Category: In The Garden
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Which Trees On Your Lot Affect Home Sales
Believe it or not, the types of trees in your yard can impact your ability to sell your home.
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Weeds And What They Tell About Soil
Simply by observing the most prevalent weeds that are growing in a specific area, they can indicate if the soil is acidic or alkaline, whether the soil is a healthy, balanced soil, or if it’s depleted. Weeds can indicate a poorly draining soil, or a soil that is unable to retain moisture. Weeds can even indicate if the soil is unbalanced, being overly rich in one nutrient and deficient in others.
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Climate Change Is Changing Your Garden
The Third National Climate Assessment confirms that landscapes across the country are changing rapidly. The report predicts that “species, including many iconic species, may disappear from regions where they have been prevalent or become extinct, altering some regions so much that their mix of plant and animal life will become almost unrecognizable.”
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How Backyard Landscapes Could Save Biodiversity
You have probably never thought of your property as a wildlife preserve representing the last chance we have to sustain plants and animals that were once common throughout the US. But that is exactly the role our suburban and urban landscapes are now playing – and will play even more in the near future.
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Biochar: Green Miracle or Not Living Up To The Promise?
But there are still many questions about biochar, particularly in terms of making sure that it is affordable and has positive effects. In some studies, the material has actually reduced yields. Part of the difficulty is that biochar can be produced from all kinds of biomass and at different temperatures and speeds, which leads to huge variation in the substance — and in results.
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Mulch Type Matters To Pollinators
Results showed that mulch type had specific effects on pollinator and crop performance, and suggested that certain types of mulch may be more conducive to squash bee nesting than others.
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Our Pharmaceuticals Are Affecting Our Crop Plants
The drugs we release into the environment are likely to have a significant impact on plant growth, finds a new study
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Biochar: Good For The Climate But Bad For Plants?
The positive impacts of biochar were coupled with negative findings for a suite of genes that are known to determine the ability of a plant to withstand attack from pests and pathogens. These defence genes were consistently reduced following biochar application to the soil,
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Play In The Dirt: Soil Bacteria Alleviates Depression
These studies help us understand how the body communicates with the brain and why a healthy immune system is important for maintaining mental health. They also leave us wondering if we shouldn’t all spend more time playing in the dirt,
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Biochar Improves Soil’s Drought Tolerance
But most strikingly, biochar seemed to offer an additional protection for both bacterial and fungal communities, compared with the control soil.