by dagenie1984 | Jun 16, 2026 | Gardening Basics & Soil
People hear “drought-tolerant” and picture gravel and cactus, which always makes me laugh a little. Out here in the Chicago suburbs — DuPage County, the western collar, the spread from Naperville to Schaumburg — a low-water garden looks lush. It’s...
by dagenie1984 | May 26, 2026 | Gardening Basics & Soil
If you garden anywhere in the Chicago area — city lot, Cook County bungalow, DuPage subdivision — you already know the soil’s dirty little secret. Dig down a few inches and you hit clay. Heavy, gray, sticky-in-spring, brick-hard-in-August clay. I spent my first...
by dagenie1984 | Sep 10, 2019 | Gardening Basics & Soil
When I first started gardening and landscaping it was not because I loved it from the onset. I had just become a mother and had some time to myself to discover new hobbies and learn new skills. Instead of starting at the ceiling for hours and being bored, I decided to...
