No plant is an island. The right companion plants can increase yields, keep bugs away, and more. Conversely, the wrong plants can stunt, or even ruin, a crop. One of the best things about companion planting is that it can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. One of the most…

Earth Day is April 22. How earth-friendly are your landscape maintenance practices? You can make your landscape a friendlier place through a few small changes. All of the plants in your landscape would benefit from better soil. Except for desert regions, adding compost to planting beds will make our plants healthier. A thin coat of…

Don’t be so quick to shoo that bee away. Virtually all seeds need to be pollinated; happily, there are insects and wildlife ready to help. The USDA reports that there are more than 3,500 species of bees alone increasing crop yields, and it estimates that one out of every three bites of food we eat exists…

Pollinators are struggling to survive in the countryside, where flower-rich meadows, hedges and fields have been replaced by green monocultures, the result of modern industrialised farming. Yet an unlikely refuge could come in the form of city gardens. Research has shown how the havens that urban gardeners create provide plentiful nectar, the energy-rich sugar solution that pollinators harvest from flowers to…