Blake Harrison
About the Author
Blake has 14 years of hands-on gardening experience and a strong interest in the tools and techniques that separate a garden that struggles from one that thrives. She focuses on garden planning and seasonal maintenance, and hier writing tends to be direct; she'd rather tell you what actually works than hedge for every possible situation. In his workshop, she builds and customizes garden tools, which has given her a specific understanding of how equipment performs under real conditions and what most off-the-shelf options get wrong.
Blogs by Blake Harrison
A patch of bare soil after scarifying looks worse than it usually is. In most cases, that’s normal. Scarifying rips out old thatch and moss, not healthy grass, though the
Grass-like weeds are the ones I get asked about most, probably because they’re the hardest to catch early. You mow, water, and feed the lawn, yet a few blades never
Building your own garden gate costs less than buying one, and you get to pick the exact size, style, and wood. You can build a sturdy gate in a weekend,
Coffee grounds for plants work, but only for some plants and only in the right amounts. Blueberries, azaleas, and roses respond well to them. Succulents, lavender, and seedlings do not.
Starting a compost pile sounds simple until you toss in the wrong item and end up with a messy, smelly mess that attracts pests. I learned this the hard way early in my gardening career.
You’ve chosen the right plant, prepared the soil, and planted with care. Then a heavy rain sets in and washes part of it away. Sloping gardens need careful plant choices to prevent growth problems. The
I almost made this mistake myself in my early twenties: I see first-time gardeners buy seeds, dig up a patch, and expect it to work out. Sometimes they get lucky. They end up with a
A sloped yard looks like wasted space. That changes the moment you stop fighting the hill. Most homeowners spend years mowing around a slope, watching soil wash away after every storm, and putting off any
A downward-sloping garden gives you something most homeowners would pay for: a view. When the land falls away from the house, it opens up the far end of the yard and pulls your eye toward