARTHeim News: Lexington’s GreenCheck Business Program Awards 2019
In September, GreenCheck Lexington accepted 9 new members into its certification program. This Lexington based program provides resources to local businesses and organizations in order to become more sustainable. To become certified, businesses follow a scorecard where points can be earned for completing certain tasks. The main categories of these tasks are based on sustainability…
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Lexington Environmental Awards
This year 2019, was the 49th annual Lexington Environmental Awards ceremony. The event awarded 14 environmentally focused people and their projects which have been completed in the city of Lexington in recent years. Each year the LFUCG Environmental Commission takes nominations for these awards. Year 2020 will be the 50th event! If you are aware…
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Blue Winged Wasp: A biological control for Japanese Beetles
Did you know that most wasp species aren’t aggressive? When we hear ‘wasp’ we tend to think of the aggressive species, living in nests, that swarm us. Wasp are carnivores, and actually can do a lot to help control pests in our gardens. Today I saw a blue winged wasp, Scolia dubia, in my yard.…
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Five Spotted Hawkmoth
Every evening as the last rays of sun dwindle down in the sky, I look out from my back patio door. What I see visiting my nicotiana’s every night, looks like a hummingbird, but it’s actually a moth! Every day at about dusk, a Five Spotted Hawkmoth visits the nicotiana by my back patio. It…
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Native Plant Series: Mountain Mints
Today is national Honey Bee Day! Honey bees are not native to the America’s, but they provide a great resource to us; honey, propolis, beeswax, and royal jelly. They also help pollinate food and flowers! In my garden, I don’t see honey bees too often. However, this is the first year I’ve had mountain mint…
