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
You have already decided you want a pyracantha hedge. The problem is finding one clear answer. Which variety should you buy? How many plants do you need? What will it
Most gardeners want a shrub that earns its keep all year, not just pretty in spring, then forgotten. It should hold color through winter, work as a barrier, and feed
Weeds usually tell you what’s going on with the soil, if you’re paying attention. Even a lawn you mow, feed, and water on schedule will sprout the odd weed. That’s
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
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
A tiered garden does something a flat garden cannot. It creates rooms. Not zones. Actual outdoor rooms. When you build levels into a garden, you give people a reason to move through it and stop
Does your garden get bright morning sun but shade by afternoon? East-facing gardens, I’ve learned, start softly with light that shields plants from harsh afternoon heat. This pattern works well for spaces that need balance