LANDSCAPING

Edible landscaping, as the name suggests, is all about incorporating food-producing plants into a garden design. Landscaping usually focuses on creating visual appeal. But as you will learn, edible landscaping can be beautiful and useful,…

There is a common saying that good fences make good neighbors. Unfortunately, all too often, fences are things that divide us and diminish the environment, rather than improving things and bringing people together.

If Bill Jacobs were a petty man, or a less religious one, he might look through the thicket of flowers, bushes and brambles that encircle his home and see enemies all around. For to the…

Into these perfect October afternoons, when light gleams on the red dogwood berries and the blue arrowwood berries and the purple beautyberries; on the last of the many-colored zinnias and the last of the yellow…

California is set to become the first state in the country to phase out gas-powered lawn equipment. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a bill Saturday that would require new small off-road engines (SOREs), used primarily…

The law requires all newly sold small-motor equipment primarily used for landscaping to be zero-emission — essentially to be battery-operated or plug-in — by that target date or as soon as the California Air Resources…

Every year, 80 million pounds of pesticides are used on U.S. lawns to maintain attractive, lush greenery. In many cities across the country, Latinx immigrant workers are the primary labor force responsible for lawn care.…

Landscape professionals like Wesley Hack are investing more and more into battery-powered equipment and aren’t turning back.

When Don and Lynn Ireland moved to Cherry Creek 3, they were a bit frustrated by the fact that the entire community shared one single water meter. This meant everyone was responsible for the community’s…

Summer is officially here. For many Americans, that means blankets of grassy green for kids to play in. There are an estimated 40 million to 50 million acres of lawn in the continental United States…

Summer is officially here. For many Americans, that means blankets of grassy green for kids to play in, or families to picnic on.

It was a few minutes past 6 a.m., and the sun had already started to boil the muggy Alabama air. Matt Harrison, 38, watched as his colleague backed the public works pickup truck into a…

A teacher at a school in a prosperous part of Washington D.C., writing from his official school email account and saying that he was a mentor for the school’s future-entrepreneurs program, wrote with two concerns…

In the rush to swap gas for batteries on everything from cars and delivery trucks to boats and golf carts, lawn mowers don't get much attention. But the traditional gas-powered versions that many people will soon use to get their yards ready for summer can…

We at The Optimist Daily are always looking for ways to help our pollinator friends. If you are looking to plant a pollinator-friendly garden this spring, then a new study led by Jaret Daniels and Elizabeth…

Environmentally-friendly gardening, once considered on the fringe, has surged in interest in the pandemic, according to Mark Richardson, director of horticulture for the Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston. Richardson sees the trend in the…

People who live along the Atlantic seaboard are accustomed to dealing with environmental extremes: salt spray that can kill just about anything green; relentless wind that whips vegetation into Leaning Tower of Pisa shapes; sand,…

Kids and pets will soon be able to play in the grass at some of the country’s largest parks without being exposed to pesticides. Yogurt company Stonyfield Organic is continuing a major initiative to convert…

Those who are interested in permaculture and regenerative gardening may be well aware of the benefits — both local and global — of maximizing photosynthesis in a garden. The more plants we include in our…

Over the last decade or so, you may have heard a lot about regenerative farming or regenerative agriculture. But you may not realize you can implement the ideas it espouses in your own garden. If…

Insects aren’t just pests. They’re crucial for the planet and our food supply, and scientists say we can all pitch in to help.

Gary Petonke and the Wilton Manors-based Equality Garden Club have a vision for greening public lands in Broward County cities. It’s called the Green Initiative Project. The EGC, started in 2010 by five devoted gardeners,…

Last year, folks were complaining about wet weather in West Hawaii and too little rain in East Hawaii. Now, West Hawaii is getting much more rain than usual. Even the haole koa and kiawe are…

The Sacramento region is preparing for the long term impacts of the climate crisis when it comes to water supply. Central to the plan is a groundwater storage program with two to three times the…

Alagem Capital Group, in partnership with London-based real estate investor Cain International, has revealed the Foster + Partners-designed master plan for a 17.5-acre mixed-use development that will pack a massive amount of landscaping into the…

When a landscape designer on a mission to save the Earth met a pair of local filmmakers who shared her vision, it was a match made in compost. East Hampton–based landscape designer Edwina von Gal…

One day last fall, deep in the middle of a devastating drought, I was walking the dog when a van bearing the logo of a mosquito-control company blew past me and parked in front of…

In America, over 40 million acres of land are covered by lawn, or, more specifically, turf grass. While lawns can function as “carbon sinks,” soaking up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, this benefit is often…

Sometimes people ask, “Aren’t lawns bad for the environment?”  Turns out that’s not true, especially if the lawns are organic and have healthy soils. Here are some of the benefits of an organic lawn with healthy…

If Americans want to reduce their environmental footprints, one of the first steps may be reexamining what’s in their backyards. The lawn-industrial complex, and our country’s obsession over manicured carpets of green, has birthed a…

Are American lawns beautiful visions of nature? Or ecological calamities? Unfortunately, the grass leaves in our parks leave havoc in their wake. Lawns are extremely costly in many ways, including dollars spent on them, the…

When Ken Chaya first began birding in Manhattan’s famed Central Park 30 years ago, he took the same approach as everyone else, relying entirely on his eyes, binoculars, and ears to detect species in the…