Big things start small. A conversation. A drawing. A student imagining flowers outside a school entrance. Sometimes, a garden begins long before the first seed touches the soil. At …
Every spring, Minnesotans step outside to perform the same ritual: rake the lawn, plan the garden, and grab a bag of fertilizer to help the yard wake up from winter. What most people don’t realize …
Every spring, as temperatures start to rise, Twin Cities gardeners face the same question: “Is it finally safe to plant?” This can be a complicated decision! Read on to demystify hardiness zones, …
Happy spring, south Minneapolis! Welcome to another growing season and another season of the City Gardener. As I’m writing this column, it’s 75 degrees out. By the time you read this, it will …
Jim Nicholas used to commute to work by bike using the Lake Harriet bike path. In early spring, he’d catch whiffs of blooming flowers and admire the new shoots from trees.
The word sustainable means different things to different people. Michaela Ayim, manager of the Sustainable Landcare Training program for Metro Blooms, said, “For me, at the center of the word …
An Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) can provide flexible and affordable housing options. They can be used to keep aging family members close, but in their own space. Or, the homeowner can downsize and …
Creeping bellflower, or Campanula rapunculoides, is a deceptively charming perennial that has become notorious in south Minneapolis. With its bell-shaped, bluish-purple flowers and tall, leafy stems, …
This spring, the city improved nearly 100 rain gardens along Bryant Avenue from Lake Street to 50th Street. In May, crews finished weeding and mulching, and then planted over 13,000 rain garden …
Ask residents on the 4000 block of Pleasant Avenue South and its surrounding streets about their yard, and you’ll likely hear the same name come up over and over: Jayne Roberts. Since moving …
Welcome back to a new gardening season, and a new season of City Gardener columns! As our gardens begin to wake up from their winter rest, it's a great time to think about an often-neglected …
Faux hedges If your outdoor patio or side yard is hemmed in by something like a chain-link or cinder block wall or planter box, consider installing a faux green hedge. This is the perfect …
Whale gray, dry sage and french press are some of the popular names of interior paint colors right now at Benjamin Moore, a paint company. Sid Triantafilou, a local painter and owner of …
Focus on what's strong. Not what's wrong. This is the essence of asset-based community development . It's also what sustainable community building looks like and how we can create …
Residents along six blocks of 29th Ave. S have banded together to save 40 ash trees. “These are public trees that the whole community benefits from,” observed Loey Colebeck. “Many …
Lost your storm windows over the years? Have windows you can’t open anymore because they were painted shut? Does the glass rattle in the wind? These problems don’t mean that you need to …
Jessica Miller still shrieks sometimes when a spider jumps on her, but the south Minneapolis environmental entomologist has found that makes her more approachable when she’s teaching classes on …
People are getting back into our yards and gardens, with pent-up demand following a long winter. University of Minnesota Extension Educator Jon Trappe has tips for yards that accomplish multiple …
What is a watershed? What is our local watershed called? Where does it begin and end? What is the largest watershed in the U.S.? According to board chair of the League of …
You’ve heard, I’m sure, about the court ruling and the decision by the National Association of Realtors: Buyer’s agents will no longer receive a “standardized” 2.7% …
