Latest Blog
Soil Test for Lawn: How to Sample, Read & Use Results
How a soil test for lawn works: when to sample, how deep, where New England homeowners send it, and how to turn results into lime and fertilizer rates.
Perennial Ryegrass: Where It Fits in a Northeast Lawn
Perennial ryegrass sprouts in a week and takes heavy wear, but it’s the least winter-hardy lawn grass. How much to use, when to seed, what to mix it with.
Dormant Seeding: When & How to Seed Your Lawn in Winter
Dormant seeding lets seed sit through winter and sprout early in spring. When to do it, how much seed to use, and the spring mistake to avoid.
Pet-Safe Weed Killer: What That Actually Means
THE SHORT ANSWER “Pet safe” is a marketing phrase, not a regulated category. What is enforceable is the label’s re-entry interval — and for most lawn herbicides that means keeping animals off until the treatment …
Best Grass for Shade: What Survives Under a Tree
THE SHORT ANSWER Fine fescues are the most shade-tolerant lawn grasses, with turf-type tall fescue close behind and St. Augustine the best of the warm-season options. But extension guidance is consistent that below about four …
Plants That Repel Mosquitoes: What the Evidence Shows
THE SHORT ANSWER Sitting in a pot, almost nothing. The repellent compounds in citronella, lavender and scented geraniums are locked in the leaf and only released when it is crushed. A meta-analysis of 62 studies …
No-See-Ums: Identifying the Bites and Stopping Them
THE SHORT ANSWER A no-see-um is a biting midge — a fly in the genus Culicoides, often smaller than a millimetre. They breed in damp soil and rotting organic matter rather than standing water, and …
Cicada Killer Wasp: Huge, Alarming, Mostly Harmless
THE SHORT ANSWER No. The cicada killer hovering in your face and diving at you is a male, and males have no stinger — the behaviour is entirely bluff. Only females can sting, and they …
Homemade Weed Killer: What Actually Works
THE SHORT ANSWER Household vinegar at 5% acetic acid kills seedlings with one or two leaves and very little else. It is a contact herbicide — it burns what it touches and never reaches the …