Clover is an excellent groundcover for lawns. It is nitrogen fixing (takes nitrogen from the atmosphere and puts it in your soil), it is evergreen, it withstands foot traffic better than most turf grasses and it’s native to the USA.

Why don’t we see more clover lawns? Because we’ve been sold herbicides. Clover was a major part of suburban lawns in the 1950’s. But, the advent of broadleaf herbicides put it on the “weed” list. After all, if your product kills ALL broadleaf plants - you have to categorise all broadleaves as weeds.

Go retro. Go green. Go natural fertilizer. Grow Clover!

I bought this steel garden hose from Sam’s Club in Annapolis. The price on Amazon is just as competitive and this hose is AMAZING! It takes up half of the space in my hose storage bucket that my rubber hose took and it doesn’t kink as frequently. A game-changer for frustration-free watering.

If you ask me how to prune your trees, shrubs or vines - I’m going to reference this book. It’s the most concise and universal pruning book. Other books are better at specializing, but this is the one you need on your shelf for starters.

One of the benefits of going to a local college for landscape design is the local book list. Essential Native Trees and Shrubs is authored by a local Anapolitian and is both relevant for our area and easy to use. The information in this beautiful book is dense and easy to access. I use it for every project. Highly recommend.

I love these supports. I move them around my garden (and the garden at St. Andrew by the Bay) all summer. Unlike supports that need to be installed before a plant flowers, these can be added just when the blossoms are getting to heavy for the stems. I start mine out on my peonies then, when they are done, I move them on to the lilies and right over to the Baby Joe-Pye Weed and goldenrod. The supports stack easily together and live in my shed over the winter.

Use the 10” x 15.8” for flopping marigolds and shorter zinnias and the 10” x 24” for taller plants like garden phlox, goldenrod and Dahlias.