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The Bradley Sisters and the English Perennial Garden
Being Australians from Sydney, and very “British,” the two Bradley sisters were certainly familiar with English-style perennial gardens and likely had experience maintaining them. Recently, I realized that…
4 min read
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Weeding – The Essence of Backyard Forest Restoration
Recently, bending over to remove an Herb Robert from a patch of Bleeding Heart, it occurred to me that hand weeding is the very essence of backyard forest…
4 min read
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Improving the Balance in the Soil Seed Bank
“Even the weeds look lovely in May.” From Arthur Lee Jacobson in his book Wild Plants of Greater Seattle. April comes and goes. The rainy season begins to…
4 min read
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Compost Heaps in the Backyard Forest
What should we do with all of those invasive plants after we’ve pulled them out of the ground? My preference is to compost them on site to help…
4 min read
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Elk Hill in Spring
I was feeling grateful on a recent spring morning as I walked through the forest on Elk Hill. It seemed like the years of restoration work had all…
4 min read
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Weed Whacking Bad Edges — Some Pros and Cons
Last year, I began weed whacking a few “bad edges” to see if it would help prevent the weeds from recolonizing adjacent “good areas.” I have some preliminary…
4 min read
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Seven Spring Forbs
With the return of spring to our backyard forests, we welcome the native forbs as they awaken from their winter slumbers. In this blog I write about seven…
4 min read