Landscape Articles | Living with Nature

growing native ornamental grasses: a beautiful and eco-friendly addition to your garden

Judith Lipson- Rubin | October, 2023

Growing Native Ornamental Grasses: A Beautiful and Eco-Friendly Addition to Your Garden

Adding plants with different heights, textures and colors can be an excellent solution to adding depth and natural beauty to your garden, but many plants with interesting colors and textures often come with a ...

green fall cleanup: tips to keep your yard looking great

Judith Lipson- Rubin | October, 2023

Green Fall Lawn Cleanup: Tips to Keep Your Yard Looking Great in a Sustainable Way

When most people think of a fall yard cleanup, they envision transforming their yard into a spotless lawn and garden beds full of perfectly manicured grass, without a single leaf in sight. This may be a nice image for a ...

getting acquainted with native bees in massachusetts

Judith Lipson- Rubin | June, 2023

Getting Acquainted with Native Bees

“Save the bees” is a phrase that has been repeated endlessly over the last couple of decades. We know how important it is to support our pollinator population, and have learned many ways to care for bees as they do ...

dealing with garden pests naturally

Judith Lipson- Rubin | May, 2023

Battling Bugs: Dealing with Garden Pests Naturally

Gardening provides us with many joys, but there are, of course, hurdles to jump. The fact of the matter is that you can’t have a garden without garden pests. You can spray for them if you want to take care of them ...

The Elemental Garden

Judith Lipson- Rubin | April, 2023

The Elemental Garden

Many of us are seeking calm moments throughout our increasingly busy days. Not only should our homes provide us with peace and comfort, but we should also find that tranquil balance in our lawns and gardens, the natural ...

Judith Lipson- Rubin | April, 2023

The Hidden Benefits of Fungi

Mushrooms play a very important role in many different ecosystems. The fruiting bodies are a source of food for many different species, not just humans, and on a smaller scale, the mycelium digests and decomposes ...

the key to composting

Judith Lipson- Rubin | March, 2023

The Key to Composting

Adding compost to your lawn and garden is one of the best, easiest, most natural ways to get happy, healthy plants. Compost can be bought at lawn and garden centers, farmers markets, and sometimes even from zoos. But ...

From Catalog to Early Crop: It's Not Too Soon for Garden Daydreams

Judith Lipson- Rubin | February, 2023

From Catalog to Early Crop: It's Not Too Soon for Garden Daydreams

This time of year, walking out to fetch the mail may be one of the only ways you're scratching the itch to spend some time outdoors. These short forays to the front stoop or the end of the driveway don't allow us to get ...

ancient techniques in the modern garden

Judith Lipson- Rubin | January, 2023

Ancient Techniques for the Modern Garden

Before the mass adoption of chemical pesticides, fertilizers, and mechanized farming equipment in the early 20th century, people had to rely on more natural methods of cultivating plants. Prior to these changes, ...

5 Ways to Enjoy Your Garden Through the Winter Months

Judith Lipson- Rubin | December, 2022

5 Ways to Enjoy Your Garden Through the Winter Months

Watching your garden erupt in the spring, flourish in the summer, and change and fade in the fall is thrilling. There is so much beauty to observe and so many fulfilling tasks to complete to help your garden be as ...

Helping Plants Survive Times of Drought and Extreme Heat

Judith Lipson- Rubin | September, 2022

Helping Plants Survive Times of Drought and Extreme Heat

For an environmentally conscious gardener, managing your garden during a drought is a constant battle between needing to conserve water and keeping your parched plants alive. Drought is often paired with heat waves ...

what's great to know about sustainable lawns and lawn care

Judith Lipson- Rubin | September, 2022

What's great to know about sustainable lawns and lawn care

Home lawn care has been a subject of human interest since around the 11th century, with the Japanese sodding areas around their gardens with turf grasses taken from livestock fields. Since then, with the introduction of ...

Rewild Your Backyard

Judith Lipson- Rubin | March, 2022

10 Easy Ways to Rewild Your Backyard

Rewilding is not a new idea, but it has grown in popularity over the last several years. The modern homeowner is becoming more aware of how even small choices they make in their backyard affects the bigger picture. As ...

Popular Pollinator Garden Ideas

Judith Lipson- Rubin | September, 2021

Protecting Our Pollinators: Popular Pollinator Garden Ideas

Pollination has recently become a hot topic in part because a fatal disease has been killing honeybees, threatening the ability of commercial farms to produce an adequate supply of the fruits and vegetables we all love ...

indoor outdoor living spaces

Judith Lipson- Rubin | August, 2020

Personal and Environmental Benefits of Outdoor Living Spaces

It seems intuitive that we like to spend time outdoors -- we’ve all craved nature at one time or another -- but science has now identified some of the reasons we actually need to spend time in a more natural setting. In ...

nature and gardening can help people improve their mood and improve health

Judith Lipson- Rubin | April, 2020

Combating Coronavirus: The Surprising Benefits of Landscaping

As the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, we’re hearing a lot about test kits, treatments, vaccines, and ventilators. And while all of these are crucial to the COVID-19 fight, many people don’t ...

garden soil shovel gardening tools

Judith Lipson- Rubin | September, 2019

4 Guiding Principles: Organic Gardening for a Healthier Landscape

In recent blog posts, we have been discussing the key differences between organic and conventional landscaping. While conventional gardening tactics may be more prominent, we believe that organic methods are better for ...

backyard-entertainment-area

Judith Lipson- Rubin | July, 2018

5 Organic Mosquito Control Methods for Massachusetts

Summer is about getting together with friends and family in a fun celebration of the season. Unfortunately, this is a tradition that is often interrupted by uninvited pests like mosquitoes. These insects can make happy ...

honey bee pollinators

Judith Lipson- Rubin | April, 2018

What to Know About Honey Bees in Massachusetts

Say the word “bees” around most people and the first thing that comes to mind is a black-and-yellow menace that terrorizes children and summer get-togethers. But that’s an unfair and incomplete picture of the importance ...

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Judith Lipson- Rubin | September, 2017

How can my outdoor living space help the natural environment and assist in healing and relaxation?

Gardens are a great option for creating an area that is both soothing and good for the environment. When landscaping, you need to consider your personal preference and the effect the plants you choose will have on the ...

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Judith Lipson- Rubin | August, 2017

5 Super Easy Ways to Create Privacy in Your Backyard

Entering your yard should feel like coming home to your own little sanctuary from the world. How can you do this naturally? A fence may seem like an easy solution, but there are other ways to give your backyard some ...