soil
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Aquatic Plants
I’ve never had a pond before, so learning how to manage that environment will be a whole new thing for me. My goal is to build an ecosystem that relies as much as possible on biology and the interaction of different organisms to maintain a healthy equilibrium. One part of that ecosystem will be plants, Continue reading
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Leveling Where I Walk Around The Meadow
The ground as the builder left it here is horribly uneven. Last year I had several yards of topsoil delivered and did one round of leveling front and back, but I knew it wasn’t going to be enough. One reason was that the volume of substance needed to truly level this lot would be cost-prohibitive. Continue reading
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What Is My Soil Here?
Having a hole dug down two feet to prepare for an ecosystem pond allowed a nice opportunity to see a cross-section of the soil here. So from top to bottom, here’s what I have. The tool I am using for scale is 12 inches long. The uppermost layer (dark brown) is 1-2 inches of the Continue reading
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Giving The Pollinator Garden A Soil Boost
The soil around this newly built house is very poor quality and it will take years to make it more healthy. Where possible, I am adding organic matter and choosing plants and gardening strategies that should help with this process. One of the few places that has received no help from me so far is Continue reading
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Working On The Tall Grass Area
Early on in my time here, I set aside a portion of the back garden to be an area for mid-height native prairie grasses and the one I particularly wanted to grow was Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium). I introduced that by plant and seed. Sometimes I plan one thing, but nature, increased knowledge, or random Continue reading
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What Happened To The Fish In The Three Sisters Mounds?
Back in February 2024, I created five mounds of soil and compost in which to grow Three Sisters Gardens, a cooperative planting technique for corn, beans, and squash developed by Native Americans. Indigenous peoples would often bury fish in their soil as fertilizer, so by way of experiment, I buried an uncooked trout in two Continue reading
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Texas Mountain Laurel Seed Potting
Despite having my seed germination environment a little too damp, after nine days I had 24 Texas Mountain Laurel seeds that were sprouting roots and 4 where I couldn’t tell their status. The next step was to gently place them in soil so as not to damage the little roots, so here’s what I did. Continue reading
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“Green Mulch”
In my desire to create a little nature reserve in my urban lot, I could have spent a lot of money to get everything designed and installed in the first year. However, I prefer to take the longer strategy of doing things in stages, learning as I go. I think that when I look back Continue reading
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Digging The Swale Deeper
At more or less the lowest point in the back yard, I dug a shallow hollow, or swale, to temporarily capture water during heavy rainfall. I would rather have water sink into the ground than run off the property and into the street. I still haven’t decided whether this will be a permanent feature of Continue reading
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Is It Soil Or Is It Dirt?
Soil and dirt in the context of a garden might seem to be words that are interchangeable, but they really aren’t, and certainly here I believe there is a clear distinction between the two. The garden I left in Houston had benefitted from decades of biological activity, such as plants growing and decaying, leaves dropped Continue reading
About Me
Nature Lover.
Inquisitive Observer.
Student Gardener.
I invite you to join me on my journey to convert my sterile (from a nature point of view) new house lot to a healthy and diverse ecosystem, as I make discoveries, mistakes, and hopefully progress. I am not an expert or professional. The project started in February 2023 and the location is Seguin, Texas, USA.
Rewilding My Lot 