Home & Garden category, Page 5
3D-printed home in Dutch city expands housing options
EINDHOVEN, Netherlands — Elize Lutz and Harrie Dekkers’ new home is a 1,011-square foot, two-bedroom bungalow that resembles a boulder with windows. The curving lines of its gray concrete walls look and feel natural. But they are actually at the cutting edge of housing construction technology in the Netherlands and...
Greensburg Garden Center’s annual May Mart ushers in planting season
Shoppers at Greensburg Garden Center’s annual May Mart plant sale will find themselves in a new and improved space. The center’s garden recently was refurbished by Cole Kuczynski of Greensburg as an Eagle Scout project. Kuczynski and his helpers removed old compost and debris, built a wire compost bin, refurbished...
Going beyond the traditional window-box garden
The gardening world has a tried-and-true formula for the perfect window box: a thriller, a filler and a spiller. You simply can’t go wrong with a tall red geranium amid a tranquil bed of white impatiens and cascading vines of ivy. But maybe you’re an experienced window box gardener looking...
Grants help grow community gardens across Western Pa.
A community garden can bring together residents who never met, and its bounty can help feed the growers and others through donations. That’s why several community garden organizers throughout Western Pennsylvania were so happy to receive grant funding or in-kind donations to get their gardens started. “We got some help...
How to have your best hummingbird feeders ever
The top route to attracting more hummingbirds this spring and summer is to get your feeders filled with and hanging this weekend, after the next few nights of below-freezing temperatures but before the first northward-migrating hummers arrive in Pennsylvania. Banding studies indicate that many hummingbirds will return to the same...
Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show set to open a month later than usual
The annual Duquesne Light Home & Garden Show is still on, officials said Monday. The show’s executive director John DeSantis said the 10-day event is planned for April instead of its usual March time slot. Celebrating its 40th anniversary, the show is planned for April 9-18 at the David Lawrence...
Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show set to open a month later than usual
The annual Duquesne Light Home & Garden Show is still on, officials said Monday. Show Executive Director John DeSantis said the 10-day event is planned for April instead of its usual March time slot. Celebrating its 40th anniversary, the show is planned for April 9-18 at the David Lawrence Convention...
Annual orchid and tropical bonsai show opens at Phipps Conservatory
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens added “A Splash of Brilliance” to the drab winter landscape with the opening of its annual orchid and tropical bonsai show, highlighting specimens from two of its renowned collections. “Our orchids are displayed in a variety of new and exciting ways this year to resemble...
Philadelphia Flower Show to move outdoors for 1st time
For the first time in its history, the renowned Philadelphia Flower Show will be an outdoor event in 2021. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society said the long-running exhibition is being re-imagined to provide a new, safe experience for visitors. “We are thrilled to be able to celebrate the outdoors and offer...
Phipps annual winter flower show goes ‘Home for the Holidays’
The Winter Flower Show: Home for the Holidays will open Nov. 20 at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh’s Oakland section. “There’s no better place to celebrate the holidays than Phipps’ Victorian glasshouse jewel,” said Joe Reed, director of marketing and communications. “This year’s show presents a ‘horticultural home...
5 tips for keeping your fall mums happy, healthy and beautiful
Those fall mums look so good at the garden center or grocery store that you splurge on a few big pots for your front porch. But after a couple of weeks, they no longer look so good — the blooms are browning and the unopened buds are drying out. What...
How to reach a truce in the war with weeds
If you want to avoid chemical weedkillers but don’t like the idea of hand hoeing or bouncing along behind a rototiller, you still have options to keep weeds from taking over your garden. MULCH For starters, there’s mulches, which can smother weeds. Pile organic mulches such as leaves, grass clippings,...
Making the most of your outdoor space, no matter how small
Coronavirus quarantine had many people rethinking the interiors of their homes this spring. DIY projects were tackled, and rooms reorganized. Now that summer’s here, why not give the same mini-makeover to backyards and outdoor spaces? You’ll feel less cooped up if you bring some indoor style outside, even if it’s...
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens reopening this weekend
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens will be reopening to the public this weekend. The Oakland landmark opened to members Wednesday, just in time for their summer flower show, “Back in Bloom.” The public will be able to visit starting Saturday. As Phipps put it in a social media post, “A...
Delmont Library volunteers host ‘Grab and Grow’ garden kit distribution
The Delmont Public Library’s volunteers the Delmont Diggers were already looking at alternate plans for 2020, since the new library is being built where their butterfly garden once stood. “We’d planned to do container gardens around the library, but when covid-19 happened, we weren’t even able to do that,” said...
Author urges gardeners to form 1 big ‘national park’
Imagine if all the back and front yards — and even patio container plants — across the country were seen as one magnificent patchwork quilt, a “Homegrown National Park.” Home gardeners would join forces to bring back a variety of native plants to protect and nurture struggling birds, bees and...
Help needed to plant Pittsburgh-area community flower gardens
The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy is seeking volunteers to assist with planting some of its Pittsburgh and Allegheny County community flower gardens. “Healthy people of all ages who want to get outdoors and help beautify local communities can sign up now to volunteer through mid-June,” the Conservancy says. “To prevent the...
Derry Area High School plant sale offers curbside option
Plants from the Derry Area School District greenhouse will be sold to the public weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Friday through May 22. As part of covid-19 precautions, a maximum of four adults will be permitted in the greenhouse at a given time and are required to wear...
Drive-thru plant sale culmination of student projects at Ligonier Valley greenhouse
Plants grown by Ligonier Valley students soon will be taking root in home gardens in the area — and raising money for educational programs at the school district and at the Loyalhanna Watershed Association. The inaugural sale of herbs and flowering and vegetable plants, started from seed early this year...
Greensburg Garden Center selling a variety of perennials
Greensburg Garden Center is selling a variety of perennials that originally were intended for sale at the annual May Mart, canceled this year due to the covid-19 quarantine. Plants ordered by Friday will be available for pickup from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. May 12 and 13 in the garden at the...
Ligonier Valley Historical Society accepting orders for native plant sale
Home gardeners who are looking forward to adding new plants to their flower beds might consider some of the native varieties being offered by the Ligonier Valley Historical Society. The Laughlintown-based society’s native plant sale is being held in partnership with nearby Penguin Court, a preserve of the Brandywine Conservancy....
Greensburg Garden Center’s annual May Mart canceled
The annual May Mart Plant Sale, scheduled for May 1-2 at the Greensburg Garden Center, has been canceled, according to organizers. The event is one of the group’s largest fundraisers of the year....
Have gardening questions? Master Gardeners’ hotline has answers
Home gardeners can have their questions answered beginning April 1 via the annual garden hotline sponsored by Penn State Extension Master Gardeners of Westmoreland County. The hotline is a free service offered through the Penn State Extension Office to help Westmoreland County residents with various gardening questions and concerns, including...
Tall, spiky flowers add a vertical interest to garden
Early spring is a great time to start planning your plantings for the coming season. Look over photos of your garden from last year to see where blank spaces occur or where the design of your flower plantings could be elevated. One of the most wonderful opportunities we have to...
‘Sustainable gardening’ includes many eco-friendly practices
“Sustainable” is one of gardening’s trendiest buzzwords, yet it carries a range of definitions. Just what does it mean in practical terms, and how important is it to the average gardener? Very important, according to a recent plant trends study by horticulturalists with the University of Florida Institute of Food...
