Special reports - page 2

Not only is it very ornamental, mineral mulch is 100% natural. This trendy product is also an amazing answer to the problems of

Every gardener, at some point, feels overwhelmed by the many plant varieties he or she has to choose from. Where do they come from? Why are some protected by patents? Are they natural?

N, P, K… does this fertilizer alphabet mean anything to you? These three elements – present in blood and bone meal – are crucial for proper plant growth.

Gardening by the moon, sure! But how? And why? Gardeners have always observed with fascination the impact of the moon on plants they were growing.

Elegant, insulating, pollution-cleansing plant walls have inched across our vertical surfaces, both indoors and outdoors. Care to set one up yourself? You’ve got a range of options.

Always a hassle around the picnic basket, sometimes even a painful sting, the wasp doesn’t seem to manage positive vibes, does it? But did you know its larva devours incredible amounts of insect pests that would otherwise damage our plants?

Preparing cuttings is a plant propagation technique. A key benefit is that you reproduce the same exact plant as the one you love!

In addition to being an excellent way to learn, WWOOFing is an incredible opportunity to discover new lands and different cultures.

Fermented tea, maceration, infusion, decoction… garden tansy sure shares many benefits! Pest repellent and fungicide, it’s also an interesting flower that fosters biodiversity.

No need to trek all over the forest to find mushrooms. They also grow in gardens!

Among all types of manure, horse manure certainly has the most balanced mix of nutrients. It’s perfect for spreading in both the vegetable patch and the garden, in flower beds and along borders.

The woodlouse is not a garden helper in the “classic” sense: it doesn’t hunt pests, nor does it help in pollination.

Most of the plants that surround us tend to show guttation drops – which we often mistaken for dewdrops! Get to know which of your favorite plants might show signs of guttation, and what it means for their health. → Shown here: on Alchemilla mollis Here is a partial list of plants that have been […]

Though mice and voles are not friends in the garden, every shrew is greatly welcomed! Indeed, this small mammal spends its nights (and days!) munching on all kinds of harmful insects that come its way.

Ash can be extremely useful in your garden and for your plants since it becomes an exceptional fertilizer.

Wooden, metal, or concrete edges give way to plants. These low, compact edging plants line up to form boundaries through your landscaping efforts. For any type of exposure, this selection of edge plants will excel as a garden border!

Making your own compost is a practice that helps the environment through recycling waste.

Knowing your soil type, delicately working the ground, associating plants and protecting them without using fertilizer or pesticides, all these tips will lead to healthy organic soil.

Wisdom and ancient charm abound in the cloister garden of old. It somehow recaptures a bit of the lost garden of Eden.

The best of gardens share an irresistible invitation to passersby, beckoning them to sit for a spell, perhaps daydream for an instant. A simple piece of furniture, be it bench, chair, statue, a smooth slab of rock placed at the right spot by human hands, all beget meaning.

Clay pebbles, or leca, are brown balls of clay that are of great use to plants. It has the advantage of reliably managing water for plants, and it lasts a long time.

Even though a tool doesn’t define mastery for the gardener who owns it, nonetheless… gardening is easier when the right tool is at hand!

The spading fork, also called digging fork, is an essential tool for every gardener. You can use it to make many jobs much easier. It’s a good alternative to the standard spade, often more destructive than a spading fork is.

Chickens in the garden! If you’ve got a little space in the garden, setting up a chicken coop makes it possible to have fresh eggs

Lavender oil is a famous liniment. It’s used in perfume and to heal small ailments. There are two ways to make oil from lavender:

When plants live as neighbors, they’re just like us: often, they really help each other out, but sometimes they just can’t stand each other!

In the garden, when you need to plant, sow, propagate, fertilize at the cheapest possible price, think “recycle”!

To convert your green waste into green gold like mulch and compost, invest in both a shredder and a composter.

Fall is usually the season when the purchasing of a chipper shredder comes to mind, with all the pruned shrubs and trees leading to mountains of branches. Since it is now often illegal to simply burn the branches in a huge bonfire as was done before, and we usually lack space to let it break […]

Guttation is how plants expel excess water or nutrients through tiny openings on leaves and stems. and water content.

Breakthrough research is analyzing the effect of guttation on the spread of plant diseases. In some cases, guttation is bad for plants.

Peat is fossil organic matter, formed from plant debris. It is the major constituent of soils saturated in water like peat bogs.

Ramial Chipped Wood, or RCW for short, is a type of mulch that maximizes forestry waste. When trees are harvested for wood, their branches and twigs can become nutrient-rich mulch for gardens and vegetable beds.

BRF is a common term in forestry. It is derived from the French “Bois Raméal Fragmenté”, or Ramial Chipped Wood. Anybody can make this mulch from crushed and shredded green wood branches. It’s the best mulch for enriching and protecting garden soil.

Made of coir, coconut fiber, hemp… These new biodegradable mulching fabrics are, for the most part, allowed in organic farming. But the question is, can we use them in our garden or vegetable patch?

Pine bark is an excellent mulch, both useful and very elegant.

Is it hard to landscape a sloped garden? Actually, slopes and steep gradients can be an excellent opportunity to create a unique garden. Here are 5 tips to make the job easier.

Raised gardening gets a resounding “yes”, doesn’t it? Now, the time has come to select the best layout for raised garden beds. Square, rectangles, curves

Dry soil, full of rocks, not a nutrient in sight? Seems like a harsh environment where plants can’t grow! Fear not! Just select plants that evolved specifically to thrive in those environments, and compensate for the worst drawbacks with a few astute landscaping tricks. Discover our tips to create an easy and thriving dry garden! […]

Dry stone walls that separate lots or uphold flat terrain on slopes are a wonderful chance to display a variety of flowers while not wasting any space.

Symbolizing Christmas, the fir tree is a holiday essential.

Bio-indicator plants help us understand how healthy our soil is, and how it’s changing. Did you know that when it comes to pH, plants are much more reliable than test kits?

What does “exotic” actually mean? Plants that come from far away? Plants that look weird? Crazy lush growth and greenery like a jungle? As a concept, “exotic” can mean many things.

Cats have an annoying habit of gnawing on plants because that usually helps with digestion. Sometimes it’s even just out of boredom, or for the sake of scratching the earth or sharpening claws.

Samantha, in the midst of a career change, has a project to create the farm of her dreams. To achieve this, she volunteers in the south of France to in addition to her training as an agricultural technician. Samantha shares her WWOOFing experience and, boy, does it seem fun!

Manual lawn mowers and robots, here is an overview of what is best for smaller lawn and garden sizes. One is environmentally sustainable and quiet, the other does all the work in your stead: both of these options are worth looking at for their advantages. Here is a presentation of lawn mowers for smaller surfaces… […]

Certain flowers are both ornamental and edible. Feel free to try them out, a feast for eyes and taste buds alike!

On the outskirts or in the middle of your outdoor space, a mound may seem a bit unsightly. Yet, once planted, these so-called “berms” truly become a real asset.

A slope in need of protection, flower beds invaded by weeds, a large plot of strawberries… It’s only normal that you’d be considering setting up synthetic mulch fabric to eliminate those long weeding chores. While benefits are clear, these mulch fabrics do have major drawbacks that you should not ignore. First off, what exactly is […]

There are quite a few good reasons to look into setting up a rainwater collection system! Preserving water resources, but also saving money on the water bill, and watering your garden, balcony, terrace,